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Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a landmark peace agreement hosted by US President Donald Trump, aiming to end decades of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. The deal includes reopening key transport routes and establishing diplomatic and economic ties, according to BBC.

The US will help build a transit corridor, the “Trump Route,” linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia—resolving a major sticking point. This summit also marks a shift in regional influence from Russia to the US, with Trump preparing for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week.

Eleven foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong have been arrested over suspected illegal abortions, after a 39-year-old collapsed at work and a stillborn foetus was found hidden in her room. Police say abortion pills were brought in from overseas and sold informally, according to BBC.

Five women have been charged, five bailed, and one remains in custody. Abortion in Hong Kong is legal only under strict conditions, generally before 24 weeks. Convictions for child destruction can carry life sentences, while illegal abortion can mean up to seven years in jail.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Alaska on 15 August to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, in what could be a pivotal step toward a peace deal.

Trump has hinted at a possible land-swap arrangement, and reports suggest proposals for Russia to keep Crimea and the Donbas in exchange for withdrawing from parts of southern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected any territorial concessions, but the White House has not ruled out his involvement in the talks, BBC reported.

Moscow currently controls about a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, and past negotiations have failed to produce results. This will be the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Janai Purnima also known as the sacred thread festival is being observed across the country on Saturday.

The festival is considered sacred throughout the nation and is observed in different ways by various communities.

The hill communities celebrate it as Raksha Bandhan, Janai Purnima, and Rishitarpani, the Madhesi community celebrates it as Rakhi, and the Newar community celebrates as Gunhu Punhi.

On the occasion, Hindu Brahmins and Chhetris who have undergone Bratabandha (hair shaving ceremony) change the sacred thread (janai) and also tie sacred thread around the wrist of the right hand.

It is also believed that this thread should be removed only on the day of Laxmi Puja that falls during Laxmi Puja in Tihar.

A highlight of Janai Purnima is kwati, a hot soup made from sprouted beans also called Kwati in Nepal Bhasa.Traditionally, nine varieties of beans are soaked for two days until they sprout, then cooked into a nutritious soup believed to prevent illness.

Janai Purnima is also popularly known as Rakshya Bandan.

On this day, sisters offer rakhi (a symbol of protection) to their brothers.

OpenAI’s o3 model has beaten Elon Musk’s Grok 4 to win an AI chess tournament on Google’s Kaggle platform, staying undefeated throughout. The event featured general-purpose AI models from OpenAI, xAI, Google, Anthropic, and others, Reuters reported.

Grok 4, dominant in earlier rounds, collapsed in the final with major blunders, while Google’s Gemini took third place. Chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura called Grok’s play “blundering,” and Musk admitted xAI had put “almost no effort” into chess.

The tournament reflects AI’s long-standing use of chess as a test of strategic reasoning, echoing milestones from Deep Blue to AlphaGo, according to Reuters.

India has paused planned purchases of US weapons, including Stryker combat vehicles, Javelin missiles, and six Boeing P8I aircraft, after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Indian exports to 50 percent over its imports of Russian oil, according to Reuters.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh’s trip to Washington to seal the deals has been cancelled. Officials say talks could resume once there’s clarity on tariffs, but no movement is expected soon.

While broader military cooperation with the US continues, the dispute has slowed India’s shift from Russian to Western arms, even as Moscow pushes new defense offers, Reuters reported.

Tesla will consolidate its AI chip efforts, shifting away from its in-house Dojo supercomputer in favor of inference chips designed for real-time decision-making in autonomous vehicles and robotics, CEO Elon Musk announced. The decision follows reports that the Dojo team is being disbanded, with project lead Peter Bannon departing, Reuters reported.

Musk said it no longer makes sense to split resources between separate chip designs. Future AI5 and AI6 chips, developed with Samsung, will handle both inference and some training tasks.

Dojo staff will be reassigned as Tesla streamlines operations and doubles down on AI and robotics.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday announced a suspension of all military equipment exports that could be used in Gaza, following Israel’s approval of operations to occupy the territory, according to Xinhua.

Merz urged Israel to avoid further moves toward annexing the West Bank and voiced concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. He called on Israel to grant full access for aid deliveries and to take sustained steps to improve conditions for civilians.