Good afternoon,

Today’s news: Globally, Trump makes more tariff moves, the latest Russian air assault on Ukraine, and peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Locally, Dar attends ASEAN meet, Lyari demolitions begin, and NDMA launches a weather disaster warning app with Jazz.

☕ Grab your chaye, let’s go.

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Around The World

Love letters. US President Donald Trump has issued a new round of tariff letters to eight countries, including Brazil, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Brunei, Iraq, Libya, Moldova, and the Philippines. Algeria, Sri Lanka, and Iraq received import tax rates of 30%, while Brunei, Libya, and Moldova got 25%. The Philippines was assigned an import tax of 20%. 

Brazil got the highest tariff rate among the bunch, at 50%. In his letter, Trump accused Brazil of "attacks" on US tech companies and of conducting a "witch hunt" against former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing prosecution over his alleged role in a plot to overturn the 2022 election.

Update from Ukraine. A massive overnight Russian attack has hit Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, killing at least two people and injuring 16. The attack involved 18 missiles and about 400 drones, primarily targeting the capital. Authorities in Kyiv said drone wreckage hit the roof of a residential building, and fires burned across the city.  Russia has been intensifying its aerial attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks, but the assault on Thursday appeared to mark a change in approach.

Set the table. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks today in the UAE after nearly four decades of conflict and a draft peace deal in March. The countries have fought a series of wars since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population at the time, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. 

Peace talks began after Azerbaijan recaptured Karabakh in a lightning offensive in September 2023, prompting a huge exodus of almost all of the territory’s 100,000 Armenians, who fled to Armenia.

Pakistan

Making friends. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Kuala Lumpur to attend the 32nd ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial Meeting, which focuses on political and security issues in the Asia-Pacific. As an active ARF member since 2004, Pakistan will be represented by Dar, who will meet with his Malaysian counterpart and other foreign dignitaries and engage with the Pakistani community. 

Reap & sow. Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani announced that following the Lyari building collapse, 54 other dangerous structures in Karachi’s old city area are being demolished, with evacuations underway to prevent further tragedies. He stated that the Sindh government will provide three months’ rent as immediate relief to both homeowners and tenants displaced by the demolitions, with the possibility of extending support up to a year based on individual needs. 

Preemptive! Pakistan has launched a location-based SMS alert system under the Disaster Early Warning System (DEW-3 – Monsoon), in collaboration with the NDMA and telecom giant Jazz, to warn citizens in flood-prone areas of imminent weather threats. Using geo-fencing technology, the system sends real-time, targeted alerts with actionable instructions to over 23 million Jazz users in high-risk zones, aiming to enable timely evacuations and precautionary measures.

What Else Is Happening?

🌡️ A recent study has directly linked the burning of fossil fuels to the additional heat that made last week’s European heatwave deadlier, which was responsible for about 1,500 of the 2,300 heat-related deaths.

🤖 Elon Musk’s AI company is taking down antisemitic and inappropriate posts made by its Grok chatbot, which included praising Hitler and promoting harmful stereotypes. The company attributed the comments to an earlier model.

🧪 A recent survey found that 30 out of 102 environmental samples collected from 69 districts across Pakistan tested positive for the poliovirus, highlighting continued transmission despite eradication efforts.