Newspaper - Column - September 30, 2026

The unholy alliance

The unholy alliance

Its close military cooperation with Israel has drawn the UAE directly into the war on Iran.
Updated 30 Sep, 2026 09:02am
Makkah moment

Makkah moment

Pakistan’s strategic direction would be wise to recognise that Pakistan’s expanding strategic horizons cannot be divorced from the pressures it confronts at home.
Updated 30 Sep, 2026 09:12am
Trump-Xi summit

Trump-Xi summit

There is much that China and the US appear not to have discussed.
Published 30 Sep, 2026 06:42am
What a shame

What a shame

The absence of shame is hurting the world.
Published 29 Sep, 2026 07:14am
Do leaders matter?

Do leaders matter?

The role individuals play in shaping history has always been a contested issue in an age-old debate.
Published 28 Sep, 2026 05:56am
AI and social catastrophe

AI and social catastrophe

In a world already characterised by the deskilling of labour, people rendered jobless by a machine (or the threat of a machine) won’t suddenly find alternative employment.
Updated 28 Sep, 2026 08:46am
Glimpses of hope

Glimpses of hope

The climate aspect should be a core focus of AI regulation.
Published 28 Sep, 2026 05:56am
The Houthi blockade

The Houthi blockade

The conventional legal position is that naval blockade is a belligerent right associated with international armed conflict (IAC).
Updated 27 Sep, 2026 08:17am
Hope, not heroes

Hope, not heroes

Pakistan can feel like a place designed to exhaust hope.
Published 27 Sep, 2026 07:46am
War in the Gulf

War in the Gulf

The conflict has been nothing short of a disaster for the US itself.
Updated 27 Sep, 2026 05:20pm
The value of knowing

The value of knowing

Disinformation is not just a communications problem. It is a governance risk, an economic liability and a direct threat to people
Published 26 Sep, 2026 05:57am
Invisible risks

Invisible risks

As mobile banking grows, so does the attack surface.
Published 26 Sep, 2026 05:57am
India’s killer tourists

India’s killer tourists

Hosting those accused of such acts without demanding accountability raises its own moral questions, but this is a truth that India, drowning in its own hatreds.
Updated 26 Sep, 2026 09:04am
Education for society

Education for society

The grip of patriarchy on our society is exactly the kind of embedded issue that cannot be tackled through law alone and has to be challenged through education.
Updated 25 Sep, 2026 09:08am
Safeguarding and harnessing AI

Safeguarding and harnessing AI

The IAEA’s institutional logic offers five useful lessons for the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation.
Published 25 Sep, 2026 07:32am
Container city

Container city

Whether the latter’s "long march" even materialises is irrelevant, because the optics of a heavily contained population is the real story.
Updated 25 Sep, 2026 09:12am
Lack of planning

Lack of planning

Pakistan does not lack planning institutions. It lacks a plan for its planning institutions.
Updated 24 Sep, 2026 08:52am
Filing season ends

Filing season ends

Yet again, the authorities are trying to incentivise retailers to self-register using yet another fixed tax scheme.
Published 24 Sep, 2026 07:52am
Workplace order

Workplace order

Cordial ties with employees ensure workplace discipline.
Published 24 Sep, 2026 07:42am
Process becomes punishment

Process becomes punishment

Exceptional powers created against today’s adversary may become tomorrow’s weapon against those who created them.
Updated 23 Sep, 2026 08:23am
A question of region

A question of region

Crowded, noisy and poor, societies in this region struggle with imperfect democracies.
Updated 22 Sep, 2026 09:18am
Cheer for conspiracy theories

Cheer for conspiracy theories

A classified US Army data-mining programme identified leading hijacker Mohamed Atta and his ‘Brooklyn cell’ over a year before 9/11.
Published 22 Sep, 2026 07:44am
Note: Updated 7:30 AM (PKT) every morning