Good afternoon,

Today’s news: Globally, updates from Gaza and Ukraine. Plus, the US-China tariffs. Locally, ATC orders PTI leaders’ property seizure, military claims killing TTP militants, Pakistan welcomes US designation of BLA as a terrorist organization, and a flood alert issued in Punjab.

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Around The World

Updates from Gaza. Five more Palestinians starved to death in the enclave, raising the total number of hunger-related deaths to 227. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 61,499 people and wounded 153,575. Meanwhile, Palestinians held funerals for the five Al Jazeera journalists assassinated by Israel as protesters rallied around the world against the killings, including in London, Berlin, Tunis, and Ramallah. The EU, China, and Germany also condemned the targeted attack, while the UN has described it as a grave breach of international humanitarian law.

Poker face. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said Vladimir Putin is not preparing for a ceasefire but is readying his troops for new offensive operations in Ukraine, as European foreign ministers are holding emergency talks to discuss their next steps before a meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska on Friday. 

Trump has said he will try to get some territory back for Ukraine during his meeting with Putin, to which Zelenskyy responded that any agreements without input from Kyiv would amount to dead decisions. Europe fears Ukraine will be excluded and forced into unacceptable territorial compromises to end the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fourth year.

Time out. Trump signed an order extending the deadline for the China tariffs for another 90 days. The extension came only hours before the midnight deadline in Beijing. If the deadline had passed, duties on Chinese goods would have returned to where they were in April, at 145%.

Earlier this year, Washington had threatened trade taxes as high as 145% on Chinese products, with Beijing hitting back with 125% duties on US shipments. The rates for both countries were scaled back after a round of trade talks held in Geneva in May.

Pakistan

Mine now. A Lahore anti-terrorism court ordered the confiscation of properties of PTI leaders Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, and Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, a day after sentencing them to 10 years in prison and fining them Rs. 600,000 each in two May 9 riot cases. PTI leaders Aliya Hamza and Sanam Javed received five-year sentences, while former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was acquitted but remains in jail due to other pending May 9 cases.

Military moves. Security forces killed 50 “Indian-sponsored” TTP militants in a sweeping four-day operation in Balochistan’s Zhob district near the Afghan border. The clashes, from Aug. 7–11, saw 47 militants eliminated in Sambaza, followed by three more in surrounding areas during a sanitization drive. Weapons, ammunition, and explosives were seized. Violence has surged since a fragile 2022 truce with the TTP collapsed, with India and Afghanistan denying allegations of supporting militancy in Pakistan.

Terror tagged. Pakistan has welcomed the US decision to add the Baloch Liberation Army and its suicide squad, the Majeed Brigade, to its Foreign Terrorist Organisation list, calling it a major diplomatic victory and recognition of the country’s sacrifices in combating terrorism. The groups, already banned in Pakistan, carried out deadly attacks, including the Jaffar Express hijack, the Khuzdar school bus bombing, and assaults near Karachi airport and Gwadar Port. The US had previously labelled the BLA a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity in 2019, but this is the first time both groups have been designated as FTOs under US law.

Flood alert. The PDMA has warned of possible flooding in Punjab’s rivers due to expected upper-region rains and potential water releases from India, noting high water levels in Indian dams. A medium to high flood alert has been issued for the Chenab River at Marala, Khanki, and Qadirabad, while citizens in riverbeds are urged to relocate and avoid risky activities near water bodies. Authorities are monitoring river flows, with the nationwide flood death toll reaching 302.

What Else Is Happening?

🧠Meta’s FAIR team has introduced TRIBE, a 1B parameter neural network that predicts how human brains respond to movies by analyzing video, audio, and text. Meta's system also showed particular accuracy in frontal brain regions that control attention, decision-making, and emotional responses to content.

🥇Elon Musk said his start-up xAI will sue Apple for allegedly favoring AI competitors in its App Store in what he called a breach of antitrust regulations and only allowing OpenAI’s ChatGPT to claim the top spot in its rankings.