For the first State of the Union address of his second term, US President Donald Trump decided to go long, broaching everything from the economy to Iran during his one hour and 47 minute speech to Congress.

Iran on Wednesday dismissed US claims about its missile programme as "big lies", after President Donald Trump said Tehran was developing missiles that could strike the United States.

The sisters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan criticised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leadership for inaction, silence, and failure to pursue his legal cases.

A YouTuber was detained after filming the convoy of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan during his transfer from Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences to prison.

Israeli soldiers fired over 900 rounds at a convoy of clearly marked emergency vehicles in Rafah in 2025, killing 15 Palestinian aid workers, some of them shot at close range, an independent investigation has found.

Watch: Noreen Niazi, sister of Imran Khan, was injured after falling into an under-construction drainage line near Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Iran is nearing a deal with China to buy anti-ship cruise missiles known as CM-302, according to six sources familiar with the negotiations

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, has reached the US naval base of Souda Bay on Crete, en route to joining a massive military build-up in the Middle East.

A critique of media influence and authoritarian tendencies that discourage critical thinking, suppress dissent, and keep citizens distracted rather than informed.

In Iran, subsidy reform is economically necessary but politically perilous because cheap essentials underpin daily survival amid inflation and low trust.

India is highly vulnerable to Gulf instability due to its heavy energy reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, exposing it to inflation, trade disruptions, and risks to its diaspora.

Abu Mohammad al-Julani’s shift from global jihadist to pragmatic power broker in Syria highlights how image management and governance shape political survival. The Taliban’s refusal to reform, by contrast, has deepened Afghanistan’s isolation and weakened its legitimacy.

The author argues that Pakistan’s military privilege is not merely institutional but civilizational—reshaping infrastructure, politics, faith, and daily life to normalize inequality, suppress dissent, and extract wealth at the expense of civilian society.

Despite renewed diplomatic activity, Iran’s influence in Central Asia remains limited, with cultural ties failing to translate into strategic power. Decades of sanctions, policy inconsistency, and competition from stronger actors have left Tehran a secondary regional player.

India’s growing use of Oman’s Duqm port provides a politically safer, sanctions-insulated hub for its western Indian Ocean operations, reducing reliance on Iran’s Chabahar without replacing its unique overland access to Central Asia.

Iran’s BRICS membership has given Tehran symbolic legitimacy but little practical economic relief, as sanctions, dependency on China, and limited access to BRICS financial mechanisms continue to constrain its leverage.