Canadian-born Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich were set free today as the United States and Russia completed their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history. Officials in Turkey, where the exchange took place, say some two dozen people were set free through the multinational deal. Whelan, who was born in Canada to British parents, was detained in December 2018 after traveling to Russia for a wedding. Whelan was convicted of espionage charges in Russia, which he and the U.S. have said were false, and was serving a 16-year prison sentence. Gershkovich was arrested

Former MP Ravneet Bittu from Punjab's Ludhiana may be sent by BJP to Rajya Sabha via Haryana. Bittu is currently Assistant Minister in the Department of Railways and Food Processing at the Centre. BJP is trying to woo Sikh voters ahead of assembly elections in Haryana. There is currently no Sikh minister in the Haryana government as Sandeep Singh was dropped from the cabinet after Naib Singh Saini took over as Chief Minister on 13 March. In fact, Sandeep Singh is facing charges in the case of sexual harassment of a female coach. He was Sports Minister in Haryana Government.

The Punjab-Haryana High Court has sought a response from the Punjab government and the Center in the case of extension of NSA on Waris Punjab organization chief Amritpal Singh. Amritpal, lodged in Dibrugarh jail, had recently challenged the NSA on him, which was heard in the court today. The court has fixed the date of August 28 for the next hearing of the case. Meanwhile, the challenge to Amritpal's parliamentary membership by Vikarjit Singh, who was an independent candidate from Khadur Sahib, will be heard in the Punjab-Haryana High Court on August 5. The petitioner says that Amritpal Sing

British Columbia's Opposition BC United says it wants to include the party's previous Liberal name on the fall election ballot after internal polling shows up to 30 per cent of people didn't know the party changed its name. BC United communications director Adam Wilson says the party is preparing to formally apply to Elections BC to have a phrase acknowledging that it was formally known as the B.C. Liberals included on the ballot for the election this fall. BC United changed its name from the B.C. Liberals in April 2023 in a membership vote after Leader Kevin Falcon said a name change would fu

In the Shiromani Akali Dal, there is an uproar over the rebel faction. Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema, on behalf of Sukhdev Dhindsa who is the patron of the party, Bibi Jagir Kaur and Prof. 8 leaders, including Chandumajra, have turned against the cancellation of the decision to expel them. Dr. Cheema said that Dhindsa Saab should not have led the press conference of the rebel faction leaders himself. He said that patronage is an honorable position, when you become old and are not fully active in politics, the party gives you honor and makes you the patronage of the party and the patronage has to go

RCMP say a father and son facing terrorism related charges were allegedly in the advanced stages of planning a serious, violent attack in Toronto. The Mounties allege the 62-year-old and 26-year-old knowingly facilitated terrorist activity in the Greater Toronto Area. They say the two were arrested at a Richmond Hill, Ont., hotel on the weekend. Police say there is no evidence to suggest there is a remaining risk to the public. Both men face one charge each of participation in the activities of a terrorist group, facilitating terrorist activity, conspiracy to commit murder and weapon possessio

The new governor of Punjab, Gulab Chand Kataria, took oath as the 37th governor of the state on Wednesday. On this occasion, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann congratulated him with a hug. This cordial atmosphere was seen after two years of tension between Mann and former Governor Banwari Lal Purohit. Bhagwant Mann did not attend Purohit's farewell ceremony on Tuesday, while at the new governor's ceremony, he accompanied his wife Dr. Gurpreet Kaur was sitting in the front row. According to sources, the Chief Minister held a brief 5-10 minute meeting with the Governor at Raj Bhavan and also had br

Ukraine has received the first F-16 fighter jets that it has sought for months to fight back against an onslaught of Russian missile strikes, a U.S. official confirmed to the Associated Press. Ukraine has been pushing its Western allies for F-16s for Ukraine for months, saying they were critically needed to fight back against the onslaught of missiles Russia has fired against it. The F-16 is specialized in suppressing enemy air defenses. The U.S. has also been training Ukrainian pilots on how to fly the jets and has already graduated the first group of pilots on its operation. It’s not clear

The Transportation Safety Board will release its report today on the fire and loss of more than 100 containers from a cargo ship off British Columbia's coast. The containers fell off MV Zim Kingston in October 2021 as it sat off the west coast of Vancouver Island and a storm blew in, bringing strong winds. The Kingston moved to the waters off Victoria, then days later fire erupted in one of the containers and spread on the ship, taking several days to put out. Just four of the 109 containers that tumbled from the ship were found, although debris, ranging from refrigerators to blow-up unicorns,