MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan: Eighteen inmates, including some on death row, have escaped from a prison in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir after overpowering a guard with a pistol, Pakistani officials said on Monday.
Local police chief Riaz Mughal said one of the prisoners was shot and killed in the breakout from Rawalakot prison the previous day.
A massive search has been launched to trace and arrest all those inmates who fled the prison, Mughal said, authorities opened an investigation into what lead up to the prison break. The prison’s chief and some other officers have already been dismissed from their post while some officials had been arrested for question, he said.
Mughal said six of the prisoners were on death row, while another three were serving life sentences. Such jail breaks are rare in Pakistan, he said.
Officials say one of the inmates had a pistol that was used to overpower a guard and snatch the keys to the prison cells.
The disputed Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan, both armed with nuclear weapons. The South Asian neighbors have fought three wars since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
18 inmates escape after overpowering guard in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
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18 inmates escape after overpowering guard in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
- Prison’s chief and some other officers dismissed from their post while some officials had been arrested for question
- Six of the prisoners were on death row, while another three were serving life sentences
Finland celebrates 50 years since Helsinki Accords in shadow of Ukraine war
Keynote speakers for the conference include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Zelensky had been invited to attend the conference but will give his address remotely, the Finnish foreign ministry told AFP. Guterres will also only speak via a video message.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week that Russia would be participating but would not be sending any high-level representatives to the meeting.
“Russia does not see the expediency of participating in the event at a high political level,” she told reporters, adding representatives would still “take part in the conversation.”
Notable guests include UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, as well as Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, who arrived in Helsinki on Wednesday.
An opening speech is scheduled for 10:00 am (0700 GMT) by the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE), Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen.
On August 1, 1975, 50 years ago, the Eastern and Western blocs signed the Helsinki Final Act in the Finnish capital.
The historic agreement between 35 states, including the Soviet Union and the United States, led to the creation of the OSCE, which today brings together 57 countries.
Among the key principles enshrined in the treaty are state sovereignty, non-use of force, and above all, the inviolability of borders.
“The participating States regard as inviolable all one another’s frontiers as well as the frontiers of all States in Europe and therefore they will refrain now and in the future from assaulting these frontiers,” the text of the treaty reads.
These commitments have been gravely challenged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has caused the most severe crisis in OSCE history.
Since then, Kyiv has unsuccessfully demanded that Russia be excluded from the international body.
However, in July 2024, Russian lawmakers earlier voted to suspend participation in the body’s parliamentary assembly, branding it anti-Russian and discriminatory, although the country is still listed as a member state on the organization’s official website.
While in Finland, Sybiga is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with several Finnish officials, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and other high-level officials visiting the conference, according to the Ukrainian diplomacy.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday that “key topics” would include “synchronizing allied pressure on Moscow.”
Finland shut its 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) eastern border with Russia in mid-December 2023 after the arrival of around 1,000 migrants without visas.
Helsinki has claimed the surge was orchestrated by Russia — a charge the Kremlin has denied.
Malaysia PM says Trump to attend ASEAN summit in October
- Apart from the United States, the three-day sit-down is also expected to be attended by top officials from China, Japan, South Korea and India
KUALA LUMPUR: US President Donald Trump has confirmed he will attend a major summit of Southeast Asian nations in October, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday.
Speaking to parliament, Anwar also told MPs that a tariff deal with Washington was expected to be announced on Friday.
“I had the opportunity to speak with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. He confirmed that he will be attending the 47th ASEAN Summit in October,” Anwar said.
Scheduled from 26-28 October, the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is expected to be one of the largest ever held by the 10-nation bloc.
Apart from the United States, the three-day sit-down is also expected to be attended by top officials from China, Japan, South Korea and India, as well as heads of state of ASEAN nations.
Trump’s attendance comes in the wake of a visit earlier in July by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who then hinted the US leader may be present.
It comes after Trump said Tuesday he did not plan to attend a G20 summit in South Africa.
Anwar told MPs that a trade tariff deal with the US, who threatened a 25 percent levy, would be announced on Friday.
“The tariff will be announced tomorrow and we pray, God willing, that it will help and not burden our country’s economy,” Anwar said.
Myanmar junta ends state of emergency in election run-up
- The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi
- Analysts predict Min Aung Hlaing will keep a role as either president or armed forces chief
YANGON: Myanmar’s junta ended the country’s state of emergency on Thursday, ramping up preparations for a December election being boycotted by opposition groups and criticized by international monitors.
The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a many-sided civil war which has claimed thousands of lives.
The order gave junta chief Min Aung Hlaing supreme power over the legislature, executive and judiciary — but he has recently touted elections as an off-ramp to the conflict.
Opposition groups including ex-lawmakers ousted in the coup have pledged to snub the poll, which a UN expert last month dismissed as “a fraud” designed to legitimize the military’s continuing rule.
“The state of emergency is abolished today in order for the country to hold elections on the path to a multi-party democracy,” junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said in a voice message shared with reporters.
“Elections will be held within six months,” he added.
Analysts predict Min Aung Hlaing will keep a role as either president or armed forces chief following the election and consolidate power in that office, thereby extending his tenure as de facto ruler.
“We have already passed the first chapter,” Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech in Naypyidaw reported in state newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar on Thursday.
“Now, we are starting the second chapter,” he told members of the junta’s administration council at what the newspaper called an “honorary ceremony” for its members.
“The upcoming election will be held this December, and efforts will be made to enable all eligible voters to cast their ballots,” the newspaper reported, paraphrasing another part of his speech.
No exact date for the poll has yet been announced by the junta, but political parties are being registered while training sessions on electronic voting machines have already taken place.
On Wednesday, the military government said it enacted a new law dictating prison sentences up to 10 years for speech or protests aiming to “destroy a part of the electoral process.”
But a census held last year as preparation for the election estimated it failed to collect data from 19 million of the country’s 51 million people, provisional results said.
The results cited “significant security constraints” as one reason for the shortfall — giving a sign of how limited the reach of the election may be amid the civil war.
Analysts have predicted rebels will stage offensives around the election as a sign of their opposition.
But this month the junta begun offering cash rewards to those willing to lay down their arms and “return to the legal fold” ahead of the vote.
Russia hits Kyiv with missile and drone attack, killing 6 and injuring 52
- A large part of a nine-story residential building collapsed after it was struck, Tkachenko added
- Rescue teams were at the scene to rescue people trapped under the rubble. Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in US-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land
KYIV: Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with missiles and drones overnight, killing at least six people including a 6-year-old boy, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday.
Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said at least 52 other people were injured in the attacks, and that the number was likely to rise.
A large part of a nine-story residential building collapsed after it was struck, Tkachenko added. Rescue teams were at the scene to rescue people trapped under the rubble.
“Missile strike. Directly on a residential building. People are under the rubble. All services are on site,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his official Telegram.
Images from the scene showed plumes of smoke emanating from a partially damaged building and debris strewn on the ground.
At least 27 locations across Kyiv were hit by the attack, Tkachenko said, with the heaviest damage seen in the Solomianskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’s giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline — Aug. 8 — for peace efforts to make progress or Washington will impose punitive sanctions and tariffs.
Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in US-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land.
South Korean court issues arrest warrant for ex-president Yoon again
- Yoon plunged South Korea into a political crisis when he sought to subvert civilian rule on December 3, sending troops to prevent lawmakers voting down his declaration of martial law
SEOUL: A South Korean court on Thursday issued a fresh arrest warrant for former president Yoon Suk Yeol, enabling prosecutors to forcibly bring him in for questioning after he refused to appear at his summons multiple times.
The special counsel investigating Yoon and his wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, said in a statement that “an arrest warrant has been issued today for former president Yoon Suk Yeol.”
Yoon plunged South Korea into a political crisis when he sought to subvert civilian rule on December 3, sending troops to parliament in a bid to prevent lawmakers voting down his declaration of martial law.
He became the first sitting president in the country to be taken into custody when he was detained in January after resisting arrest for weeks, using his presidential security detail to thwart investigators.
He was released on procedural grounds in March while his insurrection trial continued, but was detained again early July over concerns he might destroy evidence related to the case.
Prosecutors investigating allegations of parliamentary election tampering summoned Yoon for questioning — but he failed to appear, with his lawyers citing health issues.
On Wednesday, they filed a renewed request for a detention warrant.
Now that the warrant has been issued, prosecutors are authorized to enter Yoon’s current detention facility and compel him to appear for questioning.
Legal troubles are also mounting for Yoon and his wife in cases unrelated to his martial law attempt.
Prosecutors are investigating allegations that a shaman, Jeon Seong-bae, received a diamond necklace and a luxury designer handbag from a senior official of the Unification Church and passed them on to Kim.
