India in uproar as top general admits Pakistan downed jets

A political firestorm has erupted in India after Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan acknowledged that the country lost several fighter jets during its recent military clash with Pakistan.

The Congress Party swiftly condemned the revelation, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of “misleading the nation” and calling for an urgent special session of parliament to address what it described as a grave breach of public trust and national accountability.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge led the charge, posting a sharp critique on X (formerly Twitter), saying: “In the wake of the remarks made by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in Singapore in an interview, there are some very important questions which need to be asked."

"These can only be asked if a special session of the parliament is immediately convened. The Modi govt has misled the nation. The fog of war is now clearing,” he said.

Kharge was responding to General Chauhan’s comments in an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday.

In the interview, the CDS acknowledged for the first time that Indian fighter jets were indeed downed during recent hostilities with Pakistan. Without specifying the number of losses, Chauhan said that mistakes had been quickly identified and rectified.

“What is important is not the jets being down, but why they were being downed. The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and fly all our jets again, targeting at long range”, he said.

The acknowledgement stands in stark contrast to the Modi government’s previous downplaying of Pakistani claims. Earlier this month, Islamabad had asserted that it had downed six Indian jets, a claim brushed aside by Indian officials as standard wartime posturing.

Chauhan also told Bloomberg that the four-day conflict never escalated to the point of nuclear war. “I think there’s a lot of space before that nuclear threshold is crossed, a lot of signalling before that, I think nothing like that happened,” Chauhan said,

A day earlier, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had also acknowledged that Pakistan shot down five IAF jets during the recent conflict. “Pakistan downed five of our planes. They used Chinese planes to down our planes, which were French”, said Swamy.

He added that “The Chinese planes were good, but the French were not. Rafale is not up to the mark as per India’s needs.” Swamy also made a startling claim regarding the controversial Rafale deal, alleging corruption in the procurement process. According to him, “Corruption happened in Rafale which won’t be investigated till Modi is the PM”.

Kharge, citing the Indian CDS’s remarks, said in his social media post that it was now time for a “comprehensive strategic review” and reiterated the Congress’s demand for an independent expert committee, similar to the 1999 Kargil Review Committee, to assess India’s defence preparedness.

“Our IAF pilots were risking their lives fighting the enemy. We have suffered some losses, but our pilots were safe... We salute their resolute courage and bravery. However, a comprehensive strategic review is the need of the hour,” he said.

Kharge also raised the issue of US President Donald Trump’s controversial claim that he had brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, calling it “a direct affront to the Simla Agreement” and questioning whether India had again allowed itself to be “hyphenated” with Pakistan, adding that “Instead of clarifying Mr Trump’s repeated assertions... PM Modi is on an election blitz, taking PERSONAL CREDIT for the valour of our armed forces”.

Two days before the Indian defence chief’s revelation, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had also questioned how many of India’s Rafale jets had been shot down during the conflict. Speaking at a rally in Hyderabad, Reddy said: “Rafale aircraft brought by Narendra Modi were shot down by Pakistan. There is no discussion on how many Rafales were shot down. Narendra Modi should answer.”

Reddy also demanded to know why Modi, who had previously convened an all-party meeting before engaging in war with Pakistan, did not do so before the ceasefire was announced. He went on to accuse the Indian PM of hiding the real costs of war. The BJP was quick to respond, slamming Reddy and Congress for “echoing Pakistan’s narrative”.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has also weighed in on the Rafale revelation, criticising the Indian government for allowing the CDS to reveal sensitive information through foreign media rather than informing parliament or the public directly.

“It is an extraordinary and telling commentary on Emergency@11 that the PM will not chair all-party meetings... but the nation gets to know of the first phase of Operation Sindoor through the CDS’s interview in Singapore,” he said.

Ramesh further pointed out the contrast with the Vajpayee government, which had constituted the Kargil Review Committee within days of the 1999 conflict. “Will the Modi government now take a similar step in light of what the Chief of Defence Staff has just revealed in Singapore?” he asked.

Former Indian Air Force pilot and Congress leader Uttam Kumar Reddy has also pressed the government for transparency. “It appears very clearly a Rafale fighter aircraft was downed in the four-day operations. The fact that the fighter aircraft were down is something that the Government of India needs to stop denying,” he said.

T S Singh Deo, former deputy CM of Chhattisgarh, echoed this sentiment, accusing the Modi government of deliberate obfuscation. “The question is not whether the planes crashed... the question is why they crashed and what we did afterward,” he said, quoting the CDS’s response.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) also demanded accountability. TMC Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sagarika Ghose also questioned why such significant information came via international media rather than from Indian authorities. “Why should international media report this first? Why were these facts first not given to India’s citizens, to parliament and to people’s representatives?” she asked.

Earlier, Chauhan, when pressed as to whether India had lost any jets, appeared to confirm New Delhi had lost an unspecified number of aircraft — without giving details. “I think, what is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down,” he told Bloomberg TV, speaking on the sidelines of Shangri-La Dialogue defence meeting in Singapore.

The Indian Air Force “flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordinances on the 10th”, he said. India switched tactics after suffering losses in the air on the first day of conflict with Pakistan earlier this month and established a decisive advantage before the neighbours announced a ceasefire three days later, he said.

“Most of the strikes were delivered with pinpoint accuracy, some even to a metre, to whatever was our selected mean point of impact,” Chauhan said.

Chauhan, and Pakistan’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, have both said there was no danger at any time during the conflict that nuclear weapons were considered.

“I think there’s a lot of space before that nuclear threshold is crossed, a lot of signalling before that, I think nothing like that happened,” Chauhan said. “There’s a lot of space for conventional operations which has been created, and this will be the new norm.

“It’s my personal view that the most rational people are people in uniform when conflict takes place,” he added. “During this operation, I found both sides displaying a lot of rationality in their thoughts as well as actions. So why should we assume that in the nuclear domain there will be irrationality on someone else’s part?”

Chauhan also said that although Pakistan is closely allied with China, which borders India in the north and east, there was no sign of any actual help from Beijing during the conflict. “While this was unfolding from (April) 22nd onwards, we didn’t find any unusual activity in the operational or tactical depth of our northern borders, and things were generally all right.”

He added that while hostilities had ceased, the Indian government had made it clear it would “respond precisely and decisively should there be any further terror attacks emanating from Pakistan.” “So that has its own dynamics as far the armed forces are concerned. It will require us to be prepared 24/7.”

He said cessation of hostilities is holding and will depend on Pakistan’s actions in the future. He added they have laid clear red lines.

Iranian FM declares nuclear weapons unacceptable

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that Iran considers nuclear weapons “unacceptable”, reiterating the country’s longstanding position amid delicate negotiations with the United States.

Western governments have long suspected Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability to counter widely suspected but undeclared arsenal of Israel.

“If the issue is nuclear weapons, yes, we too consider this type of weapon unacceptable,” Araghchi, Iran’s lead negotiator in the talks, said in a televised speech. “We agree with them on this issue.”

Iran has held five rounds of talks with the United States in search of a new nuclear agreement to replace the deal with major powers President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.

The two governments are at odds over Iran’s uranium enrichment programme, which Washington has said must cease but which Tehran insists is its right under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Nonetheless, Trump said Wednesday that “we’re having some very good talks with Iran”, adding that he had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against striking its nuclear facilities as it would not be “appropriate right now”.

Israel has repeatedly threatened military action, after pummeling Iranian air defences during two exchanges of fire last year.

Trump has not ruled out military action but said he wants space to make a deal first, and has also said that Israel, and not the United States, would take the lead in any such strikes.

Solar system's edge may host newly spotted dwarf planet

Scientists have identified an object about 435 miles (700 kilometres) wide inhabiting the frigid outer reaches of our solar system that might qualify as a dwarf planet, spotting it as it travels on a highly elongated orbital path around the sun.

The researchers called it one of the most distant visible objects in our solar system and said its existence indicates that a vast expanse of space beyond the outermost planet Neptune and a region called the Kuiper Belt may not be deserted, as long thought.

The Kuiper Belt is populated by numerous icy bodies.

Given the name 2017 OF201, the object falls into a category called trans-Neptunian objects that orbit the sun at a distance beyond that of Neptune. The object takes about 25,000 years to complete a single orbit of the sun, compared to 365 days for Earth to do so.

The researchers said 2017 OF201 was identified in observations by telescopes in Chile and Hawaii spanning seven years.

"It is potentially large enough to qualify as a dwarf planet. Its orbit is very wide and eccentric, which means it experienced an interesting orbital migration path in the past," said astrophysicist Sihao Cheng of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, who led the study with collaborators Jiaxuan Li and Eritas Yang, graduate students at Princeton University.

Its size is estimated to be a bit smaller than Ceres, which is the smallest of the solar system's five recognised dwarf planets and has a diameter of about 590 miles (950km). Pluto, the largest of those dwarf planets, has a diameter of about 1,477 miles (2,377km).

The mass of 2017 OF201 is estimated to be about 20,000 times smaller than Earth's and 50 times smaller than Pluto's.

"We don't know the shape yet. Unfortunately, it is too far away and it is a bit difficult to resolve it with telescopes," Cheng said. "Its composition is totally unknown yet, but likely similar to other icy bodies."

The discovery was announced by the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union, an international organisation of astronomers, and detailed in a study posted on the open-access research site arXiv. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Earth's orbital distance from the sun is called an astronomical unit. 2017 OF201 is currently located at a distance of 90.5 astronomical units from the sun, meaning 90.5 times as far as Earth.

But at its furthest point during its orbit, 2017 OF201 is more than 1,600 astronomical units from the sun, while the closest point on its orbit is about 45 astronomical units. That means it sometimes is closer to the sun than Pluto, whose orbital distance ranges from 30 to 49 astronomical units as it travels an elliptical path around the sun.

The researchers suspect that the extreme orbit of 2017 OF201 may have been caused by a long-ago close encounter with the gravitational influence of a giant planet.

"We still don't know much about the solar system far away because currently, it is difficult to directly see things beyond about 150 astronomical units," Cheng said.

"The presence of this single object suggests that there could be another hundred or so other objects with similar orbit and size. They are just too far away to be detectable right now."

The five dwarf planets recognised by the International Astronomical Union are, in order of distance from the sun: Ceres, which is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, then Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris, which all orbit beyond Neptune.

The organisation defines a planet and a dwarf planet differently. A planet must orbit its host star — in our case the sun — and must be mostly round and sufficiently large that its gravitational strength clears away any other objects of similar size near its orbit. A dwarf planet must orbit the sun and be mostly round but it has not cleared its orbit of other objects.

Cheng said the discovery of 2017 OF201 has implications for hypotheses involving the potential existence of a ninth planet in our solar system, dubbed Planet X or Planet Nine.

This is because 2017 OF201's orbit does not follow the pattern exhibited by other known trans-Neptunian objects, which tend to cluster together. Some scientists had hypothesised that such clustering was caused by the gravity of a yet-to-be-discovered planet.

"The existence of 2017 OF201 as an outlier to such clustering could potentially challenge this hypothesis," Cheng said.

Trump says Pakistani officials heading to US for trade talks

US President Donald Trump said that representatives from Pakistan are coming to the United States next week as the South Asian country seeks to make a deal on tariffs.

Pakistan faces a potential 29% tariff on exports to the United States due to a $3 billion trade surplus with the world's biggest economy, under tariffs announced by Washington last month on countries around the world. Tariffs were subsequently suspended for 90 days so negotiations could take place.

Pakistan last month decided to dispatch a high-level delegation to the US for negotiations aimed at enhancing bilateral trade relations and addressing concerns related to newly imposed US tariffs on Pakistani imports.

The decision was made on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a review meeting held in Islamabad on April 9 with the huddle focusing on increasing national exports and discussing the Washington's recent tariff measures.

The delegation will include prominent business figures and leading exporters, reflecting the government’s intent to engage key stakeholders in shaping a mutually beneficial path forward.

In today's talk, Trump said he would have no interest in making a deal with the South Asian country or its neighbour, India, if they were to engage in war with each other.

Trump's remarks come a day after Pakistan formally kicked off negotiations with the US on reciprocal tariffs as Islamabad seeks to capitalise on the Trump administration’s interest in boosting trade with South Asia.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Ambassador Jamieson Greer, United States Trade Representative, formally began the talks through a telephonic call on Thursday, an advisor to the finance minister said on X.

Earlier this month, Pakistan had offered a zero-tariff bilateral trade agreement to the United States, government sources told Geo News.

"Pakistan is offering to enter into a bilateral agreement with zero tariffs on selected tariff lines, with mutual interests, to expand bilateral trade across multiple sectors," said a high-level source when asked about the new policy offered to the US.

In a statement today, the advisor, Khurram Schehzad, said: “Both sides exchanged their viewpoint through a constructive engagement with the understanding that technical level detailed discussions would follow in the coming weeks.

The two sides expressed confidence in advancing the negotiations for a successful conclusion at the earliest, he added in a X post.

Commerce Minister Jam Kamal told Reuters earlier this month that Pakistan plans to offer concessions to US companies to invest in its mining sector as part of negotiations with Washington over tariffs.

He said that Islamabad will offer US businesses opportunities to invest in mining projects primarily in Pakistan's Balochistan province through joint ventures with local companies, providing concessions like lease grants.

The minister added that this would be in addition to efforts to increase imports from the United States, particularly cotton and edible oils, which are currently in short supply in Pakistan.

Pakistan would put its offer of concessions for mining investment to US officials during talks over tariffs in the coming weeks.

US President Trump has said that he’s working on "big deals" with both Pakistan and India, following Washington’s key role in brokering a ceasefire between Pakistan and India earlier this month following the worst fighting in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Pakistan downed five Indian planes during war, admits BJP leader

In a rare and candid admission, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy acknowledged that Pakistan shot down five Indian Air Force jets during the recent conflict.

Speaking in an interview, Swamy said that the Indian planes were defeated in air combat as Pakistan deployed Chinese fighter jets which outperformed the French-made aircraft used by New Delhi.

“Pakistan downed five of our planes. They used Chinese planes to down our planes, which were French,” Swamy revealed. “The Chinese planes were good, but the French were not. Rafale is not up to the mark as per India’s needs,” he added, criticising the performance of the highly-touted Rafale jets.

He went on to make a startling claim regarding the controversial Rafale deal, alleging corruption in the procurement process. “Corruption happened in Rafale which won’t be investigated till Modi is the PM,” he stated firmly.

Discussing the lack of accountability within the Indian leadership, Swamy said that under the current prime minister, an open probe into the aircraft losses is highly unlikely. “With Modi in power, no discussions or investigations will happen about how and why those jets were downed,” he said.

The military confrontation between the two countries was triggered by last month’s attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) that left 26 tourists dead, with India blaming Pakistan for the attack without offering any evidence.

Earlier this month, Pakistan's armed forces launched a large-scale retaliatory military action, named "Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos", and targeted several Indian military targets across multiple regions.

Pakistan downed its six fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States.

When asked about the downing of Indian jets during the conflict, Indian Air Marshal AK Bharti had said that "losses are a part of combat," without providing further details.

"[I] would not like to comment as we are still in air combat situation. It will be advantage for adversary. We have achieved our objectives. All our pilots are back home," he had claimed as reported by NDTV.

According to ISPR, a total of 53 individuals, including 13 personnel of the armed forces and 40 civilians, were martyred in Indian strikes during the recent military confrontation.

DOGE May falter without Musk, says former insider

Without billionaire Elon Musk in the Trump administration, his cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency project is likely to sputter out, a former DOGE staffer said in his first interview since leaving the team.

Tesla CEO Musk announced on Wednesday evening that he was ending his time as a special government employee but vowed that DOGE would continue without him. Administration media representatives also said in statements to Reuters that DOGE would continue its work.

DOGE has overseen job cuts at nearly every federal agency as part of U.S. President Donald Trump‘s attempts to shake up the federal bureaucracy.

However, software engineer Sahil Lavingia, who spent almost two months working for the group of pro-Musk technologists, said he expects DOGE to quickly “fizzle out.”

“It’ll just die a whimper,” Lavingia, who was fired from DOGE earlier this month, told Reuters. “So much of the appeal and allure was Elon.” He said he expected DOGE staffers to “just stop showing up to work. It’s like kids joining a startup that will go out of business in four months.”

That would cap a remarkable undoing for DOGE, which Musk initially vowed would cut $2 trillion in federal spending. Instead, DOGE estimates its efforts have saved around $175 billion so far and the group’s tallies have been riddled with errors.

The White House praised DOGE but did not comment on Lavingia.

“DOGE is integral to the federal government’s operations, and its mission, as established by the President’s executive order, will continue under the direction of agency and department heads in the Trump administration,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said.

Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Lavingia, the 32-year-old founder and CEO of creator platform Gumroad, said he was recruited by DOGE through a personal contact and joined the team in March.

While he said he was proud of certain achievements at the Department of Veterans Affairs, including modernizing the agency’s internal artificial-intelligence chatbot, he said he was often at a loss about what work he was expected to do.

“I got dropped into the VA with an HP laptop. What are we supposed to do? What is the road map?” Lavingia said he asked, to no avail. “I felt like I was being pranked.”

Veterans Affairs press secretary Pete Kasperowicz said in a statement to Reuters: “VA looks forward to continuing to work with its DOGE liaisons to help the department improve its performance, customer service, and convenience to Veterans.”

Lavingia said Steve Davis, the president of Musk’s tunneling enterprise the Boring Company, ran day-to-day operations while Turkish-born venture capitalist Baris Akis helped with DOGE recruitment and DOGE logistics.

Davis and Akis did not respond to requests for comment sent via the White House.

When instructions did come through, they were usually communicated through phone calls or small chats on the encrypted Signal messaging app that would typically auto-delete in one day, Lavingia said.

Lavingia said instructions included moving faster to increase mass layoffs at the VA, the federal government’s second-largest agency.

The only time he met Musk, Lavingia said, was at an all-hands meeting in March with what he estimated was between 40 and 60 fellow DOGE staffers.

Lavingia said he asked to open-source, or make freely available, some of his computer code, which Musk approved.

He then asked if they could livestream DOGE meetings to increase transparency.

“Elon said: ‘That’s a great idea. We’ll do it next week.’ He then caught himself and said: ‘Maybe we pre-record it because of security risks.'”

Lavingia said he never heard back.

In early May, after he spoke to media outlet Fast Company about working at DOGE, Lavingia said his computer access was revoked in what amounted to a firing. He said Musk and team leaders never explicitly told him he should not talk to journalists.

“My DOGE days were over,” Lavingia wrote in a blog, opens new tab about his experience.

Sri Lanka ex-ministers jailed up to 25 years for corruption

A Sri Lankan court on Thursday sentenced two former ministers from the government of deposed president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to decades in prison in a landmark corruption case.

Ex-sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and former trade minister Anil Fernando were found guilty by the Colombo High Court of misappropriating 53 million Sri Lankan rupees ($177,000) of state funds.

The pair were also fined $2,000 for using government money to donate board games — including 14,000 carrom boards and 11,000 draughts sets — in an attempt to boost the failed 2015 re-election bid of Gotabaya’s elder brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Aluthgamage was sentenced to 20 years in jail. Fernando was sentenced to 25 years.

Aluthgamage is now the most senior member of a Rajapaksa-led cabinet to be successfully prosecuted for corruption.

The cases against both men were initiated six years ago, when the Rajapaksa brothers were out of power, but the case had been making slow headway until a new government took office last year.

Aluthgamage also faces a separate investigation into allegations that he authorised in 2022 a payment of $6.09m to a Chinese supplier for a fertiliser shipment that was never delivered.

He caused a stir in 2020 when he accused Sri Lanka’s national cricket team of rigging the 2011 World Cup final in favour of India, triggering an investigation that ultimately failed to substantiate his claims.

Aluthgamage, who served as sports minister from 2010 to 2015, said in June 2020 that he had “not wanted to disclose” the alleged match-fixing plot at the time.

“In 2011, we were supposed to win, but we sold the match. I feel I can talk about it now. I am not implicating players, but certain sections were involved,” he said.

Sri Lanka lost the final at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium by six wickets. Both Indian and Sri Lankan players have strongly denied any wrongdoing.

SpaceX’s Starship spins out of control after flying past points of previous failures

SpaceX’s Starship rocket roared into space from Texas on Tuesday but spun out of control about halfway through its flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals, bringing fresh engineering hurdles to CEO Elon Musk’s increasingly turbulent Mars rocket programme.

The 400-foot tall (122 metre) Starship rocket system, the core of Musk’s goal of sending humans to Mars, lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase, Texas, launch site, flying beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts earlier this year that sent debris streaking over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to divert course.

For the latest launch, the ninth full test mission of Starship since the first attempt in April 2023, the upper-stage cruise vessel was lofted to space atop a previously flown booster — a first such demonstration of the booster’s reusability.

But SpaceX lost contact with the 232-foot lower-stage booster during its descent before it plunged into the sea, rather than making the controlled splashdown the company had planned.

Starship, meanwhile, continued into suborbital space but began to spin uncontrollably roughly 30 minutes into the mission. The errant spiraling came after SpaceX cancelled a plan to deploy eight mock Starlink satellites into space — the rocket’s “Pez” candy dispenser-like mechanism failed to work as designed.

“Not looking great with a lot of our on-orbit objectives for today,” SpaceX broadcaster Dan Huot said on a company livestream.

Musk was scheduled to deliver an update on his space exploration ambitions in a speech from Starbase following the test flight, billed as a livestream presentation about “The Road to Making Life Multiplanetary.” Hours later, he had yet to give the speech and there was no sign that he intended to do so.

In a post on X, Musk touted Starship’s scheduled shutdown of an engine in space, a step previous test flights achieved last year. He said a leak on Starship’s primary fuel tank led to its loss of control.

“Lot of good data to review,” he said.

“Launch cadence for next three flights will be faster, at approximately one every three to four weeks.”

SpaceX has said the Starship models that have flown this year bear significant design upgrades from previous prototypes, as thousands of company employees work to build a multi-purpose rocket capable of putting massive batches of satellites in space, carrying humans back to the moon and ultimately ferrying astronauts to Mars.

Risk-tolerant

The recent setbacks indicate SpaceX is struggling to overcome a complicated chapter of Starship’s multibillion-dollar development. But the company’s engineering culture, widely considered more risk-tolerant than many of the aerospace industry’s more established players, is built on a flight-testing strategy that pushes spacecraft to the point of failure, then fine-tunes improvements through frequent repetition.

Starship’s planned trajectory for Tuesday included a nearly full orbit around Earth for a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean to test new designs of its heat shield tiles and revised flaps for steering its blazing re-entry and descent through Earth’s atmosphere.

But its early demise, appearing as a fireball streaking eastward through the night sky over southern Africa, puts another pause in Musk’s speedy development goals for a rocket bound to play a central role in the US space programme.

NASA plans to use the rocket to land humans on the moon in 2027, though that moon programme faces turmoil amid Musk’s Mars-focused influence over US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Mishap probe

Federal regulators had granted SpaceX a licence for Starship’s latest flight attempt four days ago, capping a mishap investigation that had grounded Starship for nearly two months.

The last two test flights — in January and March — were cut short moments after liftoff as the vehicles blew to pieces on ascent, raining debris over parts of the Caribbean and disrupting scores of commercial airline flights in the region.

The Federal Aviation Administration expanded debris hazard zones around the ascent path for Tuesday’s launch.

The previous back-to-back failures occurred in early test-flight phases that SpaceX had easily achieved before, in a striking setback to a program that Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who founded the rocket company in 2002, had sought to accelerate this year.

Musk, the world’s wealthiest individual and a key supporter of US President Donald Trump, was especially eager for a success after vowing in recent days to refocus his attention on his various business ventures, including SpaceX, following a tumultuous foray into national politics and his attempts at cutting government bureaucracy.

Closer to home, Musk also sees Starship as eventually replacing the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as the workhorse in the company’s commercial launch business, which already lofts most of the world’s satellites and other payloads to low-Earth orbit.

Fraudsters using fake PTA calls, messages to steal personal data

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued an urgent warning, cautioning citizens against a rise in phishing scams where fraudsters are attempting to obtain personal information by impersonating the regulatory body.

The PTA said that it will never contact individuals via call, email or message to request sensitive personal details such as passwords, One-Time Passwords (OTPs), or online credentials.

"Stay cautious — PTA will NEVER ask for your personal details, passwords, or OTPs via call, email, or message. Protect yourself and stay vigilant," the authority stated in its alert.

The PTA urged the public to be extremely wary of fake calls, emails, and messages designed to trick them into divulging confidential information. Citizens are advised not to click on suspicious links or share any personal data with unknown parties.

To combat these fraudulent activities, the PTA has also provided contact numbers for reporting such incidents:

1. For blocking scam numbers: Report to PTA at toll free: 080055055
2. For investigation: Contact the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) at: 1991
3. For financial frauds: Report to the State Bank of Pakistan at: (021) 111723273

The authority stressed the importance of protecting personal information and reporting any suspicious activity immediately to help curb these malicious attempts.

Modi once again fuels anti-Pakistan sentiment

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday escalated his rhetoric against Pakistan, claiming that what were previously viewed as proxy wars now constitute a “well-thought-out strategy” by Islamabad, and warning that India would respond “accordingly” if faced with acts of war.

Addressing a ceremony in Gandhinagar, Indian Gujarat, Modi invoked a nationalist narrative rooted in historical grievances, vowing a forceful response to what he described as calculated acts of aggression from across the border.

“We can’t call this a proxy war as those who were killed after May 6 were given state honours in Pakistan. Pakistani flags were draped over their coffins, and their military saluted them. This proves that these terrorist activities are not just a proxy war — this is a deliberate war strategy on their part”, Modi said.

Citing Operation Sindoor, Modi claimed that nine identified terrorist bases were destroyed in 22 minutes with full camera documentation.

Modi linked current tensions to the historical legacy of Partition, stating that “during Partition, Maa Bharati was divided into two, and that very night, the first terror attack on Kashmir was launched by the mujahideen. Had they been eliminated then, these 75 years of suffering could have been avoided.”

He went on to lament how Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s vision of ‘reclaiming’ Azad Kashmir had not been followed through, adding ominously that: “No matter how strong or healthy the body is, even a single thorn can cause constant pain — and we’ve decided that the thorn must be removed”.

Referring to India’s repeated military encounters with Pakistan, Modi asserted, “Whenever India and Pakistan went to war, our Indian Armed Forces defeated them in a way they would never forget. Realising they could never win a direct war against India, they turned to proxy warfare, providing military training and support to terrorists instead.”

In the midst of his aggressive posturing, the Indian prime minister also decided to preach ‘global wellbeing’, saying that “India has always advocated peace and stability”.

He also touched on water resource issues in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and the Indus Waters Treaty, which he claimed had been “put in abeyance”, accusing previous Indian governments of neglecting dam maintenance and water infrastructure.

Modi used the occasion to also frame Operation Sindoor as a national mission. “Operation Sindoor is not merely a military initiative but a responsibility shared by every Indian citizen.”

The speech also included broader economic commentary, with Modi highlighting India’s rise to what he says is the world’s fourth-largest economy.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned the Indian prime minister’s remarks, describing them as a “hate-driven invocation of violence” that sets a “dangerous precedent... in a region already burdened by volatility.”

In a statement, the Foreign Office said the speech represented “reckless provocation, intended to distract from the ongoing human rights abuses and demographic engineering in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir.”

“The international community must take serious note of India’s escalating rhetoric”, the statement said.

70% chance 2025–2029 warming will exceed 1.5°C: UN

The United Nations warned on Wednesday there is a 70% chance that average warming from 2025 to 2029 will exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius international benchmark.

The planet is therefore expected to remain at historic levels of warming after the two hottest years ever recorded in 2023 and 2024, according to an annual climate report published by the World Meteorological Organisation, the UN’s weather and climate agency.

"We have just experienced the 10 warmest years on record," said the WMO’s deputy secretary-general Ko Barrett.

"Unfortunately, this WMO report provides no sign of respite over the coming years, and this means that there will be a growing negative impact on our economies, our daily lives, our ecosystems and our planet."

The 2015 Paris climate accords aimed to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels — and to 1.5°C if possible.

The targets are calculated relative to the 1850-1900 average, before humanity began industrially burning coal, oil, and gas, which emits carbon dioxide (CO2) — the greenhouse gas largely responsible for climate change.

The more optimistic 1.5°C target is one that growing numbers of climate scientists now consider impossible to achieve, as CO2 emissions are still increasing.

Five-year outlook:

The WMO’s latest projections are compiled by Britain’s Met Office national weather service, based on forecasts from multiple global centres.

The agency forecasts that the global mean near-surface temperature for each year between 2025 and 2029 will be between 1.2°C and 1.9°C above the pre-industrial average.

It says there is a 70% chance that average warming across the 2025-2029 period will exceed 1.5°C.

"This is entirely consistent with our proximity to passing 1.5°C on a long-term basis in the late 2020s or early 2030s," said Peter Thorne, director of the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units group at the University of Maynooth.

"I would expect in two to three years this probability to be 100%" in the five-year outlook, he added.

The WMO says there is an 80% chance that at least one year between 2025 and 2029 will be warmer than the warmest year on record (2024).

Longer-term outlook:

To smooth out natural climate variations, several methods assess long-term warming, the WMO’s climate services director Christopher Hewitt told a press conference.

One approach combines observations from the past 10 years with projections for the next decade.

This predicts that the 20-year average warming for 2015-2034 will be 1.44°C.

There is no consensus yet on how best to assess long-term warming.

The EU’s climate monitor Copernicus reckons warming currently stands at 1.39°C, and projects 1.5°C could be reached in mid-2029 or sooner.

2°C warming now on the radar:

Although "exceptionally unlikely" at 1%, there is now an above-zero chance of at least one year in the next five exceeding 2°C of warming.

"It’s the first time we’ve ever seen such an event in our computer predictions," said the Met Office’s Adam Scaife.

"It is shocking," and "that probability is going to rise".

He recalled that a decade ago, forecasts first showed the very low probability of a calendar year exceeding the 1.5°C benchmark. But that came to pass in 2024.

‘Dangerous’ level of warming:

Every fraction of a degree of additional warming can intensify heatwaves, extreme precipitation, droughts, and the melting of ice caps, sea ice, and glaciers.

This year’s climate is offering no respite.

Last week, China recorded temperatures exceeding 40°C (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas, the United Arab Emirates nearly 52°C (126F), and Pakistan was hit by deadly winds following an intense heatwave.

"We’ve already hit a dangerous level of warming," with recent "deadly floods in Australia, France, Algeria, India, China and Ghana, wildfires in Canada," said climatologist Friederike Otto of Imperial College London.

"Relying on oil, gas and coal in 2025 is total lunacy."

Other warnings:

Arctic warming is predicted to continue to outstrip the global average over the next five years, said the WMO.

Sea ice predictions for March 2025-2029 suggest further reductions in the Barents Sea, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk.

Forecasts suggest South Asia will be wetter than average across the next five years.

And precipitation patterns suggest wetter than average conditions in the Sahel, northern Europe, Alaska and northern Siberia, and drier than average conditions over the Amazon.

Millions of users' data stolen; Pakistanis urged to change passwords immediately

Pakistan’s National Cyber Emergency Response Team (NCERT) has urged citizens to change their social media passwords after a major global data leak exposed 184 million unique account credentials.

In an advisory issued on Monday, the body said that the breach exposed usernames, passwords, emails, and associated URLs tied to services from Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, as well as government portals, banking institutions, and healthcare platforms worldwide.

The leaked database is believed to have been compiled using infostealer malware — malicious software that extracts sensitive information from compromised systems.

This data, the advisory mentioned, was stored in plain text and left completely unprotected, with no encryption or password safeguarding.

The body said that immediate action is recommended to mitigate associated risks and to secure systems potentially impacted by this breach.

Breach's impact:

Successful exploitation of the leaked credentials may result in:

1. Credential stuffing attacks — automated login attempts across services using reused credentials

2. Account takeovers — unauthorised access to user accounts and personal services.

3. Identity theft and fraud — theft of digital identity for committing scams or impersonation.

4. Ransomware deployment and espionage — targeted attacks on individuals and enterprises.

5. Government and critical sector compromise — unauthorised access to sensitive government systems.

6. Targeted phishing and social engineering — tailored scams using personal communication history.

Threat details:

The NCERT advisory highlights the severe implications of this breach, which appears to be a dump of information-stealing malware. The compromised database was found to be publicly hosted, lacking any authentication controls, making it easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

The database included sensitive login information for major platforms, enterprises, government agencies, and financial institutions.

This "low complexity" attack vector means that while user interaction was initially required for the malware infection, the data leak itself was unhindered, requiring "none" for access.

The threat is classified as a "Data Breach, Credential Theft, and Malware Dump," with an estimated risk score of "CVSS contextually HIGH," according to the advisory.

Multi-national government agencies are at risk and banking and financial accounts could be compromised.

As a result of this breach, sensitive patient data and access could be exposed. Businesses also face a significant threat to their internal systems and data.

Exploit conditions:

The advisory also warned that attackers can exploit this breach in multiple ways, including reused passwords across different services making users vulnerable to widespread account takeover.

Exposed email addresses and historical data can be used to craft highly convincing and targeted phishing scams.

Additionally, attackers can exploit this breach via targeted social engineering leveraging exposed personal content, unauthorised access to business and government accounts, and malware deployment using existing email/password combinations.

Mitigation actions:

The NCERT's directive strongly advises individuals to change passwords immediately and create strong, unique passwords for all social media accounts and other critical online services.

It also advises enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) for an added layer of security and exercising extreme caution with suspicious emails, messages, or calls.

The advisory also advised citizens to keep an eye on account activity for any unauthorised access.

The global nature of this breach means that individuals and organisations across Pakistan are at heightened risk.

According to the advisory, citizens must avoid storing passwords in emails or unprotected files and consider a password manager to securely handle account credentials.

In addition, it is recommended to use any credible online service that helps you find out if your email address, phone number, or other personal data has been exposed to a data breach.

Citizens must also monitor account login activity for anomalies and deploy endpoint protection software capable of detecting infostealer variants.

As for organisations, they must enforce password rotation policies at least annually and apply the least privilege principle across systems with sensitive access.

They must also educate employees on secure credential management and phishing awareness.

The advisory also advises the use of email activity monitoring tools to track data exfiltration and update security software and malware definitions regularly.

Apply strict controls on cloud storage services to prevent misuse, the advisory said.

Monitory and detection:

Enable logging for unusual login attempts and credential stuffing indicators and monitor for access from suspicious IP addresses or geographies.

Use SIEM tools to track and correlate anomalies across accounts and services.

Incident response and readiness:

Review and update incident response plans to include credential breach scenarios and validate MFA enforcement across business-critical platforms.

Conduct tabletop exercises simulating large-scale credential reuse attacks.

Patching summary:

No software patch is applicable for this advisory as this incident pertains to credential exposure due to malware and improper data handling. Mitigation must be conducted via account protection, credential rotation, and security hygiene.

Call to action:

National CERT urged all organisations and individuals to change compromised credentials, enforce MFA across all critical services, educate users on password reuse risks and regularly monitor for suspicious account activity.

Furthermore, the advisory said that citizens must avoid storing sensitive data in unsecured email or cloud accounts.

Timely action is essential to limit the impact of this massive credential breach and prevent subsequent compromise of systems and identities.

Govt earmarks 2,000MW to power Bitcoin mining, AI data centres

In a major step toward positioning Pakistan as a global digital innovation hub, the government has allocated 2,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the initial phase of a national plan to support Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence (AI) data centres.

According to a statement issued by the Finance Division, the initiative is spearheaded by the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) — a government-backed body under the Ministry of Finance — as part of a broader strategy to monetise surplus electricity, create high-tech jobs, attract billions of dollars in foreign direct investment, and generate billions of dollars for government.

"Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that this strategic allocation marks a pivotal moment in Pakistan’s digital transformation journey, unlocking economic potential by turning excess energy into innovation, investment, and international revenue," read the statement.

Pakistan, a country that ranked 3rd in the Global Crypto Adoption Index, has 20 million active cryptocurrency users and $20bn + in crypto transactions.

Currently, the country ranks in the top 10 in terms of crypto adoption. With $35bn in annual remittances, the country is poised to benefit from crypto adoption.

In March this year, the government constituted the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) to “regulate and integrate blockchain technology and digital assets” into the nation’s financial ecosystem.

Entrepreneur Bilal Bin Saqib was appointed as its chief executive officer, signaling a commitment to integrating cryptocurrency and blockchain technology into the nation’s financial ecosystem.

"Pakistan is uniquely positioned — both geographically and economically — to become a global hub for data centres. As a digital bridge between Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, Pakistan offers the most strategic location in the world for data flow and digital infrastructure," the Finance Division said in its statement today.

It said that since the inception of the PCC, there has been tremendous interest from global Bitcoin miners and data infrastructure companies. Several international firms have already visited the country for exploratory discussions, and following this landmark announcement, more global players are expected to visit in the coming weeks.

“Pakistan’s underutilised power generation capacity is now being repurposed into a high-value digital asset. AI data centres and Bitcoin mining operations, known for their consistent and heavy energy usage, provide an ideal use case for this surplus.

“Redirecting idle energy, especially from plants operating below capacity, allows Pakistan to convert a long-standing financial liability into a sustainable, revenue-generating opportunity,” the statement added.

In the statement, PCC CEO Bilal Bin Saqib emphasised the transformative nature of this initiative and explained that with proper regulation, transparency, and international collaboration, Pakistan can become a global crypto and AI powerhouse.

He added that this energy-backed digital transformation not only unlocks high-value investment but enables the government to generate foreign exchange in US dollars through Bitcoin mining.

Additionally, as regulations evolve, Pakistan can accumulate Bitcoin directly into a national wallet — marking a monumental shift from selling power in Pakistani rupees to leveraging digital assets for economic stability.

By offering stable and affordable energy, Pakistan presents a highly competitive environment compared to regional counterparts like India and Singapore, where rising power costs and land scarcity limit scalability.

Pakistan’s strategic advantage is further underscored by the global context as while AI data centre demand has soared to over 100 gigawatts (GW), the global supply remains around 15GW. This massive shortfall creates an unprecedented opportunity for countries like Pakistan with surplus power, land and an emerging regulatory framework, it added.

The statement noted that the country’s digital connectivity has also been significantly strengthened by the landing of the world’s largest submarine internet cable. The Africa-2 Cable Project, a 45,000-kilometre global network connecting 33 countries through 46 landing stations, has now landed in Pakistan.

This milestone enhances Pakistan’s internet bandwidth, latency and resilience through redundant fiber routes — key for ensuring high availability and operational continuity for AI data centres.

With more than 40 million crypto users, Pakistan holds immense potential as a regional leader in digital services. Establishing local AI data centres will not only address growing concerns around data sovereignty but will also enhance cybersecurity, improve digital service delivery, and empower national capabilities in AI and cloud infrastructure.

These centres are expected to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs, catalysing the development of a skilled workforce in engineering, IT, and data sciences.

The statement added that this announcement marks only the first phase of a broader, multi-stage digital infrastructure rollout. Future developments are expected to include renewable energy-powered facilities — leveraging Pakistan’s immense wind (50,000MW potential in the Gharo-Keti Bandar corridor), solar, and hydropower resources — as well as strategic international partnerships with leading blockchain and AI companies, and the establishment of fintech and innovation hubs.

These efforts will be complemented by proposed incentives such as tax holidays, customs duty exemptions on equipment, and reduced taxes for AI infrastructure developers, it added.

“Pakistan’s combination of surplus power, geographic advantage, advanced subsea cable connectivity, renewable energy potential, and a large, digitally engaged population creates a compelling case for becoming a regional epicentre of Web3, AI, and digital innovation.

“With the right incentives, strategic investments, and collaborative partnerships, Pakistan is positioning itself not only as a destination for global digital infrastructure but also as a sovereign economy that can accumulate digital assets, export digital services, and lead in the next generation of technological transformation.”

The allocation is part of Islamabad's plans to use its surplus electricity to bitcoin mining and AI data centres. Pakistan's energy sector is grappling with challenges, including high electricity tariffs and surplus generation capacity.

The rapid expansion of solar energy has further complicated the landscape, as more consumers turn to alternative energy sources to mitigate high costs.

Jakarta, Beijing to bolster ties ahead of Asean summit

Chinese Premier Li Qiang reaffirmed Beijing’s ties with Jakarta on Sunday during his visit to Indonesia ahead of a regional summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Beijing and Jakarta are key economic allies, with Chinese companies pouring capital into extracting Indonesian natural resources in recent years, particularly in the nickel sector.

But the two countries’ disputed claims into the strategic waterways of the South China Sea and its nearby territories have weighed on their relationship in recent years.

In a meeting with Indonesian Presi­dent Prabowo Subianto on Sunday, Li said Beijing was keen to advance cooperation with Indonesia. “China is willing to work together with Indonesia... to carry forward our tradition of friendship, and to strengthen solidarity and cooperation,” Li said.

Prabowo also echoed Indonesia’s “close and good” friendship with China.

“Indonesia is ready to create a safe and prosperous region. Indonesia is ready to strengthen cooperation with China for us to create a peaceful region, which is safe for all,” Prabowo said.

Prabowo and Li oversaw the signings of several agreements, pledging closer cooperation in areas including economic development and finance.

The presidential palace later announced that eight other agreements were signed in sectors covering tourism, health, investment and media.

Pakistani-origin mother, three kids die in London house fire

The Met Police said a 41-year-old man was arrested outside the properties on suspicion of murder and remains in custody, as a mother and her three children have been killed in a house fire in Brent, north-west London.

The emergency services were called at about 01:20 on Saturday to the blaze in Tillett Close, Stonebridge, where they found the victims — a 43-year-old woman, a 15-year-old girl and two boys aged eight and four, reported BBC.

Two terraced three-storey homes were gutted in the fire. The Met Police said that another woman in her 70s and a teenage girl, both from the same family as the four people who died, were taken to the hospital. Their conditions have not been disclosed.

"Devastated to see the fatal fire at homes in Tillet Close last night," Dawn Butler, the local MP for Brent East, said in a social media post.

She added her "prayers are with the family and friends affected" by this "very sad tragedy".

Supt Steve Allen said in a statement on Saturday afternoon that the woman who died had been confirmed as the mother of the three children.

About 70 firefighters and eight fire engines from stations across Wembley, Park Royal and Willesden were sent out to tackle the blaze, which was reported by neighbours.

Extremely tragic incident:

One woman, who said the family had moved to the UK from Pakistan more than 20 years ago, told the BBC that after hearing smashing and screaming, she had gone out to find the building next door was on fire.

Mohamed Labidi, a 38-year-old teacher who lives in Tillett Close, said he could not "even look at the house right now".

Speaking to the PA news agency, he said he had known the woman who died, and that the family were "really good people".

"We used to socialise together," he added.

Another neighbour said she was "stunned by the devastation" of the blaze.

Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "It's a very distressing time for us and the neighbourhood."

In a statement, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said: "A woman and a child were rescued from the second floor of one property by crews wearing breathing apparatus and received immediate emergency care."

Platform X experiences global outage, PTA confirms

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has confirmed the global outage and disruption, social media platform X (formerly Twitter) is experiencing, which has upset users in Pakistan and several other countries.

PTA indicated that the issue is not associated with any technical faults within Pakistan’s internet infrastructure.

According to PTA, X’s global outage has caused problems for global users, with reports of service disruptions rising from various regions.

Independent internet monitoring organisation ‘NetBlocks’ has also confirmed that the X’s global outage is not linked with specific restrictions of any country, and is international in nature.

This is the second time such a disruption has occurred in recent months. Earlier, X services were affected, causing difficulties for users.

Two months ago, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) submitted a report to the Sindh High Court about the temporary ban on X (formerly Twitter) in Pakistan, saying it was due to security concerns.

The Sindh High Court held hearings on petitions against internet and social media restrictions, where the PTA explained its position.

The Chief Justice of the court stated that shutting down the internet harms the country’s progress. He stressed that political and security issues should be handled without blocking online services.

The PTA assured people that it is monitoring the situation and will share updates as needed.

However, users are still struggling to access the platform due to the X’s global outage, and reports show that both desktop and mobile versions of the platform are affected.

WhatsApp has officially announced to discontinue the support for older iPhones from May 5, 2025, upsetting users of iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.

The requirements for the messaging app, owned by Meta, will no longer support iPhone versions released before iOS 15.1, considering them obsolete and incompatible with the app.

Crude oil edges higher amid short-covering and nuclear talk updates

Oil prices gained as US buyers covered positions ahead of the three-day Memorial Day weekend amid worries over the latest round of nuclear talks between American and Iranian negotiators.

Brent crude futures settled at $64.78 a barrel, up 34 cents, or 0.54%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures finished at $61.53, up 33 cents, or 0.54%.

“I think there is some short-covering going into this weekend,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group.

The Memorial Day weekend kicks off the US summer driving season, the period of highest demand for motor fuels.

U.S. and Iranian negotiators met in Rome on Friday in another round of talks aimed at curtailing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Traders are afraid crude supplies could be interrupted if talks fail to reach a deal, Flynn said.

“The talks are not looking good,” he said. “If these are the last talks and there’s no deal, it could give a green light to the Israelis to attack Iran.”

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is recommending a straight 50% tariff on goods from the EU starting on June 1, saying the bloc has been hard to deal with on trade.

“The oil market has been under pressure from two things,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. “We await the impact of tariffs on oil demand and OPEC+ is expected to increase supply again this summer.”

OPEC+, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia is holding meetings next week expected to yield another output increase of 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) for July.

Reuters reported this month that the group could unwind the rest of its 2.2 million bpd voluntary production cut by the end of October, having already raised output targets by about 1 million bpd for April, May and June.

Elon Musk’s X Faces Worldwide Disruption, Pakistan Impacted

Billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter) is facing a mass outage affecting multiple countries, including Pakistan, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) confirmed on Saturday.

"This disruption follows a similar global outage faced by the platform on Thursday, May 22, which lasted for several hours before being resolved by the platform itself, the authority said in a statement..

"The PTA’s investigation into the matter has confirmed that there are no technical issues at Pakistan’s internet gateways.

All other internet services across the country remain fully functional, the PTA added.

It further said that global internet observatory NetBlocks also confirmed that the outages being experienced by ‘X’ are international and not related to any country-level internet disruptions or filtering.

"PTA continues to monitor the situation and will keep the public informed of any significant updates," the telecom regulator said.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that X was down for tens of thousands of users in the United States on Saturday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com.

There were more than 25,000 incidents of people reporting issues with the social media platform as of 8:39am EDT (1239 GMT), according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from several sources.

 

Trump again threats Apple

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened once again on Friday to ramp up his trade war, recommending a 50% tariff on European Union goods starting June 1 and warning Apple he may impose a 25% tariff on any iPhones manufactured outside the U.S.

The twin threats, delivered via social media, roiled global markets after weeks of de-escalation had provided some reprieve. The S&P 500 fell 0.9% in early trading, the Nasdaq fell 1.5%, and European shares fell 1.1%.

Trump’s latest broadside against the EU stemmed from his frustration at the lack of progress in trade talks with the bloc. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Friday that the 50% threat will hopefully “light a fire under the EU,” adding that other countries have been negotiating with Washington in good faith.

“The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. “Our discussions with them are going nowhere!”

The European Commission on Friday declined to comment on the new threat, saying it would wait for a phone call between EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and his U.S. counterpart Jamieson Greer scheduled for Friday.

Envoys from the 27 EU countries are also due to meet on trade in Brussels later in the day.

Trump’s stop-and-start global trade war has rattled markets, sapped U.S. consumer and business confidence and raised investor fears of inflationary pressures and a global economic downturn.

In response to falling markets, the White House paused most of the punishing tariffs that Trump announced in early April against nearly every country in the world, leaving in place a 10% baseline tax on most imports. He also cut a massive 145% tax on Chinese goods to 30%.

“What is somewhat of a surprise is the fact that the EU will now face a considerably higher tariff rate than China, an almost unthinkable scenario just a matter of weeks ago,” said Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter. “It is highlighting that much of this policy is designed to be punitive, rather than having any economic credibility to it.”

A 50% levy on EU imports could raise consumer prices on everything from German cars to Italian olive oil.

EU’s total exports to the United States last year totaled about 500 billion euros, led by Germany (161 billion euros), Ireland (72 billion euros) and Italy (65 billion euros). Pharmaceuticals, cars and auto parts, chemicals and aircraft were among the largest exports, according to EU data.

The White House has been in trade negotiations with numerous countries, but progress has been unsteady. Finance leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies tried to downplay disputes over the tariffs earlier in the week at a forum in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

“The EU is one of Trump’s least favorite regions, and he does not seem to have good relations with its leaders, which increases the chance of a prolonged trade war between the two,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

Shares in Germany’s carmakers and luxury companies, some of the most exposed to tariffs, fell. Porsche, Mercedes and BMW were down between 2% and 4.5% at 1320 GMT. Sunglasses company EssilorLuxottica was 5.5% lower.

Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson told Reuters on Friday that customers would have to pay a large part of tariff-related cost increases, and that it could become impossible to import the smallest cars in the company’s lineup to the United States.

But he remained hopeful that Europe and the United States will soon come to an agreement.

“I believe there will be a deal soon. It could not be in the interest of Europe or the U.S. to shut down trade between them,” Samuelsson said.

TARGETING APPLE:

“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday, referring to the Apple CEO.

“If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.”

Trump did not give a timeframe for any Apple tariffs.

Shares of Apple fell 2.3% in early trading. More than 60 million phones are sold in the United States annually, but the country has no smartphone manufacturing.

Any effort to impose a tariff on Apple alone could face legal hurdles, according to experts.

“There’s no clear legal authority that permits company specific tariffs, but the Trump administration may try to shoehorn it under its emergency power authorities,” said Sally Stewart Liang, a partner at Akin Gump in Washington.

There are other ways to put company-specific tariffs in place, but they’re all subject to long investigations, such as those on anti-dumping, according to Liang.

Apple declined to comment on Trump’s threat.

In response to market upheaval, the White House had granted exclusions from steep tariffs on smartphones and some other electronics imported largely from China, a break for Apple and other tech firms that rely on imported products.

Apple is speeding up plans to make most of its iPhones sold in the United States at factories in India by the end of 2026 to navigate potentially higher tariffs in China, its main manufacturing base, a source told Reuters.

But Trump and others, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, have suggested Apple could make iPhones in the United States. In February, Apple said it will spend $500 billion over four years to expand hiring and facilities in nine American states, but it did not say the investment would go towards bringing iPhone manufacturing to the U.S.

“It is hard to imagine that Apple can be fully compliant with this request from the president in the next 3-5 years,” D.A. Davidson & Co analyst Gil Luria said.

FTC ends challenge to Microsoft’s $69 billion Activision Blizzard deal

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission dropped a case that sought to block Microsoft’s (MSFT.O), $69 billion purchase of “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard, saying on Thursday that pursuing the case against the long-closed deal was not in the public interest.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson is seeking to use the agency’s resources for cases that fit with President Donald Trump’s agenda, such as a probe related to whether advertisers colluded to spend less on X first.

Ferguson is beginning to shut down some efforts started by his predecessor Lina Khan, including dropping a case on Thursday that had accused PepsiCo (PEP.O), of price discrimination that favored Walmart (WMT.N).

The FTC lost an appeal on May 7 seeking to reverse a judge’s decision declining to block the Microsoft-Activision deal, which closed in 2023.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said on Thursday that the FTC’s decision to drop the case was “a victory for players across the country and for common sense in Washington, D.C.”

When challenging a new merger, the FTC typically asks a judge to temporarily block the deal to give the agency time to challenge it in its own administrative court. But deals that are temporarily blocked are often abandoned.

Though the FTC lost its case seeking to block the deal temporarily, the agency could have sought to unwind the acquisition at a trial that was scheduled for July.

The Activision Blizzard transaction marked the largest-ever acquisition in the video gaming market.

The FTC claimed the tie-up would allow Microsoft to fend off competitors to the Xbox console and to its subscription and cloud-based gaming business.

Special trains to be operated by Pakistan railways on Eid-ul- Adha

Pakistan Railways has announced the operation of five special trains on the occasion of Eidul Adha 2025 to facilitate passengers traveling to various cities. According to the railway spokesperson, the special Eidul Fitr trains will run between June 2 and 4 from multiple stations across the Pakistan.

The schedule released by PR stated that the first special train will depart from Karachi Cantt to Lahore at 1:00 PM on June 2.

The second train will depart from Quetta for Peshawar Cantt at 10:00 AM on June 3.

The third train will leave Lahore for Karachi Cantt at 5:00 PM on June 3. The fourth train will depart from Karachi City for Rawalpindi at 8:00 PM on June 3.

The fifth special train will depart from Karachi Cantt for Lahore at 8:00 PM on June 4.

The spokesperson added that coaches for the first, second, and fourth trains will be arranged from carriage workshops, while the third and fifth trains will utilize existing rakes already prepared for Eid special services.

Eidul Adha, one of the most anticipated occasions in Pakistan — especially for children — is expected to be celebrated on Saturday, June 7, 2025, according to initial predictions

Eidul Adha, one of Islam’s two major festivals, commemorates the unwavering devotion of Prophet Ibrahim (A.S.), who was willing to sacrifice his son in obedience to Allah’s command.

A central ritual of the celebration is Qurbani (sacrifice), where Muslims slaughter animals such as cows, goats, sheep, or camels, following Islamic guidelines.

The meat is then distributed among family members, relatives, and those in need, reflecting the spirit of sharing and compassion that defines the festival.

China calls on US to halt development of global missile defense system

US President Donald Trump has announced new details and initial funding for his "Golden Dome" global anti-missile system, with geopolitical rival China accusing Washington on Wednesday of undermining global stability.

Trump on Tuesday announced $25 billion earmarked for the project, which he said could eventually cost a total of around $175 billion and would be operational in about three years.

Beijing hit back Wednesday, denouncing the Golden Dome as a threat to international security and accusing the United States of fueling an arms race.

"In the campaign, I promised the American people I would build a cutting-edge missile defence shield," Trump said at the White House on Tuesday. "Today I am pleased to announce we have officially selected architecture for this state-of-the-art system."

"Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they are launched from space," Trump said.

"This is very important for the success and even survival of our country."

He said US Space Force General Michael Guetlein will lead the effort, and that Canada has expressed interest in being part of it as "they want to have protection also."

While Trump put the total price at about $175 billion, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated the cost of space-based interceptors to defeat a limited number of intercontinental ballistic missiles at between $161 billion and $542 billion over 20 years.

Golden Dome has more expansive goals, with Trump saying it "will deploy next-generation technologies across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors."

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, speaking alongside Trump, said the system is aimed at protecting "the homeland from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they're conventional or nuclear."

China, Russia oppose Golden Dome:

The plan's Golden Dome name stems from Israel's Iron Dome air defence system which has intercepted thousands of short-range rockets and other projectiles since it went into operation in 2011.

The United States faces various missile threats from adversaries, but they differ significantly from the short-range weapons that Israel's Iron Dome is designed to counter.

The 2022 Missile Defence Review pointed to growing threats from China and Russia.

Beijing is closing the gap with Washington when it comes to ballistic and hypersonic missile technology, while Moscow is modernising its intercontinental-range missile systems and developing advanced precision strike missiles, the document said.

It also said that the threat of drones — which have played a key role in the Ukraine war — is likely to grow, and warned of the danger of ballistic missiles from North Korea and Iran, as well as rocket and missile threats from non-state actors.

Beijing on Wednesday expressed "serious concern" over the plan, saying it undercuts "global strategic balance and stability."

"The United States puts its own interests first and is obsessed with seeking its own absolute security, which violates the principle that no country's security should come at the expense of others," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular briefing.

"(The plan) heightens the risk of space becoming a battlefield, fuels an arms race, and undermines international security," Mao added.

China this month had already joined Russia in slamming the concept as "deeply destabilising".

It "explicitly provides for a significant strengthening of the arsenal for conducting combat operations in space," said a statement published by the Kremlin after talks between the two sides.

The United States has gained valuable real-world experience in defending against missiles and drones in recent years.

In Ukraine, US systems have been used to counter advanced Russian missiles, while American planes and warships helped defend Israel against Iranian attacks last year and have repeatedly shot down missiles and drones launched at ships by Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthi rebels.

Beijing’s Bold Bet on Mediation: International Organization Set to Launch

In a bold step set to redefine the architecture of global dispute resolution, China is preparing to unveil a pioneering international organization solely dedicated to mediation. On May 30, 2025, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will participate in the official signing ceremony of the newly formed International Organization for Mediation (IOMed), to be held in Hong Kong.

This new intergovernmental institution will be the first of its kind — designed to provide an alternative, non-adversarial path for resolving state-level, investor-related, and commercial disputes. The move signals Beijing’s broader ambition to champion dialogue-based conflict resolution on the world stage.

A Long-Term Vision Comes to Fruition

The IOMed is the product of years of quiet diplomacy and collaboration, first initiated in 2022 by China alongside nearly 20 other countries. Now, the effort is gaining substantial momentum, with roughly 60 nations and 20 international organizations — including prominent UN bodies — expected to participate in the signing event and a concurrent Global Forum on Mediation.

According to Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning, the organization will emphasize inclusivity and equality among states while promoting mediation as a culturally sensitive, practical tool for resolving disagreements.

Rethinking Global Dispute Resolution

Traditionally, international disputes have been routed through arbitration or litigation. Yet, critics argue that these systems are increasingly rigid, expensive, and often reflect the legal cultures of dominant global powers. IOMed aims to change that.

“Mediation honors mutual understanding and is consistent with the values of harmony deeply rooted in Eastern traditions,” Mao Ning stated at a briefing on May 20. “It is a more human-centered alternative that avoids the zero-sum nature of many legal confrontations.”

The rise of IOMed comes at a moment of heightened global uncertainty. With traditional institutions such as ICSID and the WTO dispute mechanism under strain, many nations — particularly in the Global South — are seeking more balanced platforms to resolve disputes.

Hong Kong: A Symbolic and Strategic Choice

By selecting Hong Kong as the permanent home for IOMed, China is sending a clear message. Once a global trading post under colonial rule, the city is now being repositioned as a neutral ground for East-West legal engagement. The decision also serves to restore confidence in Hong Kong’s role as a credible international legal center following years of political turbulence.

For Beijing, the move reinforces Hong Kong’s potential as a gateway for legal diplomacy — where tradition, international standards, and regional cooperation intersect.

A New Chapter for Global Mediation

The creation of IOMed marks a paradigm shift in how nations may choose to settle disputes in the future. Rather than rely solely on combative legal mechanisms, countries now have a dedicated institution to pursue consensus and cooperation.

As the world grapples with overlapping crises and rising polarization, the emphasis on mediation — and the establishment of a body to institutionalize it — may prove to be one of the most consequential legal innovations of this decade.