Muhammad Arshad
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Articles by Muhammad Arshad
GSP+: Pakistan’s Economic Lifeline and a Test of Strategic Diplomacy
Pakistan’s relationship with Europe is measured not only in communiqués and strategic dialogues but in its ability to keep access to one of its most important export markets. The EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) offers vulnerable developing countries zero-duty entry on roughly two-thirds of EU tariff lines in return for implementing international conventions. Pakistan is its largest beneficiary.
Peace and Conflicts: The Achilles Heel of International Order
Novelist H.G. Wells famously portrayed the First World War in his 1914 book as “the war to end all wars” and his words encompassed a shared desire for lasting peace in the world. From Aristotle to Augustine of Hippo, philosophers have claimed that the ultimate aim of war is the destruction of the elements that afflict peace, as Augustine articulates in “The City of God”, how peace is the embedded objective of conflict. However, history did not tell the same story, tragically, as assumed by Wells.
How long will economy be ‘indebted’ to expats?
Pakistan entered FY2027 with stronger fiscal and external buffers. According to the Finance Division’s monthly Economic Update and Outlook for August 2026, the fiscal deficit narrowed to 2.6 per cent of GDP in FY26, the primary surplus reached 2.9pc, large-scale manufacturing expanded by 4.98pc, and foreign-exchange reserves improved. These are important achievements. However, the composition of foreign-exchange support presents a more revealing and less comforting picture.
Egypt’s Defensive Statecraft in the Red Sea Crisis
Egypt has every reason to fight in the Red Sea. The Houthis now hold Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline and the Bab al-Mandab strait, the southern gateway to the Suez Canal, and a drone strike on gas tankers at Damietta in July showed that the war can reach Egyptian ports. Canal revenue has already fallen from more than $10 billion in 2023 to around $4 billion in 2024. Yet Cairo has never struck the Houthis and has not joined the Mecca Pact. Why would a state so exposed decline to fight?
Has Gaza Become a Graveyard of Humanity Under Israel’s War Strategy?
The transformation of Gaza into a landscape of rubble, mass displacement and humanitarian desperation raises one of the most troubling questions of the modern era: how can a military campaign justified in the name of security leave an entire civilian population struggling to survive? Three years after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent Israeli military campaign, Gaza faces a catastrophe that extends far beyond the battlefield.
Houthis vs Saudi Defense: Is Riyadh’s High-Tech Shield Showing Cracks?
Saudi Arabia has spent years building one of the Middle East’s most sophisticated air-defense networks, backed by expensive American systems, advanced radar, fighter aircraft and growing regional military partnerships. Yet the latest escalation with Yemen’s Houthi movement is raising a difficult question for Riyadh: Can a technologically superior defense shield remain effective when it is forced to confront repeated waves of missiles and drones over a prolonged war?
The Invisible Chokepoint: Why the Dollar Still Outranks Oil, Rare Earths and the Sea
On the last day of February 2026, the United States and Israel struck targets across Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Within days, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps did what Tehran had threatened for three decades but never actually done: it declared the Strait of Hormuz closed.
Is the US Giving Iran Another Reason to Attack the Middle East?
The United States is once again dramatically increasing its military presence around Iran, raising a question that goes beyond the immediate confrontation between Washington and Tehran: could the latest US military buildup give Iran a new political justification to expand the conflict across the Middle East? The deployment of another US carrier strike group and thousands of additional American personnel comes at an especially dangerous moment.
Trump Wants Iran Talks Again: What Is Washington Really Seeking?
The United States and Iran appear to be moving back toward diplomacy even as the war, the confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz and the nuclear dispute remain unresolved. The contradiction is striking: Washington has rejected Tehran’s latest seven-day roadmap, President Donald Trump continues to insist that the United States holds the upper hand, yet Trump has also said he expects further talks with Iran. Meanwhile, Qatari mediators are continuing to shuttle messages between the two sides.
WeedNet: a foundation model-based global-to-local AI approach for weed species identification and classification
Abstract Early weed identification is crucial for effective management and control, and researchers, agronomists, and technology developers are increasingly interested in automating this process using computer vision and artificial intelligence; however, limited expert-verified data and variable morphological features have hindered the development of AI-based weed identification models.
Is UAE Leaving the Muslim World Behind for Israel?
The United Arab Emirates is facing an increasingly important geopolitical question: is Abu Dhabi moving away from the traditional Muslim and Arab diplomatic bloc as it gets closer to Israel? The question has gained new significance following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reported visit to Abu Dhabi on 27 September 2026 and his meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Ethnomedicinal Uses of Thai Legumes ( Fabaceae ) and Their Potential in Industrial Applications
1 Introduction Legumes, members of the family Fabaceae, are recognized worldwide as fundamental components of both the human diet and traditional medicine. Their protein content, which typically ranges from 20% to 35%, is complemented by carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, contributing to their cultivation across diverse regions of the world.
Will Pakistan and Türkiye Join Saudi Arabia in a New Yemen War?
The latest meeting of the military chiefs of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye has raised a question that could reshape the Middle East security landscape: Is the Makkah Defence Alliance preparing not only to defend Saudi Arabia, but eventually to confront the Houthis inside Yemen? The timing is difficult to ignore.
Why Is Netanyahu Angry With Macron? France Takes a Harder Line on Palestine
French President Emmanuel Macron’s latest intervention over Palestine, Gaza and the occupied West Bank has triggered another sharp confrontation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What might appear at first to be a dispute over one sentence at the United Nations is actually part of a much larger diplomatic struggle over the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the two-state solution and Europe’s relationship with Israel. Macron’s UN speech was unusually direct.
Iran War Reveals the Biggest Vulnerability Behind US Military Power
The United States has spent decades building an image of almost unlimited military power. Its aircraft carriers, stealth fighters, precision missiles, satellite networks and global bases have created the impression that Washington can sustain high-intensity warfare almost indefinitely. The war with Iran has exposed a different reality.
From Hormuz to Bab el-Mandeb: Is Iran Expanding Its Economic War?
The question of whether Iran can actually block the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb simultaneously has become one of the most consequential questions for the global economy. The answer is complicated: Iran does not have direct sovereign control over both waterways, but it has demonstrated the ability to make both extremely dangerous, expensive and economically disruptive. That distinction matters.
An Integrated Teaching-Learning-Assessment Model for Primary Chinese Language Education: a Quasi-Experimental Study
Competency-based education has increasingly emphasized the importance of aligning curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment to develop learners’ transferable knowledge and skills. To address this trend in reform, the current research examined the impact of a competency-based large-unit instructional model based on an integrated instruction-learning-assessment method of teaching Chinese as a first language in primary schools.
US Destroys Iranian Tankers, Iran Retaliates: Is a Bigger War Coming?
The Iran-US war is entering another dangerous phase, with Washington and Tehran moving from pressure and deterrence toward increasingly direct attacks on military and economic targets. The latest escalation began with the United States destroying five Iranian oil tankers after Washington said Iranian forces had repeatedly targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles.
Optimization of Onion Peel Bioactive Compounds Using Eco-Friendly Natural Deep Eutectic Solvent Based Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction
1 Introduction The food processing industries generate large amounts of onion (Allium cepa L.) waste particularly onion peel (> 1 million tonnes) often discarded in landfills, contributing to environmental pollution and waste management challenges (Jaganmohanrao 2025; Sajid et al. 2025). Organic waste of food industries are also considered serious waste burden if managed improperly. Onion by-products include its peel, outer fleshy scales, onion bulbs and roots.
The Hidden Battle Behind Germany’s ICJ Fight Over Gaza and Israel
Germany is facing a major legal and diplomatic challenge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as it attempts to have Nicaragua’s case accusing Berlin of “facilitating genocide” in Gaza thrown out. The proceedings, which began on September 7, 2026, go far beyond a dispute between two governments. At stake is a much larger question: Can a country become legally responsible for its conduct toward an ally if that support is alleged to contribute to internationally prohibited crimes?
Efficacy of stone cone in ureteroscopic pneumatic lithoclast for lower ureteric stone.
Abstract Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of stone cone during ureteroscopic pneumatic lithoclast for lower ureteric stone. Study Design: Comparative Cross-sectional study. Setting: Department of Urology Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. Period: July 2025 to December 2025. Methods: Comparative Cross-sectional study. Methods: Included 125 patients with lower ureteric stones. Patients were randomly divided into two groups: Group A (Stone Cone, n=63) and Group B (Control, n=62).
If Imran Khan Meets a Mohamed Morsi-Style Fate, Who Benefits Most?
The most consequential question surrounding Imran Khan’s imprisonment may no longer be simply how long he will remain behind bars. It is what could happen to Pakistan’s political system if his imprisonment were to end in a Mohamed Morsi-style tragedy. This is a hypothetical scenario, not a prediction. There is no established evidence that Imran Khan is destined to die in custody.
Chinese-language instructor support, psychological resources, and perceived AI chatbot engagement in Mandarin learning motivation among international students in China
Abstract The Chinese language has unique tonal phonology and script characteristics that pose specific problems for international students learning Mandarin, and the ways in which human and AI support can complement each other to activate students’ learning motivation are not well understood.
A vision- and forecast-informed deep reinforcement learning framework for selective hospital waste collection routing: a simulation-based decision-support study
Abstract Hospital waste threatens public health and the environment, yet it is usually collected on fixed schedules that ignore the operational state of bins, causing late pickup of high-risk streams, redundant trips, and avoidable emissions. This study develops a simulation-based decision-support framework that combines emulated IoT smart-bin monitoring with three learning components and a selective routing model.
Middle East Archives - One Ville News
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A Global War? Why Trump Is Trying to Keep Kim Out of the War
A dramatic geopolitical question has emerged after US President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea: Did Trump deliberately step back from military pressure on the Korean Peninsula to prevent North Korea from becoming involved in the wider Iran–US conflict?
The Best Healthcare AI May Not Win. Singapore Shows What Could Matter More.
Singapore has been steadily integrating AI into its healthcare system, from tuberculosis screening and diabetic eye disease detection to clinical documentation. The technology itself, however, may not be the most important part of the story. What distinguishes Singapore is what surrounds it: a national electronic health record, regulatory pathways for health technologies, governance frameworks and… Let’s Stay Connected Join thousands of readers who already enjoy exclusive content—sign up today.
FII10 Riyadh: How Saudi Arabia Is Turning Investment Into a Global Power Strategy
Riyadh is preparing to host one of the most significant editions yet of the Future Investment Initiative as Saudi Arabia seeks to transform its economic ambitions into a lasting global legacy. The tenth edition of the Future Investment Initiative, known as FII10, will take place from October 26 to 29, 2026, at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
BCCI: The Bank That Banked Countries
Who could have imagined that during the 1970s and 1980s, a single bank would shake the financial centres of the world, from Wall Street in the United States to the City of London? Like the Roman Empire, BCCI was not built in a day. It took years of rapid expansion, ambitious leadership, and growing international influence to become one of the world’s largest private banks having an impressive $23 billion in assets worldwide and 380 offices in 72 countries, and a covert presence in others.
Can Nuclear Cooperation Be Exclusively For Peaceful Purposes?
On July 9, 2026, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the sale of uranium to India under the 2015 Australia-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. The agreement aims to expand non-fossil fuel power generation while ensuring compliance with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
China’s WAICO: A Strategy to Reshape Global AI Governance
On July 16, 2026, representatives from 29 states signed the agreement to join China’s World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in Shanghai. WAICO is an intergovernmental organization aimed at promoting international cooperation and AI governance, with a particular focus on the Global South. Speaking at the conference, President XI emphasized that AI should not be dominated by a single state, but it should be open, fair, and inclusive for all states.
Why Did Trump Stop a Massive Attack on Iran at the Last Minute?
After months of military confrontation, President Donald Trump has unexpectedly shifted the narrative by announcing that new talks with Iran are set to begin on Monday. The announcement came only after he revealed that he had called off what he described as a “massive attack” on Iran, signaling that Washington may once again be testing diplomacy after discovering the limits of military pressure.
Was Spain’s Migration Crisis Engineered After It Challenged Powerful Allies?
Spain has found itself at the center of one of Europe’s most dramatic migration emergencies after tens of thousands of migrants crossed into Ceuta within an extraordinarily short period. The sheer speed of the influx has raised uncomfortable geopolitical questions far beyond migration management.
Why Trump’s “You’re fucking crazy” Remark Still Defines His View of Netanyahu
The recent White House meeting was officially described as productive, with both governments emphasizing continued coordination on Iran, regional security, and expanding diplomatic initiatives. Netanyahu publicly praised the discussions, while U.S. officials highlighted ongoing cooperation.
Computer Science > Software Engineering
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) standardizes how large language model applications communicate with external tools, but leaves the application side unspecified: unlike traditional dependencies resolved through package managers, developers integrating MCP servers face no conventions for configuration, communication, or human oversight. This ecosystem is also under-researched, with existing work focused on servers rather than the applications consuming them.
Iran’s Middle East Attacks Trigger New Gulf Alliance as UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain Unite
Iran’s latest military campaign across the Middle East has done more than intensify tensions with the United States and Israel. It has fundamentally altered the political landscape inside the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). While Tehran announced that it would suspend retaliatory strikes as long as the United States maintains its military pause, the strategic consequences of months of missile and drone attacks continue to reshape Gulf security calculations.
Comprehensive Phenolic Profiling and Antioxidant Evaluation of Calyx, Rind, and Edible Tissues From Non-Astringent Persimmons ( Diospyros kaki )
1 Introduction Persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.) is an economically and nutritionally valuable fruit native to East Asia and now cultivated globally (Jain et al. 2023) [1]. Beyond its sweetness and carotenoid-rich profile, persimmon is increasingly recognized for its diverse phytochemicals including polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, and tannins which contribute to antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and hypolipidemic activities [2].
Climate Change, Plastic Pollution Threaten Pakistan’s Sea Turtles: WWF
Islamabad: Climate change, plastic pollution, ghost nets and unsustainable fishing practices are accelerating the decline of sea turtle populations along Pakistan’s coastline, according to WWF-Pakistan. Speaking to ClimateDataBook, WWF-Pakistan’s Senior Manager Research and Conservation, Muhammad Jamshed Iqbal Chaudhry, said Pakistan’s marine waters are home to five sea turtle species: Green, Olive Ridley, Hawksbill, Loggerhead and Leatherback turtles.
Think Tank Report: Why Data Centers Have Become Strategic Targets in the Middle East
The geopolitical rivalry between the United States and Iran has traditionally revolved around oil, maritime security, nuclear diplomacy, and regional proxy conflicts. However, recent developments suggest that another battlefield is rapidly emerging—digital infrastructure.
Think Tank Analysis: Is Israel Quietly Expanding the US-Iran Conflict Through Gaza?
As Washington and Tehran remain locked in a volatile military and diplomatic confrontation, one question continues to dominate strategic discussions in think tanks and security circles: Why has Israel continued intensive military operations in Gaza while the world’s attention is focused on the US-Iran conflict? Recent Israeli strikes, including attacks that reportedly killed civilians attending a funeral in central Gaza, have once again placed the enclave at the center of international debate.
Is the US-Iran Infrastructure War Pushing the Middle East Back to the Stone Age?
The renewed military confrontation between the United States and Iran has entered a far more dangerous phase. Unlike earlier rounds of confrontation that focused primarily on military installations and strategic assets, the latest escalation has increasingly centered on infrastructure that underpins daily life, regional commerce, and economic stability.
How to Verify an Email Is Real Without Sending One (Dev Guide) Published
How to Verify an Email Address Is Real Without Sending One A regex that checks for an @ and a . will happily accept test@thisdoesnotexist12345.com. It's syntactically valid — and completely useless. If you're building a signup form, a lead capture flow, or anything that emails users, "looks like an email" and "is a deliverable email" are two very different checks, and conflating them is how you end up with a database full of bounced addresses.
What Is My IP Address? IPv4 vs IPv6 Explained for DevelopersPublished
What Is My IP Address? IPv4 vs IPv6 Explained for Developers If you've ever debugged a CORS error, set up an IP allowlist, or wondered why req.ip returned something weird in your Express logs, you've run into the same question from a different angle: what actually is an IP address, and which one is "mine"?
Why the Iran-Israel Conflict Is Expanding Across the Gulf
The latest escalation in the Middle East suggests that the conflict is no longer confined to Israel, Gaza or Iran. Reports of strikes involving Gulf countries following the collapse of a ceasefire have raised fresh concerns that the region could be entering a broader phase of instability. For decades, countries such as Kuwait and Bahrain sought to balance regional rivalries while maintaining close security partnerships with Western allies.
The New Frontline in U.S.-China Competition
China’s State Council decision to impose restrictions on overseas investment took effect on July 1, 2026, aiming to regulate capital outflows and integrate national security, technological collaboration, intellectual property, offshore-washing and, geopolitical considerations into a single node. This comes in response to US restrictions on American firms to invest in critical sectors such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and semiconductor chips in mainland China.
A New Regional Security Architecture? The Middle East & the Gulf
During his official visit to Islamabad, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called for the establishment of a new regional security framework in the Middle East and the Gulf region based on mutual respect, cooperation, and dialogue. He emphasized that the region’s future should be determined by its member nations rather than by foreign powers. This comes at a time when the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the US and Iran last week.
Did the Arab League Help Enable Israel’s Gaza Campaign?
The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has raised difficult questions not only about Israel’s military campaign and the policies of Western governments but also about the role of the Arab League. Across the Arab world, many analysts, activists and ordinary citizens have questioned why an organization established to defend Arab interests has appeared unable to translate public outrage into coordinated political action.
Why Trump’s Iran Meeting Claim Was Rejected by Tehran and Qatar
Just days after a dangerous exchange of military strikes between the United States and Iran, diplomatic attention has shifted to Doha, Qatar. The arrival of US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner has renewed hopes that the two rivals may be searching for a political exit from the latest crisis. However, conflicting statements from Washington, Tehran and Doha suggest that diplomacy remains as uncertain as the ceasefire itself.
The Strait of Hormuz Is Not About Ownership—It’s About Global Power
The Strait of Hormuz has once again become the focal point of global geopolitics. Following reports that the United States and Iran have agreed to pause military attacks and hold diplomatic talks in Qatar, attention has shifted from immediate military confrontation to a broader strategic question: Who really controls the Strait of Hormuz? The temporary easing of tensions has not eliminated the underlying rivalry over one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints.
Houthis’ Chokepoint Doctrine - Stratheia
During the recent US-Iran tensions, few would have imagined that non-state actors could become powerful enough to disrupt the global economy. Chokepoints through which oil, gas, and trade flow have increasingly become contested pressure points in global geopolitics. This shift marks a transition in operational doctrine, from territorial control to maritime attrition aimed at systematically increasing the costs of international navigation.
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