Trump-Musk showdown threatens US space plans
Musk, the world's richest person, shot back that he would mothball Dragon — the capsule NASA relies on for crew flights — before retracting the threat a few hours later. For now, experts say mutual dependence should keep a full-blown rupture at bay, but the episode exposes just how disruptive any break could be.
Founded in 2002, SpaceX leapfrogged legacy contractors to become the world's dominant launch provider. Driven by Musk's ambition to make humanity multi-planetary, it is now NASA's sole means of sending astronauts to the ISS — a symbol of post-Cold War cooperation and a testbed for deeper space missions. The company has completed 10 regular crew rotations to the orbiting lab and is contracted for four more, under a deal worth nearly $5 billion. — AFP
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Observer
4 hours ago
- Observer
Why China isn't lecturing trump about his costly bill
Berry Wang The writer is a researcher and a reporter for The New York Times As one of the largest holders of US debt for the past two decades, China has not shied away from lecturing the United States about its financial behaviour. Like a parent scolding a child for racking up credit card bills, China needled Washington to protect its assets during the 2013 debt ceiling impasse and blamed Americans for setting off the 2008 global financial crisis with their profligate spending. But as American lawmakers debated and ultimately passed, a giant domestic bill championed by President Donald Trump that is projected to add more than $3 trillion to the federal debt by 2034, China has remained largely silent despite the potential long-term risk it poses to its holdings. China's main concerns about its holdings has long been over the dollar's value and whether the United States will fail to pay its obligations, said Yasheng Huang, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 'These two concerns are far more material today,' he said. 'The dollar has already depreciated, dragging down the Chinese holdings. In terms of the other concern, I personally do not trust this administration to uphold rule of law and debt obligations'. In covering the debate, Chinese state media have emphasised how divisive the bill has been and the seeming futility of the American democratic process to reflect popular will. Reports described the debates as a 'political circus,' while Chinese pundits said the vote highlighted 'increasing polarisation' in the United States. But Chinese officials have not yet publicly criticised the Trump administration and could be focused on other considerations. China probably sees no reason to antagonise Trump by publicly criticising his bill when it is in a shaky truce with his administration in a trade war that had earlier seen both sides impose sky-high tariffs on each other's goods. The two sides have agreed to lift certain countermeasures and keep working towards a deal. Momentum may even be building towards a meeting between Trump and China's top leader, Xi Jinping. Beijing, which is trying to revive economic growth, can ill afford an extended trade war. Concerns over its treasury holdings are not top of mind. More pressing are the tariffs and efforts by the Trump administration to persuade other countries to restrict their own trade with China. 'China is still trying to maintain a fragile trade truce with the United States,' said Joe Mazur, an analyst at Trivium, a research firm. 'Criticising Trump's signature piece of legislation could anger him and torpedo recent diplomatic understandings'. Members of Congress give thumbs up as President Donald Trump signs his signature policy bill during a Fourth of July celebration event outside the White House in Washington, on Friday, July 4, 2025. (Valerie Plesch/The New York Times) From China's perspective, rather than fuel American economic growth, the measure could push Washington closer to a fiscal cliff and undermine its ability to compete with Beijing. 'The chances of Trump's success are at best uncertain,' said Shen Dingli, a scholar of international relations in Shanghai. Instead, the measure 'could indirectly help make China great again' by weakening the United States, he said. Crises and chaos in the United States feed into one of Xi's primary assertions about the state of the world, that the East is rising and the West is declining. China has highlighted the Trump administration's alienation of US allies and partners and disregard for global norms. On social media, one popular hashtag read: 'Big, Beautiful Bill will make 17 million people lose their health insurance'. Internet commenters also cheered on Elon Musk, who has described the bill as 'insane'. In contrast, Chinese analysts said, China has raised its debt levels, in part, to build infrastructure and to loan money to developing countries — spending that is geared towards expanding China's influence. China is also struggling with a growing mountain of debt because of borrowing by local governments, their investment vehicles and real estate developers. Yao Yang, an economist at Peking University, was skeptical that China stood to gain from any disruption caused by Trump's bill. He said the United States could continue to borrow for years to come as long as it remained the world's biggest consumer market. 'America's financial dominance can't be easily overturned and the same goes for the dollar's supremacy,' he said. Beijing has long complained that Washington has printed more money to serve its domestic needs without considering how it devalues the dollar and, by extension, foreign countries' holdings of US assets. But it has also been gradually reducing its holdings of US Treasury bonds, from a peak of $1.3 trillion more than a decade ago, to about $750 billion now, investing instead in other assets like gold. China is also invested in weakening what it calls the US dollar's hegemony as the world's leading currency for trade. That power fuels the world's dependency on American consumers, making major exporting nations like China 'more submissive' to the United States because of the threats of tariffs, said Henry Huiyao Wang, president of the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing. 'The United States is using the greenback and its large deficit financing to sustain its global power,' he said.
Observer
6 hours ago
- Observer
First-Ever Images of Sun's South Pole Released by European Mission
Spacecraft and specialized telescopes have been studying the sun closely for decades, probing the secrets of its spots, flares and corona. But neither human nor robotic eyes had properly seen the north or south poles of the sun. The European Space Agency recently released the first clear images of the sun's south pole, which were captured in late March by its Solar Orbiter spacecraft. 'It's the first time ever that humanity has had an image of the poles of the sun,' said Carole Mundell, director of science for the European Space Agency. 'It's a wonderful achievement.' Scientists have had vague glimpses of the sun's poles before. However, those side-on views have been akin to 'looking through grass,' said Mathew Owens, a space physicist at the University of Reading in England, who added that it had been hard to work out what was happening at the poles and how they differed from other regions of the star. By studying its polar extremes, scientists hope to gain new insights into the sun and how it behaves. And the best is yet to come — later this year, humans will get our first images of the sun's north pole from Solar Orbiter. The $550 million Solar Orbiter, launched Feb. 10, 2020, into an orbit that caused it to fly by Venus repeatedly. These encounters give the spacecraft a gravitational kick, enabling it to push itself out of the plane of orbit that the planets follow around the sun and into a higher angle to view the poles. In March, after four flybys of Venus, the spacecraft swooped about 32 million miles over the sun's south pole at an angle of about 17 degrees, enough to provide first-ever snapshots of what it looks like. 'We've never had this view before,' said Nour Rawafi, a project scientist for NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission, which is currently flying closer to the sun than any spacecraft in history. 'Seeing the poles clearly is really going to open a new window in trying to understand the solar atmosphere and the interior of the sun.' The images reveal a speckled pattern of magnetic activity at the pole, caused by huge ruptures in the sun's surface as magnetic fields pour in and out. — JONATHAN O'CALLAGHAN / NYT
Observer
6 hours ago
- Observer
The military sector strategic, economic, and social value
Whether a small island nation or a continental superpower, the military sectors directly shape how citizens experience security, work opportunities, and even everyday technology. Governments routinely test the limits of their budgets, weighing fresh investments against schools, roads, or health-care clinics. Behind these debates sits the twin reality that a capable armed force can either deter foreign ambitions or drain resources; yet the spending keeps turning over because it kneads tightly together defense, diplomacy, infrastructure, employment, and global reputation. By meeting vocational engineers, software developers, and robotics experts on a single campus, modern militaries can prompt breakthroughs that later show up in commercial products or disaster relief operations. Because assets such as satellites and secure communication grids must function around the clock, civilian life indirectly steers a constant stream of innovation, while public orders sustain precision factories, shipyards, and high-skill laboratories across multiple markets. This piece digs into those overlapping strands, starting with the unmistakable duty of securing people from invasion and coercion, then tracking how that work spills onto the budget line for research, jobs, and civic trust. It touches on rising global patterns-from space-to-sea competition to asymmetric threats-and weighs the merit of broad spending against criticism that armed forces sometimes crowd out softer development needs, distort markets, or trap governments behind permanent high fences. NATIONAL SECURITY AND SOVEREIGNTY Protecting Territorial Integrity: At its core, a nation's military exists to curtain and safeguard its land, sea, and air boundaries, ensuring that government decisions remain free from external seizure. Strategic Deterrence: Deterrence lies at the heart of modern defence planning. By maintaining credible nuclear arsenals or cutting-edge conventional forces, countries can dissuade rivals from starting wars they might otherwise consider. Cold War's Mutual Assured Destruction and today's NATO posture illustrate how assured retaliation keeps the peace. 16 Military Sector's Strategic Economic and Social Dimensions THE MILITARY AS AN ECONOMIC ENGINE Job Creation: The defence establishment churns out jobs on a huge scale. Careers range from enlisted troops and regular officers to civilian engineers, scientists, and office staff working for private contractors. In the United States alone, more than 1.3 million active personnel and roughly 800,000 reservists are on payroll, backed by millions in factories and labs feeding the military pipeline. Infrastructure Development: Military projects routinely spur the build-out of critical infrastructure-roads, air strips, ports, clinics, and comms grids that civilians later rely on daily. In many nations, combat engineers help lay down dams or wilderness highways, effectively merging defence goals with broader public growth initiatives. Boosting Research and Development: Military research and development has long been a catalyst for big-ticket technology leaps. Groundbreaking ideas-such as the internet, GPS, jet engines, and radar-emerged first inside defense labs. Spending on defense tech feeds aerospace, robotics, AI, and cybersecurity, creating dual-use tools that civilian markets later adopt. TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT AND INNOVATION Military-Industrial Complex: When military needs align with industrial know-how, fresh technologies often follow. The United States, China, and Russia have poured resources into their military-industrial complexes, and many breakthroughs born there eventually trickle down to commercial users. Dual-Use Technology: Tools originally designed for war frequently slip into civilian hands. Some clear examples include: • Drones (UAVs): Once built for spying and strikes, they now scan fields, ferry packages, and shoot films. • Satellite Navigation: GPS started on the battlefield, yet it now guides cars and hikers worldwide. DIPLOMACY AND GLOBAL INFLUENCE Military Diplomacy: Joint drills, arms sales, and military training smooth a nations diplomatic path. Stronger militaries trade defense partnerships for sway, shaping alliances and steering geopolitics in ways soft power alone cannot. Power Projection: Long-range aircraft carriers, intercontinental missiles, and a network of foreign bases let states extend their influence far from home. By fielding these assets, governments strengthen their diplomatic stature and gain the speed needed to tackle crises, subtly steering the rules that keep the international system running. EMERGENCY AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE Disaster Response: When earthquakes, floods, or pandemics strike, armed forces frequently arrive first, cutting through red tape. With cargo planes, medical brigades, and mobile engineers, they form the backbone of rapid relief, moving supplies, treating injuries, and clearing debris long before civilian agencies can scale up. Peacekeeping Missions: Military units also uphold global stability through United Nations peacekeeping. Nations such as India, Bangladesh, and Rwanda send soldiers thousands of kilometres away, putting themselves between rival factions and helping resume civilian life in places ravaged by conflict. National Identity and Social Integration National Pride: A credible military fuels a country's pride and sense of purpose. Public ceremonies, colour-rich parades, and solemn memorials recall victories and sacrifices, knitting citizens together around a story everyone can honour and admire. Service members elevated to hero status spark widespread patriotism and temporary, yet striking, solidarity. Social Cohesion: Conscription or voluntary service pulls together people from different tribes, classes, and regions under a single banner. Gruelling drills, late-night watches, and shared triumphs blur social lines, teaching respect, trust, and the pragmatic truth that each recruits effort is indispensable to the unit. POLITICAL AND STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS Military and Civil-Military Relations: In most countries the armed forces are a key player in how power is organised. Strong democracies keep the military firmly under civilian leadership, linking defence plans directly to broader national priorities. Yet in a number of states the generals sit at the political table, shaping policy and sometimes limiting public freedoms. Strategic Autonomy: Building local weapons and equipment lets a government lean less on outside suppliers. India, France and Turkey, among others, have poured resources into their own factories in hopes of boosting sovereignty and dreaming of true strategic independence. GLOBAL MILITARY SPENDING TRENDS Top Military Spenders: Research published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) still names these five giant budgets: United States, China, Russia, India and Saudi Arabia When their totals are added, they make up about 60 percent of all defence dollars worldwide. Some seek to keep a global edge, while others react to real or imagined threats at home. Arms Race and Regional Tensions: Across South Asia, the Middle East and waters near China, spending spikes fuel old rivalries and wide uncertainties. Governments argue that new missiles or fleets are pure deterrence, even when most analysts fear the arms spiral erodes stability. CRITICISM AND CONTROVERSIES Military Expenditure vs. Social Spending: Many observers contend that huge defense budgets drain money that could otherwise improve hospitals, schools, and social safety nets. In several low-income nations this tension fuels heated arguments over how best to keep citizens safe and prosperous. Militarization and Human Rights: Authoritarian governments often deploy the armed forces to quash protests and tighten political control, triggering abuses that shock watchdog groups. When paramilitary units, armed police, and surveillance drones mimic military operations, long-standing civil liberties also come under severe strain. Environmental Impact: From live-fire exercise scorch marks to fighter-jet exhaust, defense work leaves a heavy ecological footprint that rarely makes headline news. Bomb tests, base-clearing deforestation, and routine naval drills contaminate soil, harm wildlife, and push carbon totals higher. FUTURE OF THE MILITARY SECTOR Cyber Warfare and AI: Information technology is rapidly becoming the main theater of conflict. Governments pour money into hacker squads, machine-learning analysis, and drone-like robots, hoping to outpace enemy software and give human commanders real-time, reliable options. Space Militarization: New divisions for space war watched by the United States, China, and India underline that orbit is the next arena where power will be measured. Defensive satellites, ground-deployed anti-satellite missiles, and infrared alerts overhead now shape the very heart of deterrence thinking. Robotics and Autonomous Systems: Robotic vehicles-ranged from surveillance drones to driver-less fighting vehicles-are being built to work faster than people and keep soldiers out of harm's way. In the next few decades, these systems will reshape how battles are fought and how supplies move across front lines. CONCLUSION The military is more than weapons; it guards borders, steers jobs, shapes diplomacy, and pushes technology. A robust force protects lives, yet its goals must mesh with social progress, public checks, and care for nature. Tomorrow's defense hinges less on sheer firepower and more on cyber shields, machine brains, joint drills, and clear rules. As challenges grow, wise, principled spending on arms and training will still mark a nation´s standing at home and abroad.
