King Charles III met Halla Tómasdóttir, the President of the Republic of Iceland.

The official Instagram page of the royal family posted a picture in which Tómasdóttir can be seen shaking hands with the monarch of the United Kingdom.

On Thursday, November 20, the President of Iceland paid a visit to the Buckingham Palace to see the King Charles as she is currently on her first official visit to UK, which started on Wednesday, November 19, 2025.

The post also has a caption that read, “This afternoon, The President of the Republic of Iceland visited The King at Buckingham Palace.”

Notably, Iceland President’s first day in London includes public talks and meetings focused on leadership, sustainability, and economic development.

While King Charles met the President of the Republic of Iceland, his wife Queen Camilla  on the other hand hosted reception a reception at St James’ Palace.

Camilla, the vice-patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society, celebrated the winners and runners-up of The Commonwealth Essay Competition 2025.

Meghan Markle’s comments about Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet have just found herself being called out by The Times writer Charlie Gowans-Eglinton who just penned an opinion piece.

In it they wrote, “Nothing says bravery like launching a brand with just the support of your prince husband and only your very close, dearest friends to shore you up if you fail.”

“Although perhaps it helps if some of those friends are oligarchs; the Sussexes were hobnobbing with the Bezoses and Zuckerbergs at Kris Jenner’s birthday party last week,” they added.

Because if what the Duchess said is true and her children to “face things that feel completely insurmountable every day”, the writer notes “will need bravery” even though she did not list any of these ‘insurmountable’ things.

However, that is not to say the writer ended there because they added, “I’m sure I can think of a million insurmountable hurdles for the next generation of the original nepo babies, royals.”

Before signing off she even poked fun at all the other comments the Duchess, as well as her friends said because according to one, Serena Williams, Meghan has ““made it a study, using books and apps, a diligence that has made her an authority within her friend circle.”

“Perhaps 2026 will bring us a “With Love, Meghan: Raising Little Princes” parenting special,” the writer said in their concluding remarks regarding the whole thing. 

• PPL says activity aimed at ensuring safe drilling operations in Sirani.
• Company describes initiative as first attempt to drill in such terrain.
• “Exploratory well is scheduled to be spud in March 2026.”

KARACHI: State-owned energy company Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) on Thursday rejected reports claiming it was reclaiming land from the sea to construct an artificial island for oil and gas exploration, saying that the project involved only preparatory work to enable drilling in a difficult marshland environment.

A day earlier, Bloomberg reported that PPL is reclaiming land from the sea to create a launchpad to ramp up oil and gas exploration.

The outlet quoted PPL’s General Manager Exploration and Core Business Development, Arshad Palekar, as saying that an artificial island would be created about 30 kilometres off the coast of Sindh, near Sujawal.

In a formal clarification, a copy of which is available with Geo.tv, the company said recent coverage about “reclaiming land from the sea to build an artificial island” was “misleading and does not fully reflect the technical scope and design of the project.”

PPL said the ongoing activity was aimed at ensuring safe and stable drilling operations in the tide-affected Sirani Block near Sujawal — an area that has remained largely unexplored because of severe accessibility and operational constraints.

“The activities underway relate to enabling safe drilling operations in a challenging marshy environment, rather than the development of a standalone offshore island,” the company stated.

Describing it as one of Pakistan’s first attempts to drill in such terrain, PPL said it had already completed 2D and 3D seismic surveys using specialised transition-zone equipment.

“Construction work is currently underway to facilitate drilling, including loading and offloading jetties and an access road linking the jetty to the well site,” it added.

Given the marshy subsoil and tidal conditions, both the access road and the well pad are being elevated by about nine feet. “This is essential to ensure operational continuity and mitigate the effects of low and high tides,” the clarification said.

“The well site lies nearly 30 kilometres from the mainland. A 17-kilometre natural water channel will be used to transport rig components and material via barges between the jetties, according to the company. The exploratory well is scheduled to be spud in March 2026,” the company concluded.

Islamabad has intensified its drilling efforts after US President Donald Trump expressed interest in the country’s oil reserves and a recent study indicated the presence of significant yet-to-be-found hydrocarbons in offshore basins.

The report comes weeks after Pakistan awarded 23 offshore exploration blocks to four consortia, comprising local and foreign firms.

The Ministry of Energy announced on October 31 that the country had held its first such bidding round in nearly two decades, awarding 23 of the 40 offshore blocks offered, covering approximately 53,500 square kilometres.

In July, US President Trump had said that his government concluded a deal with Pakistan, where the two countries will work together on developing Islamabad’s “massive oil reserves”.

“We are in the process of choosing the Oil Company that will lead this partnership,” he wrote in his post on Truth Social.