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.

Aiming to end a 60-year wait to win a major tournament, Thomas Tuchel’s men escaped humiliation and one of England’s worst ever World Cup exits thanks to their talismanic captain after Brian Cipenga’s goal gave Congo an early lead.

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.

Already England’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.

Defeat ended Congo’s fairytale run on their return to the World Cup for the first time in 52 years.

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.

Tuchel made two changes from victory over Panama as Declan Rice returned in midfield, while Djed Spence came in at right-back with Reece James and Jarell Quansah both ruled out through injury.

The German coach’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.

Spence was caught under Chancel Mbemba’s cross as the ball fell for Cipenga. The Almeria winger’s shot was low and hard but Jordan Pickford should still have kept it out at his near post.

The vast majority of the nearly 70,000 crowd decked out in England red and white were silenced, while Tuchel’s players were visibly rattled.

Jude Bellingham was shown a yellow card for a lunge and was then involved in a heated exchange with his coach during the mid-half hydration break.

The stoppage in play at least allowed Tuchel the chance to restore order.

Bellingham’s powerful header from Declan Rice’s cross finally forced DR Congo ’keeper Lionel Mpasi into action.

Moments later Marcus Rashford’s powerful effort was blocked on the line by London-born Aaron Wan Bissaka after Noni Madueke’s jinking run opened up the Congo defence.

Yet it could have been even worse for England at the break.

Yoane Wissa’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.

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.

Le Harve stopper Mpasi’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.

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.

Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze were sent on by Tuchel in search of an equaliser.

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.

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.

ISLAMABAD: In a significant development signaling a marked departure from the established judicial hierarchy, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has formally notified separate interview committees to vet candidates for appointment as additional judges in four high courts, with not a single Supreme Court judge included in any of the panels.

The notification, issued on Wednesday and obtained by Dawn, invokes Rule 10A of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (Appointment of Judges) Rules, 2024, and bears the approval of the JCP chairperson — the chief justice of Pakistan.

The committees have been tasked with interviewing candidates nominated until July 4, 2026, for the Lahore High Court (LHC), Islamabad High Court (IHC), Sindh High Court (SHC), and Balochistan High Court (BHC).

Interestingly, the composition of the four committees, while varying slightly in their judicial members, uniformly draws its judicial strength from either the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) or the respective high courts, conspicuously bypassing the Supreme Court.

For the LHC and the IHC, the same seven-member panel has been constituted. FCC Judge Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi will chair both committees. The other members include LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Farooq Hamid Naek and Syed Ali Zafar, and Supreme Court Bar Association representative Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon.

For the SHC, the chairmanship has been assigned to FCC Judge Aamer Farooq. The panel includes LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, SHC Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput, along with the attorney general, the two senators, and Bhoon.

A similar composition has been notified for the BHC, with Justice Aamer Farooq again serving as chairperson and BHC Chief Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail replacing the Sindh chief justice as a member. The remaining members are identical across all panels.

The notification comes against the backdrop of stalled judicial appointments in various high courts, which had remained in limbo due to the absence of revised rules following the 27th Constitutional Amendment.

The amendment had empowered the commission to frame rules regulating its procedures, including the “procedure and criteria for assessment, interview, evaluation and fitness for appointment of judges”.

Sources told Dawn that the JCP’s Rule-Making Committee had met on May 6 to deliberate on the criteria and procedure for appointments. The committee, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Naek and Zafar, and bar representative Bhoon, had discussed multiple proposals.

It is learnt that Senator Zafar had proposed that the entire JCP interview each candidate when his or her nomination came before the commission. Senator Naek, however, had suggested that a seven-member committee conduct interviews prior to the JCP meeting and submit recommendations to the commission. The final notification reflects that Senator Naek’s proposal was ultimately adopted.

Sources further disclosed that Bhoon had proposed a five-member committee comprising two judges from the FCC or the SC, one parliamentarian, the attorney general, and a representative of the Pakistan Bar Council. That proposal was not accepted in its original form.

ISLAMABAD: Telenor Pakistan has been formally amalgamated into Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) from Wednesday, as final statutory approval has been granted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Telenor Pakistan has ceased to exist as a separate legal entity, and the amalgamation marks the completion of one of the most significant transactions in the country’s telecommunications history.

The merged telecom company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of PTCL and will operate as PTML.

Data released by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) shows that by the end of May 2026, there were more than 206 million mobile subscribers, with Jazz remaining the largest telecom operator with 36.42pc of the total mobile subscriber base, followed by Zong with 26.62pc.

The combined share of the merged entity now stands at 35.91pc.

However, a senior executive of Ufone said that around 4m out of approximately 74m total subscribers of the merged telecom company could leave the network in the coming months.

“This is because subscribers of both Telenor and Ufone are likely to switch their SIMs to other networks soon as the operations of the two companies are fully merged.”

Meanwhile, since the PTA has already granted technical approval for the merger, Ufone has begun integrating the frequencies of both companies, and subscribers of both Telenor and Ufone are now operating on the same network in Karachi, Hyderabad, Faisalabad and some other cities.

“However, the integration of the billing mechanism, loading of balance, and migration of Telenor SIMs, etc., will commence at a later stage,” the official added.

In a statement, Ufone said it has promised continuity of service for both Ufone and Telenor customers during the integration process, along with access to improved connectivity and digital experience.

The company said that with this development, Telenor Pakistan’s operations, network infrastructure and customer base will be fully integrated into PTML (Ufone 5G), creating a combined entity with expanded reach, a stronger spectrum portfolio and greater capacity to invest in next-generation connectivity and digital services across the country.

President & CEO PTCL Hatem Bamatraf said: “This is a defining moment for our company and for Pakistan’s telecom industry. We are deeply grateful to the Government of Pakistan and to every institution involved in this process for their diligence and support throughout this journey.”

Bamatraf felicitated the customers for their trust in both Ufone and Telenor and praised the employees for their dedication and hard work.

“As we come together as one company, our ambition is to bring our customers cutting-edge products and services that set a new benchmark for digital experience in Pakistan,” he added.

Earlier in March, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) granted technical approval for the merger of Telenor Pakistan and Ufone, and the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was informed of the development.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index sustained its positive momentum and gained over 3,700 points on Wednesday, the first day of the new fiscal year.

The KSE-100 index gained 3,748.40 points (2.08 per cent) to close at 184,050.10.

The benchmark index traded in green the entire session, gradually witnessing gains from an intraday low of 180,565.83 at 9:35am.

The market had staged a recovery rally on Tuesday, propelling KSE-100 above the 180,000 mark and helping the market close FY25-26 with a stellar performance.

Awais Ashraf, director of research at AKD Securities, and Topline Securities Ltd linked today’s investor confidence to the inflation figures for June.

Pakistan’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 11.1pc year-on-year in June, easing from 11.7pc in May and coming within the government’s forecast range of 11pc-12pc, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

On a month-on-month basis, CPI fell 0.3pc in June, compared with a 0.5pc increase in May and a 0.2pc rise in June last year.

Ashraf noted that the inflation figures were “below market expectations” and “reinforced the view that inflationary pressures” were continuing to subside.

“Expectations of monetary easing have strengthened investor sentiment, as inflation is projected to remain within the State Bank of Pakistan’s target range in FY27 due to a decline in oil prices following the temporary settlement between the US and Iran,” he added.

Topline Securities Ltd also noted that the upbeat investor sentiment was supported by “encouraging macroeconomic developments”, highlighting that the easing CPI reinforced “expectations of a more accommodative monetary policy stance in the months ahead”.

“Further boosting market confidence was the decline in international crude oil prices, with WTI hovering around $68 per barrel, alleviating concerns over Pakistan’s import bill and easing inflationary pressures,” Topline observed.

It added that the rally was “underpinned by aggressive institutional accumulation and broad-based buying, enabling the benchmark index to extend its record-setting momentum”.

Market participation improved compared to the previous session, with total traded volume rising to 941 million shares, while traded value stood at Rs57 billion, it said. K-Electric Limited led the volumes chart, with 82m shares changing hands.

On Monday — following the exchange of military strikes between the United States and Iran over the weekend — the PSX had come under renewed selling pressure, closing 1,156.47 points down.

The outgoing FY25-26 proved to be a landmark year for the PSX, with the KSE-100 index delivering a remarkable 44pc return in rupee terms and 46pc in dollar terms, rising from 125,627 points at the end of FY25 to 180,302.

Analysts believe the KSE-100 index may advance towards its all-time high of 189,000, supported by lower oil prices and rising expectations of policy rate cuts, while inflation data, monetary policy signals and geopolitical developments remain key catalysts.