Neither preemptive nor legal, US‑Israeli strikes on Iran have blown up international law.
Updated 08 Mar, 2026 07:41pm
Without filters, the loudest or most charismatic or most monetised voice wins — not the most accurate one. The chaos of...
Published 08 Mar, 2026 09:06am
His drives still send purists into rapture. But his strike rate sends selectors into despair. At 31 years of age, Babar Azam is a
Published 08 Mar, 2026 09:10am
For decades, the Hindu Shahis held the line between Central Asia and Hindustan. Their struggle against Mahmud of Ghazni was the...
Published 08 Mar, 2026 09:14am
The UAE’s first contemporary art exhibition dedicated to the Urdu language serves as a fascinating visual conversation between the
Published 08 Mar, 2026 09:23am
From Instagram’s aesthetic amnesia to X’s algorithmic hysteria, social media platforms have stripped away the concept of a common public square and have fractured collective awareness.
Published 08 Mar, 2026 08:50am
The state of global affairs, including the war in the Middle East, has left Butterfly grappling with a terrifying thought: if even
Published 08 Mar, 2026 09:29am
‘How Do I Rebuild My Life After Divorce?’
Published 08 Mar, 2026 09:33am
The coconut is technically a drupe, botanically a seed and practically a vessel — built by nature to survive months at sea...
Published 08 Mar, 2026 09:39am
After death and taxes, the biggest certainty in Pakistan is the annual spike in the price of basic commodities, especially fruits.
Published 01 Mar, 2026 07:51am
Pakistan’s media graduates are entering newsrooms trained for a world that no longer exists.
Published 01 Mar, 2026 07:51am
A school principal in Sindh reflects on a student’s hesitant question and what it reveals about fear, faith and the failure of
Published 01 Mar, 2026 07:51am
Pakistan’s first deep sea freediver and spearfishing instructor learnt his trade from YouTube videos. But he’s now trained
Published 01 Mar, 2026 07:51am
Twelve jobs, one failed start-up and a move to Dubai later, Umair Masoom is betting Pakistan’s streaming future on myco — and on
Published 01 Mar, 2026 07:51am
Farazeh Syed’s recent exhibition takes visual documentation of South Asian women by British colonialists and upends their ways of
Published 01 Mar, 2026 07:51am
While the tools of control may have changed, the struggle to shape and manage the masses continues through the use of culture,
Published 01 Mar, 2026 07:51am
Contemporary populism is not a rebellion of the downtrodden but a power struggle between rival elites who weaponise moral rhetoric and algorithmic crowds in order to become political brands.
Published 01 Mar, 2026 07:51am
A Parsi twist on the chicken biryani for the upcoming Navroz comes from a renowned chef whose cookbooks have won multiple
Published 01 Mar, 2026 07:51am
‘Should I Choose Character Over Financial Security?’
Published 01 Mar, 2026 07:51am
Getting the most out of Swiss chard, whether raw or cooked, depends on knowing precisely when and how to pick it
Published 01 Mar, 2026 07:51am
The latest novel by Mohammed Hanif is set in the immediate aftermath of the hanging of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:46am
The outrage over the upcoming Enhanced Games — where athletes can take performance enhancing drugs — suggests it is more about
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:46am
Munawar Ali Syed’s latest body of work reflects on our fraught relationship with nature and the uncertain destiny of modern cities
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:46am
When demolition crews recently cleared the area around Lahore’s Bhati Gate, one small domed shrine survived — not because anyone
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:46am
A scholar, a communist and an anti-colonial activist, Dr K.M. Ashraf spent his life arguing that India’s Muslims and Hindus shared a future.
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:46am
Zahra Mansoor’s latest exhibition grapples with the nature of intimacy and unresolved inter-human relationships in a quirky manner
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:46am
From Pakistan in 1977 to Bangladesh in 2026, when loosely organised reformists align with disciplined Islamist forces, the ‘revolution’ rarely ends as they imagine.
Updated 22 Feb, 2026 09:56am
In the Republic of Cliftonia, peace is permanent, statistics are miraculous and anything missing from official records simply
Updated 22 Feb, 2026 01:58pm
‘My Husband and Parents Don’t Get Along’
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:46am
All your gardening queries answered here
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:46am
Once a pristine freshwater lake, home to the thriving Mohanna fishing community and their houseboats, Manchhar Lake is now polluted and toxic due to decades of state neglect.
Updated 16 Feb, 2026 01:35pm
From ignored FBI reports in 1996 to carelessly exposed victim identities in 2025, the Epstein scandal is a masterclass in how institutions fail survivors.
Published 15 Feb, 2026 07:07am
The issue was always about more than a single match. It was about respect, equity and the balance of power in international cricket.
Published 15 Feb, 2026 07:07am
Every year, 8,000 Pakistani children are diagnosed with cancer. Less than half receive proper treatment.
Updated 18 Feb, 2026 03:41pm
Farhatullah Babar’s reflective, insider account of Benazir Bhutto’s life and politics corrects the twin caricatures that dominate
Published 08 Mar, 2026 10:41am
A debut novel has a strong idea spanning two plot lines and two time periods but desperately needed a strong editor as well
Published 08 Mar, 2026 10:27am
A coffee table book on Pakistan’s beloved sport brings together the printed and visual artefacts of the country’s cricketing...
Published 08 Mar, 2026 10:18am
In one of his most complex and deceptively crafted verses, Mirza Ghalib says that the poet’s pen vibrates with the frequency of...
Published 08 Mar, 2026 10:14am
Nadeem F. Paracha’s latest book explores contemporary populism by comparing three modern-day populist uprisings in the global...
Published 01 Mar, 2026 09:28am
The winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize 2025 is a debut novel by a Palestinian author about the complexities that lie at the heart of
Published 01 Mar, 2026 09:24am
The popularity of Jaun Elia’s deceptively simple verse, which has become all the rage with the youth, often obscures the depth...
Published 01 Mar, 2026 09:21am
Farhatullah Babar is known to us as a veteran politician, a legislator and a human rights defender. He is currently...
Published 01 Mar, 2026 09:15am
I grew up with Urdu poetry, learning to recite verses from ghazals as soon as I could talk. Words held only visual meanings for me
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:45am
A former journalist’s book on Princess Diana’s infamous 1995 Panorama interview with Martin Bashir expects readers to consider...
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:45am
An elegantly structured novel, told through through the eyes of a young lad, is the first part of four interconnected novels...
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:45am
The 14th Lahore Literary Festival put its focus on history and in diversifying away from English but was impacted by scheduling
Published 22 Feb, 2026 06:45am
A book by a former chief economist at the State Bank of Pakistan critiques international aid and its deleterious impact on...
Published 15 Feb, 2026 07:41am
The 17th Karachi Literature Festival was fuelled by an unswerving, if wildly optimistic, belief in the transformative power of the
Published 15 Feb, 2026 07:38am
Ayesha Muzaffar’s latest offering strings together three novellas that will undoubtedly delight fans of the horror genre
Published 15 Feb, 2026 07:33am
There are many ways to go about writing one’s first novel, and here I would like to share how I went about writing...
Published 15 Feb, 2026 07:21am
A recent book argues Pakistan can leverage its strategic location and become an engine of trade and global growth, but seems...
Published 08 Feb, 2026 09:41am
Set in Swat during the rise of militant violence in the region in the mid-2000s, a debut novel wrestles with themes of patriarchy
Published 08 Feb, 2026 09:36am
From Kurram Valley to the World Bank’s corridors, a Pakistani internationalist retraces a global journey marked by discipline,...
Published 08 Feb, 2026 09:32am
In the recently published Urdu book of stories titled Tamasha-i-Ahl-i-Karam [The Circus of the Benevolent] by Dr...
Published 08 Feb, 2026 08:43am
