Web Desk

This live blog follows the latest developments across the Middle East crisis, including regional diplomacy, maritime security, ceasefire negotiations, and economic fallout.<hr> Catch up: Yesterday&rsquo;s top developments <ul type="square"><li>Pakistan, Qatar mediation yields &#39;positive progress&#39; in US-Iran negotiations</li><li>Iran says talks in Qatar on implementing MoU with US have concluded</li><li>Death toll from Israeli attacks across Lebanon rises</li><li>Israeli drone strike kills 2, wounds 4 in Gaza City</li></ul> <hr> Pakistan, Qatar mediation yields &#39;positive progress&#39; in US-Iran negotiationsPublished: July 1, 2026 | 21:43 GMT | by Web Desk &nbsp;&nbsp;Qatar Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majed Al Ansari announced that Qatari and Pakistani mediators concluded separate meetings with United States and Iranian negotiators in Doha today. In a statement on his X, the spokesperson said that the meetings resulted in &quot;positive progress&quot; on issues related to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding while building on the outcomes of the Lake Lucerne Summit. &nbsp;He further stated that the parties agreed to continue discussions over the coming period. The next round of meetings will be scheduled at the &ldquo;earliest possible time&rdquo; following the funeral processions of the former Iranian Supreme Leader. <hr> Trump says Iran talks were &#39;very good&#39;Published: July 1, 2026 | 12:56 GMT | by AFP&nbsp;President Donald Trump hailed the progress on Wednesday of indirect talks between Iran and the United States, saying there had been &quot;very good meetings&quot; in Doha.&nbsp;&quot;As far as things are going, the denuclearization of Iran is moving along well. They&#39;ve had very good meetings, and we&#39;ll see,&quot; Trump told reporters as he prepared to board his new Qatar-gifted Air Force One plane for a trip to North Dakota.&nbsp;&quot;We hit them very hard... but we&#39;re getting along very well,&quot; he said of the talks, which are aimed at quelling tensions following exchanges of fire between the two sides. <hr><em style='box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px solid; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Roboto, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Helvetica Neue", Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: oklch(0.985 0.002 247.839); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' id="isPasted">For earlier developments, read our July 1 live blog&nbsp;<a href="https://pakistantv.com/article/middle-east-live-july-1" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>

Americas

Middle East

Qatar Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majed Al Ansari announce mediators conclude separate meetings with United States and Iranian negotiators in Doha; Trump hails the progress of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington, saying that "as far as things are going, the denuclearization of Iran is moving along well," adding that "we hit them very hard... but we're getting along very well."

Pakistan, Qatar mediation yields 'positive progress' in US-Iran negotiations

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: nowrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">SEATTLE: Youri Tielemans scored the latest winner in World Cup history as Belgium mounted an incredible comeback from two goals down to beat Senegal 3-2 and qualify for the last 16 of the World Cup on Wednesday. Senegal appeared on course for a first win in a World Cup knockout match since their 2002 debut after taking a 2-0 lead through strikes from Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr in Seattle. However, Belgium forced extra time as Romelu Lukaku and Tielemans scored in the final five minutes before the Aston Villa midfielder completed a remarkable turnaround by converting a penalty in the 125th minute. &quot;In football, anything is always possible as long as you believe in it,&quot; said Belgium coach Rudi Garcia. Belgium goes through to a potential meeting with the United States, which faces Bosnia and Herzegovina later on Wednesday, but it will be a bitterly painful pill to swallow for Senegal. &quot;We&#39;re out&mdash;it hurts. We must congratulate the team, who gave it their all, but unfortunately we weren&#39;t able to hold on to our two-goal lead,&quot; rued Senegal coach Pape Thiaw. A defeat would surely have signaled the end of the road for the last remnants of Belgium&#39;s golden generation&mdash;Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, and perhaps Thibaut Courtois&mdash;but instead they live to fight another day. After a 5-1 win over New Zealand that clinched top spot for Belgium in Group G, Garcia named an unchanged side with Atalanta forward Charles De Ketelaere leading the attack and Lukaku on the bench. Thiaw made three changes to the Senegal side that thrashed Iraq 5-0, which allowed them to squeak through as the last of the eight best third-place teams. Pape Gueye started after scoring twice as a substitute in that match, while Pathe Ciss and Everton winger Iliman Ndiaye came into the line-up. Senegal nearly went ahead through the in-form Sarr, who hit the post after Courtois inadvertently diverted a cross into the Crystal Palace forward&#39;s path. The Lions of Teranga did take the lead, however, when Sarr&#39;s header from Sadio Mane&#39;s cross came back off the same post, with Diarra reacting quickest to turn the rebound home. Belgium&#39;s best chance of the half fell to Maxim De Cuyper, whose curling effort from outside the area drew an outstanding full-stretch save from Mory Diaw. Diaw was again filling in for Edouard Mendy, who returned to Saudi Arabia for tests on a knee injury he suffered in Senegal&#39;s second game of the tournament. Belgian fightbackBelgium unsurprisingly turned to their all-time leading scorer at the interval, with Lukaku having already proven his value as a substitute against Egypt and New Zealand in the group phase. But Belgium fell further behind six minutes into the second half when Sarr chested down Moussa Niakhate&#39;s long pass over the defense before firing an emphatic finish beyond Courtois. De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku were hauled off as Belgium appeared to be heading out, but Lukaku&mdash;limited to barely an hour&#39;s play with Napoli this season&mdash;grabbed his team a lifeline in the 86th minute. He swept home from a Thomas Meunier cross and, just three minutes later, Belgium were level. Diaw failed to deal with Leandro Trossard&#39;s delivery into the box and Tielemans held off two defenders to nod into an empty net. Belgium substitute Dodi Lukebakio clipped the crossbar late in the second period of extra time as the match appeared destined for a penalty shootout. But there was one final twist when Tielemans went down under a challenge from Lamine Camara, prompting referee Said Martinez to award a penalty after a VAR review. Tielemans stepped up and dispatched with aplomb to cap a stunning fightback and break Senegalese hearts.&nbsp;

Football

Youri Tielemans scored the latest winner in World Cup history as Belgium mounted an incredible comeback from two goals down to beat Senegal 3-2 and qualify for the last 16 of the World Cup on Wednesday

Belgium late show floors Senegal at World Cup

PANAMA CITY: Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said Wednesday he is ordering the construction of a maximum-security prison for gang leaders following a prisoner escape and a nationwide surge in violence. Numerous Latin American countries have sought to replicate the prison-building model of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who is waging a nationwide campaign against street gangs in which some 92,000 people have been locked up since 2022. Without mentioning Bukele&#39;s policies, Mulino said he will toughen prison rules to prevent inmates from continuing to run gangs from behind bars. He blamed such gangs for drug trafficking and most killings in Panama. &quot;We are going to construct a maximum- security prison and toughen the penitentiary rules for those who commit crimes inside prison,&quot; Mulino said in a speech to Congress. &quot;We will implement a plan with greater effort... totally isolating the leaders of (criminal) gangs,&quot; he added without giving details of the plan. Mulino announced the measures amid outrage after a 10-year-old girl was killed when assailants attacked her father, and after almost 200 prisoners escaped from the La Joyita prison outside Panama City last month. Most were recaptured. &quot;I would rather they accuse me of overpopulating prisons if that means gangsters will not keep extorting, killing, robbing, and pushing drugs in the streets of our country,&quot; Mulino said. Ecuador and Costa Rica are currently building prisons in the model of the El Salvador&#39;s notorious Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT). There, prisoners are subjected to strict rules and NGOs denounce widespread human rights violations, including torture and sexual violence. Prisoners will &quot;no longer be guests in prisons that look more like resorts,&quot; Mulino said. &quot;I support the policy of human rights, but always those of the victims first,&quot; he added. So far this year Panama has registered a nationwide homicide rate of six killings per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 24 per 100,000 in its violent Central American neighbor Honduras. But the violence in Panama is double in the Caribbean province of Colon and the capital city. Although the feared Barrio 18 and MS-13 gangs entrenched in Honduras and Guatemala are not prominent in Panama, it does have over 150 crime groups concentrated in Colon and Panama City. Panama has around 24,000 inmates housed in around 20 prisons that have a total capacity is for 14,700 people.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said Wednesday he is ordering the construction of a maximum-security prison for gang leaders following a prisoner escape and a nationwide surge in violence

Panama to build a maximum-security prison for gang leaders

WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday designated Ecuadorian gang the Chone Killers as a foreign terrorist organization, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. The gang &quot;has committed numerous attacks targeting civilians, law enforcement officers, and government officials, including high-profile assassinations of public officials,&quot; Rubio said in a statement, adding that the group was also branded &quot;specially designated global terrorists.&quot; As a result, the Chone Killers&#39; leaders and anyone associated with them can be subject to US sanctions and criminal prosecution. &quot;The Trump administration, in partnership with Ecuador and President Daniel Noboa, will continue to protect our hemisphere by keeping illicit drugs off our streets and disrupting the revenue streams funding violent narcoterrorists,&quot; he added. Ecuador has gone from one of South America&#39;s safest countries to a major cocaine trafficking hub, plagued by gangs with ties to Mexican and Colombian cartels. Noboa, a staunch ally of US President Donald Trump, has imposed curfews and deployed the military to several provinces in a US-backed crackdown aimed at stamping out gang activity. The Trump administration has designated a number of other Latin American gangs and drug cartels as terrorist organizations, including Venezuela&#39;s Tren de Aragua and the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.

The United States designates Ecuadorian gang the Chone Killers as a foreign terrorist organization.

US designates Ecuador gang a terrorist organization

ATLANTA: Harry Kane rescued England from a seismic World Cup shock with two late goals to beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-1 in Atlanta and secure a place in the last 16.&nbsp;Aiming to end a 60-year wait to win a major tournament, Thomas Tuchel&#39;s men escaped humiliation and one of England&#39;s worst ever World Cup exits thanks to their talismanic captain after Brian Cipenga&#39;s early goal gave Congo an early lead.&nbsp;But the Three Lions will need to improve for the daunting task of facing co-hosts Mexico at the Estadio Azteca in the last 16 on Sunday.&nbsp;Already England&#39;s all-time top goalscorer in the competition, Kane now has 13 World Cup goals and moves onto five for the tournament to remain in the the star-studded battle for the Golden Boot.&nbsp;&quot;What a crazy game, obviously,&quot; said Kane. &quot;I think you have to stay patient in these games.&nbsp;&quot;Their keeper definitely made some unbelievable saves in that first half. And it was just about pounding the rock, keep pounding the rock, and our moments will come.&quot;&nbsp;Defeat ended Congo&#39;s fairytale run on their return to the World Cup for the first time in 52 years.&nbsp;The Leopards had never even won a point or scored a goal at the World Cup until a few weeks ago, but had one of the tournament favourites teetering on the brink of elimination.&nbsp;Tuchel made two changes from victory over Panama as Declan Rice return in midfield, while Djed Spence came in at right-back with Reece James and Jarell Quansah both ruled out through injury.&nbsp;The German coach&#39;s decision not to select more specialist right-back cover in a 26-man squad will face more scrutiny after Congo took the lead down that flank.&nbsp;Spence was caught under Chancel Mbemba&#39;s cross as the ball fell for Cipenga. The Almeria winger&#39;s shot was low and hard but Jordan Pickford should still have kept it out at his near post.&nbsp;The vast majority of the nearly 70,000 crowd decked out in England red and white were silenced, while Tuchel&#39;s players were visibly rattled.&nbsp;Jude Bellingham was shown a yellow card for a lunge lunge and was then involved in a heated exchange with his coach during the mid-half hydration break.&nbsp;The stoppage in play at least allowed Tuchel the chance to restore order.&nbsp;Bellingham&#39;s powerful header from Declan Rice&#39;s cross finally forced DR Congo &#39;keeper Lionel Mpasi into action.&nbsp;Nervy first halfMoments later Marcus Rashford&#39;s powerful effort was blocked on the line by London-born Aaron Wan Bissaka after Noni Madueke&#39;s jinking run opened up the Congo defence.&nbsp;Yet it could have been even worse for England at the break.&nbsp;Yoane Wissa&#39;s three goals in the group stage fired his country to the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time and the Newcastle striker had a golden chance to double the DR Congo lead but hit the outside of the post from point-blank range.&nbsp;At the other end, Kane was furious when he went down as he tried to round Mpasi but the referee refused to point to the spot.&nbsp;Le Harve stopper Mpasi&#39;s inspired afternoon continued as he flew to his right to parry another bullet header from Bellingham and then denied Kane from a corner with the last action of the first half.&nbsp;After a bright start to the second period, England were beginning to run out of ideas until Tuchel unloaded his offensive weapons off the bench.&nbsp;Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze were sent on by Tuchel in search of an equaliser.&nbsp;And it was new Barcelona signing Gordon who provided the cross as Kane finally found a way past Mpasi with a downward header 15 minutes from time.&nbsp;Gordon also got the assist for the 86th minute winner, but Kane did the hard work as he rifled a powerful drive into the roof of the net for his 84th international goal.&nbsp;

Harry Kane scored twice late as England came from behind to beat DR Congo 2-1 in Atlanta, reaching the World Cup last 16. Brian Cipenga scored first, but Kane's brace secured victory. England next face Mexico.

Kane rescues England from DR Congo calamity to reach World Cup last 16

SAN FRANCISCO: Shares of Meta Platforms jumped more than six percent on Wall Street Wednesday after a report said the social media giant is preparing to launch a cloud computing business that would sell AI computing power to outside customers. The report, published by Bloomberg, said Meta is developing plans to compete directly with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud by monetizing the excess computing capacity it has built up while racing to develop artificial intelligence. The company would also sell its own internally designed AI models to business customers for their own use, a major emerging market for the cloud computing giants. Meta has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into data centers and AI chips as it pursues what CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called &quot;superintelligence,&quot; spending that has fueled investor concerns about how the company will generate returns. The company, which has struck major computing deals with CoreWeave, Google and Oracle, had seen its share price lose ground in recent months due to AI overspending concerns. Zuckerberg has previously signaled openness to selling excess computing capacity or launching a service that would charge business customers for AI usage measured in tokens. &quot;It&#39;s definitely on the table,&quot; Zuckerberg told shareholders on an earnings call in May. Rival Elon Musk&#39;s SpaceX, which includes his AI startup xAI, &nbsp;ahead of an IPO last month began renting capacity from its Memphis data center to Anthropic and struck a deal with Google. The moves could bring in tens of billions of dollars in revenue and help reassure investors as spending on AI infrastructure becomes an increasing source of worry, with returns on investment not near the levels needed to break even. In the race to lead on AI, Meta has lagged behind Google, OpenAI and Anthropic, with the company&#39;s own models, often delayed, proving disappointing. Zuckerberg invested over $14 billion last year into Scale AI, a San Francisco-based startup, and poached its CEO, Alexandr Wang -- who was 28-years-old at the time -- to run the AI lab inside Meta. He has also poached top talent from his competitors.

Artificial Intelligence

Bloomberg says Meta is developing plans to compete directly with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud by monetizing the excess computing capacity it has built while racing to develop artificial intelligence.

Meta shares surge on report of new AI cloud business

PARIS: Sony said Wednesday that it would stop releasing new video games for the PlayStation on disc in January 2028 following a shift in consumer preferences. &quot;Following this date, new games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only,&quot; the company said on its official PlayStation blog. In practice that means gamers will have to download directly from Sony&#39;s PlayStation store or will obtain a download code when purchasing a title from a retailer. The announcement comes as the upcoming exclusively digital release of &quot;Grand Theft Auto VI&quot;, which is predicted to become the biggest-selling cultural product of all time, has caused some consternation among gamers. There was grumbling on social media that the lack of a physical disc would eliminate any second-hand market for the title. Sony said the upcoming shift &quot;has no impact on games that already released, or will be releasing, prior to January 2028 in disc format.&quot; &quot;This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,&quot; the company said. &quot;We remain committed to delivering a world-class gaming experience to our fans,&quot; it added. &quot;I&rsquo;ll admit, even I, the guy who won&rsquo;t shut up about digital taking more and more market share each year, am surprised to see this happen so soon,&quot; said Daniel Ahmad at Niko Partners, a video game market research firm. Sony began its move towards digital downloads in 2020 with the release of the latest console, PlayStation 5, that had a version without a disk drive. Ahmad said Sony&#39;s announcement &quot;pretty much confirms PS6 will be digital only.&quot; The release of the next generation console could come as soon as next year although high prices and shortages of key components could delay its launch, according to industry players.

Video Game

Sony announced it will stop releasing new PlayStation games on discs from January 2028, making future titles digital-only. The move reflects growing consumer preference for digital gaming and signals a likely digital-only PS6.

Sony to stop releasing PlayStation games on discs

ISLAMABAD: Fifty-two Pakistani universities have secured places in the Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026, marking a significant moment for the country&rsquo;s higher education sector. According to Times Higher Education, the 2026 edition evaluated 1,646 universities from 116 countries and territories across 17 Sustainable Development Goal tables and one overall ranking. The rankings are important because they do not assess universities only on traditional academic output. The UK-based organization Times Higher Education, in its ratings, measures how institutions contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through research, stewardship, outreach and teaching. This makes the ranking a broader measure of a university&rsquo;s social, environmental and economic impact. The University of Lahore emerged as Pakistan&rsquo;s highest-ranked institution, securing 71st position globally and becoming the country&rsquo;s only university in the top 100 higher education institutions. Other leading Pakistani institutions include Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan, MNS University of Agriculture Multan and Superior University, all placed in the 301-400 band. Several institutions were ranked in the 401-600 band, including Iqra University, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, NED University of Engineering and Technology, University of Education Lahore, University of Faisalabad, University of Kotli, University of Poonch, University of Wah and Women University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan&rsquo;s representation also included Air University, Bahria University, Dow University of Health Sciences, GIK Institute, Rawalpindi Medical University, Islamia University of Bahawalpur, University of Central Punjab, University of Gujrat, UVAS Lahore and Ziauddin University in the 601&ndash;800 band. Quaid-i-Azam University, Sukkur IBA University, Fatima Jinnah Medical University and University of Management and Technology were among those placed in the 801&ndash;1000 band. For Pakistan, the inclusion of 52 universities shows growing institutional focus on sustainability, public impact, community engagement and internationally visible research. It also strengthens the global profile of Pakistani higher education at a time when universities are increasingly expected to contribute to climate action, social inclusion, public health, quality education and responsible resource use. The recognition may also help Pakistani institutions attract partnerships, improve international credibility and align campus policies with global development priorities. Times Higher Education (THE)Times Higher Education is an education publication and global rankings organization that assesses universities around the world on academic performance, research strength, international outlook, industry links and social impact.&nbsp; Its rankings are widely followed by students, universities, policymakers and education experts because they provide an international benchmark for comparing institutions.&nbsp; Apart from its flagship World University Rankings, THE also publishes Impact Rankings, which measure universities&rsquo; contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including quality education, climate action, health, equality, innovation and sustainable communities. Other universitiesAccording to the THE website, globally, the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom secured the number one position in the overall ranking, followed by Griffith University in Australia in second place.&nbsp; Australia, Malaysia and Canada each had two universities among the global top 10, reflecting their strong institutional focus on sustainability and social impact.&nbsp; The 2026 rankings also expanded geographically, with Mali, Nicaragua, Niger and Tajikistan joining for the first time.&nbsp; The Philippines recorded the highest representation, with 160 universities included in the ranking.

Education

The University of Lahore leads Pakistan at 71st globally, while the rankings spotlight universities’ work on sustainability, research, outreach, teaching and contributions to United Nations development goals beyond academics.

52 Pakistani universities feature in THE Sustainability Impact Rankings 2026

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is seeking to expand its technology exports by helping local companies compete for contracts in the United States&rsquo; $1.5 trillion state, local and education (SLED) procurement market, Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said on Wednesday. Addressing the closing ceremony of a government-supported training program for Pakistani technology companies in Islamabad, the minister said the initiative is designed to improve Pakistan&rsquo;s access to one of the world&rsquo;s largest public-sector technology markets. &ldquo;The United States already is our largest export partner. Sixty-two percent of our exports are to the United States when you talk about tech exports, and the new initiative would help Pakistani technology companies accelerate export growth in the US market,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The US being the largest market that we have in terms of our tech trade, I think this particular project will help us accelerate our export growth in the US,&rdquo; she added. The US SLED market includes procurement by state governments, municipalities, public school districts, colleges and universities, covering spending on software, cybersecurity, cloud services, artificial intelligence and other digital technologies by nearly 90,000 government agencies and educational institutions. Highlighting the scale of the opportunity, the minister said, &ldquo;Opening of market to about 90,000 buyers&hellip; over $1.5 trillion, this is an economy, this is a market that is straight up open for you.&rdquo; Shaza Fatima said the government trained 74 Pakistani technology companies under a pilot program to help them compete for contracts in the US SLED market, adding that it invested approximately Rs6-7 million, or about $25,000, in the initiative. She said the program has already started producing early commercial results and emphasized that future government support for technology training initiatives would be linked to measurable outcomes. According to the minister, publicly funded technology programs will now be evaluated based on contracts secured, revenue generated and jobs created. She added that independent tracer studies would be conducted six months after the completion of such programs to determine whether participants had secured employment, launched businesses or won commercial contracts.

Economy

Pakistan has trained 74 Pakistani technology companies under a pilot program to help them compete for contracts in the US SLED market, which covers software, cybersecurity, cloud services, artificial intelligence, and other digital technologies by around 90,000 government agencies and educational institutions across the US.



Pakistan targets US public-sector technology market to boost tech exports significantly

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Post on Wednesday unveiled the world&#39;s longest commemorative postage stamp and a special souvenir sheet honoring legendary Pakistani artist, calligrapher and poet Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi during a ceremony at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) in Islamabad. The inauguration brought together government officials, artists, philatelists, cultural figures, media representatives and art enthusiasts to celebrate the enduring legacy of one of Pakistan&#39;s most influential cultural icons. Widely regarded as one of the country&#39;s greatest modern artists, Sadequain earned international acclaim for his monumental murals, distinctive calligraphic style and poetry. His work helped redefine Islamic calligraphy in contemporary art and remains an enduring symbol of Pakistan&#39;s artistic heritage, making the commemorative issue both a tribute to his legacy and a celebration of the country&#39;s cultural identity. According to Pakistan Post, the commemorative issue recognizes Sadequain&#39;s outstanding contributions to art, calligraphy, literature and Pakistan&#39;s cultural heritage. The centerpiece of the ceremony was the unveiling of what Pakistan Post described as the world&#39;s longest commemorative postage stamp, calling it an unprecedented philatelic achievement that represents a unique fusion of art, culture and innovation. Pakistan Post said the issuance marks a significant milestone in the organization&#39;s philatelic history and reflects its continued commitment to preserving and promoting Pakistan&#39;s cultural heritage. The concept and design were developed by Abu Obaidah Ayyaz, Pakistan&#39;s youngest postage stamp designer, in collaboration with Hasnain Mahmud, whose shared vision transformed the project into what Pakistan Post described as &quot;a landmark philatelic tribute worthy of Sadequain&#39;s unparalleled artistic legacy.&quot; In addition to the commemorative stamp and souvenir sheet, Pakistan Post also released a specially designed First Day Cover, an informational philatelic leaflet and commemorative cancellation marks. Addressing the gathering, Pakistan Post officials emphasized &quot;the importance of commemorating national icons whose contributions have shaped Pakistan&#39;s artistic and intellectual identity.&quot; They said the issuance &quot;reaffirms Pakistan Post&#39;s dedication to celebrating individuals whose work has earned both national and international recognition.&quot; The commemorative stamp, souvenir sheet, First Day Cover, philatelic leaflet and other related collectibles are now available through designated Philatelic Bureaus and selected post offices across Pakistan. Pakistan Post also expressed appreciation to distinguished guests, participating organizations, members of the media, philatelists, artists and the public for contributing to what it described as the success of the historic event honoring Sadequain&#39;s enduring legacy.

Founder of Gallery 21 Islamabad, Dr. Farrukh Seir received the special commemorative stamp from Director General Pakistan Post Sqn. Ldr. (R) Maqsood Ahmed during the ceremony, a presentation that reflected a shared commitment to preserving and celebrating

Culture

Pakistan Post has issued the world's longest commemorative postage stamp and a special souvenir sheet celebrating Sadequain, honoring the renowned artist's lasting contributions to Pakistan's cultural heritage while marking a milestone in the country's philatelic history.

Pakistan, Qatar mediation yields 'positive progress' in US-Iran negotiations

Latest News

Belgium late show floors Senegal at World Cup

Pakistan, Qatar mediation yields 'positive progress' in US-Iran negotiations

Panama to build a maximum-security prison for gang leaders

US designates Ecuador gang a terrorist organization

Kane rescues England from DR Congo calamity to reach World Cup last 16