MOSCOW: An Antonov An-24 passenger plane carrying 48 people crashed in Russia’s far east on Thursday as it was preparing to land, killing everyone on board in an incident that spotlighted the continued use of old, Soviet-era aircraft. The burning fuselage of the plane, which was made in 1976, was spotted by a search helicopter … Read more

Listen to article RAWALPINDI/DI KHAN: An army major and a sepoy were martyred during an intelligence-based operation in Balochistan’s Mastung district, the military’s media wing said on Thursday, while two law-enforcement personnel also embraced martyrdom in separate terrorist attacks in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a news release that 31-year-old brave officer … Read more

[ Listen to article LAHORE: SM Tanveer, Patron-in-Chief of the United Business Group (UBG), has called on the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to cut the policy rate to 6%, citing a sharp drop in inflation. He noted that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stands at 0.3%, while average inflation is around 4%, making the current 11% … Read more

DHAKA: Police in Bangladesh arrested the country’s former top judge on Thursday in connection with a murder-related case, authorities said. A court in Dhaka later sent the former chief justice, 81-year-old ABM Khairul Haque, to jail. Police officer Nasir Islam told AFP that “Haque is facing several other cases, but he was shown arrested for … Read more

[ Listen to article KARACHI: A deputy chief of Pakistan’s spy agency met currency exchange firms this week to address a sharp slide in the rupee, prompting a security crackdown on “black market dollar trade”, the head of the country’s forex association told Reuters on Thursday. The action helped stabilise the open market rate and the rupee … Read more

VALENCE, FRANCE: Italy’s Jonathan Milan escaped a spectacular pile-up of flying bikes and bodies to win stage 17 of the Tour de France in lashing rain on Wednesday, extending his lead in the sprint points race. Overall leader Tadej Pogacar and his closest rival Jonas Vingegaard (4min 15sec behind) finished safely despite a mass fall … Read more

[ Listen to article ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) did not allow it to abolish the additional 4% sales tax being collected from unregistered persons and instead linked the removal with a one-fourth increase in sales tax base. The supposedly punitive 4% extra tax is now a way of remaining outside … Read more

The pro-euthanasia film The Room Next Door has clinched the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival. The film, directed by Pedro Almodovar and starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, was honoured as the best film of the festival on Saturday. The feature, which explores themes of euthanasia and human dignity, received an … Read more

Listen to article ISLAMABAD: China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has reiterated his country’s unwavering support for Pakistan’s efforts to combat all forms of terrorism and expressed confidence in the Pakistani military’s continued role in ensuring safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects, and institu-tions across Pakistan. The reaffirmation came during a high-level meeting between General Syed Asim … Read more