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Trump reports over $1.4bn in income from crypto ventures

US President Donald Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in income from his family’s crypto ventures last year, showing how Trump now derives most of his income from digital assets that have benefitted from his policies, according to a review of his latest financial disclosures on Tuesday. The filings, his annual disclosure for 2025 with the US Office of Government Ethics, disclosed that his companies received almost $800 million from World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture he and his sons co-founded. That income, which the president splits with family members, included more than $520m from sales of crypto tokens and more than $250m from the sale of interests in the World Liberty business. Trump reported another $635m from the sale of his Trump meme coins. The news underlines how crypto has transformed the president’s fortunes. In his disclosure a year ago, for example, the president reported $57.35m from token sales at World Liberty, which then leaped nine-fold in this year’s fi...
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Visioning Karachi

THERE is an ongoing heated debate centred on the need, or otherwise, of enacting a new constitutional construct for Karachi. The tone of the debate is mostly political, rooted in the never-ending power- and resource-sharing conflicts between the federation and provinces. As always, these political contestations lack focus on what really ails this city. Karachi presently stands out as the antithesis of a liveable city. Sprawling endlessly, automobile-dependent, with half the population living in slums, and rapidly losing its green cover — this is the current state of urban affairs. However, arguments over the city’s plight, despite being confrontational, can, if properly channelled, offer a much-needed opportunity to forge a multi-stakeholder conversation around real issues. There are some critical prerequisites meriting attention prior to initiating any master planning or development. To begin with, in a city where even the population figures are dispu...
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'Years to build, a moment to destroy': US-Israeli air campaign devastates some of Iran's most cherished monuments

A first set of blast waves set ancient domes and minarets trembling around the most famous square in the ancient city of Isfahan. Another bombing in the city centre, two days later, blanketed the floors of a 400-year-old royal complex with shards of debris. Those Israeli airstrikes, on March 7 and 9, shook the monuments at Naqsh-e Jahan square and the Chehel Sotoun Palace, two of Iran’s most treasured cultural complexes. Two weeks later, plaster and broken tile still crunched underfoot in some places. A damaged building next to Isfahanâ’s Provincial Governor’s office near Chehel Sotoun Palace, a Unesco World Heritage site, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Isfahan, Iran, on March 23, 2026. — Reuters “These buildings were like part of us,” said Rasoul Mosavi, his head still bandaged in gauze from the injury he received in the explosion. He led Reuters journalists through the museum where he has worked as a security guard for 16 years. “This place...
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Senate opposition leader files privilege motion against Bhara Kahu SHO over 'discourteous' conduct

Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas on Tuesday filed a privilege motion in the upper house of Parliament against the station house officer (SHO) of Islamabad’s Bhara Kahu police station over his “rude and discourteous” conduct. The privilege motion comes after a delegation of opposition leaders, including Abbas, was stopped by Islamabad police from travelling to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Monday. The delegation, led by National Assembly Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai and including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, had planned to express solidarity with protesters participating in a sit-in in Rawalakot. Khokhar had alleged that Raja Nasir Abbas was also stopped from reaching his residence in Bhara Kahu and was forced to continue on foot after authorities prevented his vehicle from proceeding. In the privilege motion, a copy of which is available with Dawn , Abbas said that Sub-inspector (SI) Naeemul Hassan,...
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Monkeys, a rhino horn and dead pangolins: Illegal wildlife trafficking rampant across social media platforms

The ghostly white creature curled up on a weighing scale is almost unrecognisable in the Facebook post offering it for sale. Only closer inspection reveals it to be a dead pangolin. The animal, one of the world’s most endangered and trafficked mammals, has been stripped of its scales and is being advertised by a Thai account selling “seasonal wild delicacies”. The post is one of dozens reviewed by AFP that illustrate what conservationists call rampant illegal wildlife trafficking across social media platforms, particularly those belonging to Facebook parent company Meta. A report by several NGOs released on Monday accuses Meta of hosting the world’s “largest single known illegal wildlife trade market” and effectively encouraging the trade by sharing advertising revenues with users and allowing them subscription models. The report follows recent research by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC), which warned Facebook is now “the central public infrast...
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Australia, Vanuatu sign deal barring foreign military base on Pacific island

Australia and Vanuatu signed a sweeping economic and security agreement on Monday that bars the establishment of any foreign military base in the Pacific nation. Vanuatu is at the centre of strategic rivalry between China and US allies in the South Pacific, and Australia has expressed concern that Beijing is seeking a permanent security presence in the region. The agreement commits Australia to $345 million in support for Vanuatu, whose largest external creditor is China, and it stops a foreign military power establishing a base there. “What this does is to provide certainty for Australia that there will be no foreign military base,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters after signing the deal in Canberra with his Vanuatu counterpart Jotham Napat. “We have concluded a balanced agreement that will protect our collective and individual security and our sovereignty,” he said. China’s navy has made repeated port calls to Vanuatu...
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DR Congo advance but Iran out as wild World Cup group stage wraps

The Democratic Republic of Congo became the latest underdogs to roar at the World Cup on Saturday, battling into the knockout rounds for the first time as Iran’s rollercoaster campaign ended in elimination. A chaotic finale to the tournament’s expanded group phase saw Austria and Algeria fill the final two berths in the last 32 late on Saturday after battling to an extraordinary 3-3 draw in Group J — a result that dashed Iran’s hopes of advancing from their group. A win for either Austria or Algeria would have allowed Iran to squeeze into the last 32, and it looked as if the Asian side would advance when Riyadh Mahrez scored in the third minute of stoppage time to put the Algerians into a 3-2 lead. But Iranian joy was short-lived when Sasa Kalajdzic arrowed in a header in the sixth minute of injury time to snatch a draw for Austria and spark pandemonium in Kansas City. Austria midfielder Marcel Sabitzer, who scored Austria’s second goal, described the closing moments as “weird”. ...
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