ISLAMABAD (AP) — Authorities in Pakistan on Tuesday urged people to stay indoors as the country is hit by an extreme heat wave that threatens to bring dangerously high temperatures and yet another round of glacial-driven floods. Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, is shutting all schools for a week because of the heat, affecting an estimated 18 million students. “The sweltering heat will continue this month,” said Zaheer Ahmed Babar, a senior official at the Pakistan Meteorological Department. He added that temperatures could reach up to 6 degrees Celsius (10.8 Fahrenheit) above the monthly average. This week could rise above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in many parts of the country, Babar said. It’s the latest climate-related disaster to hit the country in recent years. Melting glaciers and growing monsoons have caused devastating floods, at one point submerging a third of the country. |
Local board opposes boundary change for Ōtara communityUS says China helping Moscow in biggest defence expansion since Soviet eraOJ Simpson's alma mater, USC, stays conspicuously silent on his death despite honoring the exHow endangered dolphins could shut down the SailGPAirports Association says lack of government action to boost competition leading to high faresLabour MP Ginny Andersen formally apologises after bullying accusationDozens of jobs set to be axed at Commerce CommissionGP practices asking patients to pay before seeing a doctor due to bill skippingSchool camp bus breaks down, then catches fire while being towedExploited migrants: New language rules may force workers still in debt to leave NZ