Flash Flooding Triggered by Heavy Monsoons in Northwest Pakistan Kills at Least 14 People 

Rescue workers clean the basement of a house damaged by flash flood waters in Darra Adamkhel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on July 30, 2024. (AFP)
Rescue workers clean the basement of a house damaged by flash flood waters in Darra Adamkhel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on July 30, 2024. (AFP)
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Flash Flooding Triggered by Heavy Monsoons in Northwest Pakistan Kills at Least 14 People 

Rescue workers clean the basement of a house damaged by flash flood waters in Darra Adamkhel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on July 30, 2024. (AFP)
Rescue workers clean the basement of a house damaged by flash flood waters in Darra Adamkhel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on July 30, 2024. (AFP)

Heavy monsoons in northwest Pakistan triggered flash flooding, killing at least 14 people, 11 from the same family, officials said Tuesday.

The rains in Kohat, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, flooded the basement of a house where the family slept, Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for emergency services said, adding they retrieved the bodies of a man, three women, six children, and an 11-month-old baby girl.

He said three others died in the districts of Hangu and Bajur in the same province.

Pakistan has been hit by heavy rains since early July, killing more than 60 people and damaging over 250 homes, mostly in the eastern Punjab and southwestern Baluchistan province.

Authorities warned the rains are likely to cause flash flooding next week in various parts of the country.

Still, weather forecasters say the country will receive less rain as compared to 2022 when the climate-induced downpour swelled rivers and inundated at one point one-third of Pakistan , killing 1,739, displacing nearly 8 million, and causing $30 billion in damage in the cash-strapped country.

Every year, many cities in Pakistan struggle with the annual monsoon deluge, from July through September, drawing criticism for poor government planning. The South Asian country is among the most vulnerable to climate change.



Kamala Harris Launches $50 mln Ad Blitz in US Presidential Race

FILE PHOTO: Stickers in support of US Vice President Kamala Harris' presidentail campaign are printed at the Gloo Factory in Tucson, Arizona, US July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Rebecca Noble/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Stickers in support of US Vice President Kamala Harris' presidentail campaign are printed at the Gloo Factory in Tucson, Arizona, US July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Rebecca Noble/File Photo
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Kamala Harris Launches $50 mln Ad Blitz in US Presidential Race

FILE PHOTO: Stickers in support of US Vice President Kamala Harris' presidentail campaign are printed at the Gloo Factory in Tucson, Arizona, US July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Rebecca Noble/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Stickers in support of US Vice President Kamala Harris' presidentail campaign are printed at the Gloo Factory in Tucson, Arizona, US July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Rebecca Noble/File Photo

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris launched a $50 million advertising blitz on Tuesday, capitalizing on the momentum of a fledgling campaign against Republican rival Donald Trump with a one-minute spot titled "Fearless."

It was Harris' first big ad buy since consolidating support for the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed her.

In addition to garnering the backing of big-money donors, Harris has sparked newfound energy among groups such as young voters that Biden had been struggling to win over, according to Reuters.
Public opinion polls in the last week have shown Harris, 59, closing the gap with 78-year-old Trump, who still leads in some national surveys.

The ads will be rolled out on television as well as streaming and social channels across election battleground states in the weeks before the Democratic National Convention that starts on Aug. 19.

The first ad in the campaign begins with images of Harris as a little girl and follows her progression to a prosecutor, attorney general and US vice president. "The one thing Kamala Harris has always been: fearless," the ad says.

Since stepping into her new role, Harris has focused on Trump's felony convictions in a hush-money trial involving a porn star and the other criminal charges he faces, and portrayed him as responsible for a wave of anti-abortion measures in Republican-led states around the country.

The Harris campaign's ad buy dwarfed the $10 million advertising buy announced by Trump's campaign on Monday, to be launched in six battleground states this week as it tries to counter a surge of voter enthusiasm and donations for Harris.

That was Trump's biggest ad buy since January.