Catégorie oBox : OBOXMA

Kashmir, a region already marked by more than seven decades of tension, plunged back into conflict.

Kashmir crisis live: Pakistan PM authorises armed forces to undertake ‘corresponding action’ after India strikes kill 26

— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2025-05-07T10:51:34Z

In just two weeks, the deadly April 22 attack on a tourist bus in Pahalgam, a popular tourist resort in India’s Kashmir region, has rekindled historic tensions between India and Pakistan.

New Delhi’s reaction was swift: India launched the military operation « Sindoor », targeting so-called « terrorist » sites in Pakistan and Islamabad-controlled Kashmir.

This series of strikes, described as « targeted and non-escalatory » by the Indian authorities, was perceived by Pakistan as outright aggression.

Since then, firefights, casualties and threatening rhetoric have intensified on both sides of the Line of Control. According to Islamabad, Pakistan deplores 26 dead and 46 wounded. India, for its part, claims that 15 civilians were killed and 43 wounded by Pakistani artillery fire.

While, according to The Guardian, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh hailed the operation as « Victory to Mother India », Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the strikes as an « act of war ». Faced with this rise in tensions, the international community fears a rapid deterioration in the situation that could lead to a major crisis.

According to many observers, the fear of a major military confrontation between these two nuclear powers has never been greater.

Last April, the Vatican lost its leader, as Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88, following medical complications.

Following this terrible news for the Catholic Church, a new pope is to be named and Conclave have already begun.

133 cardinals are now isolated from the outside world, in the Sistine Chapel, until a new Pope is elected by the Conclave. It’s worth noting that the future Pope must obtain two-thirds of the votes to secure the post, so the struggle is sure to be interesting to follow.

While we await the results of this vote, a number of betting sites have joined in the suspense, as predictions have just been made as to the outcome of the election and yes… people are betting on the next pope.

According to estimates, Cardinal Pietro Parolin (Italy) is the favorite to become the new Pope with 27%, followed by Luis Antonio Tagle (Philippines) in second place with 22.3%. Matteo Zuppi (Italy) completes the top-3 with 10.9%. It’s clear, then, that there are only two serious candidates, according to the results of these predictions.

Although the whole thing is unpredictable, it’s worth pointing out that the betting sites in question correctly predicted the outcome of the American election last November, namely a Donald Trump victory over Kamala Harris.

That said, in 2013, when Francis was named Pope, he was not the favorite in the running for the post, while Cardinal Angelo Scola was once tipped to have the throne.

Betting on the Pope?

Now that’s not very Catholic..