(Chinese Academy of Sciences) The Zhurong rover has found evidence of water on dune surfaces on modern Mars by providing key observational proof of liquid water at low Martian latitudes, according to a study led by professor Qin Xiaoguang from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
Researchers from the National Astronomical Observatories of CAS and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of CAS were also involved in the...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) A huge fire has broken out in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol following a probable drone attack on a fuel storage tank, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor, wrote on Telegram.
“A fuel tank is on fire.... According to preliminary reports, a drone attack might have caused the blaze,” he wrote early on Saturday, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
He said an area of 1,000 square metres had been engulfed in...
(Phys.org) In recent years, many physicists worldwide have introduced atomic clocks, systems to measure the passing of time that are based on quantum states of atoms. These clocks can have numerous valuable applications, for instance, in the development of satellite and navigation systems.
Lately, some researchers have also been exploring the possible development of molecular clocks, systems that resemble atomic clocks, but based on simple molecules. A team at Columbia University and University of Warsaw...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that takes temporary control of the Russian subsidiaries of two foreign energy firms, signalling that Moscow could take similar action against other international companies if Russian assets abroad are seized.
The decree — outlining possible retaliation if Russian assets abroad are harmed — showed Moscow had already taken action against Germany’s Uniper division in Russia and the assets of Finland’s Fortum Oyj.
The decree said...
(BBC News) British American Tobacco (BAT) is to pay $635 million plus interest to U.S. authorities after a subsidiary admitted selling cigarettes to North Korea in violation of sanctions.
The U.S. authorities said the settlement related to BAT activity in North Korea between 2007 and 2017.
BAT's head Jack Bowles said "we deeply regret the misconduct."
The U.S. has imposed severe sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile activities.
Tuesday's settlement was between BAT and...
(BBC News) India will overtake China to become the most populous country in the world by the end of this week, the United Nations has said.
India's population is expected to reach 1,425,775,850 people by the end of April, the new data shows.
The Asian nations have accounted for more than a third of the global population for over 70 years.
"China will soon cede its long-held status as the world's most populous country," the UN's Department...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) More than a dozen suspected gang members in Haiti were lynched and their bodies set on fire by residents in the capital Port-au-Prince, police and witnesses said, as the United Nations warned that insecurity in the city had “reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.”
Haiti National Police said in a brief statement that officers in the city’s Canape Vert section stopped and searched a minibus for contraband early on Monday...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has lodged a complaint with South Korea’s ambassador to Beijing over “erroneous” remarks by the South Korean president about Taiwan, China’s foreign ministry says.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s remarks were “totally unacceptable,” Sun told the ambassador, and he expressed “strong dissatisfaction,” according to a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Sunday.
The diplomatic dispute between Beijing and Seoul stems from a recent interview with...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Some foreign nationals have begun evacuating from Sudan as the fighting that has engulfed the vast African nation enters its second week.
The onslaught of urban warfare has trapped large numbers in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. The airport has been repeatedly targeted, and many residents have been unable to leave their homes or get out of the city to safer areas.
The United Nations and foreign states have urged rival military leaders...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) A court in France has sentenced a Canadian academic to life in prison in absentia for a deadly 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue, drawing condemnation from rights advocates in Canada who have long argued the case against Hassan Diab is unjust.
The court on Friday followed French prosecutors’ request for the maximum possible punishment against Diab, now 69 and a resident of the Canadian capital of Ottawa.
The decision was met with...
