Good afternoon,

Today’s news: Globally, a ceasefire in Gaza, India’s deals with the UK and Australia, and an earthquake in the Philippines. Locally, Pakistan kills 30 militants in Orakzai raids, TLP march paralyzes twin cities, and IMF talks near staff-level deal.

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Around The World

Ceasefire at last. Israel’s government approved the US-brokered ceasefire plan that will lead to the release of all Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The Israeli military has started to pull its troops back behind the line agreed under the deal, prompting the movement of displaced families from the southern parts of the enclave to the north.

Under the agreement, Hamas has 72 hours to release all Israeli hostages, while Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian detainees. On Friday morning, Israeli warplanes launched intense airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, and eyewitnesses described airstrikes and artillery shelling in Gaza City, which killed at least 37 people in the enclave. 

Good days. British PM Keir Starmer and Indian PM Narendra Modi have hailed their countries’ recent trade deal as transformative, as the UK and India signed a trade agreement aimed at reducing tariffs on goods from textiles to whisky, cars, and spices, and allowing more market access for businesses. The stated goal is to boost trade by a further $34 billion by 2040. 

Meanwhile, Australian and Indian defense ministers signed a new bilateral security deal that Australia said upholds Indo-Pacific stability. Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles signed the agreement that included establishing a forum for joint staff talks between the two militaries and submarine rescue cooperation.

Cha-ching. The US directly purchased Argentine pesos on Thursday and finalized a $20 billion currency swap line with Argentina’s central bank, a rare move aimed at stabilizing turbulent financial markets in the cash-strapped Latin American ally. Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei, a fervent admirer of U.S. President Trump, thanked him for his powerful leadership. After the announcement on Thursday, a group of Democratic Senators introduced the “No Argentina Bailout Act,” which would stop the Treasury Department from using its Exchange Stabilization Fund to assist Argentina.

Earthquake in the Philippines. A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck off the southeastern coast of the Philippines on Friday morning, sending panicked residents running into the streets as the ground shook. The quake struck off the eastern side of Mindanao island, 123 kilometers from the island’s biggest city, Davao, at a depth of 58.1 kilometers, around 9:45 am local time. At least one person died after they were buried under the rubble.

Pakistan

Clash aftermath. The military’s media wing said Pakistani forces killed 30 militants on Friday in a retribution operation tied to the deadly Orakzai clash earlier this week that left 11 security personnel dead. The ISPR said sanitisation operations continue to clear remaining fighters and hailed the raids as bringing the main perpetrators to justice. The operations come amid a broader uptick in militant violence across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan since the TTP broke a 2022 ceasefire, Islamabad’s repeated allegations of cross-border sanctuary and foreign sponsorship, and recent warnings from the military of sustained counterterrorism campaigns.

Blocked & loaded. A protest led by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has again disrupted life in Islamabad and Rawalpindi after the group called for a march toward the US embassy to express solidarity with Palestinians, prompting authorities to shut roads, deploy shipping containers, and suspend 3G/4G services in the twin cities. Clashes erupted after police raided and arrested dozens at the party’s Lahore headquarters on Wednesday to block the march. 

Fiscal fling. The IMF said on Thursday that it had made significant progress with Pakistani authorities toward reaching a staff-level agreement on the second review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, though talks will continue to finalize remaining policy matters. 

IMF mission chief Iva Petrova said Pakistan’s program implementation remained strong, with advances in fiscal consolidation, monetary tightening to contain inflation, energy sector reforms, and governance improvements. She added that both sides also discussed measures to strengthen climate resilience and that the IMF would continue working with Pakistan to conclude the review soon.

What Else Is Happening?

🏅The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to María Corina Machado for promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela. Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics, medicine, and literature were also awarded this week. The prize for economics will be announced on Monday.

🧠 Researchers from MIT, IBM, and the University of Washington have released TOUCAN, the largest open dataset for training agents, comprising 1.5 million tool interactions across 495 MCP servers.

🌷The world’s driest desert blooms into a rare, fleeting flower show after unusual downpours throughout the Southern Hemisphere’s winter months soaked the desert foothills and highlands. See it here.