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Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency on Saturday and appealed for international assistance as the death toll from floods and mudslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 153, with another 191 people missing.The extreme weather system has destroyed more than 20,000 homes, sending 108,000 people to state-run temporary shelters, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) reported.A further 798,000 people required assistance after being temporarily displaced by the floods, DMC spokesman Pradeep Kodippili said.President Anura Kumara Dissanayake invoked emergency powers, granting him sweeping authority to manage the aftermath of the devastation caused by a week of torrential rain across the island.Kodippili confirmed that 153 people had been killed.Among them were 11 residents of an elder care home that was flooded in the north-central district of Kurunegala on Saturday afternoon, police said.Troops from the army, navy, and air force have been deployed alongside civilian workers and volunteers to assist with the relief effort.The military rescued 69 bus passengers on Saturday, including a German tourist, who had been stranded in the Anuradhapura district after a 24-hour operation.One of the passengers, speaking from the hospital, described how navy sailors helped them climb onto the roof of a nearby house after using ropes to guide them safely through the floodwaters.”We were very lucky… while we were on the roof, part of it collapsed… three women fell into the water, but they were helped back onto the roof,” said W. M. Shantha.A helicopter had to abort an initial rescue attempt because the downdraft from its rotors threatened to blow away the roof they were perched on. They were later rescued by naval boats.Roads in the central district of Badulla remained inaccessible, leaving many villages cut off and relief supplies unable to get through.”We lost two people in our village… others are sheltering in a temple and a house that is still standing,” said Saman Kumara from the Badulla village of Maspanna, one of the worst-hit districts.”We can’t leave the village, and no one can come in because all roads are blocked by landslides. There is no food, and we are running out of clean water,” he told News Center website by telephone.- No clean water -Officials said about a third of the country was without electricity or running water because power lines had collapsed and water purification facilities were inundated. Internet connections were also disrupted.Cyclone Ditwah moved away from the island on Saturday and was heading towards neighbouring India.India’s Chennai Airport cancelled 54 flights due to the cyclone’s approach, with the weather department forecasting extremely heavy rainfall and strong winds over the next 48 hours.The Sri Lankan government has issued an appeal for international aid and urged Sri Lankans abroad to make cash donations to support affected communities.India was the first to respond, sending two plane loads of relief supplies and two transport helicopters, along with a rescue crew of 22. An Indian warship, which was already in Colombo on a previously planned goodwill visit, donated its rations to assist the victims.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in Sri Lanka and said New Delhi was prepared to send more aid.Flooding in low-lying areas worsened on Saturday, prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders for residents living along the banks of the Kelani River, which flows into the Indian Ocean from Colombo.While rain had eased in most parts of the country, including the capital, the island’s north was still experiencing showers.The cyclone has become Sri Lanka’s deadliest natural disaster since 2017, when flooding and landslides claimed more than 200 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. The worst flooding since the turn of the century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people were killed.

Former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia was being treated in intensive care on Saturday, prompting her family and party members to urge citizens to pray for her speedy recovery.Zia, 80, who was admitted to hospital on November 23 with symptoms of a lung infection, was in a “very critical” condition, a member of her political party said late on Friday.  “Khaleda Zia is in intensive care and consultations with physicians are ongoing,” Ahmed Azam Khan of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) told reporters outside the hospital in Dhaka on Saturday.An air ambulance had been kept on standby to take Zia abroad for advance treatment if her condition stabilises, Khan said. Several senior BNP leaders and anxious supporters visited the hospital to receive updates on her condition.English-language newspaper, The Daily Star, said Zia has “heart problems, liver and kidney issues, diabetes, lung problems, arthritis, and eye-related illnesses”.She has a permanent pacemaker and previously underwent stenting for her heart, the publication reported.Zia’s eldest son, Tarique Rahman, who is based in London since 2008, called on the people of Bangladesh to pray for his mother’s recovery.”We express our heartfelt thanks and gratitude for all your prayers and love for the highly respected Begum Khaleda Zia,” Rahman, 60, said on Saturday in a social media post.”We fervently request you to continue your prayers for her early recovery.”Rahman said he was unable to return to Bangladesh because of circumstances that were beyond his control.”I share the same deep longing as any child to have my mother’s touch in moments of crisis. However, the decision to return home is neither straightforward nor mine alone to make,” he said.Zia, who served three terms as prime minister, was jailed for corruption in 2018 under Sheikh Hasina’s government, which also barred her from travelling abroad for medical treatment.She was released last year, shortly after Hasina’s ouster.Despite her ill health, Zia has vowed to campaign in elections expected in February 2026, in which the BNP is widely seen as a frontrunner.Waiting in front of the hospital since morning, Liton Molla, a driver for a private company, said he rushed there after hearing about Zia’s condition, describing her as his “dear leader”.”I just pray she recovers and can contest in the election,” Liton, 45, told AFP. “At this moment Bangladesh needs a leader like Khaleda Zia.” Interim leader Muhammad Yunus also issued a statement.”During this transitional period to democracy, Khaleda Zia is a source of utmost inspiration for the nation. Her recovery is very important for the country,” he said on Friday night.

Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency on Saturday and appealed for international assistance as the death toll from heavy rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 132, with another 176 reported missing.The extreme weather system has destroyed more than 15,000 homes, sending 78,000 people to state-run temporary shelters, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said.President Anura Kumara Dissanayake invoked emergency laws, granting him sweeping powers to deal with the devastation after a week of torrential rain across the island.”We have 132 confirmed dead and another 176 missing,” DMC Director-General Sampath Kotuwegoda said, adding that relief efforts had been bolstered with the deployment of the army, navy and air force.The military rescued 69 bus passengers on Saturday, including a German tourist, who were marooned in the Anuradhapura district after a 24-hour operation involving a helicopter and naval boats.One of the passengers, speaking to reporters at a local hospital, said navy sailors had helped them climb onto the roof of a nearby home after using ropes to help them safely wade through flood waters.”We were very lucky… while we were on the roof, a part of it collapsed… three women fell into the water, but they were helped back onto the roof,” Shantha said.A helicopter had to abort an initial rescue attempt as the downdraft from the rotors threatened to blow away the roof they were perched on, he said.They were later rescued by naval boats.Roads in the central district of Badulla remained inaccessible, leaving many villages cut off and relief supplies unable to get through.”We lost two people in our village… others are sheltering at a temple and a house that is still standing,” said Saman Kumara from the village of Maspanna in Badulla, one of the worst-affected districts.- No clean water-“We can’t leave the village and no one can come in because all roads are blocked by earth slips. There is no food and we are short of clean water,” he told media website News Center by telephone. Officials said about a third of the country was without electricity and running water as power lines had collapsed and water purification facilities were inundated. Internet connections were also disrupted in many areas.Cyclone Ditwah moved away from the island on Saturday and was heading towards neighbouring India to the north.India’s Chennai Airport has cancelled 54 flights in view of the cyclone’s approach, with the weather department forecasting extremely heavy rainfall and strong winds over the next 48 hours.Fresh landslides hit the central district of Kandy, 115 kilometres (71 miles) east of Colombo, with the main access road underwater at several locations.The government has issued an appeal for international help and asked Sri Lankans abroad to make cash donations to support affected communities.Officials said Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya had met Colombo-based diplomats to update them on the situation and seek assistance from their governments.India was the first to respond, sending two plane loads of relief supplies, while an Indian warship already in Colombo on a previously planned goodwill visit donated its rations to help victims.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in Sri Lanka and said New Delhi was ready to send more aid.Flooding in low-lying areas worsened on Saturday, prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders for those living along the banks of the Kelani river, which flows into the Indian Ocean from Colombo.Rain had eased in most parts of the country, including the capital, but the island’s north was still experiencing showers due to the residual effects of Cyclone Ditwah.The cyclone is Sri Lanka’s deadliest natural disaster since 2017, when flooding and landslides killed more than 200 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others.The worst flooding Sri Lanka has experienced since the turn of the century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people were killed.

Sri Lanka made an appeal for international assistance on Saturday as the death toll from heavy rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 123, with another 130 reported missing.The extreme weather system has destroyed nearly 15,000 homes, sending almost 44,000 people to state-run temporary shelters, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said.Director-General Sampath Kotuwegoda said relief operations had been strengthened with the deployment of thousands of troops from the army, navy and air force.”We have 123 confirmed dead and another 130 missing,” Kotuwegoda told reporters in Colombo.Cyclone Ditwah was moving away from the island Saturday and was heading towards neighbouring India to the north, but it had already left massive destruction in its wake.”Relief operations with the help of the armed forces are underway,” Kotuwegoda said.Fresh landslides hit the central district of Kandy, 115 kilometres (72 miles) east of Colombo, with the main access road under water at several locations.”Fibre optic cables have snapped at many places and mobile phones are not working because base stations have been flooded,” a DMC official told AFP.He said a special unit had been deployed to restore communication lines, as several remote areas remained inaccessible by road after mudslides in tea-growing mountainous regions.The government issued an appeal for international help and asked Sri Lankans abroad to make cash donations to support nearly half a million affected people.Officials said Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya had met with Colombo-based diplomats to update them on the situation and seek the help of their governments.- India sends aid -India was the first to respond, sending two planeloads of relief supplies, while an Indian warship already in Colombo on a previously planned goodwill visit donated its rations to help victims.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in Sri Lanka and said New Delhi was ready to send more aid.”We stand ready to provide more aid and assistance as the situation evolves,” Modi said on X.Flooding in low-lying areas worsened on Saturday, prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders for those living along the banks of the Kelani River, which flows into the Indian Ocean from Colombo.The Kelani burst its banks on Friday evening, forcing hundreds of people into temporary shelters, the DMC said.Rain had eased in most parts of the country, including the capital, but parts of the island’s north were still experiencing showers due to the residual effects of Cyclone Ditwah.DMC officials said they expected flood levels to exceed those recorded in 2016, when 71 people were killed nationwide.This week’s weather-related toll is the highest since June last year, when 26 people were killed following heavy rains. In December, 17 people died in flooding and landslides.The worst flooding Sri Lanka has experienced since the turn of the century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people were killed.

Sri Lankan troops were racing to rescue hundreds of people marooned by rising floodwaters on Friday as weather-related deaths rose to 69, with another 34 people declared missing.Helicopters and navy boats carried out multiple rescue operations, plucking residents from tree tops, roofs and villages cut off by floodwaters.The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said the toll had climbed with the recovery of more bodies in the worst affected central region, where most victims had been buried alive as mudslides hit this week.Rain was falling across the island with some regions receiving 360 millimetres in the past 24 hours, the DMC said.The Kelani River, which flows into the Indian Ocean near the capital Colombo, breached its banks on Friday.V. S. A. Ratnayake, 56, said he had to leave his flooded home in Kaduwela, just outside Colombo.”I think this could be the worst flood in our area for three decades,” Ratnayake told AFP. “I remember a flood in the 1990s when my house was under seven feet of water.”Another Kaduwela resident, Kalyani, 48, who uses only one name, said she was sheltering two families whose homes were flooded.At least 3,000 homes were damaged in mudslides and floods, and over 18,000 people had been moved to temporary shelters.In Anuradhapura district in the north, an Air Force Bell 212 helicopter airlifted a man who had climbed a coconut tree to escape rising waters.The DMC said more rain was forecast, with Cyclone Ditwah likely to move away from the north towards the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu by Sunday.- ‘Nowhere to go’ -Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the loss of life in Sri Lanka and said New Delhi was rushing aid.”We stand ready to provide more aid and assistance as the situation evolves,” Modi said on X.DMC officials said they expected flood levels to be worse than in 2016, when 71 people were killed nationwide.The Sirasa TV network broadcast an appeal for help from a desperate woman.”We are six people, including a one-and-a-half-year-old child. If the water rises another five steps up the staircase, we will have nowhere to go,” she said by telephone.Dozens of stranded tourists were evacuated to Colombo from the tea-growing central areas on Friday.Sri Lanka is in its northeast monsoon season, but rainfall has intensified because of Cyclone Ditwah, the DMC said.Sri Lanka depends on seasonal monsoon rains for irrigation and hydroelectricity, but experts have warned that the country faces more frequent floods due to climate change.This week’s weather-related toll is the highest since June last year, when 26 people were killed following heavy rains. In December, 17 people died in flooding and landslides.The worst flooding Sri Lanka has experienced since the turn of the century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people were killed.

India’s economy grew faster than expected in the last quarter, official data showed Friday, but the impact from US tariffs is expected to bite in the rest of the financial year.Gross domestic product rose 8.2 percent year-on-year in the July-September period, the statistics ministry said, the fastest rate in over a year.The growth was an acceleration from the 7.8 percent recorded in the previous quarter and soared beyond analysts’ forecasts of 7.4 percent.Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the figures “very encouraging”, hailing in a post on X his government’s “pro-growth policies and reforms”.The latest figures were spurred by higher consumer demand, solid manufacturing sector growth and statistical factors.”Growth has exceeded expectations dramatically,” Madhavi Arora, chief economist at Emkay Global Financial Services, said in a note.She noted the “lagged effects of monetary and regulatory easing” that helped the quarterly performance, as well as a “limited” decline in exports.Friday’s reading reaffirms India’s position as the fastest growing major economy and come as welcome news for policymakers grappling with a weak rupee, falling exports and a pivot away from Russian oil imports.US President Donald Trump has slapped 50-percent tariffs on most Indian products as punishment for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, which Washington claims helps finance Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.Indian shipments largely held up between April and August as exporters rushed to beat the tariff clock. But since then, the tariffs have started to bite, with overall exports falling 11.8 percent year-on-year in October, hurt by a drop in US-bound shipments.- Tariff threat -Some experts expect the economy to lose steam in the coming quarters.”An adverse base, the potential negative impact of US tariffs and limited headroom for capital spending by the government of India may dampen the pace of growth,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ratings agency ICRA.India’s press has reported an imminent trade deal with the United States, but neither side has officially announced a breakthrough.Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund recently cut its forecast for India’s next financial year from 6.4 percent to 6.2 percent, citing a “baseline assumption of prolonged 50-percent US tariffs”.The Global Trade Research Initiative, a New Delhi-based think-tank, estimates that if the harsh tariffs stick, India’s exports could fall to about $49.6 billion in the current fiscal year — a steep drop from the $86.5 billion recorded last fiscal cycle.The world’s fifth-largest economy slowed in the second half of 2024, with annual growth hitting a four-year low in the fiscal year that ended March 31.While growth has rebounded since then, the drop in activity prompted Modi to roll out sweeping income and consumption tax cuts.Modi’s government has since approved $5 billion in relief measures for exporters and pushed through long-awaited labour law reform in an attempt to woo foreign investment and cut red tape for businesses.”Our government will continue to advance reforms and strengthen Ease of Living for every citizen,” the prime minister vowed on Friday.

Sri Lanka deployed the military for relief and rescue operations on Friday as the death toll from floods and landslides across the island rose to 56, with another 21 people missing.Helicopters, navy boats and thousands of troops are being used to evacuate stranded villagers in several parts of the country, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said.Rain was falling across the island’s entire 65,000-square-kilometre (25,000-square-mile) area, with some regions receiving 360 millimetres in the past 24 hours, the DMC said.The Kelani River, which flows into the Indian Ocean near the capital Colombo, was expected to breach its banks later on Friday and residents were warned to move to higher ground. Resident V. S. A. Ratnayake, 56, said he had to leave his flooded home in Kaduwela, just outside Colombo.”I think this could be the worst flood in our area for three decades,” Ratnayake told AFP. “I remember a flood in the 1990s when my house was under seven feet of water.”The army has deployed more than 20,000 troops, while the navy was using boats to evacuate villagers and to help clear debris.Of the 56 people confirmed dead, 26 were buried alive in mudslides in the tea-growing Badulla district in the central region, the DMC said. Another 21 are missing, with 14 more in hospital.Nearly 3,000 homes were damaged in mudslides and floods, and almost 15,000 people had been moved to temporary shelters.- Climbed a coconut tree -In Anuradhapura district in the north, an Air Force Bell 212 helicopter airlifted a man who had climbed a coconut tree to escape rising waters.Video footage released by the military showed similar rescues taking place across the country.The DMC said more rain was forecast, with Cyclone Ditwah likely to move away from the north towards the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu by Sunday.Officials from the agency said they expected flood levels to be worse than in 2016, when 71 people were killed nationwide.Another resident, M. A. Madushantha, 38, said floodwaters rose before his eyes and inundated his home on the banks of the Kelani.”I sent my children and wife to her sister’s house last night because we expected this,” Madushantha told AFP.- ‘Nowhere to go’ -The Sirasa TV network broadcast an appeal for help from a stranded woman in the central region of Ruwanwella.The woman, identified only as Akma, said she was upstairs in a two-storey home, with the ground floor completely flooded.”We are six people, including a one-and-a-half-year-old child. If the water rises another five steps up the staircase, we will have nowhere to go,” she said by telephone.Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake said 60 Indian tourists who were stranded in central Sri Lanka were taken to Colombo on Friday.Sri Lanka is in its northeast monsoon season, but rainfall has intensified because of Cyclone Ditwah, the DMC said.Sri Lanka depends on seasonal monsoon rains for irrigation and hydroelectricity, but experts have warned that the country faces more frequent floods due to climate change.The government has suspended final-year school examinations nationwide for two days because of the weather, while civil servants were given a day off.Parliament also suspended its budget debate so that legislators could return to their constituencies to deal with the damage.This week’s weather-related toll is the highest since June last year, when 26 people were killed following heavy rains. In December, 17 people died in flooding and landslides.The worst flooding this century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people were killed.

Organisers are confident they can avoid the calamities of last time when India hosts the Commonwealth Games but there are many challenges for a country that also has Olympic ambitions.Ahmedabad, in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, was confirmed Wednesday as the venue for the 2030 Commonwealth Games.It is seen in India as a stepping stone towards the goal of hosting the 2036 Olympics and authorities hope it will establish the world’s most populous nation as a sporting destination.A successful Commonwealth Games will also help erase the memories of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, which were marred by accusations of corruption and construction delays.Ahmedabad already boasts the world’s largest cricket stadium, a 130,000-seat arena named after Modi, which most likely will stage the opening and closing ceremonies. But beyond that, massive investment in roads, subway lines and sporting facilities are needed to reshape the city of more than seven million people.Barely five years until the competition is a comparatively short timeframe to get it all done.Ashwani Kumar, a senior Gujarat official who looks after sports, said Ahmedabad’s existing venues were capable of hosting the Games “with some modifications”.New arenas will also be built by “late 2028 or early 2029″.”We are very confident and we have done good homework as a team,” Kumar told reporters, adding that a budget had been worked out already, without giving figures.- Manpower issue -Aside from competition venues, India will need to boost infrastructure for the thousands of athletes, spectators and officials flooding into the city.Hotels are expected to add thousands of new rooms while the local airport will start construction on a new terminal next year.”Five years is enough for building our capacity,” said Narendra Somani, president of the Hotels and Restaurants’ Association of Gujarat.”Also, we expect the government to come up with some industry-friendly policies that would boost the outlook further.”Somani admitted personnel challenges.”We have a shortage of skilled workers in the hotel industry in Gujarat. We will have to hire workers from other states like Assam and Punjab,” he told AFP on Friday.- Bad memories -The spectre of the 2010 Commonwealth Games looms large.At the time the Games were meant to showcase India’s status as an emerging global power but headlines were instead about delays, shoddy construction and budget overruns.English and Australian swimmers blamed Delhi’s swimming pool for contracting a stomach virus while some athletes complained of finding a cobra in the Games village accommodation.India’s national auditor accused the Delhi government of wasteful spending to the tune of at least $29 million during its “ill-conceived and ill-planned” programme to beautify the city in the run-up to the Games.A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General also listed several examples of alleged rigged bidding for lucrative contracts to supply timekeeping equipment, lighting fixtures for the glitzy opening ceremony and catering services.The auditors blamed the organising committee for hyping up projected revenues from the Games to an astronomical 17.8 billion rupees.”In reality the total committed revenues amounted to just 6.8 billion rupees,” the report said.- ‘Well prepared’ -The Gujarat government official Kumar admitted that there were “some challenges” in 2010, but said this time was different.”We all are well prepared. We are very confident that we will deliver the Games which would be remembered in years to come,” said Kumar.But he also added a note of caution: “We don’t want to overcommit on anything, and would rather learn from the past editions of the Games elsewhere in the world.”

Sweeping legal reforms and regional conflict have consolidated the Pakistani military’s grip on power in the past year, diluting the role of the civilian government while offering an unprecedented legal shield to the army chief, experts say.Widely seen as Pakistan’s most powerful institution, the military has governed the country for nearly half its existence via a series of coups since independence in 1947.One of those military rulers, General Pervez Musharraf, was found guilty of treason while living in exile after an almost decade-long rule, which began in a 1999 coup. But experts say a repeat of that scenario is increasingly unlikely.Constitutional changes rushed through parliament in November gave sweeping new powers to top officials including the current army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, already considered the most powerful man in the country.Munir’s Field Marshal rank, granted after the deadly conflict in May with arch-rival India, now also includes lifelong immunity from legal prosecution. “Lifelong immunity means that tomorrow, if Asim Munir imposes a martial law, he will never be tried for committing an act of treason,” said defence analyst Ayesha Siddiqa. “So theoretically, a coup is possible,” she told AFP.Islamabad-based legal expert Osama Malik believes the constitutional amendment means “this time is different”.”The constitution itself is being disfigured during a civilian government, and not when a martial law is imposed,” he told AFP.After the May conflict with India — which Munir claims to have won — and amid escalating clashes with neigbouring Afghanistan, some of the resentment expressed by Pakistanis after last year’s heated election brought a surge of anti-military rhetoric has also eased. Despite some opposition parties denouncing Munir’s new role and legal immunity, few people dared to protest openly and there was only a short flash of social media outrage. The military has not officially commented on the constitutional amendments, and neither it nor the government responded to requests for comment.- ‘Hybrid’ model – No prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term in Pakistan’s history, and civilian governments have acknowledged the military’s role in state affairs.Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has called the situation a “hybrid” model and signalled key decisions are influenced by both civilian and military leaders.”It is by consensus, whatever is taking place,” he told digital media outlet Zeteo in September, though he denied that the army chief held more authority than elected ministers.Even during periods of civilian rule, most Pakistanis consider the army chief the country’s real kingmaker — meaning Munir’s new powers are freighted with huge political significance as the country navigates a sensitive geopolitical period following armed conflict with both its neighbours. Munir previously led Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency.Yet he was ousted from that post in 2019 after just eight months under previous prime minister Imran Khan, for reasons that have never been made public.Khan himself was later pushed out by a no-confidence vote in the country’s legislature in 2022, which analysts say was the result of falling out with the army. His successor, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif elevated Munir to army chief.The military has long denied the involvement in elections or political affairs. Khan is now languishing in jail on corruption charges he denies, with his many supporters accusing the army of fostering his rival coalition government while pushing through two constitutional amendments in a year to tighten its oversight of courts and judges. Resentment among Khan supporters boiled over into mass nationwide protests in 2023 ahead of elections he ultimately lost, and a march on the capital last year that turned into a violent standoff with authorities. “Everything that is being done in Pakistan, let it be constitutional amendments or new parallel forces, is out of fear of Imran Khan and his popularity,” said Zulfikar Bukhari, spokesperson for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.- ‘Favourite field marshal’ – The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said the constitutional change “further weakens essential checks and balances at a time when public trust in state institutions is fragile”.The changes elevate Munir to ‘Chief of Defence Forces’, expanding his oversight to include the air force and the navy.Initially set to retire in 2027, Munir can now also remain in office until 2030, giving him “an opportunity to oversee the next elections”, Siddiqa said.Munir has also bolstered his international standing, recently making two official visits to the United States, where President Donald Trump called him “his favourite field marshal”.In photos released by the White House, Munir stands by Sharif and Trump in a suit and tie, raising eyebrows at home given army chiefs have in the past worn uniform during official visits.

Sri Lankan authorities deployed the military for relief and rescue operations Friday as the death toll from floods and landslides rose to 56, with another 21 people listed as missing.Helicopters, navy boats and armoured personnel carriers are being used to evacuate marooned villagers in several parts of the country, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said, as the rain continued.The island’s entire 65,000-square-kilometre (25,000-square-mile) area is experiencing rainfall, with some regions seeing 360 millimetres in the past 24 hours, the DMC said.Of the 56 people confirmed dead, 26 were buried alive in mudslides in the tea-growing Badulla district in the central region of the island, it added.Twenty-one people were listed as missing, while another 14 were hospitalised.The DMC said a cyclonic storm named “Ditwah” was moving across the island’s eastern region, resulting in heavy rains across the country.The system is expected to move northwards towards neighbouring Tamil Nadu state in India by Sunday.”Due to the influence of this system, the prevailing heavy showers and strong winds over the island are expected to continue,” the DMC said.Nearly 700 homes were damaged in mudslides and floods, with almost 1,800 families moved to temporary shelters.The DMC said river levels were rising across Sri Lanka and warned residents in low-lying areas to move to higher ground.Sri Lanka is currently experiencing the northeast monsoon season, but rainfall has intensified due to the cyclone, it added.The government suspended final-year school examinations nationwide for two days because of the weather. Civil servants were given a day off.Sri Lanka’s parliament also suspended its budget debate so that legislators could return to their constituencies to deal with the damage.This week’s weather-related toll is the highest since June last year, when 26 people were killed following heavy rains. In December, 17 people were killed by flooding and landslides.The worst flooding this century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people were killed.Sri Lanka depends on seasonal monsoon rains for irrigation and hydroelectricity, but experts have warned that the country faces more frequent floods due to climate change.