President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday gave his assent to the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (Conversion) (Repeal) Bill, 2026, fulfilling all necessary legal requirements for the national carrier’s privatisation.
The original bill, which now stands repealed, was passed in January 2016, and sought to convert the national flag carrier into a public limited company.
Confirming the…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and UFC CEO Dana White signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday cementing a public-private partnership between the mixed martial arts company and the U.S. government.
Trump will likely financially benefit from this deal due to his investment in its parent company, TKO Group Holdings. While conservative media has sold this as “cage fights for diplomacy,” the…
Aggressive FCC enforcement and congressional action is necessary to establish a uniform national standard on pole-attachment cost-sharing and timelines, the author writes.
President Trump’s immigration czar, Tom Homan, is pledging a rapid surge of immigration agents in New York City.
Homan told Fox News Monday that he is reviewing plans to rapidly increase ICE activity in the city, deploying “more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen,” claiming that he promised New York Governor Kathy Hochul to boost ICE’s presence in New York if the state passed any bills preventing…
When Governor Abigail Spanberger signed a new assault weapons ban in Virginia last month, it got almost zero national news coverage. Yet it amounted to an important milestone: It marked the first time in U.S. history that such a gun control measure was passed into law by any state government in the American South.
So it’s sadly fitting that passage of this law has been greeted by what you might…
KARACHI: The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) is preparing to impose a new tax on hotels, restaurants, guest houses, lodges, marriage halls, marquees, marriage lawns, Airbnb properties and wedding banquet facilities to generate Rs1 billion annually.
If approved by the City Council, the ‘entertainment tax’ will be collected at the rate of one per cent of the total bill generated by hotels,…
The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday refuted reports that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar shared any intelligence regarding Iran’s nuclear programme during a meeting with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Dar met with Rubio on May 29 during a brief visit to Washington, where the two discussed bilateral cooperation as well as regional security issues. Rubio had…
People of myriad sexual and gender identities across the U.S. will spend June celebrating Pride Month, a commemoration of the decades-long fight for civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community. But in Arkansas, residents will instead be celebrating a new invention.
Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders bestowed a new name on June, dubbing it “Fidelity Month,” per a new declaration.
The effort is…
John Barrasso is an orthopedic surgeon, a former rodeo physician and the first in his family to attend college. He also serves as Senate Majority Whip, the second-highest-ranking member of the Republican Conference. He represents neighboring Wyoming, where he’s widely known as “Wyoming’s Doctor.” And he’s this year’s recipient of the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation’s Titan of Public Service Award.
The…
Many governors across the country, Democrats and Republicans alike, are
making a point of mentioning childcare these days. In fact, nearly half of them mentioned it in their 2026 State of the State addresses, according to a tally released this week by the Center for American Progress. And it stands to reason. Childcare is
less affordable than ever, even for middle-0class families, and voters want…
ISLAMABAD: Amid reports about a possible new constitutional amendment that could roll back certain functions devolved to the provinces, a PPP senator on Tuesday said the party had not received any draft of the purported 28th Amendment.
Addressing a press conference to share details of President Asif Ali Zardari’s China visit, Senator Saleem Mandviwalla said it was “premature” to comment…
The Sindh government will fully open the Shahrah-i-Bhutto Expressway in Karachi to the public by the end of May, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon said on Thursday.
Shahrah-i-Bhutto Expressway is a 39-kilometre high-speed corridor in Karachi that was noted to be 88.2 per cent complete as of March. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had earlier this year directed the local government…
Under President Donald Trump’s strict immigration policies, immigrants who call 911 are being detained, and those who are too afraid to call are dying as a result.
In December, Axel Sanchez Toledo was violently arrested by police officers after he called 911 to request a welfare check on his 4-year-old daughter after hearing she’d fallen sick while staying with his ex-girlfriend, The Marshall…
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi conveyed to Bangladeshi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaid Islam on Sunday that there were “vast opportunities for investment”, as the two sides agreed to increase cooperation in trade and business.
Naqvi, who is on an official visit to Bangladesh, called on Islam in Dhaka, where the two held “detailed discussions on bilateral relations,…
Hundreds of NFL hopefuls are participating in rookie mini-camps this weekend.
Of the league’s 32 teams, 23 are hosting rookie camps that include draft picks, undrafted free agents and a high number of tryout players.
In total, there are 40 players with Utah ties who are participating in these camps, either this weekend or last weekend.
2026 NFL draft: What Utah ties have signed as free agents…
WASHINGTON: Nearly 30 Democratic lawmakers have urged US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to end Washington’s longstanding ambiguity over Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons programme, arguing that such secrecy has become untenable during the ongoing war on Iran.
Israel is widely believed to be in possession of nuclear weapons, though it neither acknowledges nor denies having a nuclear arsenal.
In a…
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended a meeting of the European Political Community in Armenia this weekend, a first by the leader of a non-European country. He was invited to discuss common interests in trade, energy, and security. In a speech that echoed his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos two months earlier, Carney called on middle powers, including Canada and…
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made his state’s new gerrymandered congressional map official Monday.
DeSantis signed the map that his own office specifically drew in order to capture four more Republican seats in time for November’s midterm elections, hoping to prevent GOP losses as President Trump’s unpopularity continues to grow.
“Signed, Sealed, and Delivered,” DeSantis posted on X shortly…
PRESIDENT Asif Ali Zardari being seen off by Wang Qiyang, party secretary of the Communist Party of China, Hainan, at Sanya Airport.—APP
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Pakistan on Friday after completing his five-day visit to China.
The president departed for Pakistan from the Chinese city of Sanya on Thursday. His visit was aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation…
The decision could have ramifications for the 2026 midterms and beyond.
ISLAMABAD: The Privatisation Commission announced on Thursday that the consortium led by Arif Habib Corporation Limited has notified it of its intent to acquire the remaining 25 per cent equity stake in Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL), paving the way for full private-sector ownership of the national carrier.
It said that the total private-sector investment in the…
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday congratulated the two Pakistani astronaut candidates selected for China’s manned space programme, expressing hope that the voyage will “usher in a new era of space research in Pakistan”.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that he met the two candidates — Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud — at the Prime Minister’s House.
The…
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday congratulated the two Pakistani astronomers selected for China’s manned space programme, expressing hope that the voyage will “usher in a new era of space research in Pakistan”.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that he met the two astronomers — Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud — at the Prime Minister’s House.
The premier…
Pakistan LNG Limited has issued its first spot tender for liquefied natural gas (LNG) since December 2023 amid supply shortfalls triggered by the US-Israeli war against Iran.
The company is seeking bids from international suppliers for three LNG cargoes of around 140,000 cubic metres each for delivery on April 27-30, and on May 1-7 and 8-14 at Port Qasim in Karachi, according to an advertisement…
China has selected two Pakistani astronauts as candidates for its manned space programme, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday.
Both will travel to China for training, and one will participate in a flight mission as a payload specialist and become the first foreign astronaut in China’s space station, CCTV said.
Meanwhile, China Daily reported on Wednesday that the astronauts were…
InfraZamin Pakistan Limited, in partnership with Infralectric, a Brillanz Group company, and a consortium of banks, has signed Pakistan’s first green sukuk for the telecom sector, a PKR 3 billion transaction aimed at financing renewable energy and storage solutions.
The sukuk, rated ‘AAA’, is backed by a 100% principal guarantee from InfraZamin and was arranged by Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan…
Russia continues to bombard Ukraine, killing 17 people in a wave of drone and missile attacks overnight. But the Parliament also signed a law on Tuesday that would allow the military to attack any country that holds Russians captive. Europe fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin will use this as a pretext to attack other former Soviet states…
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after he reached Jeddah on Wednesday alongside a high-level delegation on an official visit to the kingdom, the PM Office’s (PMO) said in a statement.
The statement added that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar was also present at the meeting.
Dar separately posted on X that the meeting was “marked…
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after he reached Jeddah on Wednesday alongside a high-level delegation on an official visit to the kingdom, the PM Office’s (PMO) said in a statement.
The statement added that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar was also present at the meeting.
Earlier, a post on the PMO’s X account said the premier…
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Jeddah on Wednesday alongside a high-level delegation on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
Earlier in the day, the Foreign Office said the prime minister, accompanied by a high-level delegation, would be undertaking official visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye from April 15 to 18.
In a post on X, the PMO…