Gaza: Ceasefire Brings Pause, Not Peace

The guns may be silent, but Gaza’s agony speaks louder than ever.

A so-called ceasefire has brought convoys of aid — yet little real relief.

Food, medicine, and hope still arrive in drips, controlled by politics, not compassion.

Since the ceasefire, the World Food Program has doubled its food deliveries, moving over 30,000 metric tons into Gaza. UN agencies report that food parcels now reach around two million people, while a handful of bakeries and community kitchens distribute bread and cooked meals. Hospitals, crippled by months of bombardment, are receiving trauma kits and essential drugs. Fuel is trickling in to keep generators and water plants barely alive.

Beneath the headlines of “increased aid,” the reality is bleak. Bureaucratic controls, damaged crossings, and arbitrary inspections keep the flow of food and medicine painfully slow.

Relief convoys wait for hours—sometimes days—before getting clearance. Many trucks carry only a fraction of the approved supplies. Even after the ceasefire, Gaza remains under a suffocating blockade that decides who eats, who heals, and who waits.

The world celebrates “humanitarian access,” but it is access rationed by politics. The people of Gaza are being fed just enough to survive, not enough to recover. Hospitals still run without electricity, clean water is scarce, and disease spreads in overcrowded shelters. Aid workers describe the situation bluntly: this is not relief—it is controlled suffering.

If the international community truly wants peace, it must go beyond token shipments and staged announcements. Gaza needs unrestricted, sustained aid and a genuine commitment to rebuild lives, not just manage despair. Otherwise, the ceasefire will be remembered not as a turning point, but as another pause before the next tragedy.

 

All Is Not as Rosy as Stated by the State Bank of Pakistan

The State Bank of Pakistan’s Annual Report for FY25 paints a picture of economic stability — lower inflation, fiscal discipline, and an improving external balance. Yet behind this carefully crafted optimism lies a harsher reality: the recovery remains shallow, driven less by structural reform and more by temporary external support. To read details click https://shkazmipk.com/state-of-pakistan-economy-22/

Trump’s Dirty War in the Caribbean

Washington’s addiction to regime change has found a new victim — Venezuela

When power turns lawless, the result is not policy but brutality. The latest revelation that Donald Trump secretly authorized the CIA to conduct lethal operations in Venezuela exposes the United States’ old imperial reflex — to destroy what it cannot control. Cloaked in the language of “national security,” Washington is once again exporting death under the banner of democracy.

According to The New York Times, Trump’s inner circle — led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe — gave the agency sweeping authority to target Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, with or without military coordination. This covert license coincides with Trump’s deadly boat bombings in the Caribbean that have already claimed civilian lives. What began as a “war on drugs” now reeks of a war for oil and geopolitical dominance.

The much-hyped “America First” doctrine has mutated into an unapologetic form of gunboat diplomacy. History is repeating itself — coups in Guatemala, Chile, and Nicaragua are being replayed in a new theater. By designating drug cartels as “terrorist organizations,” Trump has arrogated to himself the right to kill without consequence, erasing the last boundaries between law and lawlessness.

Human rights groups call it what it is — murder. Even Colombian President Gustavo Petro warns that a new war zone has opened in the Caribbean, a tragic reminder that Washington’s militarism remains as indiscriminate as ever. The Caribbean, once a symbol of trade and culture, risks becoming another testing ground for American aggression.

Trump’s Venezuela campaign is not a policy — it is a crime unfolding in real time. Behind the patriotic slogans lies the same old formula: destabilize, divide, and dominate.

Empires do not collapse when they are challenged — they collapse when they mistake impunity for strength. Trump’s dirty war in the Caribbean may well be remembered as that fatal arrogance, when America’s moral compass finally sank beneath its own waves.

Stock Market Investors: Sad One Day, Jubilant the Next

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continues to mirror the country’s volatility — euphoric one day, anxious the next. Despite its recent upward trajectory, warnings of a potential correction were largely ignored. When the inevitable dips arrived, they rattled investors, particularly amid heavy selling by mutual funds.

The start of the week was a rollercoaster. On Monday, the benchmark index plunged by 4,600 points as rising border tensions with Afghanistan, political instability in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and violent protests in Punjab weighed heavily on sentiment. Yet, within 24 hours, the market staged an extraordinary rebound — gaining nearly 7,000 points on Tuesday and recovering most of its earlier losses.

According to Yousuf M. Farooq, Director of Research at Chase Securities, the rebound was driven by an overnight easing of domestic unrest and improving signals on the Afghanistan front. His observation underscores how sentiment-driven and headline-sensitive the market remains, reacting more to news flow than to fundamentals.

Analysts agree that valuations still look attractive, with several sectors trading below their intrinsic worth. However, they also caution that risks persist. Any slippage on the current account or fiscal front could quickly reverse the recent gains. The macroeconomic environment remains fragile, and the market’s wild swings are a reminder that stability in the PSX cannot be achieved without stability in policy and politics alike.

In short, the stock market’s mood swings are less about numbers and more about nerves. Until investors see a consistent policy direction and improved economic fundamentals, the PSX will continue to oscillate — keeping investors, as always, sad one day and jubilant the next.

Gold Producers Mine, Speculators Shine

Gold’s shine now comes not from the mines but from trading screens. Speculators have turned the world’s oldest store of value into its newest illusion. When this paper empire collapses, even the glitter may not be enough to hide the dust.

Gold has long stood as the ultimate symbol of stability and value. But in today’s financialized world, even this ancient asset has been corrupted by speculation. Its price is no longer shaped by miners or jewelers, but by traders and investment funds sitting in New York and London.

Through paper-based instruments — futures, derivatives, and exchange-traded funds — the real gold market has been replaced by a digital mirage.

The volume of “paper gold” traded daily now exceeds the physical supply many times over. Most of these trades never result in delivery; these are mere wagers on price movements, structured to enrich financial institutions that thrive on volatility. Yet it is these speculative markets that set the global benchmark, dictating prices for producers who dig real gold out of the earth.

When prices rise, consumers are blamed for hoarding; when they fall, producers are accused of oversupply. The truth is far simpler — and more sinister. Speculators, hedge funds, and bullion banks create artificial swings to profit from chaos.

This is not a free market; it is financial exploitation disguised as efficiency. The nations that mine gold, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, remain economically captive to benchmarks manipulated in the West.

This distortion mirrors what has already happened in the oil trade. Real producers carry the burden; paper traders pocket the rewards. Unless gold pricing returns to physical delivery and transparent regional exchanges, the world risks another systemic shock — one that could undermine confidence not only in gold, but in the global financial order itself.

Gold’s value lies in its physical reality — in what can be touched, stored, and trusted. Once that link is broken, even the world’s most trusted metal becomes just another speculative bubble. And when it bursts, the glitter will fade — leaving behind nothing but dust.

 

Pakistan-IMF: Partnership Built on Dependence

In my recent reflections on Pakistan’s economic dilemmas, one truth stands out — our relationship with the IMF has never been economic, it has always been political. What began as assistance for growth soon turned into a calculated trap of dependency. The IMF didn’t reform Pakistan’s economy; it reprogrammed its sovereignty.

Pakistan’s long association with the IMF has never truly been about stability; it has been about control. What started in the name of “support” evolved into a vicious cycle of borrowing, serving both foreign powers and the ruling elite at home.

During the Cold War, IMF lending was less about economics and more about strategy. Pakistan’s geography made it a convenient pawn in Washington’s global game of containment. Loans came with neatly crafted “conditionalities,” but the real aim was to keep Pakistan’s economy tethered to Western influence.

The much-advertised structural reforms were cosmetic. Land reforms never touched the feudal elite, tax reforms spared the powerful, and privatization transferred wealth to cronies. Instead of fostering industrial growth, policies promoted consumer industries — assembling fast-moving consumer goods rather than producing capital or export goods. The result: an illusion of progress built on imports and consumption.

With every bailout, the dependency mindset grew stronger. The IMF was always available, and policymakers were always willing. A belief took root — that salvation lies in foreign help, not self-reliance.

After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1970s, Pakistan was declared a “frontline ally.” The US poured in funds and influence, effectively turning Pakistan’s economy into a Cold War instrument. IMF support neatly aligned with Washington’s geopolitical interests, ensuring compliance rather than reform.

Over the decades, this external control merged with internal manipulation. Regime changes — military or civilian — often bore foreign fingerprints. Today, the IMF stands not as a partner in reform but as a symbol of economic subservience — proof that Pakistan’s journey from aid to autonomy remains unfinished.

Trump and world leaders sign Gaza peace accord

According to the media reports, US President Donald Trump joined more than 20 world leaders in Sharm El-Sheikh on Monday for high level talks on Gaza’s future as the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement took effect. The exact contents of the agreement have not yet been made public by the White House.

Noticeably absent from the signing ceremony and discussions in Egypt were representatives of Israel and Hamas, whose ceasefire—brokered by the United States—formally began last week after two years of war in Gaza.

Among those attending the Gaza Peace Summit were Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Qatari Emir Shiekh Tamim bin Hamad, Turkish President Erdogan, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.

The leaders posed for a group photo in front of a backdrop reading “Peace 2025” before a formal signing ceremony tied to the ceasefire deal.

Trump, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani signed the document on behalf of the participating nations, with world leaders seated behind them.

“This took 3,000 years to get to this point. Can you believe it? And it’s going to hold up too. It’s going to hold up,” Trump said as he signed the document.

In his remarks, Trump called the signing “a turning point for the region,” describing it as the culmination of months of diplomacy.

“This is the day that people across this region and around the world have been working, striving, hoping, and praying for,” he said.

“With the historic agreement we have just signed, those prayers of millions have finally been answered.”