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The call between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed underscored the Gulf’s growing concern over Iranian escalation and placed Saudi Arabia firmly beside the UAE at a moment of regional strain.
Iran’s attack on the UAE has drawn sharp condemnation from Donald Trump, Ursula von der Leyen, Emmanuel Macron, Gulf rulers and the United Nations, with world leaders warning that the crisis could threaten regional stability and global energy flows.
US President Donald Trump said American forces had destroyed multiple Iranian “fast boats” targeting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, as Washington moves to secure maritime routes amid rising Gulf tensions.
UAE air defences intercepted Iranian-origin drones over territorial waters after emergency alerts were issued across major cities. Authorities confirmed no direct impacts and urged public caution.
The U.S. has transferred crew from a seized Iranian vessel to Pakistan, signalling trust in Islamabad as tensions rise in the Strait of Hormuz. The move highlights Pakistan’s growing role as a key intermediary as Project Freedom reshapes Gulf maritime dynamics.
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils Project Freedom to move trapped ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, combining naval pressure, humanitarian messaging and fresh diplomatic signals toward Iran.
Jemima Goldsmith is reportedly engaged to Irish financier Cameron O’Reilly after a relationship that began through film and documentary circles, marking a quieter new chapter after years of public attention around her marriage to Imran Khan and relationship with Hugh Grant.
Washington has awarded a $488 million F-16 radar support contract that includes Pakistan among several operators. The move follows an earlier package focused on Pakistan’s F-16 fleet and continues existing defence sustainment cooperation.
Donald Trump offered unusually warm praise for Pakistan, Islamabad, the Prime Minister and the Field Marshal during a media exchange, saying Pakistan’s leadership remains engaged with the United States as Iran negotiations continue.
Iranian Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam praised Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Pakistan’s career diplomats for their role in facilitating, coordinating and preparing diplomatic talks.
UNICEF warns Afghanistan could lose 25,000+ female teachers and health workers by 2030, as restrictions on girls’ education and women’s work continue under Taliban rule.
Iran’s Abbas Araghchi is back in Islamabad within around 24 hours of leaving for Muscat, keeping Pakistan at the centre of high-stakes US-Iran diplomacy.
Trump has cancelled his representatives’ planned trip to Islamabad for talks with Iran, saying too much time was being spent on travel and that Tehran can contact Washington directly if it wants negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad, describing Pakistan as holding a significant place in Tehran’s foreign policy outlook while briefing Pakistan’s leadership on ceasefire developments, regional stability and bilateral cooperation.
As Pete Hegseth promises a historic review into the Fall of Kabul, the real accounting must extend beyond the airport chaos to the Afghan families left stranded in Pakistan by Western failure, delay and broken promises.
Pete Hegseth has promised a historic review of the Afghanistan withdrawal, saying the department will examine the decisions that led to Abbey Gate, the Kabul evacuation and what he described as a wider loss of American deterrence after 2021.
Donald Trump said the U.S. will not use nuclear weapons in the war with Iran, insisting Tehran has already been badly weakened by conventional military force. He also signalled he is not interested in a rushed settlement, saying any agreement with Iran must be durable and lasting.
Levi Strauss has opened a new front in its sustainability strategy with a three-year regenerative agriculture programme in Pakistan’s cotton belt, where water stress, degraded soil and climate volatility are reshaping one of the country’s most important farming sectors.
Trump rarely admires foreign figures by accident. His praise for Asim Munir points to something deeper than protocol: a recognition of rank, restraint and the kind of charismatic presence Trump has always found irresistible.
Keir Starmer came to office as the antidote to chaos. Yet British politics has a habit of making stable governments look temporary with startling speed. As Labour faces scandal, voter fragmentation and signs of internal narrowing, the snap-election conversation no longer feels fanciful. And if Britain is pushed back to the polls early, the beneficiary may not be who Westminster once assumed.
Will there be a second Islamabad Talks? Undoubtedly. The notion of an Islamabad Talks 2 have not materialised on cue, but that doesn't mean the process is dead. It means Pakistan holds the only channel both the U.S. and Iran can still use.
A senior adviser to President Trump used a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum to publicly praise Pakistan’s role in mediation, regional stability and ongoing peace efforts.
The second phase of the Pakistan–Bangladesh Knowledge Corridor is set to launch soon, with Islamabad offering 500 scholarships at leading universities in a move that highlights growing educational and diplomatic ties between the two countries.
China has selected Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud for astronaut training linked to a future Tiangong mission, with one expected to become the first foreign astronaut to enter the Chinese space station after completing evaluations in China.
Fly Jinnah is set to begin double daily flights between Lahore and Islamabad from May 1, expanding domestic air connectivity on one of Pakistan’s busiest corridors. The new service, priced at around PKR 10,000 each way, is aimed at business travellers, professionals and commuters looking for a faster alternative to road travel.
As a fragile cease-fire holds, President Trump has signalled that a new round of U.S.-Iran talks could take place within days. In Islamabad, where security has tightened and diplomats are working back channels, Pakistan is trying to turn a brief pause in fighting into a second chance for negotiations.
Islamabad and Rawalpindi have found themselves trapped in a strange political theatre: roads sealed, schools disrupted, businesses hit and ordinary routines broken, all in anticipation of talks between American and Iranian delegations that keep being delayed.
Donald Trump says he extended the ceasefire with Iran after requests from Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, thrusting Islamabad into the centre of a rapidly narrowing diplomatic window between Washington and Tehran.
Pakistan has condemned the entry of Israeli settlers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the raising of Israeli flags inside its courtyard, calling the act a violation of international law and warning that such provocations could further inflame regional tensions.
Pakistan is working against a rapidly closing deadline to revive U.S.-Iran diplomacy before the current truce expires. But fresh escalations at sea, conflicting public messages and Iran’s refusal to negotiate under pressure are making Islamabad’s peacemaking effort far more difficult.
Azerbaijan’s state energy company says it is prepared to supply LNG to Pakistan as soon as Islamabad makes a formal request, offering a possible new source of fuel as Pakistan faces declining domestic gas production and renewed pressure on energy imports.
Zohran Mamdani is not Pakistani, yet he has stirred a rare warmth in Pakistan. His comfort with Urdu and Hindustani, his visible Muslim identity and his wider South Asian cultural ease have made him feel less like a distant foreign politician and more like someone many Pakistanis instinctively understand.
The New York Post’s Caitlin Doornbos told The Thursday Times that meeting Pakistanis was “the added sugar on top” of covering the US-Iran talks, but said no reporter could predict where they would lead.
On the 88th death anniversary of Allama Iqbal, it is worth asking not only what he meant to the making of Pakistan, but what his ideas demand of the country now. As Islamabad tries to keep open channels between Iran and the United States, Iqbal’s poetry feels less like memory and more like instruction.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty have stressed the importance of dialogue and continued engagement in a high-level call on regional tensions, as Islamabad expands consultations with key Arab powers.
China has renewed its backing for Pakistan’s diplomatic role in facilitating engagement between Washington and Tehran, with Ambassador Jiang Zaidong conveying Beijing’s “full support” during a meeting with Ishaq Dar as the next phase of talks approaches a decisive moment.
Pakistan’s foreign minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, told the American chargé d’affaires in Islamabad that dialogue and diplomacy remain the only workable path to regional stability, urging Washington and Tehran to consider extending the ceasefire and give negotiations more time.
Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed support for Pakistan’s continuing diplomatic efforts, with Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Ishaq Dar agreeing that dialogue and engagement remain essential to lasting peace and regional stability.
Pakistan said late Tuesday that it is still awaiting formal confirmation from Iran on whether Tehran will attend the proposed Islamabad peace talks, as the ceasefire nears expiry and Islamabad intensifies last-minute diplomacy to keep negotiations alive.
Iranian's foreign ministry has said that Pakistan is now their only official intermediary with the United States, placing Islamabad at the centre of one of the the world's most sensitive diplomatic channels.
