ISLAMABAD — Fourteen newborn babies died inside one of Pakistan's most prominent government hospitals after a devastating nursery fire, igniting national outrage and confronting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government with a brutal question: How could some of the country's most vulnerable patients be allowed to die inside a major federal medical institution in the nation's capital? The August 26 fire ripped through the nursery at the Mother and Child Health Centre of the P

WASHINGTON — U.S. Patriot interceptor stocks positioned in Europe have fallen to what officials describe as “beyond critical” levels as Washington redirects scarce missile-defense resources toward the war with Iran, exposing a serious weakness in NATO’s European defenses — but not evidence that America itself has run out of Patriots. That distinction matters. The Associated Press reports that the shortage is centered on U.S. Patriot interceptors in Europe, where available inv

A catastrophic glacier collapse in the Himalayas has unleashed massive floods and mudslides across the Nepal-China border region, killing more than 360 people and leaving more than 1,300 missing as rescue crews race against damaged roads, unstable terrain and the threat of further flooding. The disaster struck Wednesday after a huge mass of ice and debris broke loose near the border, sending a wall of water and mud downstream through communities in Nepal and Tibet. Buildings

KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine, the United States and European partners have developed a compact new framework aimed at creating a possible path toward ending Russia’s war, with a ceasefire proposal at the center of the emerging diplomatic effort. Zelenskiy said Ukrainian, American and European officials have prepared a one-page document containing ideas that could ultimately be presented to Moscow. Among the proposals are a ceasefire and a previo

Iran on Monday denied that it has formally been invited to join the newly created Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, pushing back against reports that Tehran was considering membership in a security bloc established this month by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. The dispute over whether an invitation exists comes as the three-nation defense arrangement begins attracting wider attention across the Middle East. The agreement was signed in Mecca on August 7 by Saudi Crown Prince M

LONDON — Iran-linked hackers reportedly succeeded in forcing a British power plant offline for four days, transforming years of warnings about Tehran’s cyber capabilities into a disturbing example of real-world disruption against Western energy infrastructure. The attack reportedly struck a small British generating facility last month. The plant has not been publicly identified, but British officials confirmed that a small-scale energy generator was affected and said the inci

WASHINGTON DC — A strike in the Caspian Sea has opened another dangerous chapter in the widening geopolitical confrontation surrounding Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Iran now demanding compensation from Kyiv after an Iranian vessel was hit last month. The dispute centers on a July 25 Ukrainian strike against shipping in the Caspian Sea. Ukraine initially announced attacks against two Russian vessels that it said were carrying military cargo from Iran. Tehran subsequently said

Abu Dhabi’s sweeping trade and financial suspension threatens one of Tehran’s most important economic gateways as tensions flare again around the Strait of Hormuz ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — For years, the commercial relationship between the United Arab Emirates and Iran survived sanctions, political hostility, regional rivalries and even open warfare. On Wednesday, that relationship hit a wall. The United Arab Emirates announced that it was suspending all trade, commer

President Donald Trump delivered a blunt message to Tehran this week, declaring that the United States now holds a decisive military and economic “stranglehold” over Iran, underscoring what he described as overwhelming American strength in the region. Posting on Truth Social, Trump compared the U.S. naval presence in the Strait of Hormuz to a “wall of steel,” emphasizing that Iran is effectively boxed in by American power. The strategic waterway—one of the most critical oil t

Leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan on Friday signed a trilateral military pact under which an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack on all three. The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was formalized in the holy city of Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The deal builds on existing bilateral defense ties, including a prior mutual defens

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have signed a landmark mutual defense agreement that significantly reshapes the Middle East's security landscape as Iran-backed Houthi forces intensify missile and drone attacks against Saudi-linked military and civilian targets. The agreement, signed during a high-level meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, establish