Following years of negotiations, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan bolstered their long-standing security partnership by signing a mutual defense pact on Wednesday. It’s not clear whether the deal obliges Pakistan, which boasts the largest army in the Islamic world, to provide Riyadh with a nuclear umbrella. The announcement comes as Gulf States have become increasingly skeptical about whether they can rely on the US to protect them – Israel’s attempt to kill Hamas leaders in Qatar is a case in point. Riyadh reportedly didn’t inform Washington of the pact until after it was signed.
Italy has passed the EU’s first comprehensive AI law, imposing prison terms for harmful uses like deepfakes and requiring parental consent for children under 14 to access AI. The legislation, aligned with the EU AI Act, mandates transparency, human oversight, and stricter rules for sectors such as healthcare, education, and justice. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni calls the law a “human-centric” framework to protect rights, promote innovation, and ensure AI develops within ethical boundaries while combating fraud and misuse. It also allocates €1 billion to fund AI and cybersecurity ventures.
In this Quick Take, Ian Bremmer breaks down the growing tensions between the US and Iran, calling it "the next area of potential large-scale conflict where President Trump is interested in changing the facts on the ground."
392,000: The estimated number of people displaced across Mozambique by recent rain-induced floods. Severe flooding in the southern African nation, as well as in South Africa and Zimbabwe, has killed over 100 people.