Entertainment
PM Shehbaz to meet Trump at White House today, US official confirms
- US-Pakistan ties have warmed under Trump.
- Trump has already hosted Field Marshal Asim Munir.
- US ties with India have been tested since Trump took office.
US President Donald Trump is expected to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the White House on Thursday, a Trump administration official told Reuters on Wednesday, with the meeting coming weeks after the two countries agreed to a trade deal.
The prime minister and the US president are expected to hold detailed talks on global and regional issues, with Field Marshal Asim Munir also likely to join the meeting.
US-Pakistan ties have warmed in recent months under Trump after Washington had for years viewed Pakistan’s rival India as a counter to China’s influence in Asia.
Washington’s relations with New Delhi have been tested under the Republican leader over issues such as visa hurdles for Indians, high tariff rates imposed by Trump on goods from India and Trump’s repeated claims that he brokered an India-Pakistan ceasefire in May after the South Asian neighbours engaged in their latest hostilities.
The United States and Pakistan announced a trade deal on July 31 with a 19% tariff rate imposed by Washington. Trump has yet to reach a trade deal with India.
Officials and analysts have noted that after tensions with Washington, New Delhi is recalibrating relations with China as a hedge.
Trump welcomed army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir earlier this year, the first time a US president hosted the head of Pakistan’s army – widely regarded as the most powerful figure in the country – at the White House, unaccompanied by senior Pakistani civilian officials.
“We’re working through a number of issues when it comes to counter-terrorism, when it comes to economic and trade ties,” a senior State Department official told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday when asked about Pakistan.
“And so the president remains focused on advancing US interests in the region, that includes through engaging with Pakistan and their government leaders,” the official said.
When asked about frictions with India, the official said Trump believed in being frank about frustrations in ties, but the relationship was strong. Washington viewed New Delhi as a good friend and partner and believed their relationship would define the 21st century, the official said.
They added that Washington had been working on planning for a summit of the Quad grouping of India, Australia, Japan and the United States that India had been expected to hold in November. That would happen, “if not this year, early next year,” the official said.
Pakistan has backed Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, although Islamabad has condemned US ally Israel’s bombardments in Gaza, Qatar and Iran.
Shehbaz was part of a meeting Trump had on Tuesday with leaders of many Muslim-majority countries, where the US president discussed Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Washington says the US shared peace proposals with leaders from those countries in the meeting held on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly.
Entertainment
Taylor Swift plans to reunite with Sabrina Carpenter, Sombr at Coachella
Taylor Swift has never performed at the Coachella stage but she is reportedly returning as an attendee this year at the event to watch her friends perform.
The 36-year-old pop superstar last attended the festival in 2024 with her now-fiancé Travis Kelce and the two seemed to be having the best time as they danced and sang along together.
This year, the Opalite hitmaker is expected to attend her pals Sabrina Carpenter and Sombr’s Coachella sets both of whom have highly-anticipated performances planned for the festival.
Carpenter is one of the headliners for this year – alongside Justin Bieber and Karol G, and will be performing on April 10, 11, and 12.
While Sombr is listed as a performer on April 12 and April 19.
Excited fans quickly flocked to the comments and collectively hoped, “SABRINA NEEEDSSSSS TO BRING OUT TAYLOR OMG,” for their collaboration The Life of a Showgirl title track.
Some also chanted, “I need Sabrina to arrest Taylor,” referring to her Juno arrest tradition.
Despite the rumours, Swift’s attendance is not confirmed as of yet.
Entertainment
Jack Black celebrates major moment with his ‘Saturday Night Live’ return
Jack Black has added another feather to his cap with his latest Saturday Night Live appearance.
Hitting a new milestone, the Kung Fu Panda star joined the show’s Five-Timers Club, an honour reserved for hosts who have appeared five times.
The newly minted five-timer was inducted into the aristocratic SNL club by a cavalcade of elites, with cameos from Jonah Hill, Tina Fey, Candice Bergen and Melissa McCarthy.
Moreover, the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle actor’s monologue turned into a surprise musical performance of Seven Nation Army as he teamed up with Jack White.
After Black’s successful induction, White entered the scene for a reworked rendition of the signature 2003 single by The White Stripes, featuring altered lyrics referencing the Five-Timers Club and the night’s episode, while maintaining the song’s iconic guitar riff.
The latest episode comes after the NBC comedy sketch series released a promo on Wednesday, April 1, with the 56-year-old actor and comedian filming a “Get Ready With Me” vertical video before hosting SNL.
“The musical guest is my brother from another color, Jack White,” the similarly named Grammy winner quips before breaking out into an air guitar solo. “And because I’m hosting the show for the one, two, three, four — count ’em — fifth time!”
Entertainment
Artemis astronauts to study the Moon’s surface using mainly their eyes
More than 50 years after humans first flew around the Moon, Artemis astronauts will repeat the feat on Monday and use the most basic instrument to study it: their eyes.
Despite the technological advancements since the Apollo missions, Nasa still relies on the eyesight of its astronauts to learn more about the Moon.
“The human eye is basically the best camera that could ever or will ever exist,” Kelsey Young, the lead scientist for the Artemis 2 mission, told AFP.
“The number of receptors in the human eye far outweighs what a camera is able to do.”
Although modern cameras may be superior to human eyesight in some respects, “the human eye is really good at color, and it’s really good at context, and it’s also really good at photometric observations,” Young said.
Humans can understand how lighting changes surface details, like how angled lighting reveals texture but reduces visible color.
In just the blink of an eye, humans can detect a subtle color shift and understand how lighting changes the contours of a landscape like the Moon’s surface, details which are scientifically useful but difficult to ascertain from photos or videos.
Artemis 2 astronaut Victor Glover, who pilots the Orion spacecraft, said before liftoff this week that eyes were a “magical instrument.”
Field scientists
To ensure they made the most of their proximity to the Moon, the four Artemis 2 crew members underwent more than two years of training.
Young said the goal was to turn the astronauts into “field scientists” via a combination of classroom lessons, geological expeditions to Iceland and Canada, and multiple simulated flybys of the Moon, just like the mission they are on.
The three American astronauts — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch — along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, all had to memorise the Moon’s “Big 15,” or the 15 features of the Moon that will allow them to orient themselves.
Using an inflatable Moon globe, they practiced seeing how the angle of the sun changed the colors and textures of the lunar surface, honing their observation and note-taking skills for the big moment.
“I can tell you, they are excited and they are ready,” Young said with a smile.
‘About the size of a basketball’
The Artemis astronauts’ mission is to study certain lunar sites and phenomena as part of 10 objectives chosen by Nasa and ranked in priority order based on scientific interest.
During the Moon flyby, which will last for several hours, the crew will have to observe the celestial body with their naked eyes, along with cameras they have on board.
Noah Petro, head of Nasa’s planetary geology lab, told AFP that the Moon will look to the astronauts “about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length.”
“The question I’m most interested in is, are they going to be able to see color on the lunar surface,” Petro said.
“I don’t mean rainbow colors, but you know, dark browns or tan colors because that tells us something about the composition, and that tells us something about the history of the Moon.”
David Kring of the Lunar and Planetary Institute told AFP he is not expecting any earth-shattering discoveries because of the multiple lunar probes and high-resolution images of the Moon taken since the Apollo missions.
Nevertheless, “having astronauts describing what they’re seeing… That is an occurrence that at least two generations of people on Earth have never heard before,” he said.
The Artemis 2 flyby will be broadcast live by Nasa, save for a period for when the spacecraft is behind the moon.
“Just listening to their practice descriptions in the mission simulations… It brings chills up my arms,” Young said.
“I am absolutely confident that these four people are going to deliver some incredible descriptions.”
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