GUJRAT  –  A high-level business delegation from the Overseas League of Asian Entrepreneurs (OLAE), Portugal, visited Liberty Gujrat the other dayy to explore investment opportunities and discuss prospects for expanding economic cooperation between Pakistan and Europe.

The delegation held detailed discussions with Liberty Gujrat Chief Executive Officer Kaleem Ullah Gilani, focusing on potential investment in upcoming development projects and the promotion of long-term commercial partnerships. Welcoming the delegation, Gilani outlined Liberty Gujrat’s vision of developing the project as a centre for business, tourism and investment. He said Gujrat’s industrial base, entrepreneurial culture and large overseas Pakistani community offered considerable potential for attracting foreign investment.

He said international collaboration could contribute to sustainable development by facilitating technology transfer, creating employment opportunities and strengthening the local economy. Members of the Portuguese delegation expressed interest in Liberty Gujrat’s proposed development initiatives and said they saw Pakistan as a market with significant investment potential. They noted that the country’s strategic location, expanding consumer market and growing business opportunities made it an attractive destination for European investors. The delegation said the Overseas League of Asian Entrepreneurs (OLAE) was prepared to facilitate contacts between European investors and Pakistani businesses to encourage investment in sectors including infrastructure, tourism, real estate, hospitality and manufacturing.

The participants also discussed ways to enhance institutional cooperation, promote business-to-business engagement and encourage the exchange of trade delegations between Pakistan and European countries. They emphasised that sustained dialogue between the private sectors of both regions could help identify viable investment opportunities and strengthen commercial ties. The meeting also highlighted the importance of creating an investor-friendly environment through transparency, effective facilitation and closer collaboration between public and private stakeholders.

Speaking on the occasion, members of the delegation said overseas business organisations could play an important role in projecting Pakistan as an attractive destination for international investment and in strengthening economic linkages with European markets. Special recognition was given to Dr Sohail Jarral for his efforts in promoting international business engagement and facilitating interaction between overseas investors and Pakistani institutions. Participants acknowledged his role in strengthening business relations and encouraging foreign investment initiatives.

The meeting concluded with both sides expressing their commitment to maintaining contacts and exploring future opportunities for cooperation. They agreed to continue discussions on prospective investment projects aimed at promoting economic development and strengthening commercial relations between Pakistan and Europe.

The visit was viewed by participants as a step towards enhancing business connectivity and encouraging greater European investment in Pakistan through long-term partnerships and private-sector collaboration.

FIFA’s handling of two World Cup red-card cases came under renewed scrutiny on Thursday after England defender Jarell Quansah got a two-match suspension while U.S. striker Folarin Balogun avoided an immediate ban for a ​similar challenge.

That has left former international referees unable to reconcile the two decisions.

Quansah was sent off in ‌England’s last-16 victory over Mexico after a video review deemed his sliding studs-up challenge serious foul play. He was later handed a two-match ban that England’s Football Association said it could not appeal.

Balogun, by contrast, was sent off during the United States’ round-of-32 win over Bosnia but received ​a one-match suspension that world soccer’s governing body FIFA later suspended.

Balogun’s ban was suspended on probation for one year ​under Article 27 of the disciplinary code, FIFA said, although it has not publicly explained ⁠why it considered that sanction appropriate in his case.

The fact that U.S. President Donald Trump had personally urged FIFA President Gianni ​Infantino to review Balogun’s case only intensified the controversy, even though FIFA insisted the conversation played no part in its decision.

“FIFA ​have failed in their duty towards the game after they delayed the ban for Balogun. They allowed outside interference by the president,” former referee Keith Hackett wrote on social media on Thursday.

“FIFA the major lawmaker are at fault. But both players committed Serious Foul Play challenges sanctioned ​by a red card.”

Roughly equal offences

Jonas Eriksson, who was a FIFA referee for 16 years from 2002, said if Balogun ​got a one-match suspension, Quansah should have as well, seeing their two on-field incidents were roughly equal in terms of intensity and aggression.

“What ‌everyone wants ⁠from referees, they want the correct decisions, yes, but more important always is consistency,” Eriksson told Reuters.

“That you identify, okay, player A gets the same sanction as player B. Team A gets the same sanction as team B. You know, that’s what you expect. And this is not the case when it comes to Quansah and Balogun.”

British media quickly drew comparisons between ​the two cases, with The ​Independent running the headline: “FIFA confirms ⁠Jarell Quansah ban just days after Folarin Balogun reprieve.”

Eriksson said the subsequent suspension of Balogun’s match ban was never adequately explained, contributing to the furore.

Belgium unsuccessfully challenged Balogun’s eligibility before ​their round-of-16 victory over the United States, but FIFA has still not publicly explained why ​it decided to ⁠suspend the striker’s ban under Article 27.

“If you’re not able to communicate how they interpret the situation – was it an incorrect decision of the referee or was it the wrong application of the laws of the game – we don’t know,” said Eriksson, whose book “House ⁠of Cards” ​explores the “dirty game behind the game” for FIFA referees.

“It’s just for you ​and me and for everybody else to guess. But with that in mind, the red card for Quansah and the suspension is for me, just, it’s ​a mystery.

LAHORE  –  Managing Director of Sui Northern Gas has advised all the regional general managers to remain on station and maintain round-the-clock vigilance to ensure uninterrupted restoration of gas supply in flood-affected areas. Recent floods have caused some damage to SNGPL’s distribution infrastructure in Swat, Mardan, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Gujrat and other regions, affecting gas supply to approximately 3,383 consumers and damaging around 7,480 meters of distribution network.

Swift mobilization of field teams has enabled restoration of gas supply to over 90% of affected areas in Mardan Region, while in Swat and Dir, supply to 47,000 of the 48,000 impacted consumers has been restored — with 35,000 consumers reconnected within three hours of the initial disruption. Repair and reconstruction activities are ongoing in all affected regions. In Sialkot and Gujrat, restoration work for nearly 2,000 consumers will commence as soon as floodwaters subside. In Swat, 25-km of the damaged network has already been rebuilt, while reconstruction remains pending in severely impacted localities — including Bangladesh (480 connections), Mula Baba (200 connections), and Landykas & Makan Bagh (400 connections) due to the complete washout of infrastructure and approximately 200 fully damaged service lines. The MD has lauded the unwavering commitment of Sui Northern teams working under extreme conditions and reiterated instructions regarding sustained efforts for complete restoration of gas supply to every affected consumer.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in New Zealand on Friday touting a free trade deal that has sparked a backlash despite promises it will unlock jobs and economic riches.

On the agenda are trade, tourism and sport — but recent undercurrents of anti-migrant sentiment risk tarnishing his trip to a nation long proud of its tolerance.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon celebrated the signing in April of the free trade deal with the world’s most populous nation, touting an export boom that would deliver jobs and investment in spades.

The pact is widely expected to be approved by New Zealand’s parliament. But not everyone is happy at the prospect.

Lawmakers in the populist New Zealand First Party, part of Luxon’s governing coalition, railed against parts of the agreement covering migration and visas.

“I don’t care how much criticism we get, I am just never going to agree with a butter chicken tsunami coming to New Zealand,” government minister Shane Jones told a local radio show.

An Indian community leader accused Jones of “outright racism”.

A prominent evangelical preacher went even further when he heard Indian leader Modi would soon be arriving on New Zealand’s shores.

Self-proclaimed “apostle” Brian Tamaki accused Modi of vilifying Christians in India — and suggested New Zealanders should retaliate in kind.

“Let’s purge New Zealand of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims,” Tamaki said on Instagram.

“While we’re at it, if they’re burning churches down, why don’t we burn mosques and their temples down? Tit for tat,” he said, in comments condemned by New Zealand’s race relations commissioner as “utterly appalling”.

‘Denigrated’

Indigenous Maori activist Che Wilson was earlier this year accused of insulting an Indian-born New Zealand lawmaker with a cultural “haka” performance that allegedly included several mocking references tinged by race.

Massey University anthropologist Sita Venkateswar said Modi was visiting as Indian-New Zealanders were being singled out and “denigrated”.

“A ‘butter chicken tsunami’, slurs set to a haka, graffiti on a school wall – South Asians are already the most frequent targets of racially motivated incidents in our data,” she told AFP.

“That is real and it is wrong.” Modi will be in New Zealand for little more than a day, at the tail end of a July 6-11 tour that has also taken him to Indonesia and Australia.

He will be attending an official ceremony at the Government House and a business and sport event in Auckland — the first visit to the country by an Indian leader in 40 years.

The big event is expected to be Modi’s starring role before as many as 10,000 people from the Indian diaspora at a community event in Auckland’s Spark Arena.

Despite the negative rhetoric about their ties from some quarters, New Zealand’s Luxon has been promoting a welcoming image for Modi’s visit to a country that is home to an Indian diaspora of about 300,000.

“This visit is about celebrating a winning partnership between New Zealand and India — one that delivers for our people and supports greater prosperity and security for both our countries,” he said.

• Sets July 14 as deadline for ‘acceptance’ of its demands
• Two die near Rawalakot as forces clear path for convoy carrying food items

MUZAFFARABAD: The proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) announced on Thursday that it would resume its long march on Muzaffarabad on July 15, if its demands remained unmet.

Addressing participants at the Eidgah sit-in, JAAC core member Umar Nazir Kashmiri said the alliance would stage a long march on Muzaffarabad on July 15 if its charter of demands was not implemented by July 14.

He said the long march, which had been halted in Rawalakot on June 10, would resume under the already announced standard operating procedures.

“Once again, the JAAC seeks implementation of its charter of demands by July 14. If there is no progress by the evening of July 14, we will make a new announcement on July 15. That day, there will neither be this charter of demands nor any demand for the implementation of any agreement. God willing, we will leave this place with a new announcement,” he said.

Kashmiri urged people across Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to begin preparations for the July 15 march. He also appealed to national and international media, political parties, and local and international human rights organisations to monitor the march.

Referring to the ongoing protest campaign, he said sit-ins had continued at six locations on the outskirts of Rawalakot since June 10 and had completed one month.

He thanked several Pakistani opposition leaders for their efforts to broker peace but remarked that the initiative had come too late.

He also announced an interim organisational arrangement, saying that since Shaukat Nawaz Mir and several other core members from Muzaffarabad had been arrested, Sahib­zada Khalid Waqas, Raja Saeed Ahmed, Syed Shujaat Kazmi, Malik Adeel, Raja Iftikhar and Advocate Ali Raza would serve as interim core members for the Muzaffarabad division.

Two killed

Meanwhile, officials said at least two people were killed and several others injured in Poonch district during an exchange of fire with law enforcement personnel attempting to clear a road blockade for a food convoy.

Poonch Com­mi­ssioner Sardar Waheed Khan told Dawn that a convoy of food-laden vehicles, escorted by security forces, was travelling to Rawalakot via Bagh in the wee hours of Thursday when it encountered a blockade near Kotehri village, where activists of the proscribed JAAC had been staging a sit-in for some time.

Kotehri is located about four kilometres from the outskirts of Rawalakot city on the Bagh side, while the main protest camp at Eidgah Ground lies roughly the same distance away in the opposite direction.

Khan said another convoy of law enforcement personnel was dispatched from Rawalakot to provide additional security to the food convoy approaching from Bagh.

According to him, when the convoy from Rawalakot reached Kotehri, it came under fire from a nearby forest, prompting personnel to return fire. The exchange left one or two protesters injured.

He said that after the convoy moved ahead and reached Shujaabad, where it linked up with the food convoy coming from the opposite direction, it again came under fire from protesters.

“Obviously, the forces also responded, leaving two or three people wounded,” he said.

In a subsequent written statement, the Poonch administration alleged that armed activists of the proscribed JAAC had blocked all major routes leading to Rawalakot by felling trees and placing boulders on roads, disrupting the supply of essential commodities.

It maintained that security personnel had come under heavy fire while clearing the Bagh-Rawalakot road and that the route had subsequently been reopened for the movement of food supplies.

The commissioner confirmed that two people had been killed in the exchange of fire. Asked about social media reports claiming a third fatality, he said the administration was trying to verify the information.

Khan said the food convoy reached Rawalakot safely by 10:30am.

“Law enforcement personnel remained deployed in the area until around 3pm to facilitate civilian traffic before being withdrawn,” he added.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2026

Lionel Messi has scored in every World Cup match so far, but after two gruelling knockout ties, will age finally catch up with the 39-year-old in the quarter-final against Switzerland?

Lionel Scaloni’s team sailed through the group stage but have been pushed to the limit by Cape Verde and Egypt.

They needed extra time to squeeze past the World Cup newcomers in the last 32 before winning 3-2 and then came back from the dead against Mohamed Salah’s team.

The defending champions have won all five of their games, with Messi’s brilliance and their unshakeable team spirit central to their progress.

Messi made up for a missed penalty against Egypt with a wonderfully composed finish as Argentina rallied from two goals down in the closing minutes.

He broke down in a rare show of emotion at the end of the pulsating 3-2 win in Atlanta, saying he was desperate for his World Cup journey to continue.

“It was a moment of pure happiness and relief,” said the Inter Miami forward. “We wanted to stay in the tournament. We didn’t want today to be the end, we didn’t want to go home.”

Messi admitted he was tired after playing 120 minutes against Cape Verde but he featured for the whole game against Egypt and remains indispensable.

Saturday’s quarter-final at Arrowhead Stadium will take him back to the scene of his hat-trick in Argentina’s first match of the 2026 tournament.

He has continued his scoring run, taking his tally to eight — level with Golden Boot rival Kylian Mbappe.

And he has also become the leading scorer in World Cup history, with 21 goals across his career.

Team spirit

Aside from their diminutive genius, Argentina’s most potent weapon is their remarkable camaraderie.

The South Americans are now unbeaten in 11 World Cup games as they seek to become the first country since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups.

“Whatever happens from here on, this team gives me the feeling that it never stops believing, even when everything is going against it,” said Scaloni.

That sentiment is echoed by midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who said the side “never gives up no matter the difficulties and adversity”.

There have even been dark suggestions that Argentina — trailed everywhere by legions of blue-and-white-clad fans — have been treated favourably at the World Cup.

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan speculated that the officiating team for the last-16 game may have been subjected to “external pressure” to favour Argentina, a suggestion quashed by FIFA referees chief Pierluigi Collina.

The South Americans face a tough test against an industrious and well-drilled Switzerland team in Kansas City.

The Swiss, led by their influential captain Granit Xhaka, are one win away from reaching their first-ever World Cup semi-final.

Murat Yakin’s men eased past Algeria 2-0 in the round of 32 before holding their nerve to beat a strong Colombia team on penalties.

Attacking midfielder Johan Manzambi was outstanding during the group stage, adding thrust to a team of experienced campaigners and scoring three times.

But Manzambi missed the match against Colombia with an injury and is a doubt for the Argentina match.

Xhaka, 33, said Switzerland had waited a long time to find such a potent mix of experience and youth.

“I think this generation we have now is a special one,” the Sunderland midfielder said.

“Of course, we try to pass on our experience, but above all the mentality that, even as a small nation, anything is possible at this level, in elite football,” Xhaka added.

“From the coaching staff to the last player, we can all be proud of what we’ve achieved.”

The winners of the match in Kansas City will face either Norway or England, who clash in Miami, also on Saturday.