Author: i2wtc

PUBLISHED September 06, 2025 ISLAMABAD: Simultaneous flooding in one western and two eastern rivers has washed away standing cash crops in the agriculture heartland of Pakistan besides impacting lives and shelters of four million people so far in Punjab alone, muddying the nascent economic and price stability. The disaster is unfolding and the magnitude is still unknown. Pakistan’s food security, which is now treated at par with the national security, is under serious threat. Where the ongoing floods have submerged vast lands in Punjab and are heading towards Sindh, they have also made the country’s macroeconomic outlook murkier. The 2025…

By Naveed Hussain/Zeeshan Ahmad | PUBLISHED September 06, 2025 KARACHI: The sudden recalibration of Pakistan-US relations this year is a harbinger of a seismic shift in South Asian geopolitics. Partially triggered by the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict, Washington and Islamabad are once again engaged in a cautious tryst that feels all too familiar to anyone who has watched the two embrace and recoil over the past seven decades. Relations between Pakistan and the United States hit rock bottom in 2011 after the US raid in Abbottabad that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. They improved somewhat in 2020, when…

Pakistan is observing Defence and Martyrs Day today (September 6) with ceremonies and tributes nationwide, as the president and prime minister reaffirm their support for the armed forces and express solidarity with the people of Kashmir and Palestine. The day began with a 31-gun salute in Islamabad and 21-gun salutes in provincial capitals. A guard changing ceremony was held at the Mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi. A contigent of the Pakistan Air Forces (PAF) assumed duties of honorary guards with a total of 73 cadets of the PAF deployed. Representatives of all three armed forces including DG…

KASUR: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday urged the federal government to play a greater role in providing relief to Punjab’s flood-hit areas, while acknowledging that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was working diligently. Speaking to flood-affected residents in Kasur, Bilawal said the scale of destruction in Punjab was far greater than what media reports had initially suggested. “I now realise the damage is far more extensive. The federal government must take the lead in relief efforts, just as assistance was extended during previous floods,” he added. The PPP chairman admitted that Maryam was putting in great effort. “We must…

*The concept covers aspects such as monitoring and early warning, in-orbit handling, and systematic response, with the goal of building a comprehensive near-Earth asteroid detection and defense system. *Near-Earth asteroids are among the most potentially hazardous objects in the solar system. China has done a series of preparation for asteroid defense.*While advancing its deep space exploration efforts, China has emphasized that the exploration and utilization of space resources should serve the well-being of all humanity.HEFEI, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — Chinese scientists revealed their first comprehensive plan for the near-Earth asteroid defense system at a space exploration conference held on Friday, calling…

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday directed the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination to begin immediate preparations for the 2026 monsoon season and present a comprehensive climate resilience action plan, within two weeks, that must address Pakistan’s growing vulnerability to climate change, including increasingly intense rainfall and flooding. The prime minister chaired a high-level review meeting here to assess the damage caused by recent heavy rains and flooding, as well as the ongoing rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts underway across the country, a Prime Minister’s Office news release said. PM Shehbaz declared the rehabilitation of flood-affected citizens…

ISLAMABAD: In a blistering letter, Supreme Court senior puisne judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah has accused Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi of undermining the independence of the apex court, urging him to answer six questions publicly at the judicial conference on September 8. In the seven-page letter dated September 4, Justice Shah said it was the “persistent and complete indifference” of the CJP that compelled him to write to him as his earlier letters and written communications on a number of issues went unanswered and undiscussed. “Not once have I received a reply either in writing or verbally.…

PUBLISHED September 06, 2025 KARACHI: “I woke up to some muffled, disorienting sounds,” recalls Shafiullah, 38, from Mamagal village in Kunar’s Nurgal district, who was trapped under the debris with multiple wounds. “In a muffled silence, broken only by the brittle cracking of plaster shifting above, I could hear my own ragged breath loud in the dust-thick dark, catching in my throat. I managed to scramble out of the fallen wooden beams and a mountain of pebbles, dust and plaster, stood up trembling and in pain. I wanted to find my family but my cousin appeared to hold my arm.…

Pakistan will host South Africa for a series of test, one-day international (ODI) and Twenty-20 international (T20I) matches from October to November, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Saturday. In a press release, the PCB said that Pakistan’s new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship will begin with this visit by the Proteas, with the first test starting on October 12 in Lahore. “The first Test will be played at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium from October 12-16, which will also be the first five-day match at the stadium since its complete renovation earlier this year to host the ICC…

PUBLISHED September 06, 2025 PESHAWAR: shaam aae aur ghar ke liye dil machal uthe shaam aae aur dil ke liye koī ghar na ho [Evening falls, and the heart longs for home; Evening falls, and the heart has no home to return to] ~ Akhtar Usman Despite our love-hate relationship with those across the border, with home we share history, culture and a past, one wouldn’t lie about feeling a certain curiosity about the sights, smells, and sounds of Old Delhi in the capital of our archrival, India. Is it possible to go there and not be smitten by their…