aacj

May 7 2025

India Attacks Pakistan; New Cold War Flashpoint; Trump Officials To Talk To China; Employers Court High School Students; EV Demand Cools

Greg Loving

07 May 2025 • 6 min read

Indian paramilitary personnel stand guard along a road in Indian-administered Kashmir © Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images

INDIA ATTACKS PAKISTAN, WAR POSSIBLE

New Cold War: Shifting Arms Deals With US, China Reshape India-Pakistan Conflict

Top Trump Officials to Meet Chinese Counterparts in Geneva as US Imports From China Plunge to 20-Year Low

Employers Court High Schoolers for Lucrative Trade Jobs as Baby Boomers Retire

Electric Vehicle Demand Cools: Sales Drop 5% in April

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KANSAS AT WAR: PT 1

FLASH…Papal conclave begins today…

1. INDIA ATTACKS PAKISTAN, WAR POSSIBLE

A. India said it conducted military strikes on nine sites in Pakistan in retaliation for a deadly militant attack on tourists in Kashmir, intensifying a confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbors. Pakistan’s army spokesman, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said 26 people were killed and 46 injured. Pakistan’s defense minister told a local news channel that Pakistan shot down five Indian aircraft. The Indian Foreign Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment. The Indian Defense Ministry said its forces carried out strikes on camps terrorists have used to stage attacks against India, according to a statement released Wednesday.

B. Pakistan vowed to retaliate after India launched air strikes against its neighbour over last month’s deadly militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. After a national security meeting in Islamabad on Wednesday, the Pakistani government said it had authorised the armed forces to take measures “corresponding” to the country’s “self-defence, at a time, place, and manner of its choosing”.

WSJ; FT

Some of the first footage from one of tonight’s strikes by the Indian Air Force against a claimed “terrorist site” near Bahawalpur, Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/MHTwyyCNvl
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 6, 2025

2. New Cold War: Shifting Arms Deals With US, China Reshape India-Pakistan Conflict

The last time India and Pakistan faced off in a military confrontation, in 2019, U.S. officials detected enough movement in the nuclear arsenals of both nations to be alarmed. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was awakened in the middle of the night. He worked the phone “to convince each side that the other was not preparing for nuclear war,” he wrote in his memoir. That clash quickly cooled after initial skirmishing. But six years later, the two South Asian rivals are again engaged in military conflict after a deadly terrorist attack against tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir. And this time there is a new element of uncertainty as the region’s most important military alliances have been redrawn. Changing patterns in the flow of arms illustrate the new alignments in this particularly volatile corner of Asia, where three nuclear powers — India, Pakistan and China — stand in uneasy proximity. India, a traditionally nonaligned country that has shed its history of hesitance toward the United States, has been buying billions of dollars in equipment from the United States and other Western suppliers. At the same time, India has sharply reduced purchases of low-cost arms from Russia, its Cold War-era ally. Pakistan, whose relevance to the United States has waned since the end of the war in Afghanistan, is no longer buying the American equipment that the United States once encouraged it to acquire. Pakistan has instead turned to China for the vast majority of its military purchases. These connections have injected superpower politics into South Asia’s longest-running and most intractable conflict.

NYT

3. Top Trump Officials to Meet Chinese Counterparts in Geneva as US Imports From China Plunge to 20-Year Low

A. Top officials from the Trump administration will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland this week, the first formal meeting about trade between the United States and China since President Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports to triple-digit levels last month. Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, and Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, plan to meet with Chinese officials during a trip to Geneva, where they will discuss trade and economic matters, according to separate announcements from Mr. Greer’s office and the Treasury Department

B. The share of U.S. imports from China in the first quarter of the year fell to its lowest point in over 20 years, as the high tariffs President Trump has put on Chinese goods clamped down on trade.

NYT

4. Employers Court High Schoolers for Lucrative Trade Jobs as Baby Boomers Retire

PHILADELPHIA—Elijah Rios won’t graduate from high school until next year, but he already has a job offer—one that pays $68,000 a year. Rios, 17 years old, is a junior taking welding classes at Father Judge, a Catholic high school in Philadelphia that works closely with companies looking for workers in the skilled trades. Employers are dealing with a shortage of such workers as baby boomers retire. They have increasingly begun courting high-school students like Rios—a hiring strategy they say is likely to become even more crucial in the coming years. Employers ranging from the local transit system to submarine manufacturers make regular visits to Father Judge’s welding classrooms every year, bringing branded swag and pitching students on their workplaces. When Rios graduates next year, he plans to work as a fabricator at a local equipment maker for nuclear, recycling and other sectors, a job that pays $24 an hour, plus regular overtime and paid vacations.

Welding instructor Joe Williams, left, teaches students at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia. WSJ

WSJ

5. Electric Vehicle Demand Cools: Sales Drop 5% in April

The electric-vehicle industry hit a pothole in April. Sales of EVs in the U.S. fell by around 5% during the month, according to estimates from the research firm Motor Intelligence, while the broader car market grew by 10%. Monthly EV sales in the U.S. have only declined three times since 2021. The declines were across most brands, from Kia and Hyundai to Ford. Tesla, which has accounted for around half of EV sales in the U.S., reported that sales dropped nearly 13%. Sales of Rivian’s R1T pickup and R1S SUV declined by half. On Tuesday, Rivian cut its sales outlook for the year by around 5,000 units, citing the impact of President Trump’s trade policy on EV demand. “The challenge is consumers are more price-sensitive than they typically have been and are looking for lower-price alternatives,” said Rivian Chief Executive Officer RJ Scaringe. Rivian vehicles sell for around $88,000, on average, limiting potential buyers, he said. Dealers cited several factors for the drop, from cooling customer interest to fewer promotions and discounts that juiced sales in the past.

WSJ

May 7, 1824: Ludwig von Beethoven premieres his Ninth Symphony in Vienna. Beethoven had severe hearing loss. He receives multiple standing ovations.

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