Lander problem threatens US moon mission
WASHINGTON: A robotic lander built by a private company suffered a propulsion system issue on its way to the moon on Monday, upending the first US soft lunar landing attempt in over 50 years as mission managers scrambled to fix its position in space. Space robotics firm Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lunar lander had launched successfully […]
Fire leaves 7,000 Rohingya homeless in Bangladesh camp
DHAKA: A fire swept through a Rohingya refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh in the early hours of Sunday, destroying about 800 shelters and rendering thousands homeless, officials said. Fire service officials and Rohingya volunteers brought the blaze under control around three hours after it hit Camp 5 in Cox’s Bazar, a border district with Myanmar, […]
US, France condemn Israeli plan to deport Gazans
WASHINGTON: The United States and France have issued strong condemnations of Israel’s controversial plan to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza, leading to an escalating diplomatic standoff. US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, reiterated the unequivocal rejection of the plan, cautioning against any mass displacement and addressing inflammatory statements by Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and […]
Vanishing ministers, ousted officials rattle top Chinese brass
BEIJING: A sweeping purge of Chinese generals has weakened the People’s Liberation Army, exposing deep-rooted corruption that could take more time to fix and slow Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s military modernisation drive amid geopolitical tensions, analysts say. China’s top lawmakers ousted nine senior military officers from the national legislative body on Friday, state media reported, […]
US military launches secretive space plane
CAPE CANAVERAL: The US military’s secretive X-37B robot space plane blasted off from Florida on Thursday night on its seventh mission, the first launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket capable of delivering it to a higher orbit than ever before. The Falcon Heavy, composed of three liquid-fuelled rocket cores strapped together, roared off its […]
UN expert calls Israeli conduct in Gaza ‘institutionalised impunity’
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, has called for establishing a new special tribunal if the International Criminal Court (ICC) does not take swift measures to prosecute the war in Gaza. In a post on the X platform, Rajagopal wrote: “What has happened in Gaza is the […]
Mom of Hamas hostage ‘accidentally’ killed by IDF urges people to adopt animals in his memory
A social media post by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel has urged people to adopt animals in the memory ofYotam Haim, a 28-year-old Hamas hostage who was allegedly accidentally shot dead by IDF troops after he escaped captivity. Yotam was killed alongside two other hostages – Alon Shamriz, 26, and Samar Fouad Talalka, […]
752 New Covid Cases, 4 Deaths Reported In 24 Hours
New Delhi, Dec 23: India saw a single-day rise of 752 coronavirus infections, the highest since May 21, 2023, while the active cases have increased to 3,420, according to Union health ministry data updated on Saturday. The death toll was recorded at 5,33,332 with four new deaths, two from Kerala, one each in Rajasthan and […]
Firms impose extra fees as Red Sea attacks hit global shipping
OSLO: Some of the world’s largest shipping firms, including Maersk and CMA CGM, will impose extra charges after they re-routed ships in response to attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, as worries about disruption to global trade grow. The surcharges, designed to cover longer voyages around Africa compared with routes via the Suez Canal, […]
Cyberattack hits Iran’s petrol stations
DUBAI: Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji on Monday confirmed that ongoing nationwide disruption to petrol stations was caused by a cyberattack. A hacking group that Iran accuses of having links to Israel claimed it carried out the attack that disrupted services at petrol stations across the country on Monday, Iranian state TV and Israeli local […]