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Otis Khan missed a penalty as Pakistan played out a goalless draw against Afghanistan at the Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad on Thursday, securing their first point in the third round of qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. Nolberto Solano’s side had the better of the opportunities against the jaded visitors, who only arrived in Islamabad less than 24 hours before kickoff due to a prolonged visa problem. However, the hosts weren’t able to capitalise on the chances — notably Otis’ opportunity when he blazed his spot-kick over the bar midway through the second half — in front of a fervent home crowd. The draw meant Pakistan and Afghanistan both got off the mark in Group ‘E’, and they trail joint-leaders Syria and Myanmar by five points. Syria were hosting Myanmar later on Thursday in a clash between two teams with maximum points from their two games. The winner of the group advances to the tournament finals in Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan received $3.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Thursday said Pakistan welcomes the agreement on first phase of the Plan, including an immediate ceasefire, release of hostages and prisoners, and unhindered humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Former senator Mushtaq Ahmad, detained by Israeli forces during last week’s Gaza aid flotilla interception, has left Jordan for Pakistan.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that it had made “significant progress” toward reaching a staff-level agreement (SLA) in its talks with Pakistani authorities. An IMF mission led by Iva Petrova met with Pakistan’s economic team in Karachi and Islamabad from September 24 to October 8 to review the implementation of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and $1.1bn Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The programme’s performance as of the end of June this year — the period under review — has been mixed. Last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had urged the lender to take into account the recent flood damage in its review for the country. In a statement released early on Thursday, the Fund quoted Petrova as saying, “The IMF mission and the Pakistani authorities made significant progress toward reaching a staff-level agreement on the second review under the 37-month extended arrangement under the EFF and on the first review of 28-month arrangement under the RSF”. “Programme i...

Zoofishan Ayyaz already knows who’ll be on the women’s national cricket team in the coming years. She, for one, hopes to make it. The dream could very well be a reality given that she captained the Strikers to a four-wicket win against the Conquerors in the National Women’s Under-19 T20 Tournament final, and a performance that saw her take the player-of-the-match award. But she knows, with the firmest of convictions, that the cohort of teenage girls she plays with and against will be the future of women’s cricket in Pakistan “I’m telling you, in the coming times, cricket is about to change so much. We have incredible talent coming up,” Zoofi, as she is known to her teammates, told Dawn.com. “You’re going to see players that make you say ‘wow, Pakistan has this kind of talent’?” Over at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Pakistan recorded their third straight loss in the ICC Women’s World Cup match as they struggled against defending champions Australia. But the 18-year-old from Wah Cantt exuded confidence a...

A superb century from Beth Mooney dragged defending champions Australia back from the brink of disaster before they completed a crushing 107-run win over Pakistan in the ICC Women’s World Cup clash in Colombo on Wednesday. The Aussies were staring down the barrel at 76-7 and then 115-8 after being asked to bat first with the Pakistan bowlers causing mayhem, left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu finishing with 3-37 from her 10 overs. But a record ninth-wicket stand between Mooney, who was dismissed off the final ball of the innings for 109, and Alana King, who made 51 not out, turned the tide. The pair dragged their side from the doldrums to a competitive 221-9 and that proved plenty as Pakistan’s brittle batting folded meekly for 114 all out in 36.3 overs. A superb century from Beth Mooney dragged defending champions Australia back from the brink of disaster before they completed a crushing 107-run win over Pakistan in a Women’s World Cup clash in Colombo on Wednesday. The Aussies were staring down the barrel at 76-...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Wednesday, stressed that Pakistan held the recent joint defense agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in high esteem.

The World Bank has cautioned that Pakistan’s economy is likely to face slower growth and higher inflation in the wake of recent devastating floods that have severely disrupted agricultural activity and food supply chains.

• World Bank cuts forecast by 0.5pc, predicts inflation may shoot to 7.2pc; exports to decline 1.5pc • WB official says removing barriers to women’s participation in job market can boost GDP per capita by 20-30pc ISLAMABAD: The World Bank on Tuesday cut its growth forecast for Pakistan by half a per cent to 2.6 per cent for the current fiscal year due to the recent floods, which are also expected to push up inflation to 7.2 per cent. “For FY 2025/26, real GDP growth is projected to remain around 2.6pc, as ongoing catastrophic floods have damped the forecast,” the Washington-based lending agency said in its regional economic outlook for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP) region. The bank had earlier projected a 3.1pc growth rate for the country in its previous biannual outlook in April 2025. Pakistan had set 4.2pc growth target and has since been looking at 3.5pc as part of its IMF engagements. “Early estimates suggest a drop of at least 10 per cent in agricultural output in Punja...

Still searching for a sense of direction in the ICC Women’s World Cup, Pakistan will take on a rampant Australian side at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday, hoping to spark a turnaround against the tournament’s most complete outfit. Fatima Sana’s charges have endured a tough start to their campaign, slumping to heavy defeats against Bangladesh and India. Their batting has wavered, their bowling has lacked consistency, and their fielding has been short of international standard — a combination that has left them bottom of the eight-team table with little margin for error. But ahead of their clash with the defending champions, Pakistan’s senior batter Sidra Amin struck a note of quiet defiance. “I think tomorrow is a big game for us as a team,” she said at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday. “We are a good batting side, but as batters, we have to spend more time on the wicket so that we can execute our plans and assess the conditions really well.” Sidra, one of the few bright spots in Pakistan’s othe...

Pakistan on Tuesday sought regional countries’ cooperation to counter threats emerging from Afghanistan during the Moscow Format Consultations held in the Russian capital on Tuesday. Pakistan’s Special Representative to Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq addressed the moot, which was also attended by Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The consultations, held at the level of special representatives and senior officials of Afghanistan, were attended by India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. For the first time, the Afghan delegation participated in the meeting as a member. Russia became the first country to recognise the Taliban government in July this year. A delegation from Belarus also attended the meeting as guests. “I spoke about the urgent need for collective regional efforts to effectively counter terrorism and dismantle all terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil,” Ambassador Sadiq told the 7th meeting of the Moscow Format. Sadiq said he also highligh...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday that former Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) senator Mushtaq Ahmad, who was detained by Israel last week after it intercepted a flotilla of boats carrying aid for Gaza, had arrived at the Pakistan embassy in Amman, Jordan and was in “good health and high spirits”, adding that he would return on October 9. Ahmad led the Pakistani delegation on the 45-vessel Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which left Spain last month to break Israel’s blockade of aid to Gaza with activists and politicians, including Greta Thunberg, on board. However, as it approached Gaza, Israeli forces intercepted it, detaining the activists on board before deporting them. In a post on social media platform X, Dar said, “I am pleased to confirm that former senator Mushtaq has been released and is now safely with [the] Pakistan embassy in Amman. He is in good health and high spirits.” He said that the embassy stood ready to facilitate his return to Pakistan at his wish. “[I] am pleased to e...

The United States will supply Pakistan with advanced air-to-air missiles under a modified agreement between defence contractor Raytheon and the US Air Force, marking a renewed phase of defence cooperation between the two countries.

A high-level delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday, marking a new chapter in Pakistan–Saudi Arabia relations.

A high-level business delegation from Saudi Arabia, led by the Chairman of the Saudi-Pakistan Joint Business Council Prince Mansour bin Mohammad Al Saud, has arrived in Islamabad to discuss trade, investment, and collaboration, the Foreign Office (FO) said today. The development follows Pakistan forming an 18-member committee to oversee bilateral economic engagements and negotiations with the Kingdom. Last month, the two countries also signed a mutual defence agreement, pledging a joint response to any act of aggression. According to an FO statement, Prince Mansour and his accompanying delegation will “hold meetings with the Pakistani leadership and engage with senior government officials, chambers of commerce and leading business groups to explore avenues for enhanced bilateral trade and investment cooperation.” It added that the visit underscored the deep-rooted and brotherly ties between Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, reflecting their shared commitment to expanding economic and investment partne...

Pakistan will be sold Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) by United States defence group Raytheon following a modification in the firm’s contract that included the country in the list of buyers, it emerged on Tuesday. The US missiles are equipped on F-16 Falcons flown by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). A September 30 press release on the contracts issued by the US Department of War for the US Air Force said Raytheon was awarded a $41.6 million firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded contract for the enhanced C8 and D3 AMRAAM variants and their production. It added that the modification brought the total cumulative face value of the contract to $2.5 billion from $2.47bn. “Work will be performed at Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by May 30, 2030. This contract involves foreign military sales to United Kingdom, Poland, Pakistan, Germany, Finland, Australia, Romania, Qatar, Oman, Korea, Greece, Switzerland, Portugal, Singapore, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Japan, Slovak...

Pakistan has urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to “actively” pursue a just and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in line with its resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, warning that lasting peace in South Asia will remain elusive without resolving this decades-old issue.

Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Amir Muqam on Monday pressed the international community to help Pakistan in repatriating Afghan refugees to their country. Muqam was speaking at the 76th Session of the Executive Committee of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, which is running from October 6-10, according to a press release from the ministry. “It is now our shared responsibility to facilitate safe and dignified return of displaced Afghans to their country. However, durable returns require investments, in countries of refugee origin for peace, stability, schools, clinics, and livelihoods to make return viable,” he was quoted as having said. Pakistan announced the phased repatriation of millions of Afghans in 2023 over security concerns and reasoning that the decades-long conflict had ended in Afghanistan. Currently, the repatriation of nearly 1.3 million registered Afghans is underway. Muqam said repeated calls for such support, alongside predict...

Pakistan has constituted an 18-member committee to carry out bilateral economic engagements and negotiations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), a notification issued on Sunday by the Prime Minister’s Office said. According to the notification, made available to Dawn.com today, the committee will be co-chaired by Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik and the national coordinator for Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ahmad. The notification, dated October 5, said that the co-chairs “shall constitute core/negotiation teams for negotiations with the Saudi counterparts”. These teams, per the notification, shall be responsible for implementing and executing the assigned tasks on a fast-track basis. “The prime minister has directed that the SIFC shall submit proposals for the travel of members of the committee from Pakistan to KSA and back, and the PMO will ensure that these are processed/approved within one hour of the same working day,” the notification further said. P...