Senior official injured in crossfire between warring tribes in restive Pakistani district

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will inaugurate Gaddafi Stadium in the eastern city of Lahore on Feb. 7, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi said on Friday, as the South Asian country gears up for the upcoming Champions Trophy.
The PCB has been renovating stadiums in Lahore and Karachi for the 2025 Champions Trophy scheduled to take place in Feb. across three venues: Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi. This will be the first ICC tournament held in Pakistan since the 1996 World Cup.
Gaddafi Stadium is set to transform into a world-class facility, featuring over 34,000 seats, brand-new scoreboards on both sides and state-of-the-art floodlights, ensuring exceptional visibility for both players and spectators after sunset, according to the PCB.
On Friday, Naqvi visited the stadium and inspected the final renovation work on the ground.
“We are going to inaugurate the stadium in Lahore on Feb. 7, the prime minister will come here and inaugurate the stadium,” he told reporters at the venue.
Pakistani fans have long expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s stadiums, particularly the National Bank Stadium in Karachi, citing a lack of basic facilities and a subpar viewing experience for spectators.
The PCB has also been renovating the Karachi stadium.
“The president of Pakistan will inaugurate the stadium in Karachi on the 11th [of Feb.],” Naqvi said.
The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will take place from February 19 till March 9, with matches hosted across Pakistan and Dubai in a hybrid model.
The tournament’s structure follows a compromised decision after India refused to play in Pakistan, citing “security concerns.” Exercising its rights as the host nation, Pakistan designated Dubai as the neutral venue for India’s matches, ensuring all teams’ participation.
The PCB has scheduled the Champions Trophy opening ceremony in Lahore on Feb. 16, according to Naqvi.
“We are fully prepared, we will welcome all the teams that are coming,” he told reporters in Lahore. “The entire PCB and the rest of the team are working day and night on their security and other arrangements.”
In Pakistan, Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi will host three group-stage games each. Lahore is also set to host the second semifinal. Dubai will host all three of India’s group matches and the first semifinal, should India qualify.
The tournament opener on Feb. 19 will feature Pakistan taking on New Zealand in Karachi, while India will face Bangladesh in Dubai on Feb. 20.
This will be the ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, after an eight-year hiatus. The last tournament took place in England in 2017. The event will feature top eight teams in world cricket competing for one of the sport’s most prestigious titles.

ISLAMABAD: The European Union’s mission in Islamabad on Friday reminded Pakistan that trade benefits it received under the GSP+ scheme depended on progress the country made on addressing a list of issues, including human rights, saying “tangible” efforts remained essential. 

The statement came after a week-long visit to Pakistan by Ambassador Olof Skoog, EU Special Representative for Human Rights (EUSR), to engage the country on human and labor rights issues and to discuss Pakistan’s plans to address them, including in view of the ongoing assessment under the GSP+ trade scheme.

The GSP+ scheme grants beneficiary countries’ exports duty-free access to the European market in exchange for voluntarily agreeing to implement 27 international core conventions, including on human and civil rights.

Multiple developments on the human rights front have raised concerns over Pakistan’s GSP+ status in recent weeks. The EU last month openly criticized Pakistan for sentencing over 80 civilians in army courts after charging them for anti-government riots in May 2023 in which military installations were attacked, saying it was “inconsistent” with Pakistan’s international obligations. This week, the country’s GSP+ status was once more in the spotlight after parliament passed a controversial cybercrime law that journalists and digital rights activists have widely said aims to crackdown against dissent on social media platforms. The government denies this. 

“As we approach the midterm of the current monitoring cycle, we encourage Pakistan to continue on its reform path as it prepares for reapplication under the upcoming new GSP+ regulation,” the EU mission in Islamabad said in a statement. 

“The trade benefits under GSP+ depend on the progress made on addressing a list of issues, including on human rights, and tangible reforms remain essential.”

In his meetings with senior Pakistani leaders including the deputy prime minister, information minister, the chief justice and military leaders, Skoog discussed areas of concern such as the application of blasphemy laws, women’s rights, forced marriages and conversions, enforced disappearances, freedoms of expression, religion or belief, independence of the media, impunity for rights violations, due process, the right to a fair trial, civic space, the death penalty, judicial backlog and the integrity and independence of the judiciary.

Pakistan has become the largest beneficiary of GSP+ in recent years, with its businesses increasing their exports to the EU market by 108 percent since the launch of the trade scheme in 2014.

In October 2023, the EU unanimously voted to extend GSP+ status until 2027 for developing countries, including Pakistan.