Pakistani | Pakistan

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has resumed issuing visit visas to Pakistani citizens applying through registered travel agents, bringing relief to applicants following months of uncertainty and lengthy processing delays.

Chairman of the Senate Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani met with internationally acclaimed Pakistani professional wrestler Ather Zahid, the first Saudi-born Pakistani wrestler to represent Pakistan on the international stage.

Pakistan’s passport ranking has slipped by one position to the 101st spot globally and remains the fourth worst in the world, according to the Henley Passport Index, it emerged on Tuesday. The Henley Passport Index compares 199 different passports across 227 different travel destinations, and calculates the score based on the number of destinations that can be accessed without a prior visa, or with a visa on arrival. With visa-free access declining from 30 countries in May to 29 countries in July, the Pakistani passport’s rank slipped by one rank to 101st. The travel document has been declared the world’s fourth worst since at least January 2021 on the Henley Index, based on multiple reports issued each year. A graph showing Pakistan’s ranking on the Henley Passport Index over the years since 2006. — screengrab via henleyglobal.com According to the Henley Index, Pakistani passport holders have free visa access to Barbados, Cook Islands, Dominica, Haiti, Micronesia, Montserrat, Rwanda, St. Vincent and the Gren...

Four men, reported to be Pakistani nationals, were gunned down in a suspected ambush in South Africa, it emerged on Monday. South African news platform News24 reported on Sunday that the incident occurred in Kempton Park, a city in the Gauteng province, on Saturday evening. It added that the victims were shopkeepers in the Sebenza area. “According to several social media posts, the victims were Pakistani nationals,” the news outlet said, but noted that police were unable to confirm the victims’ nationalities. Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi confirmed the deaths and said the police were investigating them as murder cases, News24 said. When asked to confirm the nationality of the victims, Nevhuhulwi told the news agency, “They are [foreign nationals], but unfortunately at this stage, I cannot confirm their nationality.” According to her, the victims’ Honda car had stopped at a red traffic light when two unknown men driving a white sedan stopped next to their vehicle, got out and started...

The landmark “Saudi Company Formation and Business Expansion Summit 2026,” organized by the Saudi-based Al Raee Group, successfully concluded in the federal capital, marked by the signing of 12 historic Business-to-Business (B2B) agreements with leading Pakistani commercial enterprises.

The 38-year-old accountant becomes the 29th Pakistani to win Dubai Duty Free's Millennium Millionaire draw

The Italian Supreme Court on Wednesday delivered its final verdict in the case of a young woman killed five years ago for refusing an arranged marriage, making final the murder convictions of five of her relatives, Italy’s leading news agency ANSA reported. Saman Abbas, an 18-year-old girl of Pakistani origin living in Italy, was murdered by her family in Italy’s Novellara in the spring of 2021 for refusing an arranged marriage in Pakistan. The Supreme Court of Cassation — Italy’s highest court of appeal — upheld the murder convictions and life sentences of Abbas’ parents, Shabbar Abbas and Nazia Shaheen, as well as her cousins Ijaz Ikram and Nomanul Haq, and also upheld the 22-year prison sentence of her uncle, Danish Hasnain, according to ANSA. Abbas had in 2020 rebelled against her family’s plan to marry her to a cousin in Pakistan. While still a minor, she sought help from social services and was moved to a shelter home in November. She also reported her parents to the police, but returned to them on Apri...

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has introduced revised travel regulations requiring Pakistani dual nationals to carry either a valid National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) or a Pakistani visa when travelling to the country.

KARACHI: Dr Ayesha I. Mian has been elected as the president of the International Associ­ation for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP) for the 2026-2030 term. According to a press release, her election makes her the first Pakistani and the first South Asian to lead the organisation since its establishment in 1937. Dr Mian’s election marks an important moment not only for Pakistan but also for the growing recognition of expertise emerging from low- and middle-income countries. An alumna of Aga Khan University, Dr Mian previously served on the faculty of the University of Texas and Baylor College of Medicine. After returning to Pakistan in 2013, she became Founding Dean of Student Experience and Chair of the Depa­rtment of Psychiatry at AKU, where she established Pakistan’s first Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship training programme. She currently serves as the Founder and CEO of Synapse — Pakistan Neuroscience Institute, where she continues to advance evidence-based clinica...

Hopes Pakistan's first Netflix show will debut next year and that it will open the doors for Pakistani content

Iraq has announced new visa regulations for Pakistani pilgrims planning to visit religious sites in the country.

The Pakistan Hajj Mission in Madinah has set a historic record during this year’s Hajj operation by successfully facilitating Riaz-ul-Jannah visits for 100 percent of the government-scheme Pakistani pilgrims through official permits.

Pakistani and Indian nationals were among 13 killed after an explosion at Qatar’s massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex, attributed to a “technical malfunction”, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Saad al-Kaabi said on Monday. Authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion, which Saad al-Kaabi said was “an accident and not sabotage or hostile in nature”. He announced “the tragic loss of 13 lives of our people who hold Indian and Pakistani nationalities”. The state minister said that 66 people were reported injured and were receiving medical treatment, none of whom were in life-threatening condition. They hold Qatari, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Kenyan, Ghanian, Tanzanian, Nigerian and Nepalese nationalities, he added. India’s embassy in Qatar said local authorities had confirmed “that 12 Indian nationals have unfortunately passed away in the Ras Laffan incident”. The embassy said it was working in close contact with the Qatari authorities to extend “all possible help to the In...

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Tuesday, spoke with Somalia’s Foreign Minister Abdisalam Ali, to discuss ongoing efforts to secure the release of the Pakistani hostages aboard the MT Honour 25.

Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry held a telephone call with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday regarding the release of Pakistani seamen taken hostage by Somali pirates, a statement by Chaudhry’s ministry said. The seamen were taken hostage more than a month ago when armed pirates hijacked the MT Honour 25 off the southeastern coast of Somalia on April 21. There were 11 Pakistanis among the vessel’s crew, who remain in the pirates’ captivity. A statement by the Maritime Affairs Ministry said that Chaudhry had called Dar and also contacted Pakistan’s envoy in Somalia on the matter. “Need to expedite efforts for the fast and safe release of the Pakistani crew was stressed,” the statement read. It quoted Chaudhry as saying that soon after receiving information about the incident in April, efforts for the crew’s release were initiated. “We remain in touch with the Pakistan foreign ministry and the Somalian embassy,” he said, adding that the government was making efforts ...

The return of Pakistani pilgrims after the completion of Hajj is progressing smoothly, with more than 34,000 pilgrims having arrived back in the country so far.

After reports of the murder of four Pakistani farmers in Italy, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Tuesday that the “exact nationality” of the deceased was not confirmed yet. The FO’s statement came hours after Corriere della Sera daily reported that Italian police had arrested two Pakistani nationals for the murder of four Pakistani farm workers found dead in a burnt-out minivan in southern Italy. The FO said that while the deceased individuals were reported to be Pakistanis, their “exact nationality” was not confirmed yet. It added that the matter was being investigated by local police, who were also carrying out forensics. “The Pakistani embassy in Italy is following up on the matter and is in touch with local authorities regarding further developments,” the FO said. According to Corriere della Sera, the burnt-out vehicle with four bodies was found at a petrol station near the village of Amendolara in a vast farming area in the Calabria region. CCTV images from the petrol station showed two people blocking th...

KARACHI: Pakistani freelancers have earned more than $950 million in foreign exchange during 10MFY26, up 49 per cent year on year (YoY), according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Dr Imran Batada, the newly appointed President and CEO of the Pakistan Freelancers Association (PFA), said Pakistani freelancers had outperformed those in India, China, the UAE, and several other countries despite multiple global and domestic challenges. In a statement, he said the growth in freelancers’ income was driven by the increasing participation of Pakistani freelancers on various platforms, including Upwork, Fiverr, and social media. He noted that awareness of freelancing has increased significantly among Pakistanis over the past few years, encouraging many individuals to acquire skills through online learning, private institutions, government-led training programmes, and initiatives by various NGOs. Pakistan’s freelancing community is estimated at around three million people, and this number should con...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited camps of Pakistani pilgrims in Mina, where he reviewed arrangements and inspected the facilities being provided to Hajj pilgrims.

In a message to Pakistani pilgrims in Makkah, Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Muhammad Yousaf urged them to show patience, unity, and discipline, saying their behaviour represents Pakistan on an international level.