Pakistan | News

The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), in collaboration with UNFPA, UN Women, Group Development Pakistan and the Embassy of the Netherlands, has concluded a two-day national consultation to finalise a unified framework for Pakistan’s first-ever National Gender Parity Report, scheduled for launch on International Women’s.

Pakistan and China have agreed to enhance cooperation in space science, astronaut training, and the establishment of a Pakistan Space Center under a five-year action plan.

Pakistan and Kazakhstan on Tuesday signed the Action Plan of Cooperation to boost bilateral ties, according to a statement by the Foreign Office. The two countries maintain friendly diplomatic relations, with Kazakhstan being Pakistan’s top export destination among Central Asian countries. According to Kazakh envoy Yerzhan Kistafin, bilateral trade was growing and surged to $239 million. Earlier today, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a “tête-à-tête” with his Kazakh counterpart Murat Nurtleu, the FO said in a post on X. They held a meeting in Islamabad where both sides “reaffirmed their resolve to deepen their political and economic ties”, state media Radio Pakistan reported. “The two sides also vowed to enhance regional connectivity and maintain close coordination ahead of the forthcoming [Kazakhstan’s] presidential visit in November this year,” it added. In another post, the FO noted that the delegations held high-level talks on the “full spectrum of Pakistan- Kazakhstan cooperation...

ISLAMABAD - The upcoming Inter-Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference (ISC), set to be hosted by the Senate of Pakistan in Islamabad this November, was officially launched with a curtain raiser ceremony attended by Parliamentary Leaders, Diplomats, and senior officials.

The United Nations has allocated $5 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to bolster Pakistan’s response to devastating floods affecting large parts of the country, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher announced on Monday.

ISLAMABAD: The government announced on Monday that Pakistan and China had agreed to form a consortium of bilateral and multilateral partners to finance the $7 billion Mainline-1 (ML-1) railway project, along with a four-year action plan (2025-29) for the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Speaking at a news conference, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to China, the two sides had agreed to constitute a consortium of financiers, including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), China and Pakistan, for the 1,700-km Karachi-Peshawar railway line. He said China had assured financing not only for ML-1 but also for the Karakoram Highway. Negotiations with multiple financiers would be concluded within a month. He added that ML-1 and the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway would already have been completed, had it not been for the 2018 political change, alleging that the subsequent PTI gove...

Pakistan has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth $500 million with an American metals company, the US Strategic Metals (USSM), it emerged on Monday. The USSM, based in the state of Missouri, is focused on producing and recycling critical minerals, which the United States Department of Energy has defined as essential in a variety of technologies related to advanced manufacturing and energy production. The USSM is a company that specialises in extracting critical metals from old lithium-ion batteries and mining cobalt, nickel and copper, according to its website. According to the American embassy, the US Department of Energy has defined critical minerals as essential in a variety of technologies related to advanced manufacturing and energy production. A press release from the US Embassy, published on Sunday, stated that Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Zach Harkenrider accompanied a USSM-led delegation to sign an MoU with the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) at the Prime Minister’s House. Speaking a...

Pakistan is set to host Sri Lanka for a series of one day international (ODI) matches in Rawalpindi from Novermber 11-15, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Monday. A day earlier, the PCB announced that it was set to host Sri Lanka and Afghanistan for a T20 International (T20I) tri-series for the first time from November 17 to 29 in Lahore and Rawalpindi. In a press release, the PCB noted that this would be Sri Lanka’s first bilateral ODI series in Pakistan since 2019, when they last visited for a three-match series that the Green Shirts won 2-0, with the first ODI in Karachi abandoned due to rain. “Sri Lanka’s most recent visit to Pakistan came in 2023, when they participated in the ACC Asia Cup and played against Afghanistan in Lahore,” the press release read. The PCB reiterated that the nation’s maiden tri-series will be held after the ODI matches, while the Green Shirts will host two ICC World Test Championship matches and six white-ball games against South Africa from October 12 to November 8....

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu arrives in Pakistan today (Monday) on a two-day official visit, accompanied by a high-level 13-member delegation, including the Kazakh minister of transport.

Pakistan men, led by spinner Mohammad Nawaz’s hat-trick, bamboozled Afghanistan to win by a huge margin of 75 runs in the final of the Twenty20 International tri-series in Sharjah on Sunday. Player of the match Nawaz became the third Pakistani bowler to take a hat-trick in T20Is for the Green Shirts and ended up with figures of 5-19 as the Afghan batters had no response to his wily left-arm spin — getting bowled out for a paltry 66. He also contributed with the bat in Pakistan’s first innings by hitting two sixes and scoring 25 of 21 deliveries. Earlier, Afghanistan men’s spinners restricted Pakistan to 141-8 after skipper Salman Ali Agha had elected to bat first after winning the toss, and the Green Shirts had one change since their last encounter against Afghanistan on Tuesday, with spinner Abrar Ahmed playing in place of pacer Haris Rauf. Spinners Abrar and Sufyan Moqim picked up two wickets each as the Pakistani spinners outbowled their Afghan counterparts to win the final by 75 runs at the packed Sharjah...

A lunar eclipse is visible over Pakistan on Sunday night with the celestial event expected to conclude at 1:55am. According to the Met Office, the eclipse began at 9:27pm. The total eclipse phase started at 10:31pm. The eclipse will reach its peak at 11:12pm, offering a striking celestial view for skywatchers across the country. The total eclipse phase is expected to end at 11:53pm. The partial eclipse will continue until 12:57am, while the entire eclipse event will conclude by 1:55am. A picture of the moon on September 7. — Tanveer Shahzad According to Suparco, a lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting its shadow across the lunar surface. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are completely safe to observe with the naked eye, binoculars or telescopes. In a press release on Saturday, the space agency had said that the eclipse will be visible in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe, with clear visibility expected in most regions of Pakistan if the weather permits. “...

Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu will pay an official visit to Pakistan from September 8 to 9, leading a 13-member high-level delegation, including the country’s Minister of Transport.

Pakistan is set to host a T20 International (T20I) tri-series for the first time from November 17 to 29, according to a press release issued by the country’s cricket board on Sunday. Apart from Pakistan, the “three-nation tournament” would feature Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, the press release said. It added that the series was organised to “provide all teams with valuable preparation” ahead of next year’s International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup, which will take place in India and Sri Lanka. Detailing its schedule, it further stated that the hosts would take on Afghanistan on November 17, marking the beginning of the series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. It also mentioned that “will be Afghanistan’s first-ever T20I in Pakistan”. “On November 19, Sri Lanka will face Afghanistan at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, while the remaining five T20Is of the tri-series, including the final on November 29, will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore,” the press release said. Tri-series schedule Nov 17: P...

Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu will arrive in Pakistan tomorrow on a two-day official visit to further cement bilateral ties, the Foreign Office said on Sunday. Pakistan and Kazakhstan maintain friendly diplomatic relations, with bilateral trade worth $239 million, according to its envoy Yerzhan Kistafin. Nurtleu will undertake an official visit to Pakistan from September 8 to 9, the FO said in a statement, adding that the trip will serve as a precursor to Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s visit scheduled in November 2025. During his stay, the visiting dignitary will “hold a tête-à-tête” with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, followed by delegation-level talks. Nurtleu is also expected to call on President Asif Ali Zardari and PM Shehbaz Sharif, according to the FO. “The discussions will provide an opportunity to review preparations for the upcoming presidential visit and to deliberate comprehensively on the entire spectrum of Pak-Kazakh bilateral cooperation, ...

The Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) has announced that a lunar eclipse will be visible in Pakistan on the night of September 7, starting at 8:30 PM and reaching its peak at 11:57 PM.

A total lunar eclipse will be visible over Pakistan on the night of September 7 (Sunday), according to the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco). According to Suparco, a lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting its shadow across the lunar surface. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are completely safe to observe with the naked eye, binoculars or telescopes. In a press release on Saturday, the space agency said that the eclipse will be visible in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe, with clear visibility expected in most regions of Pakistan if the weather permits. “The event will start at 8:30pm and reach its maximum at 11:57pm,” the press release read, stating that the eclipse will conclude at 1:55am. “This is a great chance for people, especially students and astronomy enthusiasts, to connect with science and explore the wonders of our universe,” a Suparco spokesperson was quoted as saying. Sunday’s eclipse is also known as a “blood moon”, du...

Pakistan will host South Africa for a series of test, one-day international (ODI) and Twenty-20 international (T20I) matches from October to November, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Saturday. In a press release, the PCB said that Pakistan’s new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship will begin with this visit by the Proteas, with the first test starting on October 12 in Lahore. “The first Test will be played at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium from October 12-16, which will also be the first five-day match at the stadium since its complete renovation earlier this year to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025,” the PCB stated. “The second Test match is scheduled to take place at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from October 20-24.” According to the press release, this will be the visitors’ first tour to Pakistan since 2021, where they lost a test series 2-0. “At the conclusion of the red-ball matches, both sides will feature in three T20Is from October 28 to November 1, with the first T20I taking place at ...

The National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) Pakistan has signed landmark agreements of cooperation with thirteen leading Chinese institutes to enhance technical and vocational education opportunities for Pakistani youth.

Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif on Saturday said that the spirit of martyrdom has rendered Pakistan invincible and continues to strengthen the nation’s resolve against all challenges.

Eid Milad-un-Nabi (Peace Be Upon Him) is being observed across Pakistan today (Saturday) with deep religious reverence, devotion, and solemnity to commemorate the sacred birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).