Martin Belam

Defence minister Khawaja Asif warns of limited room to de-escalate situation amid drone incursions

Pakistan’s defence minister has told Reuters that it is “increasingly certain” that Pakistan will attack India after it claimed Indian drones had staged incursions into Pakistan.

In comments reported by the news agency, Khawaja Asif said that the US had been leading international efforts to de-escalate the situation, but there was hardly any space left to de-escalate, and the conflict was heading down a blind alley. Gulf nations were also involved in de-escaltion efforts, he said.

Questions on general knowledge and topical trivia, plus a few jokes, every Thursday. How will you fare?

Last week in the comments one user suggested they were going to try to work the new Thursday quiz Minecraft movie-related catchphrase – “Chicken jockey your way out of that one, sunshine” – into a meeting at work, which is to be applauded, and hopefully will inspire more people to do so. But before going out to spread the message, you are faced with 15 questions, mixing up topical news, general knowledge and pop culture trivia in the usual fashion. Enjoy!

Questions on general knowledge and topical trivia, plus a few jokes, every Thursday. How will you fare?

On Tuesday, the Thursday quiz celebrated its fourth birthday. Four whole years of this nonsense! What a joy it is to share the quiz with those who gather underneath it in the comments every week. But there is no time to get carried away with self-congratulations when there are questions to be asked. Fifteen of them, in fact, in their usual ridiculous configuration of topical news, general knowledge and pop culture trivia. Enjoy – and here’s to many more birthdays to come …