Good afternoon,

Today’s news: Globally, updates from Gaza and Ukraine. Plus, Australia and Japan strike a defense deal. Locally, a crackdown ahead of PTI protests, budget deficit hits 9-year low, and a body missing for 28 years found in a glacier.

☕ Grab your chaye, let’s go.

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Around The World

Updates from Gaza. Israeli PM Netanyahu is reportedly set to announce plans to fully occupy Gaza. Netanyahu’s decision will see the Israeli military expand its operations across the entire enclave, including areas where Hamas’s captives are being held. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the reported plans and called on the international community to intervene.

Meanwhile, an Israeli military ground campaign accompanied by heavy fire from its air force is underway in various parts of Gaza. Israel is also allowing just 86 trucks of aid into Gaza a day, just 14% of the minimum 600 trucks needed each day to meet the basic needs of the population. 

Foreign aid. Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy claimed that his country’s troops in the northeast are battling foreign mercenaries recruited by Russia from China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and African countries.  Russia is already known to have been assisted by thousands of North Korean troops in the defence of its Kursk region, and Ukraine had already accused Moscow of recruiting Chinese fighters – a charge denied by Beijing.

Pakistan's Foreign Office rejected Zelenskyy’s claim, calling the allegation unfounded. The FO stated that no formal communication or evidence had been received from Ukraine and reiterated its neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war, denying arms supply to either side. 

Big ships. Australia and Japan have reached the largest defence-industry agreement ever between the two countries for the production of advanced warships for the Australian Navy. Australia will upgrade its naval force with 11 Mogami-class frigates, built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, worth 10 billion Australian dollars ($6.5bn).

Pakistan

Country club. PTI kicked off a nationwide protest today to demand the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and other jailed members, coinciding with the second anniversary of Khan’s imprisonment. Police have arrested over 120 activists—mostly in Lahore, where the party planned its largest rally—though PTI claims at least 200 were detained.

Despite the crackdown, PTI has vowed to proceed with demonstrations, calling for the restoration of democracy and denouncing the arrests as politically motivated. Ahead of the planned protest, Islamabad’s district administration had imposed a ban on public gatherings under Section 144, warning of immediate arrests for any violations. 

On a diet. Pakistan’s budget deficit for FY2024-25 stood at Rs. 6.17 trillion, or 5.4% of GDP—the lowest in nine years—as total revenue reached Rs. 18 trillion and expenditures Rs. 24 trillion. The primary balance recorded a surplus of Rs. 2.8 trillion (2.4% of GDP), the highest in over two decades, driven by stronger revenue growth, particularly FBR’s tax collection of Rs. 11.8 trillion. 

The FBR tax-to-GDP ratio rose to a 7-year high of 11.3%. Top experts noted the deficit was lower than both government and IMF projections, with Pakistan expected to maintain a primary surplus and reduce the overall deficit to 4–4.1% of GDP in FY2025-26.

Delayed closure. The body of Naseerudden, a cattle trader who went missing nearly 28 years ago after being swept away by a glacier in the remote Spat Valley of Kolai-Palas, Kohistan, has been discovered intact following rapid glacier melt. Locals found the body, still recognizable and with his national ID card, along with his horse. He was buried locally, and his family was informed. Authorities confirmed he died in the glacier incident and dismissed circulating murder rumors as baseless.

What Else Is Happening?

👀 A zoo in Denmark has appealed to the public to donate their healthy, unwanted pets to provide food for its predators. Aalborg Zoo has requested donations of live horses, chickens, rabbits, and guinea pigs, which it claims are "gently euthanised" by trained staff.

🧠Google released Gemini 2.5 Deep Think, its first publicly available multi-agent model that does parallel thinking to tackle complex problems. The model scored 34.8% on Humanity’s Last Exam, surpassing Grok 4 and OpenAI’s o3.