Morning Digest: India hits back after intercepting Pakistan strikes; X blocks 8,000 accounts in India after govt’s executive orders, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on May 9, 2025

Escalating tensions, Pakistan launched drone and missile attacks at various locations along the western borders with India late on Thursday (May 8, 2025) evening, but the Indian armed forces swiftly intercepted them, official sources said. This came after the Indian air defence systems thwarted Pakistan’s attempts to strike civilian and military locations in northern and western India with a “substantial” number of missiles and loitering munitions in the early hours of Thursday.

Social media platform X said on Thursday (May 8, 2025) that it has started blocking 8,000 accounts in India following executive orders from the government. In a post on X’s Global Government Affairs handle, the platform said it received executive orders from the Indian government requiring it to block over 8,000 accounts in the country “subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees”.

Robert Francis Prevost became the first pope from the United States on Thursday (May 8, 2025), picking the papal name Leo XIV after cardinals from around the world elected him leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. Tens of thousands of people packed in St. Peter’s Square cheered as Prevost appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, waving with both hands, smiling and bowing.

The States of Punjab and Haryana and Union Territory, Chandigarh, continued to be on alert mode in the wake of India’s action against terror emanating from Pakistan. On Thursday (May 8, 2025), leaves of government personnel in government departments including police and health were cancelled and personnel were asked to be geared up round-the-clock.

After a five-year pause, The Hindu Huddle has returned to Bengaluru as a marquee event of The Hindu Group and an ideas conclave that showcases the cutting-edge of innovation, creativity, and resolve, and the blue-sky vision of leaders across fields such as government, business, artificial intelligence, climate change, entertainment and health care.

In the backdrop of growing escalation between India and Pakistan, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday (May 8, 2025) decided to close all the educational institutes for the next two days in the Union Territory (UT) and put senior officers in charge of border districts to improve communication interface in case of any eventuality.

Pakistan’s links to a number of UN-designated terror groups have been exposed in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, officials said on May 8, 2025. This not only includes The Resistance Front (TRF) that claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, but also the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Falah-i-Insaniyat-Foundation (FIF), whose leader Hafiz Abdur Rauf led prayers for the dead in Muridke, as well as Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), whose leader Masood Azhar reportedly lost several members of his family in the Indian Air Force strikes, including his brother and JeM commander Abdul Rauf Azhar.