Pakistan

The Punjab government has announced that Assistant Commissioner (AC) Pattoki, Furqan Ahmed Khan, who lost his life during flood relief operations, will be honored with a top civil award.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb during a meeting with Hongta Securities Chairman Jing Feng in Beijing discussed strengthening capital market cooperation and enhancing financial sector linkages between Pakistan and China.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to establish an autonomous Climate Action Board to lead policymaking and practical measures against the growing threat of climate change.

A powerful earthquake jolted eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan late on Sunday, killing at least 800 people and injuring 2,500 others, with authorities fearing a rise in the death toll. Surrounded by mountains, Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes as it sits near the junction of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, a highly active seismic zone. Many of the recent quakes have had shallow depths, which increased the intensity of shaking on the surface and destruction. Here is a timeline of major earthquakes that struck the country since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and before. August 31, 2025: A 6.0 magnitude earthquake shook eastern Kunar province, killing more than 800 people and injuring more than 2,000 others, and flattening hundreds of houses and buildings. Afghans dig graves for the victims’ bodies from the earthquakes in Sarbuland village, Zendeh Jan district of Herat province on Oct 8, 2023. — AFP October 7, 2023: A 6.3 magnitude earthquake and subsequent aftershocks in Herat province kil...

Karachi’s population has crossed 20 million people, indicating the economic promise and perilous byproducts of the ambition to cash it. However, in these trials of the city’s resilience lies the immense potential for Karachi to become a model of regenerative urbanism. Regenerative infrastructure design Metropolitan cities must actively regenerate ecosystems disturbed through infrastructure design for long-term sustainability. For Karachi, this could mean adapting the urban environment to restore biodiversity, manage heat, and mitigate floods. Examples include the treatment of industrial runoff and the construction of wetlands in Malir and Korangi, due to their proximity to waterways. Green corridors can be connected to urban public spaces, such as Karachi University, Safari Park, and the Malir River, to form a biodiversity belt. Using permeable paving in all public spaces could help restore aquifers and groundwater. Greener mobility A mobility system that prioritises people instead of vehicles is needed. Curr...

A fresh polio case was reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district, taking the nationwide tally to 24, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at Islamabad’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Monday. Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed progress. According to NIH, the latest case was detected in a 20-month-old infant in the southern KP’s Tank district, taking the province’s total tally to 16. Fifteen of them have been detected in southern KP, according to the NIH. Last week, the KP government launched a polio immunisation campaign, with emphasis on the south of the province, where polio teams faced the most resistance. The latest case has taken the total cases recorded in 2025 to 24, according to NIH — including 16 from KP, six from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Balti...

Thousands rallied across Indonesia on Monday as the military was deployed in the capital after six people were killed in nationwide protests sparked by anger over lavish perks for lawmakers. At least 500 protesters gathered outside the nation’s parliament in Jakarta on Monday afternoon as dozens of police officers watched on. Soldiers were present earlier but left after several hours. Thousands more rallied in Palembang on Sumatra island and hundreds gathered separately in Banjarmasin on Borneo island, Yogyakarta on the main island of Java and Makassar on Sulawesi island, according to AFP journalists around the country. “Our main goal is to reform the parliament. We hope the parliament will come out and meet us. We want to talk to them directly, they are our representatives,” protester and university student Nafta Keisya Kemalia, 20, told AFP outside parliament. “Do they want to wait until we have a martial law?” The deadly protests, which began last week over MP housing allowances nearly 10 times the minimum...

The ongoing torrential rains and surging floods have inundated large swaths of farmlands and destroyed ready-to-reap crops across Pakistan, triggering fears of a food crisis and inflation, the UN and growers warned on Monday. The raging floods struck the northeastern Punjab, the country’s largest province and food basket, last week, submerging hundreds of villages, schools and health centres, washing away livestock and destroying crops, aside from killing around 50 people and triggering evacuations. The surging floods have so far affected more than 2 million people, in addition to the evacuation of more than 700,000 people, according to official statistics. The water is flowing further south to fall into the mighty Indus River and is feared to wreak havoc on Sindh in the coming days. “This isn’t normal — yet it’s becoming the new normal. Monsoons, driven by climate change, now bring fear and devastation to communities across Pakistan,” Mo Yahya, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator, said in a post on ...

The United Nations on Monday launched a network on migration in Pakistan in a bid to improve migration governance and tackle human trafficking in the country, according to a UN press release. Every year, many young Pakistanis leave the country via illegal routes in hopes of better employment opportunities. A 2023 study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union (EU) found that 24,000 Pakistanis entered EU countries illegally over the past three years. The network, called — Pakistan United Nations Network on Migration (UNNM) — was inaugurated at a ceremony in Islamabad and aims to develop a “unified, collaborative approach to migration governance”, the press release said. The UNNM will focus on “responding to the interconnected challenges of human trafficking and migrant smuggling” within international frameworks such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs) and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). The GCM is “the first intergovernme...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday condoled the losses of life and property after a strong earthquake jolted the eastern provinces of Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan.

Punjab Minister for Information and Culture Azma Bokhari said on Monday that India has issued another flood warning to Pakistan after releasing more water into the Sutlej River, intensifying the crisis across Punjab.

The National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) on Monday announced the launch of a phased polio eradication campaign across 99 districts of Pakistan, aiming to vaccinate more than 28 million children against the crippling disease.

Across the fertile plains of Punjab, Pakistan’s farming heartland, families are struggling to rebuild their lives after the worst flooding in decades swept away homes, crops, and livestock, threatening the country’s food security and exports.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has directed authorities to expedite compensation payments to flood victims and accelerate rehabilitation efforts across affected districts.

A crew of five died on Monday after an army helicopter crashed in Diamer District’s Chilas town in Gilgit-Baltistan after developing a “technical fault”, the military’s media wing said in a statement. “On 1 Sep 25, at around 1000 hours, an MI-17 helicopter crash landed near Hudor village, approximately 12 kilometres away from Thakdas Cantonment,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement. “The helicopter was on routine training flying when it developed a technical fault and crashed.” It added that all crew members on board were martyred as a result of the crash. The crew members were identified as Major Atif, who was the pilot in command, Major Faisal, the co-pilot, flight engineer Naib Subedar Maqbool, and crew chiefs Havaldar Jahangir and Naik Amir, according to the ISPR. Earlier, Diamer Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abdul Hameed, in a statement, had confirmed the incident, saying that the helicopter was conducting a test landing on a newly proposed helipad when it crashed. He...

At least 622 people were killed and more than 1,500 injured after a powerful earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday night, Afghan authorities confirmed on Monday.

LAHORE: The area declared as “prone to floods” by the Punjab irrigation department is rife with violation of rules and regulations, absence of requisite infrastructure as well as weak enforcement led to the massive devastation in private housing schemes along a long stretch of River Ravi in Lahore. The rules defined for the approval of private housing schemes by various authorities are either not being implemented or enforced when it comes to the area prone to floods. In recent days, billions of rupees of residents have been lost in various housing schemes and katchi abadis after floodwater entered their houses and business premises. This area comes under the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project being executed along a 46km long stretch of Ravi by the Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda). There is also a disparity in the approval mechanism between different authorities, especially Ruda. The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) follows the Private Housing Scheme Rules 2014 (updated), under which (rule-7) ...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted cloudy weather in Karachi on Monday, with chances of light drizzle in the evening and night.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to peace, stability, and regional cooperation, stressing that extremism and terrorism remain a grave threat to peace in the region.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced a staggering increase in the prize money for the tournament set to be staged in India and Sri Lanka. The 13th edition of the women’s showpiece 50-over tournament will begin on Sept 30. Pakistan is set to play its matches in Sri Lanka following India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy earlier this year, which resulted in a “hybrid model” being decided upon. The overall prize money at the eight-team marquee tournament totals $13.88 million — a monumental rise of 297 per cent from $3.5m at the last edition held in New Zealand in 2022, ICC said in a statement. The total prize pot eclipses that at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup from two years ago in India, which had total prize money of $10 million. “The announcement aligns with ICC’s strategy to amplify the growth of women’s cricket and a decision to introduce pay parity was announced ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024,” ICC said. The winners of the 13th edition of the Wom...