TRUMP ESCAL ATES IRAN RHETORIC AS STRAIT OF HORMUZ CRISIS DEEPENS, MARITIME TENSIONS SURGE
list of six leaders for meeting arrangements under court orders, including Senator Falak Naz Chitrali, Fazal Elahi, Ehtesham Khan, Sardar Ghulam Ali, Asghar Khan Lehri, Syed Naseebullah Agha and Chaudhry Javed Akhtar Gujjar However on Thursday none of the nominated leaders turned up at Adiala Jail to meet the party founder until 4pm the cut-off time for inmate meetings The Islamabad High Court has allowed Imran Khan twice-weekly meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays with his family, lawyers and political associates Despite the order, he has reportedly remained largely deprived of such meetings for several months as directives remain unimplemented Meanwhile PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said the party had taken strict notice of the situation and would deliberate on the unfortunate development” in an upcoming leadership meeting
“There are thousands of leaders and workers who want to meet Imran Khan Many workers go to Adiala Jail every week despite not being on the list and are not allowed to meet him We will ensure that those who cannot come to Adiala Jail should not submit their names for meetings, he said, adding that the matter would be addressed and action taken within the party
s ta f f r e p o r t
Analysts say continued strikes and targeted killings of senior figures have complicated decision-making in Tehran and narrowed Iran s strategic options as the conflict continues Military and maritime escalation Trump further claimed that internal infighting in Iran was between “hardlin-
boarding the ship during a maritime operation near the Strait of Hormuz
Separately Trump said he had ordered the US Navy to shoot and kill any small boats laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, instructing operations to continue at a tripled-up level
Ghalibaf posted the same message on X Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi similarly said on X: "The failure of Israel's terrorist killings is reflected in how Iran s state institutions continue to act with unity purpose and discipline The battlefield and diplomacy are fully coordinated fronts in the same war Iranians are all united, more than ever before Strait of Hormuz tensions escalate Trump earlier claimed total control over the Strait of Hormuz without providing evidence, describing it as “sealed up tight” until Iran agrees to a deal He also alleged Iran was struggling to determine its leadership and suggested internal political confusion following reported battlefield losses
pM Shehbaz, Chinese envoy reaffirm strategic ties, discuss regional peace effor ts
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday held a comprehensive meeting with Jiang Zaidong during a courtesy call reaffirming the depth of Pakistan-China relations and reviewing the evolving regional situation, particularly in the Middle East
The meeting, attended by senior members of Pakistan’s civilian and diplomatic leadership underscored Islamabad s coordinated approach to foreign policy at a time of heightened regional tensions Among those present were Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Information Minister Ataullah Tarar Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch During the interaction, Prime Minister Shehbaz conveyed warm greetings and best wishes to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang reflecting the continuity of high-level political engagement between the two countries
Expressing satisfaction over the steady upward trajectory of bilateral ties, the prime minister reiterated that Pakistan takes immense pride in its All-Weather Cooperative Strategic Partnership with China He emphasised that the relationship remains a cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy and a sta-
of relevant United Nations resolutions The Foreign Office further accused India of undermining regional peace through inflammatory rhetoric repeated provocations and aggressive military posturing, including its unilateral decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty a move Pakistan says violates international law Islamabad urged the international community to take
ISLAMABAD
values, aPPlies regardless of condition and requires six-month Prior activation
World Bank flags delays in Dasu hydropower projec t, keeps risk rating high
gawatt-hours annually upon completion However, electricity generation remains at zero as construction is still underway According to the report, progress on the main hydraulic structure has reached just over 29% while work on power generation facilities stands at around 19% Supporting infrastructure including roads and relocation activities, is relatively more advanced but remains incomplete
The report also highlighted delays in the 765kV transmission line required to evacuate electricity from Dasu to Islamabad noting that no physical progress has been recorded despite contractor mobilisation beginning in 2023
The Water and Power Development Authority, which is implementing the project is facing capacity constraints particularly in developing future hydropower projects a key objective of
the initiative The World Bank has committed financing through a mix of IDA credits, IBRD loans and guarantees, including a $1 billion package approved in 2024 and signed in 2025 However disbursement levels vary across instruments indicating implementation challenges Macroeconomic factors including currency depreciation, are also affecting project costs and financing, adding to the risks of timely completion On the social side the project has delivered measurable outcomes with over 22 000 people benefiting from improved services in the project area Indicators related to community engagement, including grievance handling and women’s participation in income-generating activities have shown progress though some development initiatives remain behind schedule
localities under amendments to an earlier 2024 notification with officials retaining the broader valuation structure while updating specific areas Similarly, in Faisalabad, revisions were made to identified locations through amendments to existing valuation tables, without replacing the overall framework In Bahawalpur the FBR updated valuations in DHA Bahawalpur and Askari
Housing Scheme while in Gujranwala changes were introduced in defence and Askari schemes as well as high-end residential developments such as Palm City In Sialkot, adjustments were made to specific entries revising rates for residen-
OTrump esc alates Iran rhetoric as S trait of Hormuz crisis deepens, maritime tensions surge
Strait of
forces and
ruary 28 has triggered widespread disruption across the Middle East including strikes on infrastructure and regional shipping routes
Corps seized two vessels and escorted
statements by the shipping companies
The ongoing blockade of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continues to strain global energy markets drive inflationary pressures and heighten geopolitical uncertainty with no clear path yet to sustained peace negotiations W H E N I T I S ‘A P P R O P R I AT E A N D G O O D’ F O R U S United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a deal with Iran would only be made when it was appropriate and good for the US asserting that the clock was ticking for Iran In a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump says he is possibly the least pressured person ever to be in this position” stating that he is not in a rush to end the war I have all the time in the World but Iran doesn t The clock is ticking! he writes “Iran’s navy is lying at the bottom of the sea, their air force is demolished, their anti-aircraft and radar weaponry is gone their leaders are no longer with us the blockade is airtight and strong and from there, it only gets worse Time is not on their side! He said that with Iran's military capability destroyed, he had "all the time in the world" but the Islamic republic did not He adds that a deal will only be made with Iran when it s appropriate and good for the United States of America, our allies and, in fact, the rest of the world
and
The Revolutionary Guards accused the ships it had seized, the Liberiaflagged Epaminondas and Panamaflagged MSC Francesca of operating without required permits and tampering with their navigation systems A third, Liberia-flagged container ship was fired upon in the same area but was not damaged and had resumed sailing, according to maritime security sources Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News that since the ships were not US or Israeli vessels the seizure was not a violation of the ceasefire She called it an act of "piracy" Iranian officials have called the US blockade of Iranian-bound vessels piracy as well The US military said on Wednesday it had so far directed more than 30 ships to turn around or return to port as part of the US blockade against Iran Far beyond the Gulf, the US military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters sources said redirecting them away from their positions
Lanka Brent, the international crude oil benchmark, remained above $100 a barrel in Asian trade on Thursday, having hit triple figures a day earlier for the first time in two weeks
In his Tuesday announcement, Trump said that the US had agreed to a request by Pakistani mediators "to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal and discussions are concluded one way or the other He has not set any deadline for the proposal or discussions, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Pakistan which has acted as a mediator was still trying to bring the sides together after both failed to show up for tentatively scheduled talks in Islamabad on Tuesday before the two-week-old ceasefire was due to expire A first session of peace talks between Iran and the US in Islamabad 11 days ago produced no agreement
tions for damage and recognition
i t Iran has also made a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah a condition of truce talks On Wednesday, Israeli air strikes on Lebanon killed at least five people including the Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil
It was the deadliest day since a 10day ceasefire was announced on April 16 between Israel and Lebanon, notwithstanding the thousand-plus Lebanese killed by Israeli attacks over the course of the war
TH E two main parties to the current conflict, the USA and Iran, have shown the requisite desire to keep talking, and to maintain the facade of a ceasefire even if one no longer exists in the strict sense of the term, because both sides have attempted to enforce a blockade Iran od the Hormuz Strait and the USA od Iranian ports even as the deadline for the original 14-day deadline expired on Tuesday US President Donald Trump on Wednesday extended the deadline, but this time kept it open-ended, saying that this was done on the Pakistani request to allow negotiations to take place Though he said that a US delegation was going to arrive in Islamabad on Friday (today) Iran had not confirmed this This implies that Iran is still holding back from the kind of surrender that the USA expects Iran should also not expect that the USA will treat it as a victor in the kind of asymmetric warfare it has engaged in
It appears there is still a mismatch of perceptions between the two sides It really depends on the USA at the moment, for Iran does not have the ability to make the USA stop attacking it even in a best-case scenario
The USA is not helped by a President who insists on claiming victory which is not there, who has launched an attack without getting the outcomes he wanted
Those victory claims might rile Iran, but of greater importance is whether Israel is satisfied by then Even now, it is doing its best to sabotage the US-Iran talks by violating the ceasefire in Lebanon It is thereby jeopardizing its own talks with Lebanon but it probably does not mind that because it did not seek those talks of its own accord
The USA is finding that Iran does have it over a barrel because of the Hormuz Strait, which it has not been able to open so far However, that should not be assumed by Iran to mean that it has won The world wants the Strait open but all the interlocutors should realize that what the USA has not been able to force Iran into doing it is highly unlikely to be able to do because of negotiations Pakistan would do best to maintain its acceptability as a mediator to all sides, and must not favour any one side too much in its anxiety to broker a deal
Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor
M A Niazi Editor Pakistan Today Babar Nizami Editor Profit
ON E of the more surprising developments has been the development of a Quadrilateral a sort of Western Quad which counterbalances the more prominent more formal Eastern one In the West the increased cooperation between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye was visible during the recent crisis set off by the US and Israeli bombing of Iran In the East, there is the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue of the USA, Australia Japan and India which is an older platform There are some similarities between the two Quads as well as differences First they are both dedicated to keeping open waterways and thus the free flow of oil from West to East The West Quad has developed a very recent interest in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s crude oil passes Saudi Arabia uses the Strait for exporting much of its oil though it does have the ability to manage some exports though the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to Europe The Eastern Quad also has a deep interest in the Strait of Hormuz, especially Japan, India and Australia, which depend on it for varying degrees of their energy needs, and indirectly because all are oil importers The second similarity is the USA The USA is itself a member of the Eastern Quad and is an important component of AUKUS the trilateral alliance with Australia and the UK as members which is focused on the Australian Navy s submarine fleet While it is not a member of the Western Quad, all four of its members are allies at the bilateral level, though Turkiye is also a member of NATO The Eastern and Western Quads have certain differences however The Eastern Quad is partly against China The Western is not against China Indeed Pakistan has strong links with Beijing Turkiye too has recently developed ties because of the Belt and Road Initiative Saudi Arabia sees China as one of its best customers Egyptian ties with China date back a long time, and precede the Ramadan War (One of the most important engagements in the war when Israeli armour was theatening Cairo was fought at the Chinese Farm where the Israeli advance was halted It was fought around an experimental Chinese farm ) Is the Western Quad in any way an entity capable of development, or is it simply a tool of US diplomacy? At the moment, it is acting to fulfill the needs of the USA to provide a channel through which to interact with Iran
Perhaps the advantage of the Western Quad is that it provides a variety of countries which can take the lead
Perhaps one reason for the Iranian willingness to talk to Pakistan is that it has a Shia minority, one which has some interaction with Iran through ziaraat and education There are a substantial number of holy sites particular to the Ahle Tashi’i in Iran As for education, even now though there is a proper network of Shia madaris the crowning achievement of a Shia alim s education is still to be had from a period in Qum Pakistan and Iran were also part of CENTO along with Turkiye Presumably that Cold War alliance overcame the hostility between those two countries which
at Beas and Nagrota were obliterated Even the vaunted S-400 systems at Adampur and Bhuj were
India’s
goes back to the rivalry between the Ottomans and the Safavids with about three centuries of intermittent war between the two countries ending only in 1823 There are also no Shia in Turkiye, after a vigorous and persistent persecution of Shias by the Ottomans over the centuries Most of the better known instances occurred in Arab lands but they were also suppressed in Anatolia As a result only about 10 percent of the Turkish population is Shia That is about the proportion in Saudi Arabia, and there are even fewer in Egypt Pakistan is the most active in bilateral relations, with a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed with Saudi Arabia, as well as cooperation with Turkiye in a number of defence production areas particularly in drone technology as well as in shipbuilding Pakistan has obtained Turkish MILGEM-class corvettes for its Navy and has expressed an interest in obtaining the Altay tank for its Army The Altay has achieved a high-level of indigenization, as has the Al-Khalid MBT, of which more 400 are in service in Pakistan While Egypt and Pakistan have not got any major projects together the Egyptian Air Force does operate 30 Karakoram-8 jet trainers and both the EAF and PAF operate the F16 (So does the Turkish Air Force while Turkiye also has an F16 rebuild facility) An interesting Turkish project is the Kaan, intended to be a stealth fighter, got a fillip when Turkiye was bumped off the F35 project When the Kaan is fully developed it will be an alternative to be considered along with the Chinese F-35 The American F-35 is not only dependent on US permission which will come at a high operational cost but costs anywhere between $80 million and $100 million per unit However, that will depend on Turkiye s own posi-
cyber warriors infiltrated and disrupted Indian military networks sowing confusion and paralysis UAVs soared boldly into enemy skies even over New Delhi a daring demonstration of reach and confidence The campaign was not just about firepower it was about intellect, innovation, and audacity Throughout these days the nation stood as an unbreakable force The youth roared with defiance the media thundered the call for resilience and the political leadership locked arms with the armed forces in iron unity The spirit of Unity, Faith, and Discipline was no mere slogan it became a living force, forging the people together in the crucible of war Diplomacy followed swiftly with international actors rushing to broker a ceasefire Yet for Pakistan the verdict was already written in fire: sovereignty defended dignity preserved, aggression crushed On 12 May 2025, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared 10 May as Youm-e-Marka-e-Haq, a day of national remembrance It has been marked as a day of tributes to the country’s defenders and sacrifices of martyrs etched in the soul of every Pakistani The consequences of Marka-e-Haq were seismic It shifted the balance of power in South
Asia proving that Pakistan could strike decisively and deter aggression across multiple domains It showcased civil-military harmony, with the government and armed forces working hand in hand Even as the eastern front blazed Pakistan also neutralized Indian-backed proxies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan demonstrating its ability to fight on multiple fronts without faltering Above all, Marka-e-Haq was a resounding moral victory It reminded the world that Pakistan’s resilience flows not from convenience but from unyielding conviction It proved that sovereignty is sacred and truth when defended with courage becomes an unstoppable force This victory was more than territorial it was spiritual, psychological, and eternal As the nation commemorates Marka-eHaq, it does so with pride and gratitude The days between 22 April and 10 May 2025 would always be remembered not merely as a military campaign but as a declaration of Pakistan s unyielding spirit They stand as proof that when tested, Pakistan rises with unity, fights with discipline, and prevails with truth
This was far more than a battle, a thunderous roar to the world: Pakistan will defend its sovereignty protect its people and uphold the truth no matter the cost no matter the odds
The writer can be reached at naveedsafdar13@gmail com
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Tcombat has already been highlighted by their reported use in Ukraine conflict and genocide by Israel in Gaza A February 2025 report by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research titled Deadly Algorithms: Destructive Role of Artificial Intelligence in Gaza War revealed that Israel employed AIbased systems Lavender and Habsora to identify and attack human targets The report states that Lavender can approve targets within 20 seconds, often without substantive human review Since October 2023, the system has compiled a list of 37 000 individuals labelled as Hamas members without verifying their military profile Since 2014 the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (UN CCW) has debated the regulation of LAWS In May 2024, Arms Campaign Director Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch warned that “the world is approaching a tipping point for acting on concerns over autonomous weapons systems underscoring the urgency of an international legal instrument On 2 December 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/79/62 on LAWS by 166 votes in favour, 3 against and 15 abstentions The resolution which marked a decisive step in acknowledging global concerns over the autonomous weapon systems affirmed the applicability of international humanitarian law (IHL) and called for further consultations in 2025 The first UNGA meeting on autonomous weapons held on 12-13 May 2025 and attended by 96 countries including representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and civil society reinforced global momentum to prohibit and regulate LAWS On that occasion, UN Secretary-General António Guterres advocated for a legally binding instrument to ban LAWS by 2026, de-
scribing them as politically unacceptable and morally repugnant” weapon systems Despite the global concerns, progress on a legally binding treaty on LAWS remains elusive due to the divergent strategic interests of major powers The USA continues to resist the codification of a new legally binding framework on LAWS Instead, it emphasizes the adequacy of national weapons review mechanisms in order to preserve strategic and technological flexibility While the US maintains that it does not currently possess LAWS senior military leaders have acknowledged that Washington may be compelled to develop LAWS if its adversaries do so Russia has opposed any binding treaty, while China supports negotiations on the CCW and the development of norms “when conditions are ripe ” The European Union in contrast advocates for a legally binding international instrument on LAWS emphasizing the principle of Meaningful Human Control (MHC) and strict compliance with IHL to regulate LAWS The EU s approach
n s r ev i ew s a r e e s s e n t i a l t o p r ev e n t d e s t a b i l i z a t i o n a n d t o e n s u r e t h a t
t e c h n o l o g i c a l p ro g r e s s d o e s n o t o u t p a c e t h e h u m a n e l e m e n t i n t h e u s e o f fo rc e
C o n f i d e n c e - bu i l d i n g m e a s u r e s , s u c h a s t r a n s p a r e n c y i n m i l i t a r y A I , t h e e s t a b l i s h m
I r a n i s n o w m o r e i n f l u e n t i a l t h a n e v e r
Future historians may see this moment as the beginning of the end of the Americ an centur y, and the onset of a more uncer tain and dangerous era shaped increasingly by China’s rise
GUARDIAN FAWA z G E r G E S
DO N A L D Trump’s decision to go to war against Iran will be remembered as a grave strategic miscalculation – one that has reshaped the region in unintended and destabilising ways With the ceasefire now extended indefinitely, we can see more clearly how the war has undermined the US’s standing in the world and failed to achieve its core objectives: it has neither brought about
security arrangements with regional powers such as Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey, while deepening ties with Europe China and India
– at least temporarily Despite widespread resentment and opposition toward the ruling clerics many Iranians – like populations elsewhere under external attack – saw the destruction of civilian infrastructure not as a blow against the regime, but as an assault on the nation itself
defunct nuclear programme Control of the strait will be Tehran’s most powerful source of leverage in the years ahead And this strategy is not confined to Hormuz Relying on its Houthi allies in Yemen Iran s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also signalled its ability to threaten the Bab al-Mandab strait at the southern tip of the Red Sea – a choke point through which roughly 8% of global trade and a significant share of the world s energy and chemical shipments pass The prospect of disruption at both Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab would amount to a double shock to the global economy Against this backdrop it is no surprise that the US s Gulf allies have reacted with alarm What most unsettles Gulf rulers is the prospect of a postwar Iran wielding control over Hormuz as a permanent lever of coercion – while the US
Although the US/Israel-led war has weakened Iran economically and militarily its long-term effect may be the opposite: a more emboldened, muscular and assertive Iran One of the war’s most significant unintended consequences is a shift in Tehran’s strategic doctrine Rather than relying on caution and deterrence Iran is likely to adopt a multi-front approach – escalating and targeting the wider economic and security infrastructure of its rivals and adversaries as it did in this conflict In effect, the war has accelerated Iran’s emergence as a more assertive regional power one with growing capacity to project influence well beyond its borders Within Iran, this reassessment is already under way A new generation of officers within the IRGC appears to have drawn a stark lesson: restraint invited vulnerability For years the late supreme leader and his advisers had adhered to a doctrine of strategic patience believing that calibrated restraint would ensure regime survival and consolidation But the assassinations of Iran’s senior military leaders and nuclear scientists by the US and Israel and their direct attacks on Iranian territory reinforced the perception that a defensive posture no longer guaranteed security That doctrine is now buried with Iran’s old guard There is already mounting evidence that the IRGC has consolidated its grip on power – directing the war effort and shaping diplomatic engagement with the US The assassinations of Iran s senior political and military leadership have accelerated this shift Trump has repeatedly claimed that he achieved regime change in Tehran In a sense he has – but not in the way he intended
And far from weakening the regime s hold on power at home, the war appears to have strengthened it
The result was not revolt but a familiar wartime dynamic: a rally around the flag reinforced by coercion and fear of state retribution In the longer term, however, Iran will face deep structural, social and political vulnerabilities A staggering reconstruction bill exceeding $200bn coupled with IMF projections that inflation could surpass 70% – a historic high – will place immense strain on Iran s economy Unless its new rulers loosen their grip and ease their intrusion into everyday life, they are likely to encounter renewed popular resistance
These miscalculations were not merely tactical – they reflected deeper assumptions Trump appears not to have seriously considered worst-case scenarios such as whether Iran might retaliate by closing the strait of Hormuz Instead, he was predisposed – temperamentally and ideologically – to accept Benjamin Netanyahu s assurances that the war would be quick clean and decisive
There is a broader logic at work in Trump s war of choice in Iran: this is, at its core, an imperial project
From South America to the Arctic and the Middle East Trump has openly embraced the language of expansionism repeatedly signalling his desire to extend American control over resource-rich territories Unlike his predecessors, who cloaked interventions in the language of international order or human rights Trump has dispensed with such pretence He has been unusually candid about the motivations driving his foreign policy, even describing territorial acquisition as “psychologically” important to him
Future historians may see this moment as the beginning of the end of the American century and the onset of a more uncertain and dangerous era shaped increasingly by China s rise
Fawaz Gerges is professor of international relations at the London School of Economics
The first UNGA meeting on autonomous weapons, held on 12-13 May 2025 and attended by 96 countries, including representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and civil society, reinforced global momentum to prohibit and regulate LAWS.
seeks to differentiate between systems that incorporate meaningful human oversight and those that operate without it The integration of artificial intelligence in weapon systems also presents an increasing challenge to nuclear deterrence and strategic stability at the global level For instance during the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Peru held in November 2024 the then US President Joe Biden and China s President Xi Jinping jointly pledged not to integrate AI in nuclear command-and-control systems The two world leaders recognized the catastrophic risks of automation in nuclear decision-making However as AI rapidly improves surveillance missile guidance, and targeting systems, it is unclear whether the restraint will hold
The integration of AI in nuclear forces will introduce unprecedented instability into deterrence dynamics by reducing decisionmaking time and increasing the challenges caused by algorithmic bias in early warning systems thereby posing the threat of false nuclear alarms The Cold War history offers a sobering reminder of how human judgment, which is central to nuclear stability, averted potential catastrophes During the
J e w s m u s t s t o p a t t a c k i n g C h r i s t i a n i t y
AN IDF soldier in southern Lebanon took a sledgehammer to a statue of Jesus this week The IDF confirmed it The image went viral And I am furious Not because our enemies will use it against us; they will Not because the world is watching; they are I’m furious because it is wrong Full stop No “but ” Wrong Let s start with the facts The incident took place in Debel a Christian village in southern Lebanon The IDF confirmed the footage is authentic called the soldier s conduct wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops, opened an investigation, and pledged to help restore the statue Good That is what a moral army does We should be proud of that response But we need to talk about the culture that produced this moment Because this isn t one soldier who had a bad day This is a symptom WHO IS ACTUALLY STANDING WITH US?: Every Israeli and every Jew in the world should be asking this question right now: Who is standing with Israel in this fight? Look at Africa Israel s friends there are overwhelmingly Christian-majority nations Look at Europe The people marching with Israeli flags outside embassies in Warsaw, Budapest, and London are Evangelical Christians, Catholic conservatives, and charismatic believers – not the secular Left, which has largely abandoned us L o o k a t A m e
most consistent most politically active supporters are the tens of millions of Evangelical Christians who consider Israel s existence a matter of biblical importance And closer to home: a Middle East with a stronger Christian presence is a Middle East that is better for Jews and better for Israel The Christians of Lebanon Syria and Iraq are ancient communities that are being driven out and destroyed; their disappearance is not good for us Every Christian community that survives in this region is a community that does not share the jihadist vision of what this neighborhood should
JAWAd ALI SHAH
TRUMP’S ‘LOW IQ’ ATTACKS DRAW SCRUTINY OVER RACIAL OVERTONES
election rival Kamala Harris whom he called a moron stupid and a very low IQ individual The slur is especially offensive for the Black community, experts said, given how white supremacists have historically pushed claims that they have less brain capacity and are therefore more suited for manual labour Trump s characterisation of people of
superior to women and people of colour and thus, divinely appointed for leadership Trump s recent repeated use of the expression dovetails with the American farright’s apparent obsession with genetics and phrenology a pseudoscience of cranium size and shape as a supposed marker of intelligence An interest in phrenology has
A Pentagon assessment has suggested that clearing Iranian-laid mines from the Strait of Hormuz could take up to six months though US officials have rejected the claim and called the report inaccurate
According to a report by The Washington Post, the estimate was shared with members of the House Armed Services Committee during a classified briefing The assessment said the operation to fully secure the waterway may not begin until after hostilities end The
noticing a rash on our son's skin, we rushed him to the hospital Five days later we brought him back dead " Sajib told AFP He had a high fever and breathing difficulties VA C C
in parliament on Wednesday Prime Minister Tarique Rahman blamed the previous administration of Sheikh Hasina, which was removed in a 2024 revolution, as well as the caretaker government that followed, for failing to vaccinate the population Bangladesh has made notable progress in immunisation against infectious diseases but a measles vaccination drive scheduled for June 2024 was delayed because of the deadly uprising that led to Hasina s removal from power The autocratic government that we ousted, together with political parties both inside and outside parliament, did not procure vaccines," said Rahman, who took office in February Rahman also told parliament that Bangladesh was receiving support from the UN children’s agency but said the country was facing a shortage of testing kits The latest government data underlines the scale of the outbreak as authorities continue their vaccination effort across the country in an attempt to contain the spread of the disease
China urges restraint, calls for ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Syria
online gambling platforms and fraudulent applications
Mobilink Bank’s WIN Incubator Leads Pakistan’s DEI Agenda, Graduates 18 Women-Led Startups
Reinforcing its position as a leader in Diversity Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Pakistan s leading digital microfinance bank, Mobilink Bank has successfully graduated 18 women-led startups under its Women Inspirational Network (WIN) Incubator Program an industry-first initiative designed to unlock the economic potential of women entrepreneurs in Pakistan The graduation ceremony, held in Islamabad, was attended by Ms Wajiha Qamar, Minister of State for Federal Education & Professional Training, as the Chief Guest, alongside key stakeholders from the public and private sectors The WIN program equipped participants with practical skills in digital entrepreneurship financial literacy and business scaling enabling them to build resilient futureready enterprises The ceremony concluded with awards recognizing high-impact ventures emerging from the cohort Green Plastics secured the Best Startup Award and received PKR 1 million in seed funding for its innovative solution converting potato peels into recyclable bags SEPA calls for collective action to promote environmental sustainabilit y
is playing a vital role in building a bright future for Pakistan Talking about facilities, Pakistan Steel Cadet College Karachi offers modern classrooms wellequipped science and computer laboratories spacious hostels sports grounds and highly qualified teaching staff In addition cadets are trained through physical training, parade, and cocurricular activities to develop disciplined and confident personalities Maritime centre of excellence hosts international conference on ‘emerging technologies and future warfare’
A two-day international conference on “Emerging Technologies and the Future Warfare hosted by Maritime Centre of Excellence (MCE) culminated in Karachi Aim of the conference was to bring together maritime experts, academia and defence industry representatives on one platform to discuss changing geostrategic trends and impact of technology on modern warfare Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf graced the occasion as Chief Guest While addressing the conference Chief Guest highlighted the importance of close collaboration between industry, end-users and academia to drive innovation, adaptability and operational relevance He said that such collaboration would promote indigenization and self-reliance helping build a cost-effective and globally competitive defence ecosystem for Pakistan with export potential
KARACHI