Pakistani lawmakers are in a tight spot. However, it has nothing to do with political instability, soaring inflation, heightened ethnic tensions, rising terrorism or economic disaster but rats.

Pakistan to deploy hunter cats to tackle rat problem in parliament; allocates budget

In Washington, the city's growing rat population has become a cause for concern. With warmer winters, a rising population, and the proliferation of outdoor dining areas after the Covid pandemic, the rat problem has been exacerbated.

'Primitive but effective': Washington turns to dogs and cats to help deal with rising rat problem

Casa La Femme, an upscale Egyptian restaurant in the West Village, has an elaborate outdoor dining shed with a trellised canopy, embroidered gold curtains, seats with fringed pillows and now, nearby, a high-tech rat trap.

Could Oreo cookies solve New York’s rat problem?

"That's quite a big one," rat-catcher Colin Sims remarks with understatement, holding up a prime specimen measuring about 20 centimetres (eight inches) in length -- not counting its tail.

London grapples with lockdown rodent problem

Paris is preparing for a new municipal election, rats have become the focal point of Paris's municipal campaigns, with incumbent mayor Anne Hidalgo putting forward new generation bins supposed to deprive them of food, while the opposition boasts of setting up an application to report them.

Paris: Rats infestation a major issue ahead of municipal polls