A falling oil price is not an energy policy
Oil’s sharp fall on hopes of an Iran deal is a welcome reprieve. Pakistan should spend it on storage, a pricing rule, a fairer levy and the solar shift its people have already begun.
Top stories
-
INTERNATIONAL
Bomb threats hit four European flights, briefly closing a Warsaw airport
All the planes landed safely and no explosives were found, a day after fighter jets escorted a Wizz Air flight to Budapest
-
INTERNATIONAL
Israel election: Five opposition leaders back Eisenkot for prime minister
They will recommend him to President Herzog, whose talks begin on Wednesday, but remain split over the Arab-led parties they would need for a majority
-
MILITARY
Pakistan tests its first homegrown air-to-air missile, the Fa’az
The ISPR says the missile can hit aerial targets at longer ranges and will strengthen the Pakistan Air Force
-
INTERNATIONAL
GTA VI needs up to 212GB, and you can start downloading it on November 10
The game launches on November 19 at $79.99 and is digital only, so even boxed copies will contain just a download code
-
INTERNATIONAL
US midterms: Trump says ‘only fools’ would vote for El-Sayed as polls open
Haley Stevens says the Democrat is ‘not fit to serve’ as Michigan votes in a race that could decide the Senate
US midterms 2026
Voting under waySenate51 for control, 50 for Republicans
34Democrats
31Republicans
House218 for control
0Democrats
0Republicans
The seven Senate toss-ups
Michigan6am
Abdul El-Sayed
Mike Rogers
Texas6am
James Talarico
Ken Paxton
Maine6am
Troy Jackson
Susan Collins
Ohio5:30am
Sherrod Brown
Jon Husted
Iowa7am
Josh Turek
Ashley Hinson
Kansas6am
Adam Hamilton
Roger Marshall
Alaska10am
Mary Peltola
Dan Sullivan
Seats follow race calls by US election desks and are not official results. The Senate count starts from the 65 seats not on the ballot. Democrats include independents who sit with them. Poll-closing times are Pakistan time, Wednesday. Full results and coverage
Ask Pakistan. Get the proof.
- What did the budget change for salaried workers?
- Why did the State Bank hold the rate?
- How much have remittances risen?
Every answer from Thursday Times reporting and the official record. On WhatsApp too.
Featured
US midterms: Why you may not know who won when you wake up on Wednesday
Polls close from 4am to 11am Pakistan time, but mail ballots in California and ranked-choice voting in Alaska could take days
US midterms: Voting goes smoothly so far as Trump keeps casting doubt
A machine fault in a New York suburb and floods in the Southwest are the main problems so far, and the feared federal interference has not appeared
India freezes Rs231bn in Anil Ambani group assets, including two jets
The Enforcement Directorate has also taken two windmills in its money-laundering cases, and says 10 people have been arrested so far
More stories
Four fiefdoms and a flag
Pakistan's four provinces are not an administrative map. They are four estates, kept intact by the men who profit from the distance between citizens and the state.
“He does not need you educated. He needs you to need him.”
-
The Thursday Times targeted in major cyberattack by Indian hackers
An extensive security investigation uncovered a sustained Indian intrusion into the publication’s digital infrastructure. With normal operations restored, The Thursday Times says its commitment to independent journalism remains unchanged.
8 min read
-
Why Pakistan doesn’t need a treaty to defend Makkah
Pakistan's commitment to defending Makkah predates the pact it just signed, and its silence on specifics isn't hesitation, it's strategy.
5 min read
-
How Pakistan overtook India in global diplomacy
What does it take to go from an unanswered White House phone call to a UN Security Council seat in two years? Ask Pakistan. The Makkah Defence Pact. US-Iran mediation. An invite from Damascus. India lost Washington's favor in the same stretch.
7 min read
Why Afghanistan is called a global hub of terrorism
UN monitors, US intelligence and Russia all warn of terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan, as Pakistan becomes the country most affected by terrorism.
“Provided by the de facto authorities in conjunction with weapons permits and travel documents.”
-
Through the Maldives, Pakistan stakes a claim to a bigger Indian Ocean role
A maritime security pact signed during President Muizzu’s visit gives Islamabad a foothold in waters New Delhi has long treated as its own backyard.
4 min read
-
With Badr, four Muslim powers bet on building their weapons together
Signed in Doha with little fanfare, the Badr memorandum joins Turkish factories, Qatari capital, Pakistani scale and an Indonesian market. Read as industrial policy rather than a pact, it may matter more than it looks.
7 min read
-
Inside the Makkah alliance: DG ISPR on expansion, legal basis and the Muslim world’s test
DG ISPR Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry details the Makkah alliance's secretariat, its Article 51 legal basis, and a maritime coalition spanning Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb, in an interview with Independent Arabia.
2 min read
Words by
Dr Muhammad Bux Dharejo
Sehat Dehleez is Balochistan’s healthcare breakthrough
Free consultations, e-prescriptions, referrals and family health records on one public platform: Balochistan has built a model the rest of Pakistan can learn from.
Words by
Abdullah Esquire
Rethinking Musharraf
I grew up in a PML-N house where the general was the villain of every story. Fifteen years on, I've stopped believing it.
Words by
Raza Butt
Fazl’s quarrel with the establishment: principle, or political exclusion?
He spent a career negotiating at the table of power. Now, locked out of the room, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has begun to sound like the man he helped remove.
Words by
Raza Butt
The politics of collective security
The strongest defence of the Haramain would be one that keeps the turbulence of the region far from their gates. That is more than deterrence; it is stewardship of a trust larger than any single state.
Pakistan in Numbers
The prices and figures behind your bills and savings, kept up to date.
See all the numbers- InflationHow fast prices are rising, over a year10.3%Down from 11.1%Sep 2026
- PetrolPrice of a litreRs 374.51Down from Rs 377.913 Nov 2026
- Foreign reservesDollars the State Bank holds$21.52bnUp from $21.49bn23 Oct 2026
- Dollar rateRupees for one US dollarRs 276.66Down from Rs 276.702 Nov 2026
- Stock marketThe KSE-100 index168,019Up from 166,5643 Nov 2026
- Load-sheddingPower shortfall, as reported4,000 MWUp from 3,600 MW6 Oct 2026
How Pakistan lives.
Westline
How markets and wars dictate society.
Read Westline
The backlog Britain built
Ministers of both parties have spent a decade blaming the people in the queue. The numbers point at the people running it.
Abdullah Esquire
The Tories edge past Reform, but credibility is the real fight
Abdullah Esquire
Trump’s infatuation with Munir is a love letter to charisma
The Editorial Desk
Every Starmer stumble brings Kemi closer
TT Monitoring Desk
Hormuz crisis has drained nearly a billion barrels from world oil stocks, ADNOC chief says, as shipping hits 30% of a barrel’s cost
“The world has eroded its supply buffers,” Sultan Al Jaber tells the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi, with diesel stocks at a 35-year seasonal low in some markets
AI now ‘mostly smarter’ than top scientists, Sam Altman tells ADIPEC as ADNOC signs OpenAI deal
OpenAI chief says there must be “no room for debate” over human control, and names energy as the one challenge he faces today
Binance freezes assets after $6.3 billion breach in what may be biggest crypto heist ever
The exchange suspended deposits and withdrawals and says it will cover all losses, as an analytics firm blames North Korea’s TraderTraitor unit and bitcoin slides to a six-week low.
Aramco profit jumps 34.5% to $36.25bn despite attacks and lower output
Higher oil prices and a joint venture exit lifted the Saudi oil giant’s earnings, even as the Iran war cut its output and its facilities came under fire.
Saudi-led coalition intercepts Houthi ballistic missile after strikes on Yemen’s Ras Isa port, as Houthis threaten Aramco
Civil defence alerts were issued and lifted across southern Saudi cities, while Houthi media say seven people were wounded in coalition strikes in Hodeidah province.
Huge fire at Dammam industrial complex after reported Yemeni strike, Iranian state media says
Saudi authorities have not commented on the claim about a strike in the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province.
Pakistan tests its first homegrown air-to-air missile, the Fa’az
The ISPR says the missile can hit aerial targets at longer ranges and will strengthen the Pakistan Air Force
Seventeen terrorists killed in Balochistan, soldier martyred, ISPR says
Forces stopped an attempted roadblock in Kachhi and raided a hideout in Kharan, where Sepoy Hikmat Ullah was martyred
Minister hints at ‘better news’ on petrol as LPG hits Rs800 a kilo
Ali Pervaiz Malik also promises piped gas at mealtimes this winter, and admits Pakistan never built its storage or LPG chain
Asim Munir and Maldives’ Muizzu agree to deepen defence cooperation
The army chief met the Maldivian president in Islamabad on the second day of the first visit by a Maldivian head of state in 11 years, as the two countries signed a defence and maritime security pact.
Makkah defence pact text shows a ten-year lock-in and a Pakistani first in line to run its secretariat
The 16-article agreement between Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia treats an attack on one as an attack on all, bars withdrawal for a decade and gives Pakistan the first turn as secretary-general.
Türkiye plans parliamentary mandate to deploy military personnel to Saudi Arabia
An AK Party lawmaker told Reuters the request would follow ratification of the Makkah defence pact, which Ankara sent to parliament on Tuesday. There has been no official confirmation from Ankara, Riyadh or Islamabad.
West Ham sack Nuno after poor start in the Championship
The club is eighth, six points off the top, after being widely seen as favourites for automatic promotion
Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel dies after on-field collision
The 30-year-old suffered head and chest injuries against Andorra on Monday, and his condition worsened on Tuesday morning
Asian Cup postponed by almost a year after attacks on host Saudi Arabia
The tournament moves to December 23, 2027, to January 21, 2028, pending Fifa approval, after a Houthi missile killed 13 at Riyadh airport
From the paper’s own studio
Campaigns, films, adverts and launches, made in-house by the people who make the paper. Brands, causes and institutions can hire the same team.
- Marketing
- Advertising
- Promotion
- Production
The names and the hits
The people who have written for The Thursday Times, and the stories readers came for most.
Written for The Thursday Times
Reham KhanBroadcaster, formerly of the BBCCelebrity sufferings
Mohammad Ishaq DarDeputy Prime Minister and Foreign MinisterPurchasing power is being squeezed from the common man
Mian Javed LatifPML-N member of the National Assemblyعمران خان کا ایجنڈا
Absar AlamFormer PEMRA chairmanجنرل باجوہ کا بیٹا اور میرا بیٹا
Hina Parvez ButtPML-N, Punjab Assemblyلوٹ کے بدھو گھر کو آ رہے ہیں
Ahmad JawadFormer PTI information secretaryقیامت سے قیامت تک
Ammar MasoodChief editor, WE Newsاک نئی قرداد پاکستان
Hammad HassanColumnist, Jangثاقب نثار کے جرائم
Most read, all time
- World Bank places Pakistan in MENA, ending South Asia classification
- Islamabad beats New York, London and Paris in quality of life index
- Jemima Goldsmith finds love again with Irish financier Cameron O’Reilly
- Cristiano Ronaldo wins his first Saudi Pro League Title with Al Nassr
- COMMENTARYThe Superstar Playboy Politicians
- OPINIONThe reality of Dr Shahbaz Gill
- ANALYSISA detailed guide to Maryam Nawaz’s first 100 days as Punjab’s Chief Minister
- TORQUEPlanning a motorway trip? Here’s how to get your M-Tag, and what happens if you don’t
Ask Pakistan. Get the proof.
Every answer from Thursday Times reporting and the official record, with the proof behind it. On WhatsApp, in your own language.
Free on WhatsApp. Nothing to download.
