NASA’s stuck astronauts welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station

NASA’s stuck astronauts welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station
This image made from video by NASA shows astronauts greeting each other after the SpaceX capsule docked with the International Space Station, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 16 March 2025
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NASA’s stuck astronauts welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station

NASA’s stuck astronauts welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station
  • The Boeing Starliner capsule encountered so many problems that NASA insisted it come back empty, leaving its test pilots behind to wait for a SpaceX lift

CAPE CANAVERAL: Just over a day after blasting off, a SpaceX crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering the replacements for NASA’s two stuck astronauts.
The four newcomers — representing the US, Japan and Russia — will spend the next few days learning the station’s ins and outs from Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Then the two will strap into their own SpaceX capsule later this week, one that has been up there since last year, to close out an unexpected extended mission that began last June.
Wilmore and Williams expected to be gone just a week when they launched on Boeing’s first astronaut flight. They hit the nine-month mark earlier this month.
The Boeing Starliner capsule encountered so many problems that NASA insisted it come back empty, leaving its test pilots behind to wait for a SpaceX lift.
Wilmore swung open the space station’s hatch and then rang the ship’s bell as the new arrivals floated in one by one and were greeted with hugs and handshakes.
“It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive,” Williams told Mission Control.
Wilmore’s and Williams’ ride arrived back in late September with a downsized crew of two and two empty seats reserved for the leg back. But more delays resulted when their replacements’ brand new capsule needed extensive battery repairs. An older capsule took its place, pushing up their return by a couple weeks to mid-March.
Weather permitting, the SpaceX capsule carrying Wilmore, Williams and two other astronauts will undock from the space station no earlier than Wednesday and splash down off Florida’s coast.
Until then, there will be 11 aboard the orbiting lab, representing the US, Russia and Japan.


India says Pakistan nuclear arsenal should be under UN surveillance

India says Pakistan nuclear arsenal should be under UN surveillance
Updated 15 sec ago
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India says Pakistan nuclear arsenal should be under UN surveillance

India says Pakistan nuclear arsenal should be under UN surveillance
SRINAGAR: Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal should be brought under the surveillance of the UN’s nuclear agency, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said Thursday, following last week’s conflict between Islamabad and New Delhi.
“I wanted to raise this question for the world: are nuclear weapons safe in the hands of a rogue and irresponsible nation?” Singh told troops at a base in Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir.
“I believe that Pakistan’s atomic weapons should be brought under he surveillance of IAEA. I want to say this very clearly,” he said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“The entire world has seen how Pakistan has irresponsibly threatened India with nuclear attacks multiple times.”
Pakistan repeatedly said during the conflict that the nuclear option was not on the table.
Singh’s comments came as the nuclear-armed rivals ended their worst military conflict in nearly three decades with a ceasefire announcement on Saturday.
The conflict sparked global concerns that it could spiral into a full-blown war.
The fighting began last Wednesday when India launched strikes against what it described as “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan.
Pakistan immediately responded with heavy artillery fire and a four-day standoff ensued between the South Asian rivals, which left around 70 people dead on both sides.
India claims Pakistan backed an April attack in which 26 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir — a charge Islamabad denies.
New Delhi had earlier denied targeting Pakistan’s nuclear installations during the brief conflict.
“We have not hit Kirana Hills,” Indian Air Marshal A.K. Bharti told reporters, referring to a vast rocky mountain range where, according to Indian media reports, Pakistan stores its nuclear arsenal.

China says ready to 'expand practical cooperation' with Russian army

China says ready to 'expand practical cooperation' with Russian army
Updated 24 min 24 sec ago
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China says ready to 'expand practical cooperation' with Russian army

China says ready to 'expand practical cooperation' with Russian army

BEIJING: China said Thursday it was ready to "expand practical cooperation" with the Russian army, after President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Moscow for a lavish World War II Victory Day parade.
"The Chinese military stands ready to work with the Russian side to further deepen strategic mutual trust, step up strategic communication, and expand practical cooperation," the ministry of defence said in a statement on social media platform WeChat.


Israel’s presence still roils Eurovision a year after major protests over the war in Gaza

Israel’s presence still roils Eurovision a year after major protests over the war in Gaza
Updated 56 min 14 sec ago
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Israel’s presence still roils Eurovision a year after major protests over the war in Gaza

Israel’s presence still roils Eurovision a year after major protests over the war in Gaza
  • About 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched Wednesday in the Swiss host city of Basel
  • Oddsmakers suggest Raphael is likely to secure a place in Saturday’s final with her song “New Day Will Rise”

BASEL: Most contestants at the Eurovision Song Contest are seeking as much publicity as possible.
Israel’s Yuval Raphael is keeping a low profile.
The 24-year-old singer has done few media interviews or appearances during Eurovision week, as Israel’s participation in the pan-continental pop music competition draws protests for a second year.
Raphael is due to perform Thursday in the second semifinal at the contest in the Swiss city of Basel. Oddsmakers suggest Raphael is likely to secure a place in Saturday’s final with her anthemic song “New Day Will Rise.”
Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years and won four times. But last year’s event in Sweden drew large demonstrations calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest over its conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza.
More than 52,800 people in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s military offensive, according to the territory’s health ministry.
About 200 people, many draped in Palestinian flags, protested in central Basel on Wednesday evening, demanding an end to Israel’s military offensive and the country’s expulsion from Eurovision. They marched in silence down a street noisy with music and Eurovision revelry.
Many noted that Russia was banned from Eurovision after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“It should be a happy occasion that Eurovision is finally in Switzerland, but it’s not,” said Lea Kobler, from Zurich. “How can we rightfully exclude Russia but we’re still welcoming Israel?”
Last year, Israeli competitor Eden Golan received boos when she performed live at Eurovision. Raphael told the BBC that she expects the same and has rehearsed with background noise so she won’t be distracted.
“But we are here to sing and I’m going to sing my heart out for everyone,” she said.
Anti-Israel protests in Basel have been much smaller than last year in Malmo. Another protest is planned for Saturday in downtown Basel, 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the contest venue, St. Jakobshalle arena.
But concern by some Eurovision participants and broadcasters continues.
More than 70 former Eurovision contestants signed a letter calling for Israel to be excluded. Several of the national broadcasters that fund Eurovision, including those of Spain, Ireland and Iceland, have called for a discussion about Israel’s participation.
Swiss singer Nemo, who brought the competition to Switzerland by winning last year, told HuffPost UK that “Israel’s actions are fundamentally at odds with the values that Eurovision claims to uphold — peace, unity, and respect for human rights.”
At Wednesday’s protest, Basel resident Domenica Ott held a handmade sign saying “Nemo was right.”
She said the nonbinary singer was “very courageous.”
“If Russia couldn’t participate, why should Israel?” she said.
The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, pointed out that Israel is represented by its public broadcaster, KAN, not the government. It has called on participants to respect Eurovision’s values of “universality, diversity, equality and inclusivity” and its political neutrality.


South African president to meet Trump on Wednesday over rising tensions

South African president to meet Trump on Wednesday over rising tensions
Updated 57 min 32 sec ago
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South African president to meet Trump on Wednesday over rising tensions

South African president to meet Trump on Wednesday over rising tensions
  • The visit “provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries,” it said

JOHANNESBURG: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington next week amid strained ties between the two countries, Pretoria said Thursday.
Tensions have been rising for months over a range of policy issues, culminating this week with the US resettling a first group of white Afrikaners that Trump claims are facing “persecution” in South Africa.
“On Wednesday, 21 May 2025, President Ramaphosa will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington DC to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest,” the presidency said in a statement released late Wednesday.
The visit “provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries,” it said.
Trump has repeatedly shared unfounded claims that white Afrikaners are facing a “genocide,” a conspiracy theory that has been widely dismissed.
White South Africans, who make up 7.3 percent of the population, generally enjoy a higher standard of living than the black majority of the country.
Pretoria has said Trump’s offer of refugee status to Afrikaners is “entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy.”


NATO chief ‘cautiously optimistic’ for Ukraine peace breakthrough

NATO chief ‘cautiously optimistic’ for Ukraine peace breakthrough
Updated 15 May 2025
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NATO chief ‘cautiously optimistic’ for Ukraine peace breakthrough

NATO chief ‘cautiously optimistic’ for Ukraine peace breakthrough
  • NATO chief Mark Rutte said Thursday that he was “cautiously optimistic” for progress toward peace in Ukraine, but that it was up to Russia to take the “necessary next steps”

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Thursday that he was “cautiously optimistic” for progress toward peace in Ukraine, but that it was up to Russia to take the “necessary next steps.”
“I’m still cautiously optimistic that if also the Russians are willing to play ball, and not only the Ukrainians are doing this... that you could get to some breakthroughs over the next couple of weeks,” Rutte said at a NATO meeting in Turkiye.