Political Analysis and Global Affairs

  Conflicting early experiences show why Riyadh Air’s real challenge lies in making premium service consistent. Riyadh Air’s early passenger reviews reveal a gap between its polished premium product and the challenge of delivering consistent service across a growing network. A Boeing 787 touched down in Riyadh, and aviation reviewer Josh Cahill immediately reached for unusually strong words. He said several tray tables opened during the impact and an oxygen-mask compartment released above one seat. Riyadh Air Early Reviews suddenly had a dramatic image around which an argument could form. I would resist the temptation to call the landing unsafe because a passenger video cannot establish a technical hard-landing event. Cahill had praised much of the flight before touchdown. He liked the economy seat and called its 4K entertainment screen exceptionally sharp. Free internet also impressed him. His later criticism raises a harder question than whether one pilot made a firm landing: ca...

   Step-by-step guide to filing your FBR Income Tax Return yourself for Tax Year 2026 in Pakistan, including income reporting, wealth reconciliation, tax payment, and final submission. Updated: 23 August 2026 I have watched people open IRIS, start typing figures from memory, and reach the wealth statement only to discover that nothing reconciles. The salary looks right. The tax deducted looks right. Then a bank balance, property purchase, foreign remittance, or vehicle appears and the numbers stop making sense. There is a better way. For many salaried Pakistanis and people with straightforward income, filing an income tax return without a tax consultant is possible. The real work does not begin with pressing buttons in IRIS. It begins with collecting the right information and understanding how income, assets, expenses, and taxes already paid fit together. This guide covers Tax Year 2026 , which means income and financial activity from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 . FBR's normal...

  A JFK-to-Istanbul family flight and my Karachi experience show what first-time Turkish Airlines passengers should expect. A Turkish Airlines Boeing 787-9 journey from JFK to Istanbul, showing the airport check-in process, cabin experience, and Economy Class amenities. I stopped the Khiz & Eesa video at a small detail near the Turkish Airlines counter at JFK: the cabin-bag sizer also worked as a scale. Their Turkish Airlines Economy Guide 2026 was not presented as a formal guide, yet the narration answered the question that worries many first-time flyers. What happens next? I kept watching because each small airport step led naturally to the next one. Khiz & Eesa, who publish on YouTube as @KhizEesa , documented a family journey from New York to Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines Boeing 787-9. They began at check-in and stayed with the journey until Istanbul. Their video gave me a sequence rather than a sales pitch. I found that sequence useful because a nervous traveller us...

  Israel can strike farther from its borders than it could before October 7. Yet Iran remains unresolved, Gaza has no settled political end-state, and a new Israeli doctrine of forward defence may create security problems of its own. Israel enters 2026 with greater military reach and stronger defensive capabilities, yet unresolved threats from Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria continue to test its long-term security. By Munaeem Jamal Originally published August 7, 2023. Substantially updated August 23, 2026. I wrote this page before October 7. It reads differently now I reopened this article in Karachi three years after I first published it. The old version, written on August 7, 2023, described Hezbollah on Israel's northern border and Iran's nuclear programme as major threats. It also treated Israel's technological superiority and military strength as important measures of its security. Exactly two months later, Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200...

Originally published: December 31, 2025 Substantially updated: August 23, 2026 Editor’s note: I substantially revised this article to correct the original description of the European Union’s €90 billion Ukraine financing decision and to incorporate subsequent Euroclear and European Central Bank data. Brussels Chose Borrowing, Not Confiscation On December 18, 2025, European leaders met in Brussels with an awkward financial problem. Ukraine needed substantial support for 2026 and 2027, while roughly €210 billion in immobilised Russian sovereign assets remained inside the European Union. The political temptation was obvious: why borrow more European money when Russian reserves were already sitting inside the Western financial system? Europe stopped short of taking that step. The European Council instead agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan for 2026 and 2027 , financed through EU borrowing in capital markets and backed by the EU budget. Russian sovereign assets would remain im...