Haball, a Pakistan fintech firm, raised $52 million to expand its shariah-compliant supply chain financing and payments services, the company said on Tuesday. The funding, led by Zayn VC and Meezan Bank, includes $5 million in equity and $47 million in strategic financing, and will support Haball’s growth plans for the country, the company said in a statement. The money will also help Haball’s expansion into the Middle East, starting with Saudi Arabia this year, it added. “Supply chain finance in Pakistan is nascent but is expected to be worth over $9 billion; driven by the severe financing gap faced…
Author: Raja Zahid Khanzada
A Russian spacecraft safely delivered an American astronaut Jonathan Kim and two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, a flight hailed by Moscow as an example of fruitful Russia-US space cooperation. The Russian Soyuz 2.1 a rocket blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying Kim and Russians Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritsky, docking three hours later with the ISS, Russia’s Roscosmos state space corporation said. Once the hatches were opened, Kim and the Russians were shown smiling and hugging their companions on the station, which now has 10 people on board, including four NASA…
The National Park Service on Monday returned an image of and quote from Harriet Tubman to a webpage about the Underground Railroad, following backlash after her presence on the page was dramatically reduced. The agency said the reduced mention of Tubman had been made without approval by top leadership. Until mid-February, the top of the NPS’ “What is the Underground Railroad?” page featured a large photo of Tubman, the railroad’s most famous “conductor,” records from the Wayback Machine show. Next to it was a quote from Tubman about her experience coordinating the clandestine network for slaves seeking freedom. Related article…
As the Trump administration continues to expand its deportation actions, startling scenes have emerged in recent weeks of masked federal agents in plain clothes detaining international students on campus or near their homes, raising serious questions about those tactics and their authority to wear face coverings. There is no federal policy dictating when officers can or should cover their faces during arrests, but historically they have almost always worn them only while performing undercover work to protect the integrity of ongoing investigations, law enforcement experts told CNN. Practices have seemingly changed due to the concern agents will be targeted as…
The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily paused a lower court-ordered deadline to return to the US a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, granting the Trump administration additional time to review the case. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a sheet metal worker and father of three, was deported last month after the Trump administration admitted to an “administrative error.” The error resulted in Abrego Garcia, 38, being put on a plane and sent to El Salvador’s notorious high-security prison CECOT, despite a 2019 ruling by an immigration judge that protected him from deportation due to death threats from a gang…
If there were a Mount Funkmore for the greatest funk bassists, Marcus Miller’s face and trademark porkpie hat would be sculpted into that musical monument. For more than four decades, the Grammy-winning bass player has inspired countless listeners around the globe to “Get Up Off That Thing.” He has created some of funk music’s most infectious bass grooves, and his muscular bass lines can be heard on records by Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, and Luther Vandross. His blistering live version of “Run for Cover” is a textbook example of playing “in the pocket”—that magical moment when a band’s rhythm section…
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Monday that a mother and her three children are on their way back home to New York following their detention by immigration enforcement officials last month at a dairy farm. The third grader, two teenagers, and their mother, who have not yet been publicly named, were taken into custody on March 27 as officials executed a search warrant at the farm for an individual accused of possessing “child sexual abuse materials,” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, wrote on X on Monday. During the operation at Old McDonald’s Farm…
The US Supreme Court has granted a temporary pause to a lower court’s order that required the Trump administration to bring back a deported Salvadoran man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, according to Reuters. Chief Justice John Roberts approved the request to temporarily halt the ruling, which had set a deadline of 11:59 pm on Monday for Mr. Garcia’s return. Mr. Garcia was deported on March 15th, with the government initially attributing his removal to an “administrative error.” However, the government also claims he is a member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation his legal team denies. In its appeal to the…
The United Nations has cautioned that millions of people in 14 countries are in danger of starvation following the United States’ sudden cessation of emergency food assistance. The World Food Programme (WFP), already facing a 40 percent decrease in its funding for the current year, reported that it had been informed of the US’s decision to halt aid to these 14 unspecified nations. In a statement on X, the WFP emphasized the grave consequences of this action. “If implemented, this could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation,” the agency stated. The WFP…
In a surprising announcement, US President Donald Trump stated on Monday that the United States and Iran were on the verge of commencing direct discussions regarding Tehran’s nuclear program. However, Iran’s foreign minister clarified that the upcoming talks in Oman would be indirect. Adding to the complexities of potential negotiations between the long-standing adversaries, Trump issued a stern warning, stating that Iran would face “great danger” if the talks proved unsuccessful. Iran had recently resisted Trump’s demands for direct negotiations on its nuclear activities or face military action, a stance it appeared to maintain on Monday. “We’re having direct talks…
