Spacecraft attempts closest-ever approach to Sun

A Nasa spacecraft is attempting to make history with the closest-ever approach to the Sun. The Parker Solar Probe is plunging into our star's outer atmosphere, enduring brutal temperatures and extreme radiation.

It is out of communication for several days during this burning hot fly-by and scientists will be waiting for a signal, expected at 05:00 GMT on 28 December, to see if it has survived. The hope is the probe could help us to better understand how the Sun works.

Dr Nicola Fox, head of science at Nasa, told reporters: "For centuries, people have studied the Sun, but you don't experience the atmosphere of a place until you actually go visit it.

"And so we can't really experience the atmosphere of our star unless we fly through it."
P
arker Solar Probe launched in 2018, heading to the centre of our solar system. It has already swept past the Sun 21 times, getting ever nearer, but the Christmas Eve visit is record-breaking.

At its closest approach, the probe is 3.8 million miles (6.2 million km) from our star's surface. This might not sound that close, but Nasa's Nicola Fox puts it into perspective: "We are 93 million miles away from the Sun, so if I put the Sun and the Earth one metre apart, Parker Solar Probe is four centimetres from the Sun - so that's close."

The probe will have to endure temperatures of 1,400C and radiation that could frazzle the onboard electronics.
It is protected by a 11.5cm (4.5 inches) thick carbon-composite shield but the spacecraft's tactic is to get in and out fast.

In fact, it will be moving faster than any human-made object, hurtling at 430,000mph - the equivalent of flying from London to New York in less than 30 seconds.

Parker's speed comes from the immense gravitational pull it feels as it falls towards the Sun.
So why go to all this effort to "touch" the Sun? Scientists hope that as the spacecraft passes through our star's outer atmosphere - its corona - it will solve a long standing mystery.

"The corona is really, really hot, and we have no idea why," explains Dr Jenifer Millard, an astronomer at Fifth Star Labs in Wales.

"The surface of the Sun is about 6,000C or so, but the corona, this tenuous outer atmosphere that you can see during solar eclipses, reaches millions of degrees - and that is further away from the Sun. So how is that atmosphere getting hotter?"

The mission should also help scientists to better understand solar wind - the constant stream of charged particles bursting out from the corona.

When these particles interact with the Earth's magnetic field the sky lights up with dazzling auroras.
But this so-called space weather can cause problems too, knocking out power grids, electronics and communication systems.

"Understanding the Sun, its activity, space weather, the solar wind, is so important to our everyday lives on Earth," says Dr Millard.

Nasa scientists face an anxious wait over Christmas while the spacecraft is out of touch with Earth. Nicola Fox says that as soon as a signal is beamed back home, the team will text her a green heart to let her know the probe is OK.
She admits she is nervous about the audacious attempt, but she has faith in the probe.

"I will worry about the spacecraft. But we really have designed it to withstand all of these brutal, brutal conditions. It's a tough, tough little spacecraft." If it survives this challenge, the probe will continue its mission around the Sun into the future.

Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan, many feared dead

An Embraer passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday with 62 passengers and five crew on board, Kazakh authorities announced, saying that 28 people had survived.

Unverified video of the crash showed the plane, which was operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, bursting into flames as it hit the ground and thick black smoke then rising. Bloodied and bruised passengers could be seen stumbling from a piece of the fuselage that had remained intact.

Kazakhstan's emergencies ministry said in a statement that fire services had put out the blaze and that the survivors, including two children, were being treated at a nearby hospital. The bodies of the dead were being recovered.

Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 jet, with flight number J2-8243, was flying from Baku to Grozny, capital of Russia's Chechnya region, but had been forced to make an emergency landing around three kilometres from Aktau in Kazakhstan. The city is on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan and Russia.

Authorities in Kazakhstan said a government commission had been set up to investigate what had happened and its members ordered to fly to the site and ensure that the families of the dead and injured were getting the help they needed.

Kazakhstan would cooperate with Azerbaijan on the investigation, the government said.

Russia's aviation watchdog said in a statement that preliminary information suggested the pilot had decided to make an emergency landing after a bird strike.

Following the crash, Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, was returning home from Russia where he had been due to attend a summit on Wednesday, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

"The President ordered the prompt initiation of urgent measures to investigate the causes of the disaster," his office said in a statement.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, expressed his condolences in a statement and said some of those being treated in hospital were in an extremely serious condition and that he and others would pray for their rapid recovery.

Taking to her Instragram, Azerbaijan's first lady Mehriban Aliyeva, who is also the country's first vice president, said: "Deeply saddened by the news of the tragic loss of lives in the plane crash near Aktau.

"I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims. Wishing them strength and patience! I also wish a speedy recovery to the injured."

Additionally, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief and sorrow over the plane crash, in a post on X.

He wrote: "Deeply saddened by the news of the tragic crash of an Azerbaijani airliner near Aktau, Kazakhstan. My heartfelt condolences to my dear brother President Ilham Aliyev and the people of Azerbaijan over the loss of precious lives in this incident."

"Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased and we wish a swift recovery to the injured.Pakistan stands with Azerbaijan in this hour of grief."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin also expressed his condolences to Aliyev.

"Unfortunately, Azerbaijan's President Aliyev was forced to leave St Petersburg (where he had a summit). Putin has already called him and expressed his condolences in connection with the crash of the Azerbaijani plane in Aktau," the Kremlin's Peskov said.

"We deeply sympathise with those who lost their relatives and friends in this plane crash and wish a speedy recovery to all those who managed to survive."

12 killed in blast at Turkiye explosives plant

A powerful blast ripped through an explosives plant in northwestern Turkiye on Tuesday killing 12 people and injuring five others, officials said.

Footage showed shards of glass and metal scattered outside the plant, where ambulances stood by.

“According to initial reports, 12 employees died and four were taken to hospital with injuries as a result of the explosion” in the Karesi district of Balikesir province, local governor Ismail Ustaoglu said.

“I wish God’s mercy upon our deceased citizens and a speedy recovery to our wounded,” he added.

Officials later revised the number of the injured as five and added they were not in a serious condition.

There were no staff members left inside the factory and the blaze was put out, they added.

The blast took place at 8:25am (0525 GMT) at a section of the plant which local officials said collapsed under the force of the explosion.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the cause of the blast at the factory, which is located away from residential areas, was not immediately known.

“We are trying to find out what caused it,” he said.

Local officials pointed to “technical reasons” without elaborating as experts were still investigating at the scene.

Authorities ruled out sabotage and prosecutors have launched a thorough investigation.

‘Battlefield’

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was “deeply saddened by the death of 12 brothers,” in a message on social platform X.

He said he was briefed by all relevant institutions soon after the blast and instructed that “the necessary investigation be initiated immediately in all aspects”.

The plant, located in the north of Balikesir, makes munitions, explosives and flares for the domestic and international markets.

Witnesses told local media that part of the building was “like a battlefield”.

The bodies of the dead were due to be carried to the morgue.

Security forces took measures in case of a second blast.

Civilians and members of the press were not allowed nearby.

Turkiye has become a major defence exporter, particularly for drones, with Erdogan a major supporter of the industry.

In 2020, an explosion at a fireworks factory in northwestern Turkiye killed seven people and injured 127 others.

In 2023, a blast at a military explosives factory killed five people. That factory — some 40 kilometres east of the capital Ankara, was part of Turkiye’s defence ministry.

 

 

Musk’s AI startup raises further $6bn

Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk’s startup xAI said it had raised $6 billion from investors in its latest funding round, as it battles stiff competition in the artificial intelligence market.

The firm, whose flagship product is the Grok chatbot, garnered support from US venture capitalists, chipmakers NVIDIA and AMD, and investment funds from Saudi Arabia and Qatar among others.

Musk has repeatedly warned that AI poses a risk to human civilisation, but he is pushing hard for a bigger slice of investment in the sector and xAI already raised $6bn in May.

The company is now one of the world’s most valuable startups with an estimated $50bn valuation, though still dwarfed by chief competitor OpenAI’s estimated $157bn.

Despite the sky-high estimates, critics have pointed out that AI firms are burning through cash and still have no clear path to profitability.

Announcing the funding on Monday, xAI said it would use the cash injection to “ship groundbreaking products that will be used by billions of people”.

It would also “accelerate the research and development of future technologies enabling the company’s mission to understand the true nature of the universe”.

Musk, who also acts as boss of SpaceX and Tesla and is a chief backer of US president-elect Donald Trump, wrote on his X account that “a lot of compute is needed” to power AI products.

He launched the company in July 2023 shortly after he signed an open letter calling for a pause in the development of powerful AI models.

Musk is currently taking legal action against ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, which he co-founded as a non-profit in 2015 before leaving in 2018, alleging that its conversion to a for-profit company breaks legally binding commitments.

Russian cargo ship sinks in Mediterranean after explosion: Russian foreign ministry

A Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major sank in the Mediterranean Sea overnight after an explosion ripped through its engine room and two of its crew are still missing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The vessel, built in 2009, was controlled by Oboronlogistika, a company that is part of the Russian Defence Ministry’s military construction operations, which had previously said it was en route to the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok with two giant port cranes lashed to its deck.

The Foreign Ministry’s crisis centre said in a statement that 14 of the ship’s 16 crew members had been rescued and brought to Spain, but that two were still missing. It did not say what had caused the engine room explosion.

Russia’s embassy in Spain was cited by the state RIA news agency as saying it was looking into the circumstances of the sinking and was in touch with the authorities in Spain.

Oboronlogistika and SK-Yug, a company LSEG lists as part of the group and the ship’s direct owner and operator, declined to comment on the sinking.

Both entities were placed under sanctions by the United States in 2022 for their ties to Russia’s military as was the Ursa Major itself.

Unverified video footage of the ship heavily listing to its starboard side with its bow much lower down in the water than usual was filmed on Dec 23 by a passing ship and published on Russia’s life.ru news outlet on Tuesday.

Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said it had received a distress signal from the Ursa Major on Monday when it was located about 57 miles off the coast of Almeria.

It said it had contacted a ship nearby which had reported bad weather conditions, a lifeboat in the water, and said the Ursa Major was listing to the starboard side.

Two vessels and a helicopter had been sent to the scene and the 14 surviving crew members were taken to the Spanish port of Cartagena.

It cited the crew as saying that the ship had been carrying empty containers as well as the two port cranes on deck.

A Russian warship had later arrived on the scene, it said, and taken charge of rescue operations.

Sinking

Oboronlogistika, the ship’s ultimate owner, said in a statement on Dec 20 that the ship, which LSEG data showed was previously called Sparta III among other names, had been carrying specialised port cranes due to be installed at the port of Vladivostok as well as parts for new ice-breakers.

Two giant cranes could be seen strapped to the deck in the unverified video footage.

LSEG ship tracking data shows the vessel departed from the Russian port of St Petersburg on Dec 11 and was last seen sending a signal at 2204 GMT on Monday between Algeria and Spain where it sank.

On leaving St Petersburg it had indicated that its next port of call was the Russian port of Vladivostok, not the Syrian port of Tartous which it has called at in the past.

Separately, Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence service — which tracks Russian ship movements — had said in a post on its official Telegram channel on Monday that a different Russian cargo ship, called Sparta, had temporarily run into technical problems off the coast of Portugal.

HUR said in an update that the Sparta’s crew had fixed the problem however and that the ship was en route for Syria to collect military equipment and ammunition after the fall of Russian ally Bashar al-Assad.

Reuters could not verify the HUR’s assertions about the Sparta’s destination or mission

WhatsApp fulfils its holiday season promise with festive revamp

As the festive season approaches, WhatsApp is introducing an exciting update by adding the Party Popper emoji as the seventh default reaction in the reaction tray.

This change in Meta's popular instant-messaging app allows users to celebrate the joyous moments of Christmas and the New Year in the most accessible way by making it readily available in the reaction tray, WABetaInfo reported.

The Party Popper emoji is a universal symbol of celebration which also makes it a perfect addition to the reaction tray, eliminating the need for users to sift through the emoji picker to select a relevant holiday emoji at a time when celebratory messages are more frequent.

It's important to mention that this feature is consistent across all platforms, including iOS, Android, individual chats, group chats, and even channels, so that users can have the same enhanced experience regardless of the device or context in which they are using WhatsApp.

The decision to include the Party Popper emoji among the default reactions aligns with their recent rollout of animated confetti effects.

By pairing this new animation with a more accessible emoji, WhatsApp aims to create a more engaging experience for users, levelling up the festive atmosphere of the holiday season.

However, it is worth noting that this addition to the reaction tray is likely temporary.

The Party Popper emoji is expected to remain among the default reactions during the festive period, after which it might be removed as the celebrations wind down.

Yet, the animated confetti effect introduced to the emoji alongside this update is likely to remain as part of WhatsApp's reaction features despite its potential removal from the default tray.

Adding it to the reaction tray ensures that it is available at a glance, particularly helpful during the holiday season when celebratory messages are more frequent.

Bangladesh tells India it wants former PM Hasina back for ‘judicial process’

Bangladesh has told India that it wants former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to New Delhi after being ousted in August, returned to the country for the “judicial process”, the acting head of the country’s foreign ministry said on Monday.

Additionally, Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission said on Monday that it has launched a probe into allegations of $5 billion embezzlement by Hasina and her family in connection with a Russian-backed nuclear power plant.

“We sent a note verbale to the Indian government saying that the Bangladesh government wants her (Hasina) back here for [the] judicial process,” Touhid Hossain told reporters, referring to diplomatic correspondence between the two countries.

Hossain did not specify what the judicial process was connected to.

India’s foreign ministry and Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests seeking comment.

Along with the ex-premier, those subject to the commission’s inquiry include Joy and Hasina’s niece, Tulip Siddiq, a British lawmaker and government minister.

The allegations were raised by a writ seeking an investigation filed in the high court by Hasina’s political opponent, Bobby Hajjaj, chairman of the Nationalist Democratic Movement party. “We seek justice through our court,” Hajjaj told AFP today.

Key allegations relate to the funding of the $12.65bn Rooppur nuclear plant, the first in a South Asian country. Moscow is bankrolling it with a 90 per cent loan.

A statement from the commission today said it had launched an inquiry into allegations that Hasina and family members had “embezzled $5bn” from the Rooppur plant via “various offshore bank accounts in Malaysia”.

It said its investigations were examining “questionable procurement practices related to the overpriced construction” of the plant.

“The claims of kickbacks, mismanagement, money laundering, and potential abuse of power raise significant concerns about the integrity of the project and the use of public funds,” the commission said. The graft allegations also include theft from a government building scheme for the homeless.

Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter on August 5 into exile in India, infuriating many Bangladeshis determined that she face trial for alleged “mass murder”.

It was not possible to contact Hasina for comment.

According to a statement from the British prime minister’s office, Siddiq has “denied any involvement in the claims” accusing her of embezzlement.

Joy, who is understood to be based in the United States, was also unavailable for comment to AFP.