Pakistan is reeling from one of its deadliest monsoon disasters in recent years, as raging floods and relentless rains have claimed more than 300 lives.

The National Disaster Management Authority confirmed the death toll on Saturday, warning that the numbers may rise as scores remain missing. Entire communities have been swept away in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where most of the casualties occurred.

Many victims were trapped in collapsing houses or swept off by sudden flash floods. At least 21 others have been injured, while families continue to search desperately for missing loved ones.

“This is devastation beyond words,” officials said, as the country’s meteorological department issued fresh warnings of more heavy rains in the north-west, urging residents to take precautionary measures.

The monsoon season, which usually runs from June to September, brings life-sustaining rains—but this year it has turned deadly. Experts warn that climate change is fueling more frequent and more intense downpours, leaving vulnerable communities in constant peril.

Across the border, parts of India and Nepal are also counting their losses from widespread flooding and landslides.

Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said civilian and military rescue teams are battling against the odds to reach stranded families and deliver urgent relief.

Air Canada on Friday cancelled more than 100,000 passenger bookings as its flight attendants prepared to go on strike, raising the prospect of a shutdown of the airline’s services.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing 10,000 flight attendants, was legally inableo strike from 12:01 a.m. (0401 GMT) on Saturday, following a 72-hour strike notice issued on Wednesday. The puoadcaster CBC reported that the walkout could begin at about 1:00 a.m. if no last-minute deal is reached.

Air Canada, which carries about 130,000 passengers daily, said it had begun winding down operations ahead of the potential strike. By 8:00 p.m. Friday, the airline had cancelled 623 flights, affecting more than 100,000 passengers.

The union is demanding wage increases and compensation for ground duties, including boarding, which currently go unpaid. CUPE has described Air Canada’s latest offer—projected to raise a senior flight attendant’s average pay to CAN$87,000 ($65,000) by 2027—as “below inflation and below market value.”

Both the federal government and Air Canada have called for independent arbitration, but the union has rejected the proposal.

Rafael Gomez, director of the University of Toronto’s Centre for Industrial Relations, said the union had effectively highlighted the unpaid boarding issue, which resonated with the public.

“An average passenger could think, ‘I’m waiting to board the plane and there’s a flight attendant helping me, but they’re technically not being paid a flight attendant is helping issue to highlight,” he noted.

Gomez added that if a strike goes ahead, it is unlikely to last long.

“This is peak season. The airline does not want to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue… They’re almost playing chicken with the flight attendants,” he said.

United States President Donald Trump may meet Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as next week in a bid to pressure Moscow to end the ongoing war in Ukraine, a senior White House official confirmed on Wednesday.

If confirmed, the meeting would mark the first direct engagement between a sitting U.S. president and the Russian leader since former President Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021—eight months before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II.

The move comes amid escalating diplomatic efforts by Washington to broker a resolution to the conflict, now in its fourth year.

According to The New York Times, Trump disclosed to European leaders during a conference call on Wednesday that he intends to first meet with Putin and subsequently hold a trilateral summit involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

“There’s a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon,” Trump told reporters.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Moscow had expressed interest in a face-to-face meeting and that President Trump is open to separate engagements with both Putin and Zelenskiy.

Meanwhile, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff held a closed-door session with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. In a post on Truth Social, Trump described the meeting as having achieved “great progress,” though he stopped short of calling it a breakthrough. A Kremlin aide characterised the talks as “useful and constructive.”

The diplomatic momentum comes just 48 hours before the expiration of a deadline set by Trump for Russia to commit to a peace agreement or face new economic sanctions.

Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with what he describes as Moscow’s “lack of serious commitment” to peace talks and has warned of hefty tariffs on nations continuing to purchase Russian exports, including oil.

“We did it with India. We’re probably doing it with a couple of others. One of them could be China,” Trump said on Wednesday, referring to the recent imposition of 25% duties on Indian oil imports.

The last time Putin and Zelenskiy met was in December 2019. Since then, both leaders have traded barbs and refused direct contact, signalling deep personal and political animosity.

As anticipation builds around a possible Trump-Putin-Zelenskiy summit, the international community watches closely, hopeful that this high-level diplomacy may unlock new paths toward ending the protracted war.