NASA has launched its newest space observatory. It is sending the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope into orbit on a mission that could reshape our understanding of the universe. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy lifted the roughly $4 billion telescope from Florida on Sunday. It began a journey toward Lagrange Point 2, about 1.6 million kilometres
The US says it has struck a huge oil deal with Venezuela, giving Washington control over more than 65 billion barrels of the country’s proven reserves. President Donald Trump called the agreement “historic”. He claimed it would more than double US oil reserves, increase supply and help bring down petrol prices. But what exactly has
A US judge has blocked the Pentagon from blacklisting Anthropic. This marks a major development in the AI company’s increasingly bitter dispute with the military. Why did the Pentagon target the maker of Claude in the first place? The conflict began after Anthropic refused to let the US military use its AI models for domestic
A devastating landslide-triggered flood has torn through the Himalayas, leaving nearly 1,500 people missing across Nepal and China’s Tibet. With rescuers still searching, could the disaster’s toll climb even higher? At least 165 people are feared dead, while Nepalese authorities say hundreds of foreigners remain unaccounted for. The hardest-hit areas sit along a popular route
Dolly Parton’s remarkable journey from a tiny Tennessee cabin to global stardom has come to an end. The country music legend died peacefully in Nashville on Tuesday at 80, her family said. How did a girl who wrote her first song about a homemade corncob doll become one of music’s biggest names? Parton never stopped
New Zealand is moving to restrict social media access for anyone under 16, but will the plan actually work? Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says children are being exposed to harmful content. They are also being exposed to addictive technology and online pressures they are not ready to handle. Under the proposed Online Safety Bill, platforms
What happens when a storm lasts minutes but its consequences stretch into weeks? In Gary, Indiana, thousands of residents are still living without electricity nearly two weeks after violent storms tore through the US Midwest. The 11 August storm brought tornadoes, flooding and winds reaching 99mph (159km/h), killing seven people across the region. Gary was
A Chinese humanoid robot has just outrun Usain Bolt at least on paper. Tiangong Ultra clocked 9.39 seconds in a 100-metre heat at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. It beat Bolt’s 9.58-second human world record set in 2009. But before we crown our robot champion, there’s a catch: this was a preliminary race,
TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to settle a US lawsuit accusing the platform of mishandling children’s personal data. It is one of the biggest penalties of its kind. The case dates back to 2024, when the US Justice Department alleged that TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, collected large amounts of information from
The FBI has arrested a 35-year-old New York woman accused of plotting to bomb the state Capitol in Albany and kill lawmakers, prosecutors say. Jessica Bowie allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. She spent weeks discussing her plans with undercover FBI agents posing as IS supporters. She reportedly chose the Albany Capitol because
The dramatic rise and fall of China’s property empire has reached a stark new chapter. The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court also fined Evergrande Group 8.82 billion yuan ($1.31bn). The property unit was ordered to pay another 7 billion yuan. The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court also fined Evergrande Group 8.82 billion yuan ($1.31bn). The property unit
The Strait of Hormuz is once again at the centre of a dangerous US-Iran standoff. Donald Trump denying that any negotiations are taking place while insisting the US naval blockade remains in force. Trump even posted a map labelling the strategic waterway as “NEW US Territory” but Tehran is showing no signs of backing down.
