By AFP
March 10, 2025
Starlink systems provide high-level satellite communications - Copyright AFP/File Fabrice COFFRINI
Italian opposition parties stepped up criticism Monday of a proposed deal between the government and SpaceX’s Starlink following founder Elon Musk’s suggestion he could cut Ukraine from the satellite network.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government has been negotiating with Musk’s privately-owned SpaceX over a reported 1.5-billion-euro ($1.6-billion) deal to use Starlink to provide secure telecommunications for its diplomats and military.
The proposal has sparked outrage among Italy’s opposition parties, which on Monday renewed their demands that talks stop after Musk said on his X social media platform Sunday that Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse” were he to turn off Starlink for Kyiv’s forces.
Poland’s foreign minister accused him of threats, after which Musk — the richest man on earth and a senior advisor to US President Donald Trump, who has frozen US military support to Kyiv — insisted Starlink will “never turn off its terminals” in Ukraine.
Still, centrist Carlo Calenda, who leads Italy’s Action party, on Monday branded Musk “not a reliable partner”.
The leader of the Democratic Party, Italy’s largest opposition group, said Sunday that Meloni should “change course immediately”.
“How can Giorgia Meloni want to hand over the keys to Italy’s national security to Musk after hearing his latest, very serious words?” she wrote on X.
Meloni has said in the past she has “excellent relations” with the billionaire Musk, whom she has called a “genius”.
In January, she said she would evaluate any Starlink deal through “the lens of national interest”, while adding that there were “no public alternatives”.
However, last week the head of European satellite operator Eutelsat, Eva Berneke, told the news agency Bloomberg that it was in discussions with Rome.
Italian media have reported that President Sergio Mattarella, Italy’s head of state, also has reservations about the Starlink deal.
Responding to one such report at the weekend, Musk wrote on X: “It would be an honour to speak with President Mattarella.”
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League party, backs a deal and said this weekend he would be ready to sign it “tomorrow morning”.
“Not because I like Musk or because I’m rooting for Trump — because it would improve Italy’s national security,” he said at a party event in Milan, according to Italian news agency Ansa.
Musk says X hit by major cyberattack
By AFP
March 10, 2025
After Elon Musk bought Twitter in late 2022 he gutted the staff, raising concerns about the safety and stability of the platform he has renamed X - Copyright AFP Nicolas TUCAT
Elon Musk said X was hit by a major cyberattack on Monday as outages plagued users of the platform once known as Twitter.
“There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X,” Musk said in a post on the platform.
Musk blamed a cyberattack, providing no evidence, for crashing the site last year when an interview with Donald Trump was to be streamed.
In his post Monday, Musk included an X post from a DogeDesigner account that some on Reddit speculated could be a puppet of the tycoon himself.
The post noted protests against the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that Trump entrusted to Musk, along with Tesla shops being vandalized, suggesting a cyberattack could signal another burst of animosity towards Musk.
Musk is chief or Tesla, his electric car company.
“It would take a lot of (money) to do an attack of this magnitude,” read a post in the exchange by the account of Jammies.
“Who has the resources to fund this?”
Musk also maintained such an attack would take tremendous resources, speculating it was the work of a country or large coordinated group.
Outages on the X social media platform left tens of thousands of users unable to access the site, according to monitors.
Reports of problems with X started in the early hours of Monday, with users in Asia, Europe, and North America saying they could not access the platform, according to the Downdetector tracking site.
At the peak, more than 40,000 people reported outages, the site said.
The bulk of the reports were from people trying to use X on smartphones, but people on web browsers also reported the service down.
“Twitter keeps breaking?” asked a post by @Lalaslovely in the Downdetector chat section.
After Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022, the majority of employees left or were fired, raising concerns about whether staffing was in place to keep the platform safe and stable.
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By AFP
March 10, 2025
After Elon Musk bought Twitter in late 2022 he gutted the staff, raising concerns about the safety and stability of the platform he has renamed X - Copyright AFP Nicolas TUCAT
Elon Musk said X was hit by a major cyberattack on Monday as outages plagued users of the platform once known as Twitter.
“There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X,” Musk said in a post on the platform.
Musk blamed a cyberattack, providing no evidence, for crashing the site last year when an interview with Donald Trump was to be streamed.
In his post Monday, Musk included an X post from a DogeDesigner account that some on Reddit speculated could be a puppet of the tycoon himself.
The post noted protests against the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that Trump entrusted to Musk, along with Tesla shops being vandalized, suggesting a cyberattack could signal another burst of animosity towards Musk.
Musk is chief or Tesla, his electric car company.
“It would take a lot of (money) to do an attack of this magnitude,” read a post in the exchange by the account of Jammies.
“Who has the resources to fund this?”
Musk also maintained such an attack would take tremendous resources, speculating it was the work of a country or large coordinated group.
Outages on the X social media platform left tens of thousands of users unable to access the site, according to monitors.
Reports of problems with X started in the early hours of Monday, with users in Asia, Europe, and North America saying they could not access the platform, according to the Downdetector tracking site.
At the peak, more than 40,000 people reported outages, the site said.
The bulk of the reports were from people trying to use X on smartphones, but people on web browsers also reported the service down.
“Twitter keeps breaking?” asked a post by @Lalaslovely in the Downdetector chat section.
After Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022, the majority of employees left or were fired, raising concerns about whether staffing was in place to keep the platform safe and stable.
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