Pakistan’s English-language newspaper of record
Torrential rains and flash floods have intensified across Afghanistan, Pakistan and neighboring regions. Authorities have recorded hundreds of deaths, with the NDMA and local agencies warning of ongoing risks as rivers swell and monsoon systems persist. Cities face evacuations, damaged homes, and disrupted livelihoods.
Pakistan’s Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines 2026 have been issued, requiring accreditation and travel clearance for reporting outside Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Rights groups call the move a restriction on press freedom; the government says it provides a transparent framework for registration and reporting.
A fire has killed 14 newborns in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences’ mother-and-child unit in Islamabad. An interim inquiry has found poor fire safety, delayed emergency calls and absent supervisory staff. The prime minister has suspended officials, ordered criminal proceedings and approved compensation for the bereaved families.
A formal inquiry into the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences fire has found systemic and institutional failures that allowed a spark from an air-conditioning unit to become a catastrophe, with 14 newborns dying. The report cites locked or obstructed exits, absent nursery fire procedures, and delayed external rescue despite rapid frontline response.
Pakistan has sealed Islamabad with thousands of security personnel, more than 1,000 shipping containers and roadblocks as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) presses for a nationwide march demanding the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. Authorities have detained Khan’s three sisters and dozens of PTI leaders; the party has delayed but kept pressure on the government.