(BBC News) A Japanese robot has successfully touched down on the Moon, but problems with its solar power system mean the mission may live for just a few hours.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) put itself gently on the lunar surface near an equatorial crater.
The feat made the Asian nation only the fifth country to soft-land on Earth's natural satellite, after the US, the Soviet Union, China, and India.
Engineers are now battling to...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) The U.S. has been Israel’s top financial and diplomatic backer with military aid in the billions of dollars and frequent vetoes at the UN Security Council to shield the Israeli government from international accountability for its actions in the Palestinian territories.
That support will persist even as Netanyahu explicitly rebuffs U.S. calls for establishing a Palestinian state, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has suggested.
“Our support for Israel remains ironclad. But...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the air attacks in Pakistan that killed two children this week targeted an “Iranian terrorist group”.
“On Pakistan, none of the nationals of the friendly and brotherly country of Pakistan were targeted by Iranian missiles and drones,” Abdollahian said on Wednesday.
“The so-called Jaish al-Adl group, which is an Iranian terrorist group, was targeted,” he added.
Amir-Abdollahian said the attack on “Pakistan’s soil” was in response to...
(BBC News) The US company that was hoping to land on the Moon will bring its mission home to destruction in the coming hours.
Astrobotic says its Peregrine spacecraft will be directed to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up.
The lander suffered a major propellant leak shortly after launching from Florida on its Vulcan rocket last week.
Although engineers were able to stabilize the situation, the loss of oxidiser meant a safe touch-down on the lunar surface could...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) The race for the 2024 US presidential elections has kicked off with Monday’s Republican caucus in Iowa.
Former US President Donald Trump decisively won the caucus ballots and will head to next week’s New Hampshire primary with a commanding lead over his rivals. Trump also secured an endorsement from opponent Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped his bid following a disappointing loss.
Primaries and caucuses are ways Republicans and Democrats choose their presidential candidate. The majority...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles at what it claimed were Israeli “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s Kurdish region and hit targets allegedly linked to ISIL (ISIS) in northern Syria, saying it was defending its security and countering terrorism.
At least eight explosions were heard in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, early on Tuesday. Four people were killed and six were wounded, the regional security council...
(BBC News) A mob-style murder at a petrol station in southern Athens has shone a light on the brutality of the Greek mafia.
A manhunt is underway for the killers of crime boss Vangelis Zambounis, who was gunned down earlier this week.
More than 90 rounds from a Kalashnikov rifle were fired at Zambounis, considered a powerful figure in the Greek criminal underworld.
He was alleged to have led an extortion ring and to have been involved...
(BBC News) Iowa's influential evangelical voters were once decidedly lukewarm on Donald Trump. But if recent polls are accurate, born-again Christians will carry him to victory on Monday in the Republican caucuses. What has changed?
The video is bombastic, even by Trump's standards. Just consider the title: God Made Trump.
"God looked down on his planned paradise and said, 'I need a caretaker,'" a voiceover intones over a minimalist piano track. "So God gave us Trump."
The...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Representatives of governments and international organisations, billionaires, entrepreneurs, experts, academics, NGOs and press corps are once again descending on the Graubunden winter sports resort in Davos, Switzerland.
Under the motto “Rebuilding Trust”, the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) will start on January 15, aiming to discuss “the basic principles of trust” – transparency, coherence and responsibility.
But the ongoing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as from...
(BBC News) President Joe Biden says the US has delivered a "private message" to Iran about the Houthis in Yemen after the US carried out a second strike on the group.
"We delivered it privately and we're confident we're well-prepared," he said without giving further details.
The US said its latest strike was a "follow-on action" targeting radar.
Iran denies involvement in attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea.
However, Tehran is suspected of supplying the Houthis...
