United States: The first drone war in the world between nuclear-armed neighbours has begun in South Asia. 

On Thursday, Islamabad was accused by India of sending waves of drones and missiles into the three military bases of Indian territory and Indian administered Kashmir; an accusation swiftly denied by Islamabad. 

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Pakistan claimed it had shot down 25 Indian drones in the past few hours. Delhi remained publicly silent. 

Experts say this tit for tat phase of the war, this dangerous new chapter of the decades long rivalry has both sides shooting more than just artillery across a hot border line into each other’s territory using unmanned weapons. 

As Washington and other world powers call for gaps in restraint, the region is poised at the brink of escalation as the drones – silent, remote, and deniable – are beginning a new chapter in the India-Pakistan conflict. 

According to Jahara Matisek, a professor at the US Naval War College, “The Indo-Pak conflict is moving into a new drone era – one where ‘invisible eyes’ and unmanned precision may determine escalation or restraint. Thus, in South Asia’s contested skies, the side that masters drone warfare won’t just see the battlefield – they’ll shape it,” BBC News reported. 

Pakistan states that, since Wednesday morning, Indian air strikes and cross-border fire have claimed the lives of 36 and wounded another 57 in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. 

On the other side, India’s army reports at least 16 civilians dead from Pakistani shelling. 

India insists its missile aggression was a retaliation for a deadly militant incident on Indian tourists in Pahalgam last month, an attack, which Islamabad claims no part in, the BBC reported. 

Pakistan’s military said on Thursday it had shot down 25 Indian drones in different cities such as Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi. 

The UAVs – reported to be Israeli-made Harop drones – were reported to have been intercepted using technical and weapon-based countermeasures. 

India said it had neutralized many Pakistani air defence radars and systems, including one from Lahore, whose claim was denied by Islamabad. 

United States: For the first time in history, Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected as the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, an American. 

The name he chose was Pope Leo XIV. 

Global Message of Peace from St. Peter’s Balcony 

The 69-year-old new pontiff appeared from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and said, “Peace be with you all!” 

According to NPR News, he said he wanted his message of peace to “enter your hearts, reach your families and all people, wherever they are.” 

He thanked his fellow cardinals for choosing him, and he spoke in Italian, Spanish, and Latin. 

After spending years working in Peru, he thanked his former diocese in the South American Country, “where a loyal people has shared its faith and has given a lot,” he stated. 

He also respectfully spoke of the deceased Pope Francis and ended by having the platoon lead the crowd in prayer. 

**Live Updates** Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago Becomes First American Pope, Choses the Name Leo XIVhttps://t.co/nhFPlysstw

— DerekPinard (@DerekPinard) May 9, 2025

He emerged following white smoke rolling out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, indicating that the 133 cardinals within had chosen a new pope. 

A roar went up amongst the crowd when they saw the white smoke, which they were able to see reflected on several large screens in St. Peter’s Square. 

The enormous bells of St. Peter’s Basilica started ringing, announcing that the Catholic Church had a new pope. 

The vote occurred during the second day of the election process, popularly known as the conclave. Other likely prospects had been identified by church experts, and no one had presumed that an American could win the papacy. 

World Leaders and Citizens React to US Papacy 

President Trump consoled with the new pope and expressed happiness to meet him. 

“It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country,” as per Trump’s post on his social media. 

According to Brandon Johnson, the mayor of Pope Leo’s hometown of Chicago, who expressed local pride, “Everything dope, including the Pope, comes from Chicago!” 

Peru saw newspapers reporting that the new Pope is also a Peruvian citizen. 

He has lived in Peru for 20 years as a missionary and later as the bishop of Chiclayo, a city of half a million inhabitants off the northern coast of Peru. 

United States: The February Oval Office confrontation between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy was “beneath America,” according to former US president Joe Biden. 

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During his first media appearance post-January departure from the White House, Biden criticized Trump’s diplomatic achievements and depicted the White House scene where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suffered degradation at Trump’s hands with Vice President JD Vance by his side. 

As Biden stated, “I found it beneath America in the way that took place,” Politico.eu reported. 

“The way we talk about now that ‘this is the Gulf of America’, ‘maybe we’re going to have to take back Panama,’ ‘maybe we need to acquire Greenland’ … what the hell’s going on here?” He continued. 

Furthermore, he added, “What president ever talks like that? That’s not who we are.” 

Biden says Trump-Zelenskyy clash was ‘beneath America’. His term in office was beneath America. Open borders, worst inflation in forty years and Hunter. https://t.co/s3TLPSfwFv

— fred gotit (@gotit_fred) May 7, 2025

During an Oval Office meeting in February, President Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart that he was ungrateful for American assistance. Both countries reached a minerals agreement after President Trump and President Zelensky met at Pope Francis’ funeral. 

Biden Questions Trump’s Foreign Policy Rhetoric 

Biden criticized Trump’s methods of engaging with Ukraine when he called it “modern-day appeasement.” 

“Listen to what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin said when he talked about going from Kyiv into Ukraine. And why. He believes it’s part of Mother Russia,” Biden stated. 

The U.S. withdrawal from its position as Europe’s security guarantor became a matter of serious concern to Biden, who warned that NATO’s fate would transform global history if America loses its military commitment. 

Also, in between the signs of US retreat from its role as guarantor of European security, Biden said the future of the NATO military alliance was now of “grave concern” to him and warned “it would change the modern history of the world if that occurs,” Politico.eu reported. 

Biden Rebukes Vance and Hegseth 

Further, when asked if Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been right to take issue with America subsidizing European defense, Biden pushed back: “They don’t have a point. When we were attacked, what happened on 9/11? They all responded and supported us.”