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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know News India Times (May 16, 2026 - May 22, 2026) May 22, 2026 4 US Affairs US Senator Lindsey Graham, Trump’s Close Political Ally, Says “I Don’t Trust Pakistan” C asting a long shadow over the ongoing diplomatic overtures in the Middle East, Republican Sena- tor Lindsey Graham has bluntly declared that he does not “trust” Pakistan, suggesting the United States should pivot to an alternative mediator for a truce with Iran. The Senator’s scathing assessment stems from al- legations that Pakistan quietly allowed Iranian military aircraft to park on its airfields, possibly shielding them from American airstrikes. “I don’t trust Pakistan as far as I can throw them. If they actually do have Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistan bases to protect Iranian military assets, that tells me we should be looking maybe for somebody else to mediate. No wonder this damn thing is going nowhere,” Senator Graham remarked, highlighting a growing frustration with Islamabad’s multifaceted involvement. Senator Lindsey Graham asked US Secretary of De- fence Pete Hegseth regarding Islamabad’s neutrality in ongoing diplomatic efforts during a high-stakes testimo- ny before the Senate Appropriations Committee. The exchange focused on whether the presence of Iranian planes on Pakistani soil was “consistent with [Pakistan] being a fair mediator.”While Secretary Hegseth attempted to sidestep the political friction by stating he did not want to get in the middle of negotiations, the Senator from South Carolina offered a sharp rebuttal. In a post on X earlier, Graham, a close political ally of US President Donald Trump, stated that he would “not be shocked” by such a move by Pakistan, citing an earlier statement from officials from Islamabad on Israel, which has strong ties withWashington. “If this reporting is accurate, it would require a com- plete reevaluation of the role Pakistan is playing as me- diator between Iran, the United States and other parties. Given some of the prior statements by Pakistani defence officials towards Israel, I would not be shocked if this were true,” Graham stated in his post. CBS News reported that shortly after US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire in early April, Tehran dispatched several aircraft to the Nur Khan Airbase near Rawalpindi. This development surfaced just as Pakistan confirmed it had received Iranian peace proposals to be “shared with the US side,” creating a jar- ring contrast between Islamabad’s public diplomacy and its clandestine military cooperation. Pakistan has scrambled to dismiss the report, label- ling the claims as “misleading and sensationalised”. In a formal rebuttal, the Foreign Office maintained that the Iranian aircraft arrived during the ceasefire following initial talks and bears “no linkage” to any military contin- gency or preservation arrangement. The statement further alleged that such “speculative narratives” were designed to sabotage regional peace efforts. President Trump has adopted a patient stance, as- serting there was “no need to rush” negotiations while the current economic pressure remains in place. “We don’t have to rush anything. We have a blockade which allows them no money. It’s a very simple thing: we can- not let them have a nuclear weapon — because they’d use it,” the President stated during an interview with New York’s TalkRadio 77WABC. Discussing the ultimate objective of halting Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, the President expressed absolute cer- tainty in the outcome. When questioned if the US could prevent Iran from enriching uranium or constructing a bomb, he replied, “100%. They’re going to stop, and they told me, the Iranians told me… they said that we’re going to get the dust.” -ANI over time. “I think this is the most serious look at the question of whether post-secondary education pays off for an individual that anybody’s ever done,” said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, which represents nearly 1,600 colleges and universities. Mitchell is also a board member for the commission that produced the report. The study was based on data from students who enrolled in one of 86 public colleges in Texas starting in the 2008-2009 academic year. Researchers then tracked the students’ earnings for as much as 15 years from the time they started school. Researchers say Texas has more de- tailed earnings data for people going to college than most other states. Another recent study, using data fromTexas, also found graduate students’ return on investment varied greatly with the type of degree. In contrast to bachelor degrees pro- grams, Mitchell said he thought it was significant that some certificate programs didn’t boost students’ salaries enough to justify the cost. The study found only four of 11 types of certificate programs paid off within five years. Certifications with the biggest returns were in construction, security, technical trades and biology. By contrast, information technology had the worst return, the study found. “The mixed message about credentials is one that we ought to pay close attention to, because they’re so popular these days,” Mitchell said. The report also found associate degrees in some subjects had a negative return within a decade. That includes diplomas in personal and culinary services, infor- mation technology and logistics. Overall, the study confirms some past studies that found liberal arts majors tend to earn lower salaries than those in engi- neering and other technical fields. But Dick Startz, an economist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, pointed out that liberal arts graduates still do better than most people who never go to college, according to federal Census data. And Startz argued students may have other reasons to pursue a liberal arts major besides potential earnings. “One of the basic tenets of economics is that money is not all that matters,” Startz said. “If you just ask people about job satisfaction, people with lots of liberal arts degrees are just as happy as anybody else with their jobs and their careers.” The study comes at a time when people entering the job market are having an especially challenging time finding work, including recent college graduates. Politi- cians and activists have raised questions about the value of a degree, warning that colleges often leave students saddled with debt and noting people have lucrative alternatives like skilled trades. An NBC News poll last fall found only one-third of Americans surveyed thought a four-year degree was worth the cost, down from 53 percent in 2013. Researchers also cautioned that the fig- ures are averages and the numbers might be different for individual students. They also aggregated specific majors into broader categories. Researchers said they wish they had access to detailed earnings data beyond Texas. “We do not have the capac- ity to replicate this analysis for all 50 states, and that’s a huge deficiency,” said Beth Akers, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a con- servative think tank who also sits on the board of the Postsecondary Commission. Still, Akers said the methodology could be useful for future studies to help iden- tify college programs that aren’t helping people increase their earnings enough to justify the cost. The Education Department is currently seeking public input on regulations that would cut off federal student loans to college programs with low earnings, such as those offering bachelor’s degrees where graduates fail to earn more than their peers who have a high school diploma. The Postsecondary Commission said it plans to build on Thursday’s research in coming years, gathering more data from Texas, adding additional states and track- ing students for longer time periods. “This is version one of the study,” Leschly said.. Todd Wallack is a national education reporter for The Wash- ington Post. Reach him on Signal at TWallack.99 or todd.wallack@ washpost.com . - TheWashington Post Here Are The Undergraduate Programs That Pay Off (And Some That Don’t) - Continued From Page 3 PHOTO:THEWASHINGTON POST Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed on this page are those of the authors and Parikh Worldwide Media does not officially endorse, and is not responsible or liable for them. PHOTO:ANI US Senator Lindsey Graham. Opinion