Pakistan

Massive, sudden downpours of rain known as cloudbursts have struck Pakistan and India during this monsoon season, killing hundreds of people in the flash floods and landslides they have triggered. Rescue workers and residents gather after cloudburst following the heavy rains and floodings, in Jibrari village in Salarzai Tehsil, Pakistan on August 15, 2025. — Reuters Why are cloudbursts and why do they occur? By a widely accepted definition, a cloudburst means more than 100 mm (4 inches) of rainfall in one hour, over a small area. This year, the monsoon, which originates in the Bay of Bengal and then sweeps westwards across northern India to Pakistan every summer, has brought deadly cloudbursts. Weather studies say cloudbursts typically occur in South Asia when warm, monsoon winds, laden with moisture, meet the cold mountain air in the north of India and Pakistan, causing condensation. With a warming planet, the monsoon has hotter air, which can carry more moisture. India’s weather department data shows cloudb...

Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) across Punjab have announced the results of the Class 9 annual examinations.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir on Wednesday visited flood-devastated areas of Swat and Shangla, where they were received by Federal Minister Amir Muqam.

Senior journalist and former caretaker information minister Murtaza Solangi has been appointed as the spokesperson for the President of Pakistan.

Iran “cannot completely cut cooperation” with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog but the return of its inspectors is up to the country’s security chiefs, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday. The remarks come nearly two months after Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following its 12-day war with Israel in June. Iran has cited the IAEA’s failure to condemn Israeli and American strikes on its nuclear facilities as the reason for its decision, which saw the watchdog’s inspectors leave the country following the passing of new legislation by parliament. “We cannot completely cut cooperation with the agency,” Araghchi said, noting that new fuel rods need to be installed at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant in the coming weeks, which will require the presence of IAEA inspectors. “Under the law passed by parliament, the return of inspectors will be possible through a decision of the Supreme National Security Council,” he told the official IRNA news agency in...

India and China agreed on Tuesday to resume direct flights and step up trade and investment flows as the neighbours rebuild ties damaged by a 2020 border clash. The Asian giants are cautiously strengthening ties against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable foreign policy, staging a series of high-level bilateral visits. The two countries would resume direct flights and boost trade and investment, including reopening border trade at three designated points, and facilitate in visas, the Indian foreign ministry said. Direct flights have been suspended since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. No date was given for their resumption. The latest statements came at the end of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s two-day visit to New Delhi for the 24th round of talks with Indian National Security (NSA) Adviser Ajit Doval to resolve their decades old border dispute. The border talks covered issues related to pulling back troops both countries have amassed on their Himalayan border, delimitation of border...

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) on Wednesday dispatched a large-scale emergency relief convoy to assist families devastated by recent flash floods and cloudbursts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

Heavy rain accompanied by strong winds lashed Karachi for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, inundating roads, disrupting traffic, and leaving residents struggling with prolonged power outages.

Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik has said he expects negotiations between the PTI and the government to start in a few days, but Imran Khan’s release from jail would not be part of the discussion. Since Imran’s incarceration last year in several cases, PTI’s relations with the government and the establishment have deteriorated sharply. Last year in November, protests by the party had escalated into violence amid state repression. Subsequently, in December last year, Imran Khan had formed a five-member committee to hold talks with “anyone”, prompting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to set up a counterpart panel. Despite several rounds, however, the talks ended abruptly and without results. Ties have been further strained after several PTI leaders’ recent convictions in May 9 cases. In an interview on DawnNews TV programme Doosra Rukh, aired on Tuesday night, the minister said that he saw negotiations “starting in a few days”. “PTI leaders have contacted us as well as other leadership, ...

The National Cyber Emergency Services Response Team (PKCERT) on Wednesday issued data protection guidelines for organisations handling citizens’ personal information, citing an increasingly insecure cyberspace environment. PKCERT is a federal entity responsible for protecting Pakistan’s digital assets, sensitive information and critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, cyberterrorism, and cyber espionage. The advisory, applicable to companies holding Personally Identifiable Information (PII), prescribes immediate, medium- and long-term measures, which include classifying data sets based on their sensitivity, advanced encryption methods, multi-factor authentication, and others. Organisations collecting, processing, storing, or transmitting PII may include “financial services, telecommunications and internet providers, commerce and logistics [companies], government agencies, healthcare institutions, educational entities, as well as third-party and outsourced service providers,” the notification said. In its re...

Senior journalist and former caretaker information minister Murtaza Solangi has been appointed spokesperson for the President of Pakistan, he confirmed on Wednesday. A former director general of Radio Pakistan, Solangi served as the caretaker minister for information and broadcasting from August 2023 to March 2024. “Mr Murtaza Solangi is appointed as Spokesperson of the President of Pakistan on honorary/pro bono basis with immediate effect until further orders,” said a notification by the president’s secretary, Muhammad Shakeel Malik yesterday. “A little personal news,” Solangi wrote on X today. “I have been appointed the Spokesperson of the President of Pakistan. I will assume my new responsibilities starting tomorrow. Thank you.” During his tenure at Radio Pakistan from 2008 to 2013, Solangi oversaw a workforce spanning 64 broadcasting units and over 3,000 individuals. He also forged partnerships with international news organisations, including Voice of America, China Radio International, and Deutsche Welle...

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched a simplified and user-friendly electronic income tax return form for the fiscal year 2025, aimed at easing the filing process for individual taxpayers.

Senior MQM-Pakistan leader Dr.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar departed for Kabul on Wednesday to participate in the 6th Trilateral Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan.

Punjab Group Chairman Mian Amer Mahmood has stressed that Pakistan’s Constitution is not being fully implemented, arguing that every division should be made a province to strengthen governance and ensure public welfare.

Three consecutive spells of heavy downpour on Tuesday left much of Karachi submerged, stranding thousands of commuters and crippling transportation across the city.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has launched a large-scale flood relief operation in Gilgit-Baltistan to assist families stranded in remote valleys following recent floods.

Iga Swiatek shrugged off lingering weariness to partner Casper Ruud to back-to-back victories in the revamped mixed doubles competition at the US Open on Tuesday. Swiatek — who on Monday had battled through a two-hour tussle with Jasmine Paolini to win the Cincinnati Open — looked full of energy as she and Ruud powered into Wednesday’s semi-finals. Swiatek and Ruud needed just 39 minutes to dispatch the US pairing of Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe 4-1, 4-2 in their opening game at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and then reappeared roughly 20 minutes later to defeat Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti 5-3, 4-2 in their quarter-final clash. The victories capped a gruelling 24 hours for Polish star Swiatek, who hot-footed it to the airport after Monday’s win in Cincinnati and only arrived at her hotel in New York in the early hours of Tuesday. View this post on Instagram “Honestly the last two days have felt like one day, but I’m super happy to be here,” Swiatek said. Ruud and Swiatek had just enough time to fit in a quick ...

China will unveil a slate of new domestically produced military hardware that will showcase its “powerful capability to prevail in modern war” at a parade next month, officials said on Wednesday. The event, marking 80 years since the end of World War II, will see President Xi Jinping inspect troops in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and other world leaders expected to attend. Millions of Chinese people were killed during a prolonged war with imperial Japan in the 1930s and 40s, which became part of a global conflict following Tokyo’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The ruling Communist Party has held a series of blockbuster events in recent years to commemorate its wartime resistance. On September 3, China’s military will showcase its latest equipment, “reflecting the evolution of modern warfare”, said Major General Wu Zeke, an official at China’s military commission. “All of the weapons and equipment taking part in this review were selected from domestically produced, ...

ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday met with the outgoing Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Alzaabi, during a farewell call here at Aiwan-e-Sadr.