Pregnancy losses more than tripled in the first half of this year, as conditions continue to deteriorate amid Israel's bombardment and siege. Newborn babies receive treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, January 18, 2026. (Khalil Kahlout/Flash90) For five years, Rima Salama tried to become pregnant. When she finally conceived, the 27-year-old from Rafah was no longer living in her home but in a tent in Al-Mawasi, (…)

Islamabad is calling it science, efficiency, and investment facilitation. Set against three decades of agricultural liberalisation, it looks more like the next handover of what this country grows, and who gets paid for it, to a handful of multinational corporations. Pakistan's decision to loosen its biosafety regulations has been welcomed by policymakers, regulators, and industry as forward-thinking: a step toward innovation, food security, and investment. In May 2026, the National (…)

Can music remain a weapon of protest once the state has turned it into a weapon of propaganda? What happens to the scene when some musicians stay and others leave, when protest sent from emigration does not reach its addressee? And what does it mean, today, to be a Russian musician — inside the country or outside it? Musician and screenwriter Yana Okhotenko traces how the war has split Russian music into two, examining the state's use of patriotic pop and the “Intervidenie” competition as (…)