Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) Director General Nadir Shafi Dar on Tuesday said the successful privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was a clear testament to the government’s resolve to transform the country’s aviation sector.

In a statement, Dar credited Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Secretary Defence Lt Gen Muhammad Ali for extending critical support that enabled the PCAA to carry out key reforms, leading to the removal of aviation restrictions imposed by the European Commission and the United Kingdom.

He said the lifting of these restrictions played a pivotal role in the success of the privatisation process, significantly enhancing investor confidence and pushing PIA’s bid value from Rs10 billion in 2024 to Rs135 billion in the latest auction.

The DG CAA noted that the successful bidding of PIA would help spur the growth of Pakistani airlines and pave the way for opening new global destinations with direct connectivity from Pakistan.

He further said that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has expressed full confidence in the oversight and regulatory capabilities of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, terming it a key endorsement of the reforms undertaken in recent years.

The Arif Habib Corporation Limited–led consortium acquired a majority stake in PIA with the highest bid of Rs135 billion in an auction held for the privatisation process of the national flag carrier.

During the open auction round, Arif Habib raised its bid from Rs115 billion to Rs135 billion after the Lucky Cement Limited–led consortium increased its earlier bid of Rs101.5 billion to Rs134 billion in the second round of the open-bidding.

Arif Habib, the chief of Arif Habib Group, described the development as the “triumph of Pakistan”.

He maintained that the PIA privatisation would help boost investment in the country, adding that it would also attract foreign investment in Pakistan.

The businessman lauded the government for successfully conducting the bidding process, saying the Privatisation Commission completed the entire process in a transparent manner. “We will work hard to make this airline great again,” he added.

Warning: This content discusses allegations of sexual assault, which some may find distressing.

Danity Kane’s Aubrey O’Day is opening up about a witness affidavit that alleged she was sexually assaulted by Sean “Diddy” Combs.

O’Day sat down with CBS News for her first network interview since Netflix’s new documentary, “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” was released. A clip from the documentary shows O’Day reading from an affidavit that describes an alleged sexual assault involving her, Combs, and another man while she was “looking very inebriated.” She says she has no memory of the alleged incident, but it has left her with questions.

O’Day left with questions after shocking affidavit

“Does this mean I was raped? Is that what this means? I don’t even know if I was raped. And I don’t want to know,” said O’Day in the documentary, which has received a reported 40 million views globally in its first two weeks.

In a statement to CBS News, a spokesman for Combs said that the music mogul “categorically denies the allegations in the Netflix documentary,” saying that “he has never sexually assaulted anyone.” Combs plans to address these matters “in the appropriate legal forum” rather than “speculation from anonymous affidavits,” the statement continued. Combs is currently serving a 50-month sentence in a New Jersey federal prison after being convicted on prostitution-related charges.

O’Day once worked closely with Combs, who helped found Danity Kane on his reality show “Making the Band” in 2005 before he ultimately disbanded the group in 2009. Speaking about Combs in the documentary brought up a lot of painful moments for O’Day, who said she’s still processing the information.

She wanted to make sure the person who wrote the affidavit is “100 percent certain” it was her and that they didn’t confuse her with another bandmate or doppelgänger. 

“The story that they have told has been consistent for two years in every area that they’ve been in,” O’Day said. To this day, O’Day still doesn’t know what happened.

O’Day has previously emphasized the role of forgiveness in her journey through the entertainment industry, saying that it starts with forgiving yourself.

“I forgive myself. That was the hard one,” she said. “The feelings that I’ve had throughout all of this really come down to, like, forgiving myself for misplacing abuse, or attention, or acknowledgment as love. Those weren’t one in the same. And so I had to forgive myself first.”

Living her purpose

When it comes to forgiving Combs, O’Day said it doesn’t really matter.

“Do I forgive him? I don’t think that matters to the bigger picture. I think that he needs to do the work to forgive himself,” O’Day said.

Right now, O’Day said her focus is going to remain on the survivors and pushing for systematic change.

“I want to be helping people, and speaking for the underdogs, and speaking for the voices that aren’t being heard. And I didn’t necessarily get to spend the majority of my life yet being able to live in my purpose,” she said.

Combs is expected to be released from prison in May 2028, according to online prison records. While some rumors have swirled about the possibility of a presidential pardon, a senior White House official called the reports “speculation” and told CBS News any decisions on pardons would come directly from President Trump. 

Marc Agnifilo, the lead attorney for Combs, told “CBS Mornings” in August that he hasn’t had any conversations about a possible pardon: “I have not spoken to the president. I have not spoken to anybody who speaks to the president about Sean Combs. I have not.”

O’Day doesn’t believe Mr. Trump would pardon Combs.

“I think the only reason, in my opinion, that the president would pardon ‘Diddy’ is if it worked well for him in midterms, in regards to gathering a certain voting base,” she said. “The moves are always strategic, and the moves right now are about midterms.”