By Mike Wall, Space.com YOU can exhale now: NASA’s Perseverance rover has landed safely on Mars. The car-sized Perseverance, the most advanced robot ever sent to the Red Planet, aced its “seven minutes of terror” touchdown this afternoon (Feb. 18), alighting gently on an ancient lakebed inside the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater
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How Mars became the prize for a new space race — and why China is hellbent on winning it
By Steffi Paladini, Space.com This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Steffi Paladini, Reader in Economics & Global Security, Birmingham City University LOOKING at its achievements over the past decade, nobody would doubt China is aiming to win the new
Read moreMyanmar junta targets paralysing strikes, as arrests near 500
By Reuters Staff, published by MSN MYANMAR’S military junta has issued arrest warrants against six celebrities for encouraging strikes that have paralysed many government offices in protests against this month’s coup, with total arrests since then now nearing 500. Late yesterday (Feb. 17), security forces opened fire in Myanmar’s second biggest city of Mandalay as
Read moreInjured surfer writes message in the sand before collapsing on remote Auckland beach
By Julia Gabel, NZ Herald A BADLY injured surfer on a remote West Auckland beach was able to write the word “HELP” in the sand before he collapsed. The man had been surfing alone at Karekare Beach today (Feb. 17) when he lost his board and was swept into the rocks by large waves. He
Read moreMyanmar Coup Opponents Call for New Show of Force
By Reuters Staff, published by US News & World Report OPPONENTS of Myanmar’s military coup called for more big protests today (Feb. 18) to show that the army’s assertion of widespread public support for overthrowing elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and holding new elections was false. They voiced scepticism at the junta’s promise at
Read moreTsunami not expected after 6.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Vanuatu: PTWC
By Reuters Staff, published by CTV News A TSUNAMI was not expected after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu today (Feb. 16), the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said. The US Geological Survey pegged the quake at a magnitude of 6.2 with a depth of about 10 km, after having initially
Read moreUN warns Myanmar against harsh response to protesters
By Reuters Staff, published by US News & World Report THE UNITED Nations special envoy has warned Myanmar’s army of “severe consequences” for any harsh response to protesters demonstrating against this month’s coup in a call with the military leadership, a UN spokesman said. Despite the deployment of armoured vehicles and soldiers to some major
Read moreMars is now having its busiest two weeks in 47 years
Mars and Earth lined up neatly last summer, and three separate space agencies seized their opportunity. It’s a busy February for Mars, with three probes from three separate countries arriving at the Red Planet over the course of just nine days. But this Martian party didn’t happen by coincidence — it has to do with
Read moreMyanmar journalists wait and watch
”Some horrible things are likely to happen,” one journalist said. Added another: “They can arrest [us] anytime.” A reporter predicted: “There will be a darker period for us.” “I feel lost,” one journalist said with a sigh. “We are unsafe and insecure.” These words from various Myanmar journalists reflect the stress they live in under
Read moreMyanmar spirit mediums take aim at military coup
YANGON: Otherworldly forces are displeased with the generals behind Myanmar’s coup, according to the ornately dressed spirit mediums joining street protests to denounce the country’s sudden turn back to army rule. A group of the clairvoyants this week marched alongside civil servants, garment factory workers and students in the commercial capital Rangoon to call for
Read moreMyanmar junta warns public not to hide fugitive protesters
YANGON: Myanmar’s new military regime warned the public not to harbour fugitive political activists on Sunday after issuing arrest warrants for veteran democracy campaigners supporting massive nationwide anti-coup protests. Much of the country has been in uproar since last week when soldiers detained Aung San Suu Kyi and ousted her government, ending a decade-old fledgling
Read moreWHO expert says coronavirus may not stem from China
The virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic may have leaped from animals to people outside China’s borders, a World Health Organisation scientist has suggested. Professor John Watson, who was part of the WHO-led team that travelled to China’s Wuhan city to investigate the origins of COVID-19, said he was uncertain if the virus made the jump
Read moreMyanmar junta amends law for more power on detentions, spying
(Bloomberg News) Myanmar’s military amended an existing law on privacy and security rights, giving it more power to detain people for longer and tap their communications. The junta, led by Min Aung Hlaing, signed a law that would allow it to make arrests or search private premises without warrants, according to the office of the
Read moreChina’s clandestine economic warfare revealed
Financial warfare involves the deliberate efforts of weakening the financial system underlying the domestic economy of a target country. In today’s realm, national security embodies far more than physical borders and is far less straightforward than eyeing the perimeter for invaders. National security has become much more complicated, multifaceted, and can easily be compromised via
Read moreProtests continue in Myanmar as army faces crippling mass strike
By Reuters Staff, published by Channel NewsAsia (Yangon) – Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Myanmar for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations today (Feb 14), as the new army rulers grappled to contain a strike by government workers that could cripple their ability to run the country. Trains in parts
Read moreWith Trump impeachment trial over, wary Washington seeks to move forward
By Reuters staff (Washington) – Former President Donald Trump’s acquittal on charges of inciting a deadly attack on the US Capitol left Democrats and Republicans deeply divided today (Feb. 14) even as Washington seeks to move on with Democratic President Joe Biden’s political agenda. The Senate trial concluded on Saturday with a 57-43 vote in
Read moreTrump impeachment trial could end today, conviction seen unlikely
By Reuters Staff, published by US News & World Report Washington – Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial could conclude on Saturday, leaving a divided US Senate to decide whether the former president incited his supporters to attack the US Capitol on Jan. 6 in a last-ditch effort to stay in power after his November election
Read morePangong Lake: India and China to pull back from disputed border
By BBC INDIA and China are to pull back troops from part of their disputed Himalayan border in what’s seen as a breakthrough following a deadly clash in June. India’s defence minister said the move to withdraw troops in Ladakh was the result of “sustained talks” between the nuclear-armed neighbours. His remarks came a day
Read moreCoronavirus vaccines from China arrive in Cambodia
PHNOM PENH: The first 600,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines donated by China to Cambodia arrived in Phnom Penh on Sunday by special plane, with the doses earmarked to vaccinate health workers and the military. The nation of about 16 million people is one of the least impacted
Read moreBeijing move a subtle sign of glaring military weak spot
Beijing is not usually backward in coming forward about its military prowess. It bombastically boasts about how it can respond to all threats “at any moment”; it builds artificial islands in the middle of the South China Sea and flies sorties of jets into Taiwan’s airspace while constantly threatening to invade the island. But an
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