World
NZ proposes social media ban for under 16s. Netanyahu flags expanded offensive in Gaza. The first American pope. By Jonathan Pearlman.
Pakistan vows to retaliate against India’s ‘act of war’
Great power rivalry
Pakistan: Pakistan vowed to avenge an “act of war” by India on Wednesday after Indian strikes on sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir killed at least 31 people and added to fears of an all-out conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
India said it struck nine sites and did not hit military facilities but targeted “terrorist infrastructure” used to plan a shooting attack in April that killed 25 Hindu tourists and their guide in Indian-controlled Kashmir. India said the gunmen, who reportedly singled out men and asked victims about their religion before shooting them, had links to Pakistan – a claim Pakistan denied.
India’s strikes on Wednesday appeared to target sites associated with Islamist militant groups based in Pakistan. India said its strikes were measured and non-escalatory.
“Our intelligence agencies … indicated that there could be more attacks on India, and it was felt essential to both stop and tackle them,” India’s foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, told reporters on Wednesday.
Following the strikes, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement: “Pakistan has every right to give a befitting reply to this act of war imposed by India and a befitting reply is being given.”
Pakistan said it had shot down five Indian aircraft, though the claims were not verified. Pakistan also fired artillery across the Line of Control that separates Indian- and Pakistani-controlled territory in Kashmir. India said at least seven people were killed.
Analysts said the confrontation was the most significant since the two countries fought a war in Kashmir in 1999. The last serious clash between the two countries was in 2019, when India launched air strikes following a suicide bombing by a Pakistan-based Islamist group in Kashmir that killed 40 security officers.
Since the April attack, tensions between Delhi and Islamabad have rapidly worsened. India downgraded diplomatic ties and this week banned imports from Pakistan and cut water flows.
United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he hoped the latest conflict “ends very, very quickly”.
A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said: “The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.”
The neighbourhood
New Zealand: Christopher Luxon, New Zealand’s prime minister, proposed the introduction of an Australian-style ban on social media for children aged under 16 this week.
Draft legislation requires social media companies to verify users are at least 16 years old before allowing them to create accounts. Companies who fail to do so will face fines of up to NZ$2 million.
Luxon told reporters the move was designed to protect young people from bullying, inappropriate content and social media addiction.
“We have restrictions to keep our children safe in the physical world, but we don’t have the equivalent restrictions in the virtual world, and we should,” he said.
The ruling National Party’s coalition partners have not yet said whether they will support the bill, although the opposition Labour Party indicated it was likely to vote in favour. A 1News Verian poll in December found 68 per cent of New Zealanders supported an Australian-style ban, 22 per cent were opposed and 10 per cent were undecided.
Last year, New Zealand banned children from using mobile phones at school – a policy designed to address falling literacy rates. Some researchers have suggested the ban should be replaced by more flexible approaches, such as allowing phones during break times.
Catherine Wedd, the Nationals MP who introduced the social media bill, said the proposal legislation mirrored that passed by Australia last December, noting that Texas recently banned social media for under 18s and that similar measures were being considered by the United Kingdom, the European Union and Canada. Australia’s law is due to come into effect late this year.
War zone
Gaza: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, announced plans on Monday for an expanded offensive in Gaza that will involve seizing and holding territory and moving most of the enclave’s 2.2 million residents to the south.
The plan, approved by Israel’s security cabinet, could include a new system of aid delivery in which supplies will be distributed by soldiers and contractors inside designated zones.
Israel resumed fighting in Gaza in early March following a failed attempt to extend a ceasefire with Hamas. Shortly after, Israel blocked aid from entering Gaza, leading to warnings from humanitarian groups that the enclave faces a dire shortage of food and supplies.
Israel said the aid system would ensure Hamas did not divert aid to militants or seek protection money. The UN rejected the proposal, saying it would not cooperate because the new system appeared to be “a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
David Mencer, an Israeli government spokesperson, said the escalated offensive was intended to increase pressure on Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages and to allow the military to hold territory and “prevent Hamas from taking it back”.
Israel began calling up thousands of reservists last week but is not expected to start the offensive until after a visit by Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, scheduled for this week.
Awad Abid, a 38-year-old resident of northern Gaza, expressed concern about the impact of a new Israeli offensive, telling The New York Times the blockade has caused “hunger to enter every house”.
The White House has been pushing for a new ceasefire, but talks have stalled over Hamas’s demand for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Israel’s demand for Hamas to disarm.
Spotlight: The first American pope
Italy: Robert Francis Prevost, who was born in Chicago and spent two decades as a missionary and parish priest in Peru, has been elected the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and the first from the United States.
Prevost, who took the name Leo, emerged on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Thursday evening, shortly after white smoke blew out of the conclave chimney above the Sistine Chapel, signifying that the 133 cardinal electors had chosen a new leader. He was chosen after four rounds of voting, one of the quickest of recent selections.
Prevost, who is 69 years old, replaces Pope Francis, who died last month aged 88 and was known as a reformer. The American has been greeted as a potential bridge between the church’s traditionalist and reformist wings, though some conservatives warned – to their dismay – that he will continue the progressive path set by Francis. Still, observers noted that he appeared on Thursday wearing the traditional red stole that was rejected by Francis.
“He’s close to Francis, but he’s not a true Francis continuity candidate,” an unnamed Vatican source told Politico.
Pope Leo XIV, as the new pope will be known, has supported greater inclusion of women in the church but rejected the ordination of women. His precise views on LGBTQIA+ rights are not known but are believed to be restrictive. In a 2012 address, he appeared to be critical of “how alternative families comprised of homosexual partners and their adopted children are so benignly and sympathetically portrayed on television programs and in cinema”, suggesting that popular culture was supportive of views at odds with the gospel. But, like Francis, he is believed to be a supporter of action on climate change and is likely to be sympathetic towards migrants – a view that put Francis at odds with the Trump administration.
Some observers said the appointment of a US-born, globalist pope may have been intended to send a message about the comparison between Prevost and the US’s nativist president.
“This was a great geopolitical response from the college of cardinals, which – right at a time when the international stage was seemingly being left to leaders threatening to resort to force, introduces an American pope speaking of peace, bridges, Christ,” Marco Politi, a Vatican watcher, told The Washington Post. Trump told reporters the appointment of an American pope was “such an honour for our country”.
The appearance of Pope Leo XIV at St Peter’s Basilica on Thursday drew excited applause from the crowds in the square. His first words, spoken in Italian, were: “Peace be with you all.”
This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on May 10, 2025 as "Pakistan vows to retaliate against India’s ‘act of war’".
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