Trump halts work on New England offshore wind project that's nearly complete

ISABELLA O'MALLEY
Sat, August 23, 2025 


FILE - Wind turbines of South Fork Wind are seen off the coast of Block Island, R.I., Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)


The Trump administration halted construction on a nearly complete offshore wind project near Rhode Island as the White House continues to attack the battered U.S. offshore wind industry that scientists say is crucial to the urgent fight against climate change.

Danish wind farm developer Orsted says the Revolution Wind project is about 80% complete, with 45 out of its 65 turbines already installed.

Despite that progress — and the fact that the project had cleared years of federal and state reviews — the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued the order Friday, saying the federal government needs to review the project and “address concerns related to the protecton of national security interests of the United States.

It did not specify what the national security concerns are.

President Donald Trump has made sweeping strides to prioritize fossil fuels and hinder renewable energy projects. Trump recently called wind and solar power “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!” in a social media post and vowed not to approve wind or “farmer destroying Solar” projects. “The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!” he wrote on his Truth Social site this week.

Scientists across the globe agree that nations need to rapidly embrace renewable energy to stave off the worst effects of climate change, including extreme heat and drought; larger, more intense wildfires and supercharged hurricanes, typhoons and rainstorms that lead to catastrophic flooding.

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee criticized the stop-work order and said he and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont “will pursue every avenue to reverse the decision to halt work on Revolution Wind” in a post on X. Both governors are Democrats.

Construction on Revolution Wind began in 2023, and the project was expected to be fully operational next year. Orsted says it is evaluating the financial impact of stopping construction and is considering legal proceedings.

Revolution Wind is located more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of the Rhode Island coast, 32 miles (51 kilometers) southeast of the Connecticut coast and 12 miles (19 kilometers) southwest of Martha’s Vineyard. Rhode Island is already home to one offshore wind farm, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.

Revolution Wind was expected to be Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, capable of powering more than 350,000 homes. The densely populated states have minimal space available for land-based energy projects, which is why the offshore wind project is considered crucial for the states to meet their climate goals.

“This arbitrary decision defies all logic and reason — Revolution Wind’s project was already well underway and employed hundreds of skilled tradesmen and women. This is a major setback for a critical project in Connecticut, and I will fight it,” Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Wind power is the largest source of renewable energy in the U.S. and provides about 10% of the electricity generated in the nation.

“Today, the U.S. has only one fully operational large-scale offshore wind project producing power. That is not enough to meet America’s rising energy needs. We need more energy of all types, including oil and gas, wind, and new and emerging technologies,” said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, a group that supports offshore oil, gas and wind.

Green Oceans, a nonprofit that opposes the offshore wind industry, applauded the BOEM’s decision. “We are grateful that the Trump Administration and the federal government are taking meaningful action to preserve the fragile ocean environment off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts,” the nonprofit said in a statement.

This is the second major offshore wind project the White House has halted. Work was stopped on Empire Wind, a New York offshore wind project, but construction was allowed to resume after New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, intervened.

“This administration has it exactly backwards. It’s trying to prop up clunky, polluting coal plants while doing all it can to halt the fastest growing energy sources of the future – solar and wind power," said Kit Kennedy, managing director for the power division at Natural Resources Defense Council, in a statement. “Unfortunately, every American is paying the price for these misguided decisions.”

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Reporter Jennifer McDermott contributed from Providence, Rhode Island, and Matthew Daly contributed from Washington.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Trump policies wipe out $19bn in US renewables projects putting China in the lead to dominate the AI race

Trump has bet on fossil fuels to power the rapidly expanding number of data centres. China is betting on renewables. China is winning as access to copious amounts of cheap clean enery will determine the winner in the race to roll out AI. / bne IntelliNews

Feedly

By Ben Aris in Berlin August 22, 2025

Donald Trump’s rollback of clean energy incentives has derailed nearly $19bn worth of renewable energy projects this year, raising concerns over the US’s ability to meet soaring power demand from the artificial intelligence boom.

Projects worth $18.6bn have been cancelled in 2025, compared with just $827mn a year earlier, according to Atlas Public Policy’s Clean Economy Tracker, the Financial Times reports. Investment announcements have fallen by nearly 20% to $15.8bn, down from $20.9bn in the same period of 2024.

Since returning to office in January, the US president has eliminated tax credits, grants and loans introduced under the Biden administration. His administration has also tightened permitting requirements for wind and solar projects and imposed restrictions on firms with supply chains reliant on China. Most recently, the Trump administration has gutted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its authority to regulate and promote green investments, effectively ending the US effort to green its energy production

China takes the lead

The US stance contrasts strongly with that of China that has embraced the green revolution and is now the global green energy champion. Two thirds of all solar panels are now in China and it is the first major economy to see its emissions begin to fall. That is good for the environment, but more importantly, China is producing a massive excess of power generation capacity that will allow it to dominate the power hungry data centre business.

Artificial intelligence is colliding with the physics of the grid. The winner will be the country that can deliver vast amounts of cheap, reliable electricity close to where data is processed.

China currently has the lead on raw build-out. In 2024 it added 373GW of renewable capacity, including 278GW of solar and 79.8GW of wind, according to the National Energy Administration. Beijing plans another 200GW+ of renewables in 2025.

By contrast, the US is expanding too, but at a slower clip. Developers added a record 30GW of utility-scale solar in 2024 and the EIA expects ~32.5–33GW more in 2025. Industry tallies that include rooftops put 2024 solar additions nearer 50GW. Battery storage is the bright spot: the US installed 10.4GW in 2024 and could add 18.2GW this year, according to official statistics.

The US additions are not enough to keep pace with the exploding demand. This year the construction of data centres is expected to overtake the construction of office real estate space for the first time ever. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says electricity use by data centres is “set to more than double” to about 945TWh by 2030, with AI the dominant driver. In the US, official forecasts now assume rising power consumption in 2025–26, reversing a decade of flat demand.

·        China new renewables (2024): 373GW (solar 278GW, wind 79.8GW). 2025 plan: 200GW+.

·        US new solar (2024/25): 30GW utility-scale in 2024; ~32.5–33GW expected in 2025; ~50GW total across all segments in 2024.

·        US battery storage: ~10.4GW added in 2024; ~18.2GW expected in 2025.

·        China new energy storage: ~42GW/101GWh added in 2024.

·        Global datacentre demand: ~945TWh by 2030 (IEA)

US drops the renewables ball

China and the US have made two fundamentally different bets. Beijing is rolling out clean and cheap renewable energy, whereas under US President Donald Trump, the US is focused on expanding traditional fossil fuel powered generation capacity.

Both countries also have significant nuclear power generating capacity, but here too China has the lead and is 10-15 years ahead of the US and France in the development of fourth generation reactors. Moreover, China has access to plentiful supplies of refined uranium, whereas the US is still heavily dependent on supplies from Russia.

“Renewables can be built and connected in a matter of a year or two, in a way that meets data centre developers’ timelines,” Advait Arun, energy policy analyst at the Center for Public Interest, told the FT. “If you’re ignoring renewables, then you’re missing a key part of the equation.”

The US cuts have triggered a wave of bankruptcies, with 11 renewable energy groups filing since January, according to reports. The Department of Energy said it was “leveraging all forms of energy that are affordable, reliable and secure to ensure the United States is able to win the AI race and reindustrialise.”

As part of Trump’s strangulation of renewables, new guidance was issued on August 15 that requires projects to begin physical construction by July 2026 in order to qualify for the old subsidies that have developers racing to secure tax credits before stricter Treasury rules take effect.

US Residential solar has been hit particularly hard, with incentives due to expire later this year. Wood Mackenzie warned installations could fall as much as 46% by 2030.

At state level, more than a third of bills debated this year sought to restrict renewable deployment, though only 5% passed.

While Beijing has put the green revolution at the heart of its next five-year plan, Washington is ideologically opposed to it. Energy secretary Chris Wright criticised renewables as “parasite[s] on the grid.” His department has cut $3.7bn in grants, while $8.5bn in loans have been cancelled or left at risk. BloombergNEF now forecasts onshore wind additions to total 30 gigawatts by 2030, 50% below earlier projections, while Kayrros satellite data show daily utility-scale solar installations have fallen 44% since Trump took office, reports the FT.

On volume and speed, China is already clearly ahead. It is adding far more clean capacity each year, backing it with long-distance transmission and rapidly scaling storage. That combination gives Beijing a stronger near-term hand to supply AI clusters with low-carbon power at scale.

 

Opinion

Russia Bombed a U.S. Factory in Ukraine. Here’s How Trump Responded.

Robert McCoy
Fri, August 22, 2025
THE NEW REPUBLIC



If another country were to bomb an American-owned factory on foreign soil, one might expect—at the very least—harsh condemnation from the sitting U.S. president.

The anticipated response from a president who enjoys a reputation as both a champion of American business and a tough guy on the world stage would be even fiercer.

But President Donald Trump fell far short of such expectations on Friday, when he was asked about Russia’s strike on the Ukrainian branch of the American electronics manufacturer Flex.

The president mustered only five words—and none very forceful.

“I told [Putin], ‘I’m not happy about it,’” the president said, before immediately changing the subject. “I’m not happy about anything having to do with that war.”

Overnight, Russia hit the factory with two missiles, injuring at least 15, according to Ukraine. About 600 workers had reportedly been at work but took cover prior to impact as air raid sirens sounded. An estimated third of the plant burned down, per the Ukrainian military.

In a statement on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had “practically burned down an American company producing electronics—home appliances, nothing military. The Russians knew exactly where they lobbed the missiles. We believe this was a deliberate attack against American property and investments in Ukraine.”

Andy Hunter, the president of the Ukrainian affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, described the strike as “not only an attack on Ukraine” but “an attack on American business,” which he said is being “destroy[ed] and humiliat[ed]” by Russia.

As Trump quickly changed the subject Friday, he resorted to his oft-repeated lie about having ended several wars during his second term. The president had previously said he ended six of them. Recently, he added a mysterious seventh conflict to that claim.

“I settled seven wars,” Trump continued Friday, before loosening the criteria for the tally in order to bolster the figure. “Actually, if you think about pre-wars, add three more, so it would be 10.”

Russia deliberately destroys a US factory based in Ukraine

THE SILENCE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE IS DEAFENING

RUBIO TOO

It appears that Russia deliberately targeted and destroyed a US-owned consumer electronics factory in Ukraine in a move that will undermine ongoing peace talks / bne IntelliNews

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By Ben Aris in Berlin August 22, 2025

Russia launched a record number of drones and missiles on August 21 and specifically targeted a US company's factory based in Ukraine, UBN reported.

The Russians fired at least two cruise missiles at the US company Flex owned by a company with headquarters in both Texas and Singapore that is located in Transcarpathia, injuring 19 people.

The facility in Mukachevo, a city 30km from the Hungarian border, is a household appliance and electronics factory making things like coffee machines, which has invested around $24.5mn. Officials said 19 people were injured, and some 600 employees were on shift but had taken shelter after an air raid warning.

The timing of the strike will undermine ongoing peace deal negotiations. Following the White House summit on August 18 where Zelenskiy met with top European officials and Trump, preparations have started for a bilateral or trilateral meeting involving Zelenskiy, Putin and maybe Trump. However, the Kremlin is sticking to a hard line and the destruction of the Flex factor will only make those negotiations harder. Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, has lambasted the Western allies, accusing them of trying to derail the peace talks in recent remarks. He said a peacekeeper for Ukraine proposal currently being discussed would be “absolutely unacceptable for Russia”. Putin has also repeatedly said that no talks can start until the “root causes” of the war are addressed. He repeated again this week that any deal should be based on the terms agreed at the 2022 Istanbul peace deal.

Zelenskiy said in his evening address: "The Russians knew exactly where they lobbed the missiles. We believe this was a deliberate strike specifically on American-owned property here in Ukraine, on American investments. A very telling strike. As is this entire massive attack – right as the world awaits a clear answer from the Russians, an answer on negotiations to end the war."

"The Russians delivered this blow as if nothing had changed at all. As if there were no efforts by the world to stop this war. A reaction is needed to this. There is still no signal from Moscow that they are ready for meaningful negotiations and to end this war. Pressure is needed. Strong sanctions, strong tariffs," President Zelenskiy said in his evening address to the people.

Andy Hunder, the long-serving head of the US Chamber of Commerce, rubbed the point in by travelling to the Flex factory and released an impassioned video blog with the wrecked factory in the background. He said that the attack was not just on a Ukrainian factor but on US business interests in Ukraine.

“I am at the site of a truly horrendous Russian missile attack,” said Hunder. “Overnight, one of the largest American investments in Ukraine – Flex – an active member of the American Chamber of Commerce was hit by Russian missiles. This was not only an attack on Ukraine. It was an attack on American business. Two missiles struck the factory, where 600 employees were working the night shift. Thanks to strict safety protocols, every life was saved. Russia is not only devastating Ukraine — it is destroying and humiliating American business.”

Flex said on August 21 it is still assessing the missile strike’s damage to the factory, which “does not produce, supply or support” any defence-related components, the Financial Times reported.

In a wry remark, Yulia Svyrydenko, the new prime minister, said “the enemy decided to ‘liberate’ Ukraine from coffee machines”. Hunder reported that a third of the 700 foreign companies that are members of AmCham have had an employee killed in the last three years of war. Other US firms that have had their facilities in Ukraine overrun or damaged include Boeing, Coca-Cola and the agriculture group Cargill.

The same night, the Russians also attacked Ukraine's gas transportation infrastructure for the second time in a week in retaliation to a new Ukrainian attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline from Russia to Hungary.

In Russia’s massive attack, civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, and civilians were hit by Russian weapons. On the night of August 21, the Russian army deployed a record number of air attack vehicles into Ukraine: 574 drones and 40 missiles, many of which were shot down by Ukraine's air Defence forces.

Rescuers also responded in many other regions across Ukraine, from Zaporizhzhia to Volyn.

The attack on the Flex factory is significant as during the negotiation for a minerals deal signed on April 30, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was insisting that the US provide security guarantees as part of the deal. US President Donald Trump refused, saying the mere fact that the companies exploiting Ukraine’s minerals were American meant that Russia would not dare attack them for fear of provoking a US response.

Pentagon has blocked Ukraine from striking deep inside Russia – report

Edward Helmore
Sat, August 23, 2025

THE GUARDIAN 

A multistory residential building damaged in shelling by US-supplied Atacams, according to the Russian defence ministry, in Luhansk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on 7 June 2024.Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

US defense officials have blocked Ukraine from using US-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia since late spring as part of a Trump administration effort to get Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks , according to a report on Saturday.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Pentagon has blocked Ukraine from using US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems, or Atacms.

Two US officials told the outlet that on at least one occasion, Ukraine had sought to use Atacms against a target but was denied under a “review mechanism” developed by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy, that governs how US long-range weapons or those provided by European allies that rely on American intelligence and components can be used.

The review process also applies to Britain’s Storm Shadow cruise missile because it depends on US targeting data, according to two US officials and a British official, the Journal said.

The review system reportedly gives US defense secretary Pete Hegseth approval over the use of the Atacms, which have a range of nearly 190 miles (305km). Ukraine was previously given authority by the Biden administration to use the missile system against targets inside Russia in November after North Korean troops entered the war.

Before the inauguration in January, Trump told Time magazine that the decision to allow Ukraine to use US weapons systems to attack targets inside Russia had been a mistake.

“I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done,” he said.

It is unclear whether the US defense department’s review process amounts to a formal policy change. But it comes alongside increasing control of munitions to Ukraine as US stocks are themselves depleted.

Related: Russia rules out European troops in Ukraine as Trump makes veiled threats

In a statement to the Journal, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “has been very clear that the war in Ukraine needs to end. There has been no change in military posture in Russia-Ukraine at this time.”

But last week, amid efforts to broker talks between the Russian president and Voldomyr Zelenskyy, Trump said that Ukraine couldn’t defeat Russia unless it could “play offense” in the war.

“It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invader’s country,” Trump wrote on Thursday. “It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning.”


Last month, the US agreed to supply Ukraine with new weapons systems but only if European nations paid for them. While Trump has said that the US is “not looking” to provide longer-range weapons that could reach Moscow, US officials told the Journal that the administration has approved the sale of 3,350 Extended Range Attack Munition air-launched missiles, or Erams, which have a range of 280 miles (400km).

Pentagon restricts Ukraine's use of US missiles against Russia, WSJ reports

Reuters
Sat, August 23, 2025

FILE PHOTO: The Pentagon building is seen in Arlington, Virginia, U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Pentagon has been quietly blocking Ukraine from using U.S.-made long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike targets inside Russia, limiting Kyiv's ability to employ these weapons in its defense against Moscow's invasion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing U.S. officials.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

The news came as U.S. President Donald Trump has grown more frustrated publicly over the three-year-old war and his inability to secure a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

After his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and a subsequent meeting with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy failed to produce observable progress, Trump said on Friday that he was again considering slapping Russia with economic sanctions or, alternatively, walking away from the peace process.

"I'm going to make a decision as to what we do and it's going to be, it's going to be a very important decision, and that's whether or not it's massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both, or we do nothing and say it's your fight," Trump said.

Trump had hoped to arrange a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy, but that has also proven difficult. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told NBC on Friday that there was no agenda in place for a sitdown with Zelenskiy.

"Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskiy when the agenda would be ready for a summit. And this agenda is not ready at all," Lavrov told NBC, saying no meeting was planned for now.

As the White House sought to persuade Putin to join peace talks, an approval process put in place at the Pentagon has kept Ukraine from launching strikes deep into Russian territory, the Journal reported.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has final say over use of the long-range weapons, the Journal said.

Neither Ukraine's presidential office nor the defence ministry immediately responded to Reuters' request for a comment outside business hours. The White House and the Pentagon also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Opinion

The spectacle of moral hypocrisy: When America condemns South Africa


August 23, 2025

MEMO

President Donald Trump hands papers to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025. [Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images]

by Junaid S. Ahmad



Picture an empire so insecure that it hurls thunderbolts at a mid-sized African democracy for daring to think independently. That empire, draped in self-anointed moral authority, is the United States. Its newest villain? South Africa. In Washington’s theater of indignation, South Africa has been transformed from an ally recovering from apartheid into a subversive force guilty of lèse-majesté against American supremacy. What follows is not policy—it’s performance art. Except the actors are armed, and the tickets cost nations their sovereignty.

The theater of “white genocide”

The opening act came with the myth of “white genocide.” President Trump, in peak reality-TV mode, waved around fabricated images of murdered white farmers to Cyril Ramaphosa. The images turned out to be fake—one wasn’t even from South Africa. Yet this spectacle was swallowed whole by the American right, who suddenly discovered a deep concern for land rights abroad (while, back home, treating Indigenous treaties like quaint museum pieces).

Washington then bestowed refugee status on about sixty Afrikaners. Sixty. As if America had single-handedly airlifted a threatened population to safety. It was virtue-signaling with visas, the geopolitical equivalent of putting a “thoughts and prayers” hashtag on Instagram.

Tariffs: The punishment disguised as policy

When South African farm exports to the US surged—citrus, apples, wine, nuts—the US responded not with applause but with a 30 per cent tariff. Washington called it trade policy; in reality, it was a hissy fit disguised as economics.

The absurdity is glaring: America, a nation that loves to sermonize about “free markets,” suddenly pulls a protectionist about-face the moment a Global South country dares to compete. Free trade, yes—but only when America wins.

Foreign aid: Now you see it, now you don’t

Then came the vanishing act with USAID. Programs supporting HIV/AIDS were gutted, vaccine trials defunded, thousands of healthcare workers cast aside. A country still battling the world’s largest HIV epidemic saw critical support yanked away—not because South Africa suddenly cured AIDS, but because Washington decided sulking was a foreign policy tool.

It wasn’t just cruel; it was cowardly. Pulling out of health programs in a country with 7 million people living with HIV is not policy—it’s malpractice. But then again, nothing says “we care about your people” quite like abandoning them mid-pandemic.

Diplomacy as a contact sport

Diplomatic relations? Torched. South Africa declares the U.S. ambassador persona non grata after his undiplomatic tantrums. Naval drills with Russia and China become grounds for Washington to clutch its pearls, as if the Atlantic were still a British lake.

And neutrality on Ukraine? Unacceptable. In Washington’s worldview, “neutral” is just another word for “enemy.” One either parrots the script or faces the wrath. For a country that loves to extol freedom, the US has a peculiar allergy to nations exercising it.

The BRICS boogeyman

When South Africa joined BRICS, the American establishment lost its collective composure. Suddenly, a pragmatic choice to diversify partnerships became a grand betrayal. The audacity of South Africa seeking multipolarity was treated like treason.

BRICS wasn’t seen as an economic club but as an underground conspiracy—like a Marvel villain’s secret society, except with trade agreements and development banks instead of laser beams. Washington’s paranoia revealed more about its fragility than South Africa’s intentions.

The genocide charge that shook Washington

But nothing provoked greater American fury than South Africa dragging Israel to the International Court of Justice for genocide. For Washington, this was blasphemy. Israel is not a country to be judged but a state to be shielded, indulged, and excused.

South Africa’s history of dismantling apartheid gave it a moral authority that Washington could not tolerate. How dare Pretoria call out the grotesque violence of a fellow settler-colony? How dare it reveal that moral standards cannot be monopolized?

This was not just inconvenient; it was unforgivable. America’s entire moral economy depends on casting genocide as something only adversaries commit. South Africa punctured that illusion, turning the empire’s favorite accusation back on its favorite protégé. For Washington, it wasn’t law—it was heresy.

The Anglo-American war on BRICS

And here lies the heart of the matter: South Africa’s real offense is not its land reform policies, its neutrality, or its Hague petition. Its crime is being the final thorn in America’s side—the last “S” in BRICS.

The Anglo-American elite have already gone to war, figuratively and literally, with the other members. Russia is sanctioned into the Stone Age, China is tariffed and contained, Brazil is toyed with through political intrigue. India is tolerated, but only because Washington imagines it can be conscripted into the anti-China brigade.

That leaves South Africa. And so begins the Anglo-American war on BRICS. Aid cut, tariffs imposed, narratives spun, and diplomats unleashed with all the subtlety of sledgehammers. Washington cannot abide multipolarity; to them, it’s not competition but treason. Only one can win.

History echoes. Nasser and the Suez Canal. The Non-Aligned Movement smeared as Soviet puppets. Iraq shattered for daring to sell oil in euros. Libya turned into rubble for proposing an African gold dinar. And now South Africa, punished not for its sins but for its seat at a table the West cannot control.

BRICS, to Washington, is not an economic pact—it’s mutiny. And the punishment for mutiny is always the same: isolation, vilification, subversion.

The farce of structural contradiction

South Africa wants economic cooperation with the West but political independence abroad. Washington sees this as betrayal. In reality, it’s called sovereignty. But to US policymakers, sovereignty is a right reserved only for themselves and their allies.

The contradiction is not South Africa’s—it’s America’s. To demand absolute loyalty from countries it simultaneously undermines is not diplomacy; it’s delusion.

Domestic pressures, external pressure, no winners

Domestically, South Africa’s policies reflect a legacy of anti-imperial struggle and deep inequality. Washington doesn’t care. Instead, it courts fringe protest groups, amplifies the white farmer myth, and portrays redistributive justice as barbarism.

Trade becomes conditional on dismantling affirmative action, diplomacy becomes contingent on submission, and the net result is mutual erosion. South Africa loses critical partnerships; America loses credibility. A lose-lose masquerading as strategy.

History repeats, but with worse actors

In Apartheid days, at least the US could pretend its “constructive engagement” was about stability. Today, it’s pure theater. Aid cuts, tariffs, finger-pointing, and outrage are deployed not for principle but for petulance.

It is empire as improv comedy: unpredictable, over-the-top, and embarrassingly self-indulgent. Except the laugh track is replaced by real human suffering.

Conclusion

So let us be clear. America’s war on South Africa is not about morality, democracy, or rights. It is about monopoly. It is about policing the boundaries of empire. It is about crushing the final member of BRICS to preserve a world where the US plays referee, judge, and executioner all at once.

The tragedy—for America—is that the performance no longer convinces. The more Washington sermonizes, the more it exposes itself as a hypocrite in decline, a superpower confusing intimidation for influence.

South Africa, with all its flaws, has done something extraordinary: it has refused to bow. It has reminded the world that sovereignty is not granted by Washington but inherent to nations.

And in that act of defiance lies the true provocation. For what empires fear most is not war or poverty or instability. What they fear is irrelevance.

Mahwari Justice is making sure people with periods aren’t forgotten in the floods

They are partnering with the Dastak Foundation to collect donations to provide period relief in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Images Staff
23 Aug, 2025
DAWN


When disaster strikes, the first things people think of are food, shelter, and clothes. Understandably so. But what often gets pushed out of the conversation, every single time, are periods.

With the devastating floods sweeping across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, that erasure is happening all over again. The death toll from this year’s monsoon floods has crossed 750 nationwide — of which over 400 deaths occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — with hundreds more injured or missing. Entire villages have been washed away, and thousands are now homeless.

But amid the tragedy, Mahwari Justice and Dastak Foundation are refusing to let menstruators be forgotten.

In a collaborative Instagram post, period rights activist Bushra Mahnoor, who helms Mahwari Justice, urged Pakistanis abroad to help fill the glaring gap in flood relief. “Pakistan has been hit by devastating floods that have killed 700 people and rendered thousands homeless. In such situations, the needs of people who get periods are often neglected by the state and mainstream relief efforts,” she said.

The group is putting together period relief kits that include pads, underwear, detergent, soap, and painkillers — basics that many of us might not even think about until they’re gone. Each kit costs just €2 (Rs700).

The caption summed up the campaign perfectly — “The floods sweeping across Pakistan have taken homes, schools, and livelihoods, but they must not take away dignity. Menstruators are once again left invisible in disaster relief, without the basic care they need to survive with safety and respect.”

An earlier post by Mahwari Justice highlighted why we need to pay attention to period relief during disasters. It reinstated that periods don’t stop for floods. And while shelter, food, and medicine are prioritised during flood relief efforts, thousands of people who get periods resort to “rags, contaminated cloth, or plastic” in the absence of sanitary products, which can cause long-term health issues.

In a post four days ago, the organisations shared that while each kit costs Rs700, people can also donate materials from the list.

It’s not just about supplies. It’s about recognition. As Mahnoor pointed out, hundreds of young people in these regions will experience or are experiencing their periods in the middle of this disaster. The thought of doing that without access to pads, clean underwear, or even pain relief? Unimaginable.

Which is why this campaign feels so vital. It’s saying: yes, food and shelter matter, but dignity does too.

PAKISTAN

Theft of childhood

Child marriage destroys dreams and futures.

Luay Shabaneh 

Published August 22, 2025 
The writer is UNFPA representative in Pakistan.

LAST month, I travelled through Pakistan’s four provinces to oversee UNFPA projects and initiatives. I also engaged with partners to get their perspectives on development amid the recent geopolitical and funding challenges. During these visits, I connected with various partners, officials and intellectuals. One particularly moving — and painful — conversation was with Sania, an exceptionally talented 18-year-old from a remote village.

Reflecting on her brief life journey, Sania shared some of her memories etched in her mind. She recalled how, as a 10-year-old, she stood silently, looking into the eyes of those around her, searching for reassurance and safety.

At that tender age, Saniya found herself on the cusp of adolescence, confronting the threat of child marriage, poverty and detrimental traditional practices. She vividly remembers the fear and uncertainty that surrounded her, along with the question that echoed in her mind: would her guardians and the people around her allow her to finish her education and pursue her dream of becoming a journalist or TV presenter, or would harsh barriers destroy her opportunities before she even had a chance to start?

As Sania continued her story, I listened closely, yet my thoughts transcended geography and history, as I focused on the words attributed to Africa’s icon of freedom, tolerance and peace, Nelson Mandela: “Corruption is not only the theft of public money but also the theft of people’s dreams and their future.”


Child marriage destroys dreams and futures.

That question, that fear, is not solely Sania’s. It resonates with millions of girls around the globe whose dreams and futures are at risk simply due to their gender. Narratives like Sania’s have motivated me and numerous other development practitioners at UNFPA, along with other UN and civil society organisations, to commit our time and efforts to championing the rights of girls.

Throughout my career, first in Palestine and thereafter in the UN, I strived alongside many professionals and practitioners to transform the image of a young girl standing alone, vulnerable yet brimming with potential, into a powerful call for change — a change that should have occurred long ago to prevent the theft of our girls’ dreams and futures in the name of social norms, religion and patriarchy.

It all hinges on our interpretation of inherited culture, which does not always align with the divine message conveyed through the prophets and saints. We made that image the cornerstone of our mission: to advocate fiercely for the right of every girl to live a safe, healthy and dignified life. Because behind every statistic is a child with dreams, a voice and limitless potential — a child who might change the future of a nation, in fact, the world. Now more than ever, we must listen — and we must act.

Girls like Sania should never have to wonder whether they will survive adolescence with their rights intact. They should not have to choose between safety and education — or between survival and dignity. A 2020 UNFPA-led study on the political economy of child marriage identified multiple drivers of the latter, ranging from poverty and harmful social norms to religious misinterpretation, as well as weak institutional systems and legal framework and the latter’s enforcement.

We all have a role to play; change must begin at home with individual commitment. But communities, and governments, must unite to end child marriage, eliminate harmful practices and invest in education and healthcare for girls. Because when we protect a girl’s rights, we don’t just change her life — we change the future. Let us ensure that no girl stands alone in fear. Let us be the answer to her unspoken question. Let us be the force that enables her agency and voice, her opportunities, her hope. Child marriage is a crime because it steals dreams and destroys futures. It suppresses hope and denies a girl her freedom to choose what she wants to be in the future.

In a country like Pakistan, the prevalence of gender-based violence, child marriage and abuse is alarming. It is crucial to recognise that the key to a prosperous future may lie within one of these underprivileged girls — a girl who could rise as a leader capable of transforming the future of the nation and tackling its numerous challenges.

We must not replicate the actions of the pharaoh, who sought to extinguish hope by ordering the killing of children during the time of Moses. Our interpretation of culture, social norms and faith should never become a justification for quashing dreams or erasing futures. As guardians, thought leaders, politicians and practitioners, we cannot foresee how or where our Lord may choose to bestow His blessings. Indeed, we often remind ourselves that God may place His wisdom or secret in His weakest creations.

The writer is UNFPA representative in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2025

Rebuilding greener

Gulmina Bilal Ahmad 

Published August 24, 2025

DAWN

THE monsoon clouds that break over Pakistan every year bring death and devastation. Deadly floods have become an annual ritual. Roads drown. Crops are inundated. People die. The Hilal-i- Ahmer representative in Buner told me: “We have run out of shrouds.” And yet, year after year, Pakistan’s response doesn’t go beyond the usual, ie, emergency aid, military helicopters, donations, photo ops and prayers — followed by radio silence until the next year.

This cycle of death won’t be broken by charity but by skill and enforcement. Specifically, by giving a new generation of Pakistanis revitalised technical vocational education and training (TVET) and strictly enforcing measures against encroachment. We can’t stop the rains but we can build better defences and rebuild greener. For all of this, we need skilled people who know how to work with nature, not against it.

Pakistan is among the top 10 countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Monsoon patterns are shifting, glaciers are melting faster. But vulnerability isn’t only about nature. It is about how we build our homes, how much we encroach and how we manage our rivers and grow our food. Our rural infrastructure is outdated, cities have poor drainage and construction is compromised. Deforestation goes unchecked and waste clogs natural waterways. What’s missing isn’t just money or enforcement but also skills — in particular green skills.

Green skills supporting environment sustainability aren’t only for scientists or policymakers. They are practical, hands-on abilities: installing solar panels, maintaining water pumps, building flood-resistant housing, managing forests, running early warning systems, designing efficient irrigation and restoring wetlands. There is a need for green technicians in districts — local builders who know how to construct elevated homes with proper drainage, agriculture workers trained in climate-smart farming techniques, electricians who can instal off-grid solar systems, welders who can reinforce bridges and plumbers who can fix water leaks, thus preventing contamination during floods.

We need skilled people who know how to work with nature.

We are on our way to doing it by conducting curriculum reform and instructor training in the TVET sector. The focus is on curriculum-infused climate resilience, disaster-risk reduction, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. In the aftermath of the 2022 floods, grassroots organisations launched small-scale reconstruction efforts. For instance, in Sindh, local masons trained in flood-resilient construction techniques to help rebuild homes on raised platforms using lime-stabilised earth blocks — a traditional and sustainable method that had been abandoned. However, these efforts were sporadic and not mainstreamed.

We need to institutionalise these approaches. Every rebuilding project should double as a training opportunity. Every flood-affected area should become a green skills classroom. Recovery isn’t just about rebuilding what was lost — it is about building back better, smarter and greener.

Pakistan needs a national green skills corps to recruit and train young people in climate adaptation and green technology, and then deploy them in vulnerable regions. Much like national service programmes in other countries, this would give young Pakistanis a purpose, a paycheck and a path forward while helping the country fortify itself against future disasters. The corps should work with local TVET institutes, NGOs and government bodies to run rapid training and deployment cycles. It will be a force multiplier for climate action and a powerful symbol of national resilie­-nce.

This isn’t just ab­­out Pakistan. Glo­bally, the demand for green skills is exploding. Accor­d­ing to the ILO, the transition to a gre­en economy could create 24 million new jobs by 2030. Countries that equip their workforce for this shift will have a competitive edge. Those that don’t will fall behind. Pakistan has the demographics — young, eager workers. It has the need — climate disasters. And it has the moment — post disaster reconstruction, which would provide an opening for structural reform. Foreign aid will always be reactive and not enough. It should never be the foundation of our national climate strategy.

We need to build our own capacity, train our own people and solve our own problems. A green TVET revolution will save lives. It will protect communities and give young Pakistanis a stake in the fight for their future. Climate change is here to stay. So are floods. The question is: will we keep drowning or will we learn to swim? The answer lies not just in our policies, but in polytechnic. Not just relief tents but in classrooms. Not just in plans but in skills.

The writer is the chairperson of National Vocational and Technical Training Commission.

chairperson@navttc.gov.pk

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2025

Bracing for impact

Dr Noman Ahmed 

Published August 23, 2025

DAWN

MONSOON rains, cloudbursts, landslides and flash floods have wreaked havoc in KP, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Since mid-August, harsh weather conditions have left hundreds of people dead, while uprooting thousands from their homes. Rescuers themselves have faced losses, as when a KP government helicopter crashed during rescue operations, apparently due to bad weather, killing all on board. Properties, livelihood assets, settlements and infrastructure have all been harmed.

The federal and provincial governments are taking steps to deal with the situation by announcing rehabilitation and redevelopment works. The call of the hour is to prioritise actions according to what people need most urgently. Rescue, relief, rehabilitation and redevelopment is the usual sequence followed. Additionally, if one goes by the principles of disaster management planning, the repair of highways and other corridors of communication should be a top priority. After immediate measures for controlling flash floods, such as reinforcement of embankments, are taken, a comprehensive assessment of the losses sustained is essential.

Mapping and categorising the damage are the first steps. During this stage, reconnaissance surveys are carried out by IT tools such as Geographical Information Systems, Land Information System and other cartographical aids. As earlier satellite images can easily be accessed through software, a ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparison can give an accurate picture of the disaster scenario. Undertaking detailed analyses of the damage and its causes is necessary to reconstruct the picture and understand locational faults.

For instance, engineers in some parts of Swat say that many tourist hotels were located dangerously close to the river. The poor quality of construction did not help. Hence, they were washed away. Similarly, several embankments were sloppily bolstered, which caused water to penetrate them. The difference in levels between the settlements and the surrounding roads was another reason for the inundation of hamlets, villages and even towns. In many cases, there was no provision of land/ surface drainage.

Prompt measures could have minimised the disaster impact.

Flawed infrastructure development also contributed to the destruction. Buner is an example. It is a largely rural district. Being at a higher altitude, it has been the worst hit due to the gushing water emanating from very heavy rains.

The next step is to assess pre-warning systems for the mobilisation of residents towards safer ground and the protection of people’s assets. The Met Department has been prompt and efficient in flashing warning signals and conveying relevant information to the public and the authorities. However, action by local institutions has been slow — sometimes coming after the damage that prompt rescue efforts could have prevented. Relief work is expected from the federal agencies including army contingents. No doubt, the role played by these agencies is extremely useful, but they can only come after a state of emergency is reached.

In any disaster situation, the first few days — even hours — are important. If warnings are received, the administration must transfer the people and their moveable assets to safer locations. Prior demarcation of high points, access roads and the provision of a basic infrastructure in these rescue nests should be undertaken as a routine municipal assignment.

Evidence from the outskirts of Buner and Swat has shown that the public’s haphazard and disorganised response was due to lack of education and awareness. Many communities resis­ted evacuation, wai­ting for a last-minute miracle. By com­municating the real hazards of impending disasters in an effective manner, the people can be persuaded to mobilise quickly. Local government offici­als, pesh imams and school teachers can act as catalysts in this respect.

Besides, efforts must be made to make available studies related to catastrophes and disaster prevention and safety at schools. This is a norm which is widely practised in disaster-prone areas such as Japan. Unless personal actions synchronise with the demands of the emerging situation, the damage will not be controlled.

A vital issue is the local capacity of dealing with disasters. At the level of the union council and tehsil, it is important that staff is trained in emergency duties. This may comprise routine civil defence training, labour supervision skills, elementary construction and engineering awareness, usage of basic machinery such as bulldozers, excavators, tractors and dumpers, etc. And Buner, where much of the population is not literate, must work very hard to scale up education levels. Disaster response only delivers when people understand the science behind it.

The writer is an academic and researcher based in Karachi.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2025

Flood lessons

Editorial 

Published August 22, 2025  

DAWN

PRIME MINISTER Shehbaz Sharif’s lament in Buner on Wednesday — that Pakistan did not heed any lessons from the 2022 floods — is as apt as it is tragic. His words echo the frustration of a people once again mourning hundreds of lives lost and thousands displaced by rains that have battered KP, Gilgit-Baltistan, Karachi and beyond. However, while Mr Sharif was right to highlight the folly of unchecked construction on floodplains and riverbanks, describing it as a “human blunder”, the crisis runs much deeper. Climate change has been amplifying the destruction that has come from decades of poor governance.Pakistan, unfortunately, sits on the front lines of climate vulnerability. Glaciers in the north are melting in fragile valleys, while unpredictable monsoons unleash heavy rains on already soaked plains. Deforestation, particularly in KP, has stripped hillsides of the natural barriers that once slowed floods and prevented landslides. Trees that could have absorbed water and anchored soil have been felled for timber or cleared for unregulated development. The result is not only devastation in rural areas but also risks for cities, where clogged drains and crumbling infrastructure leave millions exposed to urban flooding.

The government must step up to the task. These are not seasonal aberrations. They are our permanent new reality. We must invest in better early-warning systems, including real-time monitoring of glacial lakes and rainfall patterns, to give vulnerable communities a chance to evacuate. Urban centres are in dire need of investment in drainage, waste management and flood-resilient housing. Rural areas need embankments and restoration of tree cover. Above all, laws must be enforced against hotels, housing and roadside markets on riverbanks, regardless of any clout behind them. The PM’s call for a ban on construction in hazardous zones, and for a national movement against deforestation, is welcome. But Pakistan has heard similar promises before. What has been missing so far is the political will to follow through consistently, across provinces and beyond electoral cycles. As Mr Sharif admitted, corruption and influence in building permits remain rampant. Unless these are curbed, no assurance will carry any meaning. Pakistan cannot afford to spend its meagre resources repeatedly rebuilding what could have been protected in the first place. If the state is serious about enforcing the law, then flood resilience must be the first test.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2025

PAKISTAN

Big, bad rain

Rafia Zakaria

Published August 23, 2025

DAWN


IT happened again. The heavens opened, the clouds burst upon the house of cards that is Karachi’s crumbling infrastructure, and it all fell apart. For those unlucky enough to have been far from home on Aug 19, it was a nightmare. The lack of adequate warning meant this applied to millions. The speed of the extreme rain and the absence of any measures to deal with it paralysed roads, highways and bridges within an hour of its onset. Since the rain did not relent (according to some estimates, the total recorded was around 120mm on the initial day) the situation only got worse — and then deadly.

Commuters who got a head start in their journey home, faced terrifying currents of water. Many waiting in stalled cars saw the water rising around them. The rain continued and traffic remained jammed as evening turned into night. Many made anxious calls to family and friends to try to figure out what to do. The situation was particularly difficult for women commuting alone, who did not feel comfortable abandoning their cars and trying to reach home safely on foot. Yet as the torrents enveloped them, this is what they were forced to do. Those stuck on Sharea Faisal waded through waist-deep water to get to service roads and buildings on the side.

This path was made much more treacherous by the fact that when it starts to pour in Karachi, many people uncover manholes outside their homes and offices to ‘facilitate’ drainage. Of course, the problem is that these uncovered manholes represent the greatest danger during extreme rainfall, as people wading through the water to safety can fall into them and not be able to extricate themselves. Naturally, this weighs on those trying to decide whether to abandon their cars and attempt to reach higher ground.


Without doubt, Karachi residents rose to the occasion.

People who stayed in their offices faced problems too. Most thought they would only have to wait a few hours before the rain stopped and could then make their way home. However, the rain continued, creating a separate wave of panic later in the evening when people realised they would likely be stuck for many more hours, without food or water. By this time, much of the city was without electricity, which meant that many stranded people could not charge their phones to stay in touch with family members. The worst situation befell parents who had to pick up children from after-school activities because they had no idea how they would reach them.

Without doubt, Karachiites rose to the occasion in coming to the aid of those who were stranded. Within hours, many aid connections were made through WhatsApp or other social media platforms. This, however, is not what a city of 16 million should have to resort to when it comes to extreme precipitation — episodes of which, unsurprisingly, are only expected to increase as Pakistan bears the consequences of climate change. These effects are felt acutely in a dense urban environment like Karachi because the natural drainage and catchment systems have been eliminated by man-made structures. In such environments, drainage systems are built to make up for the absence of natural ones. But this is not the case in this megalopolis.

The ethnopolitical make-up of the province and its relations with the federal government for the past many decades point to the fact that Karachi cannot hope for improvement or a sudden moment of conscience that would make administrators and leaders actually create systems to prevent such paralysing events. However, if the city cannot have a rain management system, perhaps it could at least have a rain forecasting system that would give enough notice to the people to prepare.

Incidentally, rese-a­­rch for this already exists as in the case of the study carried out at Harvard. In Rainfall-driven machine learning models for accurate flood inundation mapping in Karachi, Umair Rasool and his co-authors test different machine learning models to see how AI can better predict pluvial flooding (flooding that cannot be absorbed by drainage systems). The study reveals how the frequency and intensity of rainfall events and careful consideration of influencing factors can help build more accurate predictive models. These could, among other things, predict flood inundation points in the city.

If politicians want to shift blame and indulge in the same shenanigans they always do, perhaps the demand before them can change — to at least invest in research like this so that people receive some semblance of a warning before the big, bad rains lash and devastate the city.

The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.
rafia.zakaria@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2025

The rain that laid bare Karachi’s vulnerabilities … and my own

This story is about us, the citizens of Karachi, called ‘resilient’ every year, but fast running out of resilience ... and hope.

Muzhira Amin 

Published August 23, 2025

DAWN

It was almost deja vu. We’d walked through this foul water before. Felt our way through barely recognisable streets from memory. When you live in a city like Karachi, it almost begins to feel normal. And yet, nothing can get you used to the fact that you — the privileged you, who has made a living out of writing on the city’s myriad governance issues — will be among the thousands stranded in water-clogged streets as you experience it in real time. Time and again.

In 2020, when Karachi witnessed one of its worst floods in decades — it can’t definitively be the worst because we like beating our own records — my dad and I walked back home, to Garden West, from I.I. Chundrigar Road in waist-high floodwaters.

At 55, my father was surprisingly surefooted with the stride of a mountain goat. He dragged me through the deluge, all the while making sure to keep an eye open for potholes, ragged stones and bare electric wires. He even cracked a joke here and there to ensure that the neurotransmitters in my brain remained balanced.

Five years on, as we relived the ordeal, wading through a mix of sewerage and rain water on the night of August 19, it suddenly dawned on me how drastically things had changed. The roles had reversed, and I hadn’t even realised it until we were in the thick of the storm.

Over 150mm of rain and Karachi had once again sunk. Why that happens every time and what the authorities are doing about it are questions all of us Karachiites ask every monsoon season. By now, we have come up with newer and better questions: Why does the mayor keep pretending all is well even as thousands of Karachi’s citizens remain stranded? Why can’t we plan better? Is it getting worse with each passing year? Is this the new normal?

Unfortunately, nothing has changed about the responses. It is a tale told and heard a gazillion times: “Jab zyada barish ati hay to zyada pani ata hay.”

A cloudy sky captured from the roof of my house.

I have been told I don’t learn from my mistakes (I get that from my dad), and so, living up to the reputation, I was at my workplace at 10am sharp on Tuesday. It had already begun raining before I logged onto my computer. The weather apps flashed red with warnings of rain that was going to last the entire day. But I was unfazed.

When are these predictions ever accurate? So I got to work, resolute and focused to file the story that was sitting in my drafts for days. At around 1pm, my boss came in and cautioned of an impending rainstorm. “Leave now,” he warned.

I brushed him off initially, but then it did start raining quite heavily. By 3pm, the sky was hidden behind thick and dark clouds, intimidating us. I immediately called my dad. “What’s the plan?” I asked him. He told me to stay put, his soothing voice devoid of any worry or anxiety.

And that’s exactly what I did. Even when nerves got the best of my colleagues, I remained calm. “Abba hain naa,” I thought to myself. You see, my father and I are partners in crime and despair. And in my head, it was supposed to stay the same forever; he would handle everything, he was invincible, and age, well, that was just a number.

Heavy, very heavy, downpour.

Little did I know that this city was going to prove me painfully wrong. It gets to the strongest of us.

By 6pm, panic had started to settle into our building. There was a mess outside — a massive traffic jam, inundated roads and a downpour that just wouldn’t stop. And then, to make matters worse, the power went out. As the clock struck 8pm, the water levels on the main arteries had risen significantly, and it was pitch black.

I got a call. Father was downstairs. I was told to leave my bag upstairs and come with essentials — mobile phone and spectacles — tightly packed in a plastic bag. I did as told, and when I got to the main gate of our building, my lanky dad stood in drenched clothes and jeans folded up to his knees. He had already done some walking.

He was smiling his usual toothy smile, but the stress lines were evident on his face. There was no way to get home but to walk. He gripped my hand and we began the long journey ahead of us.

As we waded through the waters in front of Shaheen Complex, mixed with a bit of everything from rainwater to raw effluent, a feeling of disgust crept through me. Immediately, my father’s hand tightened around mine, this time not to give support but to take it as his foot got entangled in a floating plastic bag.

The main I.I. Chundrigar Road is inundated.

At 60, he was recently diagnosed with Carpal tunnel syndrome — a condition caused when the median nerve, in the carpal tunnel of the wrist, becomes compressed.

He kept losing his footing, almost falling twice if I hadn’t caught him in time. When he almost stepped on a bare electric wire, I didn’t hold back in scolding him, and henceforth made sure to make a small announcement every time I saw one.

These announcements continued even when a slope or steps came along the way. “Acha acha, baap ko mat sikhao,” he would say, laughing it off while also listening intently. At some instances, especially when we moved from a footpath to the main road, I took the first step to make sure that the ground beneath was solid, feeling with my feet where the eyes couldn’t see through the murky water.

In a few spots, I fumbled and almost fell headfirst into the water, but, miraculously, I ended up restoring my balance and that of my father. Later at night, I saw how these instances had left red scars on my feet.

In other places, when I faltered, strangers, who were probably as vulnerable as we were in that moment, signalled an open manhole, a leaking drain or a rocky crater. Even when nothing was said, their presence alone was comforting.

Two men push a rickshaw through flooded streets.

We were all one, abandoned in our struggle against a force we had no control over. A man dragging his wife on a motorcycle through the inundated streets. A group of chador-clad women walking back home, cursing at every passing car that splashed water on them. A father and daughter, walking almost two hours to get home, otherwise a 20-minute drive.

When we finally got to the road opposite the Pearl Continental Hotel, the water on the roads receded from our waists down to our toes. At first, we tried to stop a rickshaw, but every one of them was occupied. Some stopped in a frenzy, not to give us a ride, but to ask for directions.

So we continued our trek. There were moments when I would walk fast, too fast for dad to keep pace. I could see him heaving, out of breath, but not saying anything, and so I would slow down, the same way he did five years ago.

Wading through knee-deep waters on the Ziauddin Ahmed Road.

After walking for 10 more minutes, we stopped outside a shut-down bank along the route to take shelter under a leaky makeshift shed. By then, the rain was accompanied by gusts of strong wind, and so a break was necessary. We stood there, both looking intently at the road and the cars passing by, trying to gauge the velocity of the rain droplets.

Suddenly, a man, attired in the uniform of a security guard, walked up to us. “Sir, ma’am, please take our seats,” he offered in the sweetest tone. We refused politely, but he was so insistent that my father had to give in. A few minutes later, he brought two glasses of water. It was later that I realised how this small act of kindness helped dad cover a long distance on foot.

To think of it, he understood it before I did — I was the one in charge now; looking out for potholes, stones, and bare electric wires, cracking a joke now and then, and criticising the administration that was nowhere to be seen.

When we finally reached the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine — which is just a few kilometres from my current residence — we stopped. I was tired and worn out. So was he, but he tried his best not to show it. We decided to get a ride home. Fortunately, we were lucky to find one.

Had my father been in the lead, he would have made sure that both of us walked all the way, that he didn’t show his fatigue to me, and that he reclaimed his title of being the saviour for the umpteenth time. I may be his daughter, but I am not him, no matter how much we resemble, both physically and in personality.

“Baap to baap hi hota hai,” he joked later that night at the dinner table when I shared details of the journey with my family. And while everyone giggled, I couldn’t help but feel the invisible weight of living in a city where everything changes but nothing changes.

And this isn’t just about me or my dad. It is about the sister who called me a dozen times, worried sick, because she couldn’t reach my 25-year-old colleague. It is about the stranded Foodpanda rider I saw near Teen Talwar. It is about my friend whose newly bought car, a white Alto, was submerged in water on Sharea Faisal. It is also about our maid who didn’t have electricity for nearly two days.

It is about us, the citizens of Karachi, called ‘resilient’ every year, but fast running out of resilience … and hope.

All photos by Dawn staffers

PAKISTAN

From celebraion to fear: How monsoons now haunt Tharparkar

Imtiaz Dharani 

Published August 24, 2025 

DAWN

A bolt of lightning rips through the sky in the desert region. —Dawn


• In past eight years, lightning strikes in desert region have killed over 350 people, thousands of livestock

• Residents demand installation of lightning arresters, protective infrastructure in villages

• Activist alleges CSR funds not being spent by coal companies for protection of locals

• SECMC says Met officials’ research found no scientific link between coal mining and rising number of lightning strikes

MITHI: The desert region of Tharparkar, where rainfall was once celebrated as a blessing, has in recent years turned into a land of fear and tragedy. For generations, the monsoon was welcomed with folk songs, dances, children playing on sand dunes and peacocks spreading their feathers. But now, whenever clouds gather over the arid land, villagers rush indoors, farmers abandon their fields, and whispered prayers ask that the lightning may spare them.

According to official data from the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), more than 350 people have lost their lives in lightning strikes across Tharparkar since 2018, while thousands have been injured. The desert has also seen the death of thousands of livestock, including goats, sheep, cows, buffalo and camels.

Between 2023 and 2025 alone, 60 people were killed, over 50 injured and more than 1,600 animals perished. Officials concede that the actual figures are likely to be much higher, as many incidents in remote pastures and forests are never reported.

The tragedies have been numerous and devastating. Two years ago, six young Hindu devotees walking to the annual Dada Parbrahm fair near Mithi were struck by lightning and died. Last year, an entire family in the village of Akro near Nagarparkar was wiped out in a single strike. And just last week, four more people were killed in Kloi, Modasio and nearby villages, while days earlier a motorcyclist lost his life after being hit on the road in Nagarparkar.

‘Coal projects destabilise Thar’s climate’

Local journalists and activists say such incidents were rare in the past but have risen sharply since 2018–19.

Senior journalist and activist Khatuo Jani told Dawn that the expansion of coal projects has disturbed Thar’s fragile environment.

“The open-pit mining in Blocks I and II, the heavy chimneys of coal-fired power plants run by Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company, and the gases they release have polluted the air and destabilised the climate. Lightning incidents were once rare in villages, now they are frequent and deadly. Once rain was joy, now it is pain, fear and even death,” he said.

He added that although the Climate Hit Act of 1958 provides for compensation of Rs200,000 to Rs500,000 for victims, no families in Thar have received support for their losses. He further pointed out that a team from Mehran University had visited the area but avoided examining the mining and power plant sites.

“Both Block I and Block II projects generate billions, yet their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives have failed to address this crisis. Coal royalties and CSR budgets exist, but they are not being spent on protecting communities,” Mr Jani said.

According to him, the Thar Foundation should be using CSR allocations for installing earthing systems, early-warning mechanisms, awareness campaigns and community-level rescue training, but nothing meaningful has been done. “Billions flow into Thar in the name of coal, but the poor remain unprotected while human lives and livestock are lost every monsoon,” he added.

Civil society groups have also raised an alarm. Comrade Nand Lal Malhi, chairman of the Thar Action Forum, said that during the current monsoon alone lightning has struck more than 10 places, killing three people and hundreds of animals. He recalled that in 2023 a conference held in Mithi had urged the Sindh government and environmental authorities to install lightning arresters across Thar’s 2,500 villages.

“Two years have passed and no action has been taken. If such measures had been implemented, we would not be facing losses on this scale today,” he said, urging the provincial government to use coal royalties and CSR funds if budgetary resources were insufficient.

Aijaz Bajir, media coordinator of the Thar Citizen Forum, said that most incidents are occurring around Coal Block II, where mining and power projects release large volumes of gases into the atmosphere.

“The District Council had even written to Mehran University’s vice chancellor requesting research, but no meaningful study has been carried out. Companies working here are earning billions yet have not bothered to investigate this growing disaster,” he said.

Expert calls for installtion of earthing rods

Experts, too, believe climate change is a major factor. Dr Riaz Din, associate professor of Electrical Engineering at NED University, explained that lightning is a common global phenomenon but has intensified in recent years.

“In the United States, some 250 million lightning strikes occur annually, causing around $2 billion in damage. But in Thar, an open desert with little awareness or protection, the consequences are devastating,” he said, stressing that installing earthing rods could greatly reduce casualties and protect livestock.

Civil society organisations have attempted small interventions. Ali Akbar Rahimoon, CEO of Aware Organisation, said his organisation had installed simple earthing rods in ten villages near Chachro.

“Since then, no major damage has occurred in those villages. The current from strikes is diverted safely into the ground. But in areas without such rods, people live in constant fear, farmers abandon their fields and rush home as soon as thunder begins,” he said and urged the Sindh government, PDMA and DDMA to extend the initiative across the desert and introduce modern early-warning systems.

Residents, meanwhile, accuse their lawmakers and local government of indifference. Billions are spent on Annual Development Programme (ADP) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) budgets, but nothing is done to protect them from lightning,” said villagers in Nagarparkar.

They demanded that upcoming budgets allocate resources for lightning arresters in every town and village, so that no more human lives and livestock are lost.

‘No scientific link between coal mining and lightning strikes’

When contacted, Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) and Thar Foundation said in a statement that the meteorological department had conducted research and concluded that there was no scientific link between coal mining in Thar and the rising number of lightning strikes in the desert.

It said officials underscored this position during Sindh Energy Minister Nasir Hussain Shah’s recent visit to Tharparkar, where concerns had been raised by local groups about possible connections between mining activity and extreme weather events.

International studies, including research from China, also suggest that while climate change is intensifying lightning incidents worldwide, no direct correlation has been established with coal mining operations.

“The Thar coal projects contribute to Sindh’s economy through royalty payments made to the provincial government. In addition, the Thar Foundation — established to support the desert region — channels its own CSR funds into programmes aimed at uplifting local communities.

These initiatives include healthcare, education, livelihood generation, women’s empowerment, and other development projects,” the statement concluded.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2025