Blue Origin’s huge New Glenn rocket has blasted off from Florida on its first mission to space, an inaugural step into Earth’s orbit for Jeff Bezos’s space company as it aims to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the satellite launch business. Thirty storeys high with a reusable first stage filled with liquid oxygen and methane,…
Pakistan’s prime minister has ordered an investigation after the country’s national airline released an advert that drew accusations that it evoked imagery of the 9/11 attacks. The advert was released by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) last week to celebrate the resumption of flights to Paris, which had been suspended for four years over safety concerns…
Persistent rain and strong winds will sweep across New South Wales into the weekend, the Bureau of Meteorology predicts, with Sydney on the “southern cusp” of the stormy weather. Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said Sydney’s weather could shift from storms to a “dreary” mix of wind, rain and cloud.…
A 34-year-old Queensland woman has been arrested and charged after allegedly poisoning a one-year-old girl and posting videos of her in what police describe as “immense distress and pain” to solicit donations and build an online following. Police laid charges, including torture, against the Sunshine Coast woman on Thursday, on the back of what they…
Strikes on Gaza continue after ceasefire announced – reports The ceasefire agreement does not come into force until Sunday, and reports from on the ground in Gaza indicate that the Israeli army has continued its bombardment of the territory in the meantime. The Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence says Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 20…
Donald Trump’s nominee for energy secretary, Chris Wright, is facing criticism for disputing the ties between climate change and more frequent or severe wildfires, the Washington Post reports, a stance that is contrary to scientific consensus. During Wright’s US Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Democrats, including the California senator Alex Padilla, challenged Wright over past…
Great Britain’s energy system operator has been forced to block new electricity projects from joining the decade-long queue for a grid connection, to stop the growing logjam from delaying vital green developments. The National Energy System Operator (Neso) says it plans to use the “short pause” to overhaul application rules that have allowed a surge…
The skyscrapers of the Frankfurt skyline in the evening, with the Deutschherrn Bridge in the foreground. Frank Rumpenhorst | Picture Alliance | Getty Images The German economy contracted by 0.2% in 2024, in the country’s second consecutive yearly slowdown, data from statistics office Destatis showed Wednesday. The drop was in line with the expectations of…
UK inflation unexpectedly fell in December, handing some breathing space to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, after a week of turbulence in financial markets. With the government under pressure on the economy, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the consumer prices index eased to 2.5%, below a reading of 2.6% in November, meaning prices…
The crisis in special educational needs and disabilities (Send) in England risks creating a “lost generation” of children, while putting “almost half” of all councils with an education remit in danger of bankruptcy within 15 months, parliament’s spending watchdog has warned. MPs on the public accounts committee (PAC) expressed frustration with the government’s lack of…
