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.