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Pakistan military offers to cut defence budget amid severe financial crisis

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Pakistan military offers to cut defence budget amid severe financial crisis

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Amid a severe financial crisis in Pakistan, its military, in what media reports dubbed “an unprecedented move”, has voluntarily decided to cut the defence budget before Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government presents its budget for the fiscal year through June 2020 next Tuesday (June 11).

The move comes amid an austerity drive launched by the government to solve the cash-strapped nation’s economic woes, with the country bracing for a raft of belt-tightening measures to address an out-of-control deficit.

Economists warn the government may have to come up with a combined 700 billion rupees ($5 billion) worth of expenditure cuts and new taxes to satisfy the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is negotiating to loan the country $6 billion over the next three years, said a Reuters report. Pakistan is expected to put in place measures to rein in a ballooning fiscal and current account deficits to get access to the funds.

Without mentioning how much budget cut would be undertaken, Major General Asif Ghafoor, Director General (DG) Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) – the media wing of the military – in his Twitter message yesterday (Tuesday, June 4) said that voluntary cuts in the defence budget for next fiscal year would not be at the cost of defence and security.

“Voluntary cut in defence budget for a year will not be at the cost of defence & security. We shall maintain effective response potential to all threats. Three services will manage impact of the cut through appropriate internal measures. It was important to participate in development of tribal areas & Balochistan,” Ghafoor said.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan said he was very appreciative of the Pakistan military’s “unprecedented voluntary initiative of stringent cuts in their defence expenditures” in light of the country’s financial situation.

Khan said he was grateful for the move that came “despite multiple security challenges” that Pakistan faces. He said that the funds saved will be used for the development of the newly-merged tribal areas as well as in Balochistan.

Imran Khan, after assuming office last year, launched several austerity measures. He moved into a modest three-bed room house of his military secretary along with two servants. Last month, the government announced that all civil and military institutions would contribute to the austerity-oriented federal budget for 2019-20.

“There will be austerity in the coming budget. We will try to keep government expenditures to the minimum possible level,” Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance and Economic Affairs Hafeez Shaikh had said.

In 2018, Pakistan was the 20th biggest military spender in the world with an expenditure of USD 11.4 billion, a report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) said in April.

The military spending of 2018 made up for four per cent of Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) which is the highest level since 2004, according to the report by the Sweden-based institute.

The top military spender in the world is the United States, which spent USD 649 billion on its forces last year. The US military spending, however, has decreased by 17 per cent over the past decade, the report said.

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Tiger Woods confirms relationship with Vanessa Trump, Donald Trump Jr’s ex-wife

Tiger Woods has officially confirmed his relationship with Vanessa Trump, Donald Trump Jr’s former wife. The pair shared the news via social media following weeks of public curiosity.

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Tiger Woods and Vanessa Trump confirmed relationship on social media

Tiger Woods has confirmed that he is in a relationship with Vanessa Trump, the former wife of Donald Trump Jr. The golfing icon made the announcement public via a heartfelt post on social media, requesting privacy as their relationship moves forward.

“Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side! We look forward to our journey through life together,” Woods wrote to his 6.4 million followers on X. He also asked for privacy for all those close to them.

Vanessa Trump was married to Donald Trump Jr from 2005 until their separation in 2018. The former couple shares five children, including 17-year-old Kai, who is expected to play collegiate golf at the University of Miami in 2026. Notably, Kai attends the same school as Woods’s children, Sam and Charlie, and recently competed alongside Charlie at a golf invitational.

The couple had been the subject of growing speculation across gossip platforms in recent weeks. Despite being known for guarding his personal life, Woods made the relationship public, drawing comparisons to his 2013 social media announcement about dating Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn.

In the past, Woods explained that going public was a strategy to deter paparazzi and safeguard his children. His children Sam and Charlie were born during his marriage to Elin Nordegren, which ended in 2010 following revelations of Woods’s extramarital affairs.

Woods’s most recent public relationship before Vanessa Trump was with Erica Herman, which ended in 2022 after a long-term partnership and legal disputes over property matters.

Woods also shares a professional connection with the Trump family. He has played golf with Donald Trump on multiple occasions and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Trump in 2019. In February, Woods was also seen attending a meeting with Trump to discuss developments in the golf world, especially around the emergence of the Saudi-backed LIV tour.

The announcement comes shortly after Woods revealed he had ruptured his Achilles tendon, ruling him out of the upcoming Masters tournament.

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Israeli airstrike kills Hamas political leader Salah al-Bardaweel in southern Gaza

Sources aligned with Hamas further disclosed that the attack not only killed Bardaweel, a key figure in the group’s political office, but also his wife, marking a significant blow to the organization’s leadership structure.

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An Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza, claimed the life of Salah al-Bardaweel, a prominent political leader within Hamas, as reported by both Hamas and Palestinian media outlets in the early hours of Sunday, March 23.

Sources aligned with Hamas further disclosed that the attack not only killed Bardaweel, a key figure in the group’s political office, but also his wife, marking a significant blow to the organization’s leadership structure.

Israel ramped up its military campaign in Gaza earlier that week, resuming large-scale strikes on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. The Israeli government pointed to Hamas as the reason for the renewed offensive, accusing the group of violating a ceasefire agreement that had held since January 19.

That truce, which lasted nearly two months, had offered a rare period of calm in the volatile region. The collapse of this agreement has reignited tensions, with both sides trading blame for the breakdown.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been vocal about the overarching goal of the war, emphasizing that Israel seeks to completely dismantle Hamas as both a military force and a governing body in Gaza. In this latest wave of attacks, Netanyahu underscored that a key objective is to compel Hamas to release hostages still held captive, a lingering issue from previous escalations. The intensified strikes reflect Israel’s determination to weaken the group’s operational capacity.

The casualties from Tuesday’s bombardment included high-ranking Hamas officials, such as Essam Addalees, who served as the de facto head of the group’s administrative government, and Mahmoud Abu Watfa, the chief of internal security.

Several other mid-level officials were also killed, further disrupting Hamas’ organizational framework. Palestinian health authorities reported a devastating toll, stating that at least 400 individuals perished in the strikes on Tuesday alone. More than half of those killed were women and children, highlighting the heavy civilian cost of the operation.

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US President Trump says he will pay out of his pocket to Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore for overtime stay in space

“Nobody told me about this. If it comes to it, I’ll pay it from my own pocket, alright? I’ll sort it for them,” Trump declared, visibly taken aback. “Is that it? That’s peanuts for what they’ve been through,” he added, marvelling at the modest sum given their ordeal.

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US President Donald Trump has expressed surprise upon learning that NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who endured an extended nine-month stint aboard the International Space Station (ISS), hadn’t received overtime pay.

Addressing reporters at a White House briefing, Trump even floated the idea of covering the costs himself, after the reporter highlighted that the duo were owed $1,430—$5 daily for 286 days.

“Nobody told me about this. If it comes to it, I’ll pay it from my own pocket, alright? I’ll sort it for them,” Trump declared, visibly taken aback. “Is that it? That’s peanuts for what they’ve been through,” he added, marvelling at the modest sum given their ordeal.

The astronauts, including Williams and Wilmore, alongside Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, returned to Earth on Wednesday via SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, splashing down off Tallahassee, Florida.

Trump showered praise on SpaceX chief Elon Musk for the rescue. “Thank heavens for Elon. Without him, who knows how long they’d have been stuck up there?” he remarked, crediting Musk’s ingenuity for their safe return.

For Williams and Wilmore, seasoned test pilots for Boeing’s Starliner capsule, what began as an eight-day mission ballooned into over nine months due to technical snags—helium leaks and thruster glitches—that rendered their craft unfit for the journey back.

The Starliner returned empty in September 2024, leaving them reliant on SpaceX. Trump underscored the physical toll of prolonged space stays. “After nine or ten months, the body starts breaking down—bones, blood, the works. It gets grim beyond 14 months. Without Elon, they’d be in a fix,” he said.

In a tangent, Trump drew parallels between Musk’s challenges and his own, claiming Tesla faced vandalism akin to the 6 January 2021 riots. “Elon’s had his share of trouble too,” he noted, blending admiration with a touch of defiance.

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