Pakistan is bracing for another round of climate uncertainty as a strong El Niño event takes hold in the Pacific — one that global weather authorities say is now firmly established and expected to keep strengthening in the months ahead. What’s Actually Happening The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says El Niño conditions are now clearly in place in the tropical Pacific, with close to a 100% probability that the event will persist through February 2027. El Niño develops when sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific rise well above normal, weakening the trade winds that usually push warm…
Author: M Awais
Germany is asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to throw out a case accusing Berlin of “facilitating genocide” in Gaza through its military and political support for Israel — setting up four days of hearings at the UN’s top court in The Hague. What the Case Is About The case was filed by Nicaragua in 2024, shortly after Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks. Nicaragua argues that Germany’s support for Israel — including arms exports — breaches the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Managua initially…
Three very different currencies are moving the same direction against the US dollar right now — and for three very different reasons. The Japanese yen, the Mexican peso, and the Colombian peso have all strengthened sharply in the past week, even though the forces pushing each one higher have almost nothing in common. The Numbers So Far Currency Recent Move vs. Dollar Key Driver Japanese Yen +2% over the past week (strongest since July) Rising bets on another Bank of Japan rate hike Mexican Peso USD/MXN slipped below 16.90, near multi-year strongest levels Continued “super peso” momentum Colombian Peso USD/COP…
Walk into almost any solar dealership in Pakistan today and one number keeps coming up: 585W. It’s become the default panel size for new residential and commercial installations. But behind the attractive headline prices lies a market going through its biggest policy shakeup in a decade — and buyers who only compare price-per-watt are missing half the picture. Why 585W Became Pakistan’s Default Panel Size 585W panels sit in a sweet spot: large enough to keep the cost-per-watt competitive, but still practical for standard residential rooftop mounting and inverter pairing. A typical 5kW inverter accepts roughly 5.5kW of DC input,…
Pakistan’s fisheries sector just posted its best year on record, with seafood exports reaching nearly $570 million in fiscal year 2025-26 — a milestone officials say reflects both stronger compliance with international food safety standards and the sector’s slow return to European store shelves after years of restricted access. The Numbers Behind the Record According to the Marine Fisheries Department, Pakistan’s fish and fisheries exports climbed to $568 million in FY2025-26, marking a 38% increase over just two years. Fiscal Year Seafood Export Value 2023-24 $406 million 2024-25 $489 million 2025-26 $568 million (record) What’s Actually Being Exported Frozen fish…
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has received nearly 2 million income tax returns for tax year 2026 as of September 5 — a sharp jump from the roughly 1.6 million returns filed during the same period last year. With the September 30 deadline approaching fast, here’s what’s actually behind the numbers. The Numbers So Far Metric Tax Year 2026 (as of Sept 5) Same Period, Tax Year 2025 Returns filed ~2 million ~1.6 million Tax deposited with filings Rs. 3.5 billion Roughly unchanged That’s an increase of about 400,000 returns, or roughly 25% more filers than the same point…
Huawei has launched the Mate XT2, the latest version of its flagship tri-fold smartphone, as it moves to defend its lead in China’s premium phone market against fresh challenges from both Apple and Xiaomi this week. What’s New in the Mate XT2 The Mate XT2 keeps Huawei’s signature tri-fold design, unfolding twice to open into a tablet-sized screen. It’s built around Huawei’s new Kirin 9050 Pro chip, which the company says delivers more computing power while using less electricity — a design choice Huawei credits with helping it work around continued US restrictions on access to advanced chip technology. Beyond…
More than 300,000 Afghans have returned from Pakistan to Afghanistan since the start of this year, as Islamabad continues implementing its Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP) — and by early September, the pace of returns had accelerated sharply, with UN agencies warning that support systems on the Afghan side are struggling to keep up. How the Numbers Have Grown Through the Year The 300,000 figure marked an early-year checkpoint, but returns have picked up significantly since. According to UNHCR, more than 554,000 Afghans returned from Pakistan between April and late August alone, including 143,000 in August. The pace surged further…
Pakistan loses an estimated 6.5% of its GDP every year to air pollution — not from a single disaster, but from smog, industrial emissions, and burning fuels that never fully clear the sky. As the world marked the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on September 7, 2026, a new policy analysis makes the case that air pollution in Pakistan has become as much an economic emergency as a health one, and that the country already has the policies needed to fix it — just not the financing or enforcement to make them work. The Numbers Are Genuinely…
Pakistan cricket’s rough tour of England just got messier. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed Monday it has opened an internal disciplinary inquiry tied to conduct concerns, following days of media reports involving senior players Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Rizwan. What PCB Actually Confirmed PCB media director Amir Mir issued a statement Monday confirming the board had launched an internal inquiry into matters of “discipline and conduct,” currently under internal review. He stressed the process was being carried out under standard PCB regulations, with all concerned individuals given due consideration. Notably, PCB’s official statement did not name Imam or Rizwan directly,…