Of all the threats that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk hurled at one another as their alliance fell apart, those targeting Musk’s contracts with the US government have the potential to do the most damage.
In one sharp exchange triggered by Musk’s criticism of Trump’s signature tax and immigration bill, Trump threatened to cancel federal contracts with the billionaire’s company, SpaceX, that are worth more than $22 billion. Musk said he would decommission the spacecraft SpaceX uses to send supplies and people to the International Space Station, before walking back the statement.
Management and production company 42 has named Martin Rakusen as its new chief operating officer, effective immediately. The former FilmNation TV U.K. COO will be responsible for running the company’s operations and business development globally, while overseeing business affairs and production across its portfolio.
Rakusen will be based in 42’s London office and report to CEO and managing partner Josh Varney. The hire follows the exit of David O’Donoghue, who served in the same role but left to take up the position of executive VP International at France’s Studio TF1. The appointment comes as the Los Angeles and London-based company is in post-production on Shane Meadows’ “Chork” and Drake Doremus’ “Next Life,” and in production on “Your Fault,” the sequel to the hit Amazon film “My Fault.”
While at FilmNation TV U.K., Rakusen led all business, operational and financial activity while building and maintaining strategic partnerships. His career spans senior roles in London and Los Angeles within broadcasters, production companies and distributors, including positions at BBC Studios, Shine International and RDF.
“Integral to 42’s DNA is providing a home for exceptional global creatives with impactful stories to tell — and having a top-class team to support us operationally and strategically is vital to delivering on that promise,” said Varney. “Martin embodies all the qualities we’re looking for — he is insightful, with sharp commercial instincts and an impressive track record across all facets of our industry, from broadcast and production through to distribution.”
Rakusen added: “42 is renowned for its dynamic structure and has a high-held reputation in global management, alongside film and television production — so having the opportunity to join the company and work alongside both its London and LA teams is a real privilege.”
42’s recent productions include Netflix hits “Outside the Wire” starring Anthony Mackie, “The Weekend Away” with Leighton Meester, and Amazon’s No. 1 global hit “My Fault.” The company also produced “The Silent Twins,” which premiered at Cannes, and “The Courier” starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
In television, 42 produced the global hit “The Flatshare” for Paramount+, “The Girl Before” for BBC and HBO Max starring Gugu Mbatha Raw, and the Emmy-winning “Watership Down” for BBC and Netflix featuring voices including James McAvoy, John Boyega and Olivia Colman.
42’s management division represents high-profile talent including Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, Michael Caine, Jesse Armstrong, Charlie Brooker, Julian Fellowes, Shane Meadows and Sofia Boutella.
Bangladesh recently folded SL for 94 (Image source: X/@ICC)
What’s the story
Bangladesh put up a dominant performance to level the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka with an 83-run victory in the second match in Dambulla on Sunday.
After losing the first game at Pallekele, Bangladesh made three changes and delivered a stellar performance.
They batted first and set a challenging target of 178 runs before bundling out Sri Lanka for just 94 runs.
On this note, let’s look at the lowest all-out totals in SL-BAN T20Is.
Bangladesh – 120/10 in Chattogram, 2014
It was the 2014 Chattogram T20I between the two sides as the hosts were folded for 120 while batting first (19.5 overs).
Both their openers perished within the first 10 balls before Anamul Haque (26) and Shakib Al Hasan (12) did some repair work.
However, they lost wickets in a cluster in the middle overs as Sabbir Rahman (26) and Mashrafe Mortaza (17) were their only other batters with double-digit scores.
SL later won the duel by three wickets.
Sri Lanka – 94/10 in Pallekele, 2025
Sri Lanka, in the aforementioned Pallekele game, crumbled in just 15.2 overs, with wickets falling at regular intervals.
The downfall started when Kusal Mendis was run out by a direct hit from Shamim Hossain.
Sri Lanka were reduced to 30/4 as four of their top five batters could not enter double digits.
Pathum Nissanka (32) and Dasun Shanaka (20) were the only ones to score over 20 as SL were folded for 94 while chasing 178.
Bangladesh – 83/10 in Johannesburg, 2007
Bangladesh top this unwanted list as they were folded for 83 while chasing 148 against SL in the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup game in Johannesburg.
The Tigers lost wickets at regular intervals as none of their batters could touch the 20-run mark.
Aftab Ahmed (18) and Shakib (18) top scored for them as Bangladesh could only survive 15.5 overs.
To many fans, media, and even peers, Spain are the team to watch at EURO 2025.
In some ways, they likely feel that themselves — not in an arrogant sense, but with a belief in their ability to win this tournament.
What they do recognise is that to win their first EURO title, it will not be easy.
Group B, with Portugal, Belgium, and Italy required them to be at their best.
When Spain are in full flow, there are few teams that can lay a glove on them. That was exactly how their group stage unfolded.
Three wins from three, 14 goals scored, just three conceded, and maximum points: Spain head into the quarter-finals with a target on their backs.
No player, Spanish or otherwise, has had a better start to the tournament than Alexia Putellas.
Across three outings, the 31-year-old has scored three times and assisted a further four – when she said they had to be at their best to win this year’s edition, she meant it.
“That has to be our focus, playing at our best, [because it] will surely bring us closer to victory,” she told UEFA.
“It’s a mistake to assume we’re already in the final because there are so many teams and they’re all very good opponents.
“They’re very good national teams with very good players – we have to take it step by step.”
Putellas is having one of the best campaigns of her career, coming into EURO 2025 on the back of her second-best season for FC Barcelona.
She has every reason to want to guide her nation to the promised land. Alexia missed the last European Championships through an injury on the eve of the tournament, and she also saw her penalty saved in the bronze medal match at Paris 2024 — a moment that handed third place to Germany.
Not only has Spain shown a willingness to grow, but so has Putellas, alongside several other members of this squad.
And that, above all, is the mark of true champions.
The building of ECP office in Islamabad. — State media/File
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday reserved its verdict on petitions filed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), and others regarding the allocation of reserved seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly.
A four-member bench of the ECP, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, reserved the decision after hearing arguments from all concerned parties.
During the hearing, lawyers from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) and other parties appeared before the election body.
On July 8, the PHC nullified the ECP’s notification on the distribution of reserved seats for women and minorities in the KP Assembly. The court’s two-page judgment came on a petition filed by the PMLN challenging the allocation.
The court had directed the ECP to reallocate the seats after hearing all relevant parties within 10 days. The court also halted the oath-taking of lawmakers on these reserved seats until the ECP’s final decision.
Speaking to the media outside the ECP office in Islamabad, JUI-F leader and lawyer Kamran Murtaza said that all political parties presented their arguments before the commission during today’s hearing.
He said that PML-N demanded to get a greater share of reserved seats, particularly following the inclusion of independent candidate Tariq Awan into their ranks.
“If independent candidates join a party after the legally defined period, the number of reserved seats allocated to that party would not increase,” said Murtaza while explaining the seat distribution formula.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the opposition alliance is closing in on a simple majority as it is now just 20 seats away from tipping the balance of power in the provincial assembly following the reserved seats verdict.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government currently holds 92 seats, while the opposition’s numbers have risen to 53.
The KP Assembly has a total strength of 145, but at the moment, there are 115 elected members. Of the remaining 30, 26 seats are reserved for women and four for minorities.
Earlier, on July 2, the ECP had restored 74 out of 77 reserved seats, including 19 National Assembly members, 27 Punjab Assembly members, 25 KP Assembly members, and 3 Sindh Assembly members.
This move followed the Supreme Court’s June 27 verdict, where a constitutional bench accepted review petitions on reserved seats by a majority decision.
A schematic diagram of the soil evolution process in Chang’e 6 lunar samples. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Shandong University released the world’s first mineralogical ground truth report on magnesium-rich pyroxene annulus from the far side of the moon. The findings, derived from samples returned by China’s Chang’e 6 mission, shed new light on the composition of the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the moon’s largest, deepest, and oldest crater.
Published in Communications Earth & Environment, a journal under Nature, the study marks a milestone in planetary science.
Cao Haijun, lead author of the paper and a researcher at Shandong University’s School of Space Science and Physics, described the breakthrough as akin to performing a “deep X-ray scan” of the moon.
“For the first time, we have obtained high-precision ground truth data from actual samples, revealing previously unknown details about the far side’s interior,” Cao was quoted as saying by Science and Technology Daily.
The moon’s far side has long been shrouded in mystery, with past studies relying solely on remote sensing due to the lack of physical samples. By employing Raman spectroscopic techniques on mare soil brought back by Chang’e 6, the research team successfully decoded the mineralogical makeup of the SPA Basin’s Mg-pyroxene annulus, learning that it has an abundance of low-calcium pyroxene, a magnesium-dominant mineral.
The SPA Basin covers nearly one-eighth of the lunar surface. “These findings provide new insights into the origin of SPA mafic anomalies and far side mare soil evolution,” said Cao.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday reserved its verdict in the case concerning the allocation of reserved seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
A five-member bench led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja presided over the hearing, where lawyers from several political parties, including PML-N, PPP, JUI-F, ANP, and PTI Parliamentarians (PTI-P), presented their arguments.
PPP’s counsel Nayyar Bukhari stated that the issue primarily concerns PML-N and JUI-F, asserting that PPP has no direct involvement in the matter and the dispute lies between PML-N and the ECP.
The ANP lawyer argued that since the party secured one seat in the by-elections, the distribution of reserved seats should reflect the post-election scenario.
The CEC highlighted that the ECP had already issued two notifications regarding reserved seats, but noted that the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC)-related issue was still unresolved.
The PTI-P lawyer maintained that reserved seats must be proportionate to the general seats won, stressing the importance of the cut-off date for calculating allocations. He also raised concerns that two of PTI-P’s representatives were counted as one, insisting that, based on current notifications, PTI-P is entitled to two reserved seats.
ECP Member from Sindh, Nisar Durrani, questioned whether reserved seats could be reduced following a drop in a party’s general seats during by-elections. In response, the PTI-P lawyer argued that reserved seats, once allocated, cannot be withdrawn.
After hearing all arguments, the commission reserved its decision, which will be announced at a later date.
RECORD-LOW PRICE: As of July 14, the 11-inch Apple iPad is on sale for $279.99 in Prime Day. This is $69.01 off and the lowest-ever price on Amazon.
Apple deals were so incredibly strong in this year’s Prime Day, but the deals aren’t stopping yet. You can still find record-low prices on some of Apple’s most popular products, and you don’t need to be an Amazon Prime member to secure these discounts.
The 11-inch Apple iPad is still on sale for $279.99. The catch is that only the blue model is still available at this record-low price, and we can’t see this price sticking around for long. So if you’re interesting in upgrading for the best-ever price, act fast.
SEE ALSO:
Apple Watch Series 10 just hit a record-low price for Prime Day — get it for $119 off
The new Apple iPad offers a nice performance boost thanks to the A16 chip. And support for WiFi 6 keeps your connection smooth at all times.
This model comes with 128GB of storage so you can load up on apps, photos, and whatever else without stressing. Mashable’s Samantha Mangino argues that it’s “a great entry-level tablet” for anyone working on a budget.
Mashable Deals
Score the new 11-inch Apple iPad for its best-ever price after Prime Day.
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