The Mystery of $MELANIA.

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1. Indian and Pakistani military leaders held talks on Monday intended to extend a tenuous cease-fire that has halted the most expansive fighting in decades between the two nuclear-armed states. A sense of normalcy began to return on both sides of their border, two days after a U.S.-mediated truce ended their rapidly escalating military conflict. Stock markets in both countries jumped on the first day of trading since the agreement was reached. India announced the resumption of civilian flights at over 30 airports in the north of the country, while in Pakistan, the authorities said that all airports were open. The situation along the two countries’ extensive boundary, however, remained uncertain, with tens of thousands of people still displaced. (Source: nytimes.com)

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2. When India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday, stepping back from the precipice of all-out war, the rival powers both declared victory. But in Pakistan, analysts said Monday, the enthusiasm may be clouding a clearheaded assessment of how the latest aerial combat — the most serious since both countries developed nuclear weapons — has upended the regional status quo. India has made no secret of its plans to change the rules of the game, and in some ways already has with its airstrikes Wednesday deep inside Pakistan, which killed more than 20 people. It has declared publicly that the next time militants attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, Pakistan should expect a similar, if not more muscular, military response. “What was a posture has become a doctrine,” said Ajay Bisaria, a former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan. With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi already facing some domestic backlash for agreeing to the truce, which has largely held so far, he may feel pressured to pursue escalation the next time tensions spike, analysts said. (Source: washingtonpost.com)

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3. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan on Monday that New Delhi would target "terrorist hideouts" across the border again if there were new attacks on India and would not be deterred by what he called Islamabad's "nuclear blackmail". Modi's first public comments since Indian armed forces launched strikes on what New Delhi said were "terrorist camps" across the border last week indicated a hardening of India's position on ties with its neighbor, which were icy even before the latest fighting. Modi was speaking two days after the nuclear-armed neighbors agreed to a ceasefire, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump. "If there is a terrorist attack on India, a fitting reply will be given... on our terms," Modi said, speaking in Hindi in a televised address. "India's position is clear: terror and talks cannot go together; terror and trade cannot go together. And water and blood cannot flow together," he said, referring to a water sharing pact between the two countries New Delhi suspended. (Source: reuters.com)

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4. When he approved a campaign to reopen shipping in the Red Sea by bombing the Houthi militant group into submission, President Trump wanted to see results within 30 days of the initial strikes two months ago. By Day 31, Mr. Trump, ever leery of drawn-out military entanglements in the Middle East, demanded a progress report, according to administration officials. But the results were not there. The United States had not even established air superiority over the Houthis. Instead, what was emerging after 30 days of a stepped-up campaign against the Yemeni group was another expensive but inconclusive American military engagement in the region. The Houthis shot down several American MQ-9 Reaper drones and continued to fire at naval ships in the Red Sea, including an American aircraft carrier. And the U.S. strikes burned through weapons and munitions at a rate of about $1 billion in the first month alone. (Source: nytimes.com)