Even switching to an induction cooker has not helped, as power outages often leave food half-cooked.

More than 2,000 kilometres away on the other side of South Asia, in Pakistan, the government has started a fuel subsidy that went into effect on Wednesday to ease the sharp rise in fuel prices.

Vehicle owners have to register for the subsidy, however, and residents have complained the programme is not working smoothly.

Mohammad Musharraf, who lives in Karachi, says he has spent days trying to register with his motorcycle and ID card number, but has struggled.

“First of all, you have to register your vehicle. Then you have to register your mobile phone. How can an illiterate person survive if the conditions are so difficult?”

Attacks by the US and Israel on Iran over six months ago led to the disruption of oil and gas exports through the Strait of Hormuz. Now fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis also imperils trade through the Red Sea.

The problems at the two chokepoints have driven Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices back toward $30 per million British thermal units this week, the second such spike this year, from about $10 before the war.

Shell estimates the world has lost roughly 36 million tonnes of LNG from the Middle East so far this year, and the shortage is particularly hitting countries where governments have limited financial leeway to intervene.

In Bangladesh, the shortfall has triggered blackouts and factory shutdowns. Pakistan and other countries in the region are rushing to blunt public anger with hastily introduced subsidies.

Bangladesh in the dark

Bangladesh draws more than 40 per cent of its electricity from imported LNG, and disruptions in deliveries from Qatar — once the source of 95pc of those imports — have forced Dhaka to chase costlier cargoes on the spot market.

“Industrial growth is slowing down, and production is going down,” Power Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud said this week.

The strain shows up in orders in its garments industry, the country’s biggest export.

A survey of knitwear factories by the BKMEA trade group found 55pc had seen buyers cancel or cut orders because of gas and power shortages since late August, and 78pc had partially halted production.

At one factory, a boiler ruined in mid-process by low gas pressure forced owner Alvi Islam to source fabric from China instead — a delay that led a buyer to cut a 50,000-piece order to 40,000.

Others had to take on additional expenses after energy-related production delays forced them to send finished products by plane to meet deadlines. Garment industry executive Fazlee Shamim Ehsan said his factory had to pay $50,000 to send hoodie jackets by air freight to a French buyer.

“On top of that, we’ve had to spend extra money on diesel just to keep the factory running,” said Ehsan, who is the managing director of Fatullah Apparels Ltd.

In Tangail city, poultry farmer Sayedul Islam said power outages are killing 15 to 20 of his birds a day because he cannot run the electric fans needed to cool his sheds.

Even hospitals aren’t spared. In Sylhet, power cuts hit the local hospital almost hourly. While generators keep intensive care units running, they don’t always suffice for ward ventilation, leaving patients to cope with the heat in crowded rooms.

The government has said it is seeking solutions. Fazlul Hoque of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry pointed to a directive to fix a non-functional LNG terminal, which would help more tankers unload.

Some, including business owner Ehsan, said they have noticed slight improvements in recent days with gas supplies increasing.

Grids and gas tanks

Pakistan’s power grid is under a milder version of the same strain.

The government has reintroduced austerity measures in an effort to conserve fuel, setting 9pm as the time for closing markets and reducing fuel provision for official vehicles by 50pc for a period of three months.

The Pakistani power sector will need up to 400m cubic feet of gas a day through winter, Independent System and Market Operator (ISMO) data shows, with only two LNG cargoes confirmed so far for September.

One standard Pakistan LNG cargo is around 140,000 cubic metres, equivalent to roughly 3 billion cubic feet of gas, or just over one week’s supply.

While solar power has eased some of Pakistan’s power crunch in recent years, the country still needs gas for other sectors and households, said Masood Nabi, chief executive of state importer Pakistan LNG, at Gastech this week.

The more immediate battle in Pakistan, though, is over transport fuel prices.

The Prime Minister’s Fuel Relief Scheme that took effect on Wednesday night offers motorcycle, rickshaw and small-car owners a subsidy of Rs100 a litre on a capped monthly quota.

Petrol has risen to roughly Rs391 ($1.37) a litre and diesel to Rs421 ($1.48) — a heavy burden in a country where the minimum wage is around $145 a month.

Business leaders and workers say it isn’t enough.

“We used to eat meat once a week, but now it is difficult to afford it even once a month,” said Amesh Gul, 32, a rickshaw driver in Karachi whose income has taken a hit with rising fuel prices.

“All I ask of the government is to please take care of poor people.”

Header image: People on motorbikes ride past a portrait of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif set up in protest against rising fuel prices, ahead of the nationwide rollout of a government fuel subsidy scheme, in Karachi on Sept 16, 2026. — Reuters

Mirpur District Emergency Officer (DEO) Sardar Najam Sadozai said that Rescue-1122 divers were conducting an operation to recover the third child’s body from the Khari Sharif canal in Mirpur.

However, in a later update, he confirmed that rescue officials had stopped the operation without recovering the third child’s body.

The Khari Sharif canal originates from the Jhelum River and is located in the border area between AJK’s Mirpur and the Mangla Dam canal in Punjab’s Jhelum district.

Jhelum District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiq Chaudhry confirmed that police had arrested a man, for allegedly throwing his three children — two daughters and a son — into a canal in Mirpur.

According to preliminary investigations, the suspect was allegedly an addict and had an estranged relationship with his wife, who had been living at her paternal home. Further investigation was underway, DPO Chaudhry said.

“Police in Jhelum are investigating the suspect from all possible angles to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the children,” he added.

The suspect confessed to the crime after his wife raised an alarm over the disappearance of their three children, the senior police official added.

According to DPO Chaudhry, the suspect had taken his three children with him “for an outing” but did not return.

“As the suspect is also an addict, his wife became alarmed when the children did not return and informed the police,” he said.

“The Mangla police station in Jhelum district, taking notice of the complaint, took the man into custody, where he told police that he had thrown his three children into a canal of the Jhelum River,” the senior official said.

The police registered a first information report (FIR) on the complaint of the children’s mother under Section 363 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

“On September 15, 2026, at around 6pm, I, along with my brother, took the children to Pir Bhechan Darbar for a visit. On our return, my brother stopped the vehicle in front of a bakery on Mangla Road in Dina, and I went to buy some items for the children.

“While I was inside the bakery, my husband, Zeeshan, accompanied by two unidentified individuals, approached my brother’s vehicle in my absence and told him: ‘I am going to the City Housing Society; I will take the children with me to the park and return them to you afterwards.’

“Persuaded by his words, my brother handed all three children over to Zeeshan. Shortly afterwards, both my brother and I became deeply concerned.”

The complainant added that when she tried to contact the suspect on his mobile phone, it was switched off.

She further said that she and her brother then searched for the children to the best of their ability but were unable to find them.

The annual report benchmarked the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

Pakistan scored the lowest out of the 38 lower-middle-income economies, as well as the seven South Asian countries, included in the report.

“While Pakistan remains among the lowest-ranked economies in the index, it has nonetheless narrowed its gender gap over time by 5.2 percentage points, up from 54.3pc in 2006,” the report said.

“Furthermore, the 2026 edition marks its strongest year-on-year improvement in a decade, driven primarily by substantial gains in educational attainment.”

Economic participation and opportunity

Pakistan ranked 144th in economic participation and opportunity in 2026, moving up three places from its 147th rank in the same index in 2025.

The report revealed that 81.46pc of men participated in the labour force, compared to only 28.21pc of women.

According to the report, an overwhelming 93.87pc of legislators, senior officials and managers in Pakistan’s workforce were men, compared to women making up 6.13pc. For the professional and technical workers category, the gap was lower with 30.96pc of the positions being occupied by women.

The country ranked 115th in wage equality for similar work and 140th in estimated earned income.

The report also revealed that 4.9pc of firms in Pakistan had a female majority ownership, while only 3.4pc firms had female top managers.

Educational attainment

Pakistan ranked 130th in educational attainment, marking a substantial gain in the category.

Male literacy rate in the country was reported to be at 69.14pc, while female literacy rate stood at 48.52pc.

Boys’ enrolment in primary education was at 83.01pc compared to 81.08pc among girls. In secondary education, male enrolment stood at 49.99pc, compared to 46.48pc in female enrolment.

Pakistan ranked first in the world for enrolment in tertiary education, marking high parity, as 10.71pc of women and 11.01pc of men were enrolled.

Health and survival

The country ranked 127th in the health and survival category. Within the category, Pakistan ranked first in sex ratio at birth, showing high parity between male and female births.

Male healthy life expectancy stood at 57.1pc, compared to 56.69pc for women.

Political empowerment

Pakistan ranked 107th globally in the political empowerment index. According to the report, 78.31pc of parliamentarians were men, compared to 21.69pc being women.

Further, an overwhelming 96.55pc of individuals in ministerial positions were men, compared to only 3.45pc of positions being occupied by women.

With a female head of state having ruled the country for 4.73 of the last 50 years, Pakistan ranked 39th in this subindex.

Access to finance, justice

The report also revealed that women in Pakistan didn’t enjoy equal rights regarding inheritance for widows and daughters. It added that women had “near-equal rights” when it came to access to financial services, land assets and non-land assets.

According to the report, women had “restricted rights” when it came to access to justice, while they had “equal rights” for freedom of movement.

The report also said that women in Pakistan had “unequal rights” for right to divorce.

It added that 24.9pc of women had experienced gendered violence in their lives, and that women in Pakistan had “restricted rights” regarding their reproductive autonomy.

🇵🇰 PAKISTAN SLAPS ISRAEL IN FRONT OF THE WORLD AT THE WORLD CHESS GAMES ♟️

Pakistan did not field a single player against Israel in Round 1 of the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026 in Samarkand.

FREE PALESTINE! 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/nfNGky5N5c

— Zard si Gana (@ZardSi) September 16, 2026

Official Confirmation

The Chess Federation of Pakistan (CFP) confirmed the boycott was a deliberate decision made in line with Pakistan's official policy of non-recognition toward Israel and to express solidarity with the Palestinian people.

CFP President Syed Zeeshan Naqvi stated:

"We have boycotted the match to express solidarity with the Palestinian people."

Naqvi added that Pakistan will continue to participate in international sporting events but that the federation respects the Government of Pakistan's official position on Israel.

Match Details

The Pakistan-Israel match was scheduled for Round 1 in the Open section. Pakistan fielded no players on any of the four boards, and official match records show all boards as "unplayed," awarding Israel the full four points without a single move being made.

Pakistan's Open section team includes FIDE Master Muhammad Waqar and Amer Karim. Israel's team includes Grandmasters Ilia Smirin and Maxim Rodshtein.

Pakistan Remains in Tournament

Despite the forfeit, Pakistan remains eligible to compete in the remaining rounds of the 11-round Swiss-system tournament. The event runs from September 15 to 27, with approximately 200 teams competing across Open and Women's sections.

This is not the first time Pakistan has refused to compete against Israel in international sport. Pakistani teams have historically avoided facing Israeli opponents, consistent with the government's policy of non-recognition.

Pakistan Foreign Office on Pakistan-Saudi Defence Pact REVEALS BIG 🇵🇰🇸🇦

“Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement was signed last year. There have been operational deployments, as the Saudi side said earlier. We would not want to comment further, as it is an operational matter.” pic.twitter.com/xcbnxqJjjY

— Zard si Gana (@ZardSi) September 17, 2026

'Some Deployments' Made Under SMDA

Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan, addressing his weekly media briefing on Thursday, confirmed that Pakistan has made "some deployments" in Saudi Arabia under the bilateral defence agreement signed in September 2025 .

"On SMDA, of course it was signed last year... There were some deployments also of forces there. And since it's an operational matter, I would not comment beyond that." 

The spokesperson stated that Pakistan remains committed "in intent and spirit" to implementing both the SMDA and the trilateral Makkah Joint Defence Agreement with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, but emphasized that operational details must remain confidential .

"However, when, how, where and what force will be used against what objectives, in which modes and matters — operational confidentiality requires us to be discreet at this stage." 

Makkah Pact 'Purely Defensive'

Khan described the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement as "purely defensive in nature" and clarified that it is "neither directed against any country nor constitutes formally as a new bloc" . He said the trilateral pact formalizes and strengthens ongoing cooperation in training, capacity building, defence technologies, and research .

The agreement, signed on August 7, 2026, in Makkah by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all three .

Context: Houthi Attacks and Regional Tensions

The Foreign Office statement comes amid escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including an attempted drone strike targeting Makkah that was intercepted by Saudi air defences on Tuesday evening . The Houthis have denied responsibility for the attack .

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attempted attack, saluting the "extraordinary vigilance, courage, and professionalism" of the Royal Saudi Armed Forces and reaffirming Pakistan's unwavering support for Saudi Arabia and the Haramain Sharifain .

Earlier Statements on the Pact

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had earlier stated that Pakistan is "bound" to defend Saudi Arabia under the Makkah pact if the Kingdom faces aggression, declaring there should be "no doubt" about Pakistan's commitment . He described the agreement as a three-way pact involving Türkiye, meaning its provisions apply to all three signatories .

The Foreign Office, however, has consistently emphasized that operational details regarding "when, how, where, and what force will be used" remain confidential .

According to the leaked directive, Akhundzada instructed the Taliban Ministry of Defence to arrange special facilities for several individuals identified as members of or associated with terrorist networks. The document names Sheikh Talha al-Iraqi, Sheikh Mawlavi Abdullah Mahmood, Sheikh Abdul Rahman, Sheikh Abu Ikhlas Abu Umar al-Misri, Sheikh Abdul Haq Turkistani, Sheikh Mawlavi Abdul Ghafar Naqshbandi, and Sheikh Mawlavi Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hashimi, among others .

The Directives: Beyond Sanctuary

The leaked letter reveals that the support provided by the Taliban regime extends far beyond merely providing sanctuary. According to the document, the directives include:

• Confidential air travel arrangements for the named individuals

• Intelligence cooperation between Taliban authorities and terrorist networks

• Security protection for terrorist operatives

• Specialized training for terrorist personnel

• Engagement of specialists with expertise in explosives manufacturing and drone development

These measures, if implemented, would significantly enhance the mobility, operational capabilities, technical capacity, and organizational resilience of terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan .

Verification from Multiple Sources

The authenticity of the leaked letter has been corroborated by multiple independent sources. The South Asia Times, The STRATCOM Bureau, and Khyber Chronicles have all reported on the document's contents, with detailed descriptions of the named individuals and the specific directives issued .

The letter's emergence comes amid mounting international evidence of the Taliban's support for terrorist networks. A recent UN Security Council report confirmed that the Afghan Taliban authorities continue to provide support to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), contributing to a sharp escalation in cross-border attacks against Pakistan .

UN Findings Confirm the Pattern

The 38th report from the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, covering the period from December 2025 to June 2026, found that the Taliban's continued support for the TTP has fueled rising terrorist attacks in Pakistan. The report stated that no UN Security Council member state accepted Kabul's assertion that no terrorist groups operate from Afghan soil .

The UN report also highlighted that Al-Qaeda has provided training and advisory support to the TTP, with Al-Qaeda trainers in Afghanistan training TTP fighters alongside members of the Baloch Liberation Army .

Taliban's Denials: A Pattern of Deception

The Taliban regime has attempted to dismiss the leaked letter as fake, with its affiliated media outlets claiming it is fabricated. However, this follows a documented pattern. In 2024, the Taliban similarly denied the authenticity of a letter purporting to authorize US base use, despite widespread evidence of ongoing cooperation .

The Taliban's public denials are contradicted by the UN's findings, which state that the group's support for terrorist networks continues even as it publicly denies harboring any terrorist groups .

Afghanistan: A Growing Terrorist Hub

The leaked letter confirms what Pakistan has warned for years: Afghanistan under Taliban rule has become a global terrorist hub. According to UN assessments, at least 20 terrorist groups are currently operating in Afghanistan, with an estimated 20,000 to 23,000 terrorists present in the country .

The Washington Post has reported that Al-Qaeda has established eight safe havens across Afghanistan and has regrouped in at least 14 provinces. The group is running camps where TTP militants and suicide bombers receive training, with an estimated 7,000 TTP militants present in Afghanistan .

Implications for Regional Security

The leaked letter has serious implications for regional security. The provision of confidential air travel, intelligence coordination, and specialized training to terrorist operatives demonstrates that the Taliban regime is not merely a passive host to terrorist groups but an active enabler of their operations.

For Pakistan, which has suffered thousands of casualties from cross-border terrorism, the document provides further evidence of the Taliban's complicity. The UN report confirms that TTP attacks have escalated sharply, provoking military exchanges across the border .

The international community must now confront the reality that the Taliban regime, despite its public denials, is actively supporting terrorist networks. The leaked letter is not an isolated document but part of a systematic pattern of support that has made Afghanistan the world's primary source of transnational terrorism.

It also said that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during their deadly crackdown on anti-government protests before the war.

The findings in a new report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, examined the US’s conduct during the Iran war that began in February and the Iranian government’s response to nationwide unrest that began in late December.

The Iranian and US permanent missions in Geneva did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

US officials have previously said military operations are conducted in accordance with the law of armed conflict, while Iran has consistently rejected allegations of systematic rights violations.

Minab school strike

The UN experts said they found reasonable grounds to believe US forces were responsible for an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the city of Minab, where more than 150 people were killed, including around 120 schoolchildren, according to Iranian officials.

The indiscriminate attack caused civilian deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure, amounting to a war crime under international law, the mission concluded.

According to the report, the US failure to update information in relation to the school, which was adjacent to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval complex, in its targeting databases and to confirm the building was a military objective amounted to more than mere negligence.

According to the report, the US relied on intelligence suggesting a senior Iranian military commander was present at the site but failed to adequately verify the information before launching the strike.

“Rather, the US directed the strikes at the building of the school while being aware of a substantial risk of striking a civilian object and acting recklessly as regards the possibility that this would happen.”

In June, US President Donald Trump said that “nobody” purposefully attacked a girls’ school in Iran in February, citing an investigation into the incident.

Reuters first reported that an initial internal US military investigation showed US forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab in southern Iran.

The Pentagon has since elevated the probe, but it has not published any preliminary findings.

UN experts said the school was a clearly identifiable civilian object and found no evidence that it was being used for military purposes.

The experts reached a similar conclusion over a strike on a sports centre in Lamerd.

The report said the attack damaged nearby residential buildings and a school and killed and injured 22 civilians. It concluded that the strike was indiscriminate and therefore constituted a war crime.

US Central Command said in a statement in March that US forces did not launch any strikes into the city of Lamerd on that day.

Iran abuses

The UN mission’s probe found that Iranian authorities carried out a widespread suppression of civilians during protests that erupted in late December last year.

Tehran blamed “terrorists and rioters” backed by exiled opponents and foreign foes — the US and Israel.

The probe said it could not independently verify the death toll, but that it believed the number of dead and injured was likely far higher than official figures, which say 3,038 people were killed and 25,000 people injured.

The government’s response to the protests — including violence, cutting off the internet and the use of the death penalty — marked a significant escalation from previous patterns of suppressing dissent, the report said.