SAMAA TV anchorperson Nadeem Malik spotlights a ‘shameful’ trend in country’s politics: horse-trading. Mr Malik discusses how the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and its ally, the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam), secretly persuaded at least 15 PML-N and PPP MPAs to switch their loyalties for Thursday’s election of the Speaker. He says more PML-N lawmakers are likely to…

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz called PM-in-waiting Imran Khan on Monday and congratulated him on his party’s victory in the July 25 elections. The king told Imran that Pakistan was an important ally of Saudi Arabia and the kingdom wants a close relationship with the South Asian country. Imran thanked King Salman and said…

Captain of Pakistan cricket team Sarfraz Ahmed said that he will only think of a career in politics in the future

Foreigners are flocking to the Maldives in ever-greater numbers despite an outcry abroad over the strongman president’s crackdown on political dissent and the locking up of opponents, official figures showed. The number of tourists visiting the white-sanded Indian Ocean archipelago soared 10 percent year-on-year to 726,515 in the first half of 2018, according to tourism…

Turkey’s state of emergency which was imposed after the failed 2016 coup came to an end on Thursday, but the opposition fears it will be replaced by even more repressive legislative measures. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared the state of emergency on July 20, 2016, five days after warplanes bombed Ankara and bloody clashes broke…

Sabir Nazar’s take on the electoral playing field and how equal it really is.

Samaa Digital lists down 10 sports stars who have had a political career as well

Microsoft’s chief legal officer on Friday called for regulation of facial recognition technology due to the risk to privacy and human rights. Brad Smith made a case for a government initiative to lay out rules for proper use of facial recognition technology, with input from a bipartisan and expert commission. Facial recognition technology raises significant…

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday took on greater powers than any Turkish leader for decades as he was sworn in for a second presidential term, naming his son-in-law to the key post of finance minister in a revamped cabinet. Erdogan, who has already transformed Turkey in 15 years of rule, took his oath of…

Former US President Barack Obama warned in Madrid Friday of “a rise in nationalism” and the potential of new media to accelerate social divisions. “We’re in a difficult time, politically, socially… people feel very anxious,” said Obama, who left office last year. “Change is happening very quickly. People are wondering can I adapt to these…

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban targeting Muslim-majority nations, but the president’s “zero tolerance” crackdown on illegal immigration was put on hold for lack of places to detain families arrested at the Mexican border. The court ruling handed a major victory to Trump in a tortuous legal battle over…

Palestinian security forces fired stun grenades and tear gas Wednesday to disperse a demonstration in the occupied West Bank opposing Palestinian punitive measures against Hamas-run Gaza, an AFP reporter said. The demonstration in Ramallah, the West Bank city that houses the Palestinian government, came after the Palestinian government temporarily banned public protests. Dozens of Palestinian…

One of the most hotly contested seats for the National Assembly is NA-247 Karachi South II, which is made up of Defence, Clifton Cantonment Board, Saddar, Karachi Cantonment and Arambagh. NA-247 is made up of areas previously in NA-250. Each party has fielded political powerhouses for the seat. The battle for the seat will be…

  Shehbaz Sharif has taken back his decision to contest the elections from Karachi. He had earlier obtained nomination papers to contest the National Assembly elections from three constituencies in the port city — NA-248, 249 and 250. PML-N leader Mushahid Ullah Khan has confirmed that the party president will not be contesting from Karachi….

Turkey’s nationalist opposition Iyi Parti (Good Party) has launched a Google advertisement campaign with mischievous slogans targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government ahead of June 24 polls. The unprecedented campaign is led by party chief Meral Aksener, who split away from Turkey’s main nationalist group after it formed an alliance with Erdogan. Google searches of…

Pakistan’s civilian government completed its term Friday for only the second time in the country’s history, with a caretaker administration to take over ahead of polls set for late July. Pakistan has been under direct military rule for nearly half of its 70 year existence, with at least 15 heads of states deposed before completing…

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri headed to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the second time since his shock resignation in the kingdom last year. On November 4, Hariri announced he was stepping down in a televised address from Riyadh, sparking rumours he was being detained against his will. After French mediation, however, he rescinded his…

Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan met Germany president Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Saturday in a series of clear the air talks following their controversial photos alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Ilkay Gundogan and Mesut Ozil expressed a desire to visit me,” Steinmeier posted on Facebook alongside a picture of him with the Germany stars in…

A summit in Istanbul of Muslim heads of state on Friday called for the creation of an international peacekeeping force to protect the Palestinians, as host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of “brutality” comparable to the Nazis. The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) — seeking to bridge severe differences within the Muslim…

Turkey and Israel on Tuesday ordered envoys to leave in tit-for-tat moves and exchanged bitter accusations as a row over the Israeli army’s killing of dozens of Palestinians threatened a 2016 reconciliation deal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hit back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Twitter by calling Israel an “apartheid state” as Ankara…

North Korea will destroy its nuclear test site later this month, ahead of a summit with the United States, it said Saturday, pledging to blow up its tunnels in front of invited foreign media. US President Donald Trump praised the North’s decision to dismantle the Punggye-ri test site in a ceremony scheduled between May 23-25,…