Elon Musk is suing India’s government over content regulation and censorship of X, a surprise move for a billionaire trying to negotiate access for Tesla Inc. and Starlink.

The social media service, known formerly as Twitter, accused Delhi of issuing arbitrary or erratic takedown notices. It asked the high court in southern Karnataka state this month to get the federal government to adhere to the country’s laws when issuing such orders.

Musk’s lawsuit reflects growing tensions between internet firms and the nationalistic government of one of the world’s largest democracies. In past years, Delhi has imposed stringent regulations governing the operation of social media firms from Meta Platforms Inc. to Google, including potential jail terms for employees.

It also coincides with growing U.S.-India tensions. President Donald Trump plans to hit India hard with reciprocal duties beginning April 2, after criticizing the country for charging high tariffs on its US imports.

While a small market for U.S. companies, the world’s most populous nation and its roughly 700 million smartphone users is regarded as a key growth market.

Musk is trying to launch his Starlink satellite internet service in India, an effort awaiting regulatory clearances. India’s hinterland needs satellite internet, the country’s telecommunications minister told Bloomberg News this week in a boost for Starlink.

And Tesla is set to ship a few thousand cars to a port near Mumbai in the coming months, marking its long-awaited debut in India.

India’s home ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The top bureaucrat in the country’s tech ministry declined to comment as the matter is in court.

In 2023, before Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, the Karnataka High Court imposed a fine on the company and asked it to comply with state takedown orders.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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For months, President Prabowo Subianto’s moves to chip away at Indonesia’s long-established economic guardrails have stoked anxiety in markets. This week’s sudden rout suggests investor patience is wearing thin.

The ex-general has been causing unease with his populist spending measures, plans to dilute the central bank’s independence and aggressive policies against foreign businesses like Apple Inc. He fast-tracked laws to expand the role of the military too, triggering angry student protests in Jakarta.

The tipping point came on Tuesday, when rumors that finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who has kept a tight rein on spending during her cumulative 14 years in office, would resign. The stock market dropped the most in three years on the day, prompting government officials and Indrawati herself to come out, one by one, to dispel the speculation. Bank Indonesia was forced to step in to protect the rupiah, Asia’s worst performing currency this year.

The rumors have “renewed fears of reformists being purged and was a catalyst for exposing all the economic problems the country is facing,” said John Foo, founder of Valverde Investment Partners Pte.

While there’s been some reprieve in the markets since then, investors remain rattled by Prabowo’s policy moves, coming at a time when Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is also grappling with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and waning demand from China for raw materials. 

Top of mind for investors is the fiscal outlook. Once cited by Morgan Stanley as one of the “Fragile Five” markets prone to wild swings in foreign sentiment, Indonesia has steadily improved its credibility to investors thanks to prudent economic management that’s lifted its credit rating out of junk status.

Prabowo, 73, is now threatening to upend that trajectory. His policy steps since taking office in October could push the budget deficit closer to its legal limit of 3% of gross domestic product. He increased his cabinet to more than 100 from around 60 under his predecessor Joko Widodo. After a public outcry, he backtracked on hiking the value-added tax rate, a move which would’ve boosted government revenue.

He implemented a free lunch program for students—a signature campaign pledge—that will cost $30 billion a year, the equivalent of 14% of Indonesia’s entire 2024 budget. To pay for that, he slashed spending in other areas, like infrastructure projects and travel.

“People in the markets are concerned about economic policy making,” said Achmad Sukarsono, lead analyst for Indonesia at Control Risks. “They have seen that many policies—let’s just say—do not have sound economic grounding.”

Prabowo’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.  

‘Wake-up call’

The government delayed releasing monthly budget data for January, leading investors to question the state of the government’s finances. The figures were finally published last week, showing a surprise deficit as both revenues and expenditures plunged.

None of that bodes well for Prabowo’s biggest pledge of all: boosting economic growth to 8%. Analysts say that goal is unrealistic, with the market consensus closer to 5% growth this year.

“The president remains focused on fulfilling his populist campaign promises, which require efficient execution,” said Aditya Perdana, a political lecturer at the University of Indonesia, describing the effort as uneven and selective. “From a political perspective, this should serve as a wake-up call for the government to adjust its course before losing further credibility.”

Prabowo’s creation of a sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, is another source of concern. The fund will take control of the nation’s state-owned enterprises and have a sweeping mandate to invest across industries. The government will channel $20 billion from the existing budget into the fund, which will be run by business-savvy allies and report directly to the president. 

Authoritarian past

Prabowo’s actions appear in many ways to be at odds with the very institutions put in place to win the faith of voters and investors after the downfall of former dictator Suharto, who ruled Indonesia for three decades until his ouster amid street protests in the late 1990s. 

His allies in parliament, for example, moved swiftly to pass a controversial law to expand the role of the military, despite public criticism that the changes are reminiscent of the Southeast Asian nation’s authoritarian past. Thousands of students took to the street in the capital on Thursday, throwing stones, spray-painting walls and setting tires ablaze as they demanded lawmakers reverse the changes, according to local reports.

Market reaction to the law’s passage indicates a cautious approach from investors reflecting concerns “about potential shifts in Indonesia’s democratic trajectory and governance structures,” said SGMC Capital Pte Ltd senior partner Mohit Mirpuri.

“We believe this could provide some uncertainty in the market,” Citigroup Inc. analyst Ferry Wong said of the protests.

Lawmakers have also been talking about potentially expanding the mandate of the central bank. That renewed investor concerns about Bank Indonesia’s independence after an earlier draft of the financial sector omnibus law added job creation to the central bank’s objectives. Governor Perry Warjiyo said this week the rule changes would only “emphasize,” but not fundamentally change its current goals.

To be sure, none of this appears to pose any imminent threat to Prabowo, who enjoys an overwhelming parliamentary majority, while the country’s sole opposition party is still seen lending legislative support on matters like the military law. State revenues are also poised to see a turnaround in March, Indrawati reassured on Tuesday, and the government has pledged to maintain its budget deficit at 2.5% of GDP this year, well within the legal limit.

It remains to be seen whether those assurances will be enough to ease investor concerns. 

“This is a clear warning, and we must prevent the situation from deteriorating further,” said Perdana of the University of Indonesia. “While some corrective measures have been introduced, poor implementation remains a critical issue.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

• Two Boeing Starliner astronauts just touched down on Earth after an unexpected nine-month stay at the International Space Station. Most people wouldn’t risk a life of eternal darkness in space for a million dollars—but the astronauts did so for far less: just over $150,000 yearly without overtime or hazard pay. 

The internet has been rife with secondhand anxiety over the Boeing Starliner astronauts being stranded in space for nine months. They initially launched their test flight in June 2024, anticipating the trip would only take over a week. But after several of Boeing’s Starliner capsule Calypso’s thrusters failed during docking, the two astronauts were stuck in orbit until yesterday, March 18, 2025. 

It’s an existential nightmare to most—and no amount of money would convince some people to take the risk of the job. But NASA astronauts like the Boeing Starliner’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore brave the profession for quite little: They make an annual salary of $152,258, according to NASA’s 2024 pay rates. 

Plus, they don’t get overtime or any pay bump for the danger of the situation.

“[There’s] no hazard pay, there’s no overtime, there’s no comp time,” Mike Massimino, a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions, previously told MarketWatch. “There’s no financial incentive to stay in space longer.”

A NASA spokesperson confirmed with Fortune that they’re paid a 40-hour-per-week salary, with no additional pay for holiday or weekends—despite the fact that they’re literally at work after work.

They added that the astronauts receive incidental amounts for each day they’re in space—but since they’re on long-term temporary duty, it’s only about $5 per day. That’s about $1,430 for the entire 286-day stay. 

“When NASA astronauts are aboard the International Space Station, they receive regular 40-hour workweek salaries,” NASA told Fortune in a statement. “While in space, NASA astronauts are on official travel orders as federal employees, so their transportation, lodging, and meals are provided.”

The salary would be adjusted to reflect wage increases in 2025, but the Boeing Starliner astronauts spent most of their nine months in orbit during 2024. In comparison to other high-paying jobs with little to zero danger, this wage can feel disproportionate to the risk. 

But Williams and Wilmore knew that risks like their nine-month hiccup came with the territory, and actually refuted the notion that they were left out to dry. It’s a part of their job that they’ve comfortably settled into.

“That’s been the rhetoric. That’s been the narrative from day one: stranded, abandoned, stuck—and I get it. We both get it,” Wilmore said in an interview with CNN last month. “But that is, again, not what our human spaceflight program is about. We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded.”

It’s a dangerous job—but astronauts have their own motivation

When most people think of six-figure jobs, they think of cushy white-collar gigs in temperature-controlled offices. It might be a no-brainer to go into law, consulting, or banking—seeing as there’s no bodily risk on the table for those careers. 

By comparison, bankers in New York make an average of $111,000 annually, without the risk of being exposed to an indefinite stay in dark, noiseless, uninhabited space. Consultants in the same area could rake in $137,000, providing advice to clients from the comfort of their offices or couches. And even the average sales professional in the city can make over $200,000 with no inherent risk of harm in generating leads and selling products.

But astronauts probably aren’t motivated by money. It’s been a long-held dream career for many—despite new professions like YouTubers and video game creators taking flight, over 10% of U.K. and U.S. kids still dream of becoming astronauts. That role was one of the top five career aspirations for U.S. children, according to a 2019 study from Lego.

Astronauts like Williams and Wilmore are veterans of their craft—and the nine months they’ve spent at the space station have been dedicated to upkeep and research. They’ve been busy inspecting hardware, arranging cargo, aiding in science tests, performing tech demonstrations, and checking in on the Starliner. Wilmore helped configure a new airlock, and Williams has been testing out athleticism in low-orbit’s zero gravity. Their work at the International Space Station is improving NASA’s knowledge base—and helping upkeep an essential destination for astronauts. 

Their passion for space exploration makes a $150,000 salary seem worth it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to space and be the universe traveler many people have fantasized about becoming. While the Boeing Starliner fiasco may seem like a nightmare to some, for astronauts it simply means going even longer on the job they love.

As Ken Bowersox, space operations mission chief and former NASA astronaut, said last week: “Every astronaut that launches into space, we teach them don’t think about when you’re coming home. Think about how well your mission’s going and if you’re lucky, you might get to stay longer.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com