A signed decree, a fire in Islamabad

At 6:30 this newspaper wrote that the extension of the diesel excise duty cut was expiring today and that the government was working on a mobile excise mechanism. At 16:30 we can add two things, both verified: the Council of Ministers was convened at 18:00 with two decree-laws on the agenda — oil prices and strategic plants — and the first of the two extends the 17-cent discount for ten days, until September 5. Ten days are not a solution: they are the time the government is giving itself to move from a discount valid for everyone to selective measures. This morning’s assessment stands, the timeline has shortened.

This afternoon’s lead story, however, comes from elsewhere. A fire in the nursery of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad has killed at least fourteen newborns. The figure is not uniform, and we publish it separately by source: fourteen is the number confirmed by the federal Minister of Health, fifteen the figure reported by a Pakistani broadcaster citing hospital sources. We are keeping the figure confirmed by an authority and stating the discrepancy, as required by our rule on uncertainty. No victim is named or made identifiable, and none will be.

The sections updated in this edition are seven. Chronicles with Islamabad. Italy with the Council of Ministers and the approved decree. Economy and Markets with Canadian counter-tariffs on 27.6 billion Canadian dollars’ worth of goods, effective from September 8, and with ex-Ilva, where the candidates have risen to four. Europe with Saturday’s Icelandic referendum — which seeks a mandate to negotiate, not membership — and with Latvia’s confirmation of the drone shot down over Rugāji. Foreign Affairs and Geopolitics with three news items from August 26 that share a common problem: no public document to support them. We treat them together and state what is missing, rather than filling the gap with reconstructions. Health with the allocation of 70,000 doses of Ervebo to Congo, of which 20,000 are earmarked for a phase 3 study: the WHO itself warns that the effect on the Bundibugyo strain is not known, and this is the point of the story. Sport with the US Open, which this year reopens with mixed doubles in a shortened format.

For Cinema & Entertainment, Culture and Tech & AI, the 6:30 edition remains in force, and stays published and readable at its address. The afternoon Briefs add, among other things, the death of Dolly Parton and the closure of Mechanical Turk, set by Amazon for September 30.

No piece was dropped from production today, and there are no corrections to report with respect to the morning edition.