Islamabad, Pakistan Political tensions within Pakistan’s ruling coalition have intensified, culminating in the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) staging a second consecutive walkout from the National Assembly. The move underscores a deepening rift with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), sparked by controversial remarks from Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz amid an ongoing dispute over flood relief and water rights. The session began with a stark announcement from PPP leader Naveed Qamar. While acknowledging that the government had sent a team to engage in dialogue following their previous walkout, he stated on the floor that “There has been no difference on the…
Author: Raja Zahid Khanzada
From Khan to Shehbaz: How Pakistan’s US Visits in 2019 and 2025 Tell Two Different Storie By Raja Zahid Akhtar Khanzada World politics is, in essence, a game of chess. Every move must be calculated, every step backed by design, intent and hidden objectives. Sometimes a sacrifice, sometimes a prelude to victory. The successful ruler is one who can read the board, sense the pieces, and keep his hand firmly on the pulse of time. Those who fail to do so become pawns in someone else’s game, remembered not for their vision but for their utility. The summer of 2019…
BEIJING, CHINA – China launched a new visa program on Wednesday aimed at attracting foreign talent in science and technology, part of its ongoing efforts to position itself as a world leader in these sectors ahead of the United States. The Chinese measure, first announced in August, stands in stark contrast to recent US policy. The Trump administration last month unexpectedly introduced new and expensive changes to its own skilled worker visas. China’s new K visa significantly simplifies the immigration process for those eligible, according to state media. State newspaper People’s Daily lauded the move, saying: “Against the backdrop of…
OBERGOMS, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland’s glaciers have melted considerably over the past 12 months, registering the fourth-largest reduction in ice volume on record, according to the monitoring body GLAMOS on Wednesday. The annual report by GLAMOS and the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation found that a winter marked by minimal snowfall, particularly in the northeastern Swiss Alps, followed by intense heat waves in June, caused the glaciers to lose 3% of their total ice mass. “This is really a lot,” said Matthias Huss, the director of GLAMOS, whose reports cover the October-September hydrological year. While the melt rate was not as…
SAN FRANCISCO, US – OpenAI, the company behind the widely popular ChatGPT, has reached a staggering valuation of $500 billion, following a deal in which current and former employees sold approximately $6.6 billion worth of shares. A source familiar with the matter provided the details to Reuters on Thursday. This new figure represents a massive leap from the company’s previous valuation of $300 billion, underscoring OpenAI’s exceptionally rapid gains in both its user base and revenue generation. As part of the deal, OpenAI employees sold shares to a consortium of high-profile investors, including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu…
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – The technology-focused buyout group Silver Lake has long coveted video game developer Electronic Arts (EA), the studio behind massive franchises like “Battlefield” and “Madden NFL.” This spring, a brainstorming session between Silver Lake investors and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, began mapping out the plan that resulted in the world’s largest leveraged buyout. Sources familiar with the talks said the discussions began between Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban and Kushner. The $55 billion deal, announced Monday and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), will significantly expand Silver Lake’s portfolio in games…
In India, Bollywood stars are asking judges to protect their voice and persona in the era of artificial intelligence. One famous couple’s biggest target is Google’s video arm YouTube. Abhishek Bachchan and his wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, known for her iconic Cannes Film Festival red carpet appearances, have asked a judge to remove and prohibit creation of AI videos infringing their intellectual property rights. But in a more far-reaching request, they also want Google ordered to have safeguards to ensure such YouTube videos uploaded anyway do not train other AI platforms, legal papers reviewed by Reuters show. A handful of…
SAN FRANCISCO, US – Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, has publicly dismissed long-running claims that the social media platform secretly listens to users through their phone microphones to gather data for targeted advertising. Mosseri’s statement arrives as Meta prepares to expand its ad targeting capabilities using data gathered from user interactions with its artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Posting on Instagram on Wednesday, Mosseri called the idea that Meta activates microphones in the background to record private conversations an “age-old conspiracy theory.” The claim has circulated for years, fueled by users who frequently notice ads that seem eerily related to…
Google has officially teased its new Gemini-powered Google Home Speaker, launching in spring 2026 at $99. The device will be available in four colors — Porcelain, Hazel, Berry, and Jade. Unlike Amazon, which is releasing its new Echo speakers this year, Google is holding back the launch to roll out Gemini functionality on older Google Home devices first. Existing users will gain early access to Gemini, allowing them to test the assistant before the new speaker hits the market. “It’s got to work for the existing users. We don’t want to force you to buy a new one unless you…
For years, rumors of a foldable iPhone have sparked excitement and skepticism in equal measure. Once optimistically projected to arrive as early as 2020, the elusive device now looks more likely to debut in late 2026, according to multiple reports and industry insiders. Apple’s foldable device, sometimes referred to as the iPhone Fold or iPhone Flip, has faced repeated delays since speculation began in 2018. Sources including The Information, The Wall Street Journal, Ming-Chi Kuo, and Mark Gurman suggest that the final design and specifications will be locked down by mid-2025, with mass production scheduled for late 2026. This timeline…
