Lightning, rains kill 36 people in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD — Lightning and heavy rains have killed at least 36 people, mostly farmers, across Pakistan in the past three days, officials said Monday, as authorities in the country's southwest declared a stateRains, which also lashed the capital Islamabad, killed seven people in southwestern Baluchistan province over the weekend, and eight others died in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. Authorities in Baluchistan declared a state of emergency.Heavy flooding from seasonal rains in Afghanistan has killed 33 people and injured 27 others in the past three days, according to Abdullah Janan Saiq, the Taliban's spokesman for the State Ministry for Natural Disaster Management.He said authorities in Afghanistan had provided aid to nearly 23,000 families, and that flash floods were reported in 20 out of the country's 34 provinces.