The Bank of Thailand kept its policy rate at 1.00%, in line with market expectations, and said it is reassessing economic risks from the Middle East conflict. While war-related risks have eased, uncertainty remains elevated. Several central banks, including the Fed, have taken a wait-and-see stance; Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines raised rates last week to offset conflict-related shocks. The BOT said pre-ceasefire cost shocks had squeezed firms, weakened household purchasing power and hit t

Sources said on the 24th Israel is considering withdrawing IDF forces from limited areas of southern Lebanon as US-hosted Israel-Lebanon talks enter a fifth round. The talks, which began on the 23rd and are expected to run through the 25th, are discussing vacating sections south of the UN Blue Line that IDF now holds; an Israeli official told Channel 13 the pullback would cover only a “small slice” — a few percent — of the relevant area. The proposed package, pushed by the US, would see US forces train the Lebanese army to deploy into and secure vacated zones and certify that forces entering those areas are Lebanese army personnel rather than Hezbollah. Israel has reportedly instructed the IDF it may operate freely within the Blue Line and act against imminent threats but must not conduct operations in more distant areas such as Beirut and Tyre; Israeli sources say US restrictions on Israeli action across multiple fronts have recently increased.

Alibaba’s Qianwen said more than 14.0 mln users have used its AI college-application agent since gaokao results began this year for university/major searches, application advising and fill-out strategy. With score releases concentrated in over 20 provinces on June 25, Qianwen expects usage to rise and says it has pre-provisioned compute capacity to handle the peak consultation load.