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NASA cancelled its first spacewalk of the year and may bring its crew back early from the International Space Station due to an onboard medical issue. The spacewalk was supposed to happen on Thursday, but was postponed because of an unspecified medical concern with an astronaut, who was not identified, the space agency said. NASA said the crew member is now stable, but it's actively evaluating all options including an early end to the mission. Safely conducting our missions is our highest priority, said NASA spokesperson Cheryl Warner in a statement. The US-Japanese-Russian crew of four have been at the orbiting lab since August after launching from Florida.
Expressing serious concern' over capture of its oil tanker by US coastguard, Russia on Thursday demanded compliance of international laws on freedom of maritime navigation and strongly rejected neo-colonist' tendencies of Washington. The Russian Foreign Ministry also demanded humane treatment of the crew members, including an Indian, of the Marinera tanker, previously known as Bella 1, that was seized on Wednesday by the US coastguard in the North Atlantic and said information about the vessel's status was conveyed to America repeatedly. We call on Washington to resume compliance with the fundamental norms and principles of international maritime navigation and immediately cease its illegal actions against the Marinera tanker and other vessels engaged in law-abiding activities on the high seas, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Moscow said it considers the US references to its national sanctions legislation to be unfounded. The statements by some US officials that the seizu
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has recommended installing devices to record video and background communications of controllers on duty in air traffic control towers at all international airports. The interim safety recommendation has been made by the probe agency in its preliminary report on the serious incident of an Ariana Afghan Airlines' 34-year-old aircraft A310-304 landing at a Delhi airport runway, where another flight was taking off. The incident of the flight AFG311 from Kabul landing on the unassigned runway at the Delhi airport happened on November 23. The aircraft crew had informed the ATC that they had lost ILS (Instrument Landing System) at 4 nautical miles from touchdown, and due to poor visibility, they were unable to differentiate between runways RWY29L and RWY29R, as per the five-page AAIB report. "To analyse controllers' actions, post-incident/ accident, it is recommended that ATC units be equipped with devices to record video and background ..
The ASEAN-India trade pact is currently undergoing a comprehensive review to transform it into a more trade-facilitating, balanced and responsive framework aligned with current economic realities, a senior diplomat said on Thursday. Speaking virtually from Jakarta at an Assocham event organised in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs, India's Ambassador to ASEAN Srinivas Gotru said the Department of Commerce is leading the discussions to modernise the pact and "expressed hope" that the review would conclude at the earliest. He noted that if a conclusion happens this year, it could unlock significant value and improve market access for both economies from the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA). "The idea is to make this agreement more responsive to current economic realities," Gotru said, adding that the government is impressing upon ASEAN partners the need for a swift conclusion. Highlighting the depth of the relationship, Gotru said trade between India and
Farmers drove about a hundred tractors into Paris on Thursday morning to protest the European Union's intention to move forward with a free trade deal with five South American nations, the French Interior Ministry said. French farmers for years have denounced the trade deal with the Mercosur nations of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, arguing that the deal would hurt French farmers' livelihoods. Thursday's protest was staged by the Rural Coordination union to put further pressure on France's government, which has opposed the deal. Jose Perez, President of the Rural Coordination in the Lot-et-Garonne region in southwestern France, said, The goal today is to come to Paris to express our demands closer to those who have the power. It's a strong symbol, he told The Associated Press. The Interior Ministry said about 20 tractors were in the Paris city centre, some at the Arc de Triomphe monument and others in the Eiffel Tower neighbourhood, despite a ban issued by ...
The UK on Wednesday unveiled a series of stricter road safety norms, including Dev's Law named after an eight-year-old Indian-origin boy killed in a 2018 accident on a busy highway. The Department for Transport (DfT) said its new road safety strategy will save thousands of lives on UK roads by tackling drink driving, improving training for young learner drivers and introducing mandatory eye tests for older motorists. It will also make Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) compulsory in new vehicles, something Dev's mother Meera Naran has been campaigning for since losing her son in the tragic road collision over seven years ago. I welcome this much-anticipated road safety strategy and am pleased to see a number of measures set out to reduce road deaths and serious injuries, said Naran, a senior lecturer at De Montfort University in Leicester. I am especially grateful to the Secretary of State [Heidi Alexander] for giving me her word that she would honour Dev and recognise the importan
Pakistan and Afghanistan on Monday agreed to establish a 13-member joint committee of business leaders to hold formal negotiations for the opening of the border for trade. The border has been shut since October last year after the two sides clashed over the issue of militancy emanating from Afghanistan. The Express Tribune newspaper reported that the joint committee comprises six members from Pakistan and seven from Afghanistan. The Pakistani delegation will be led by Syed Jawad Hussain Kazmi, Adviser to the President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), while the Afghan side will be headed by Mohammad Wali Amini. Speaking to the media, Kazmi said the primary objective of the talks is the immediate reopening of Pak-Afghan trade routes, the removal of obstacles in border management, and ensuring the continuity of bilateral trade. He added that a comprehensive and practical roadmap would be formulated to provide a lasting solution to the issues fa
US Senator Lindsey Graham has claimed that Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra informed him about New Delhi reducing its purchases of Russian oil and asked him to convey to President Donald Trump to "relieve the tariff" imposed on India. Graham, accompanying Trump on Air Force One Sunday, spoke about his tariff bill that seeks to impose 500 per cent levies on imports from countries buying Russian oil. He said that to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, pressure must be put on Russian President Vladimir Putin's customers. Trump said that the sanctions are hurting Russia very badly, and then mentioned India. Graham then said that the US put a 25 per cent tariff on India for buying Russian oil. I was at the Indian Ambassador's house about a month ago, and all he wanted to talk about was how they are buying less Russian oil," Graham said. He added that the Indian envoy conveyed to him, "Would you tell the President to relieve the tariff?" There were no immediate comments from India
Swiss authorities have opened an investigation into the managers of the bar where a fire at a New Year's party left 40 people dead, police said Saturday. The two are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, police said in a statement. They said that the investigation was opened on Friday night, but didn't give further details. More than 100 people were injured in the blaze that broke out about 1:30 am on Thursday at the Le Constellation bar in the Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana. The process of identifying the dead and injured was still underway on Saturday, leading to an agonising wait for relatives desperate for news. Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar. Many of the injured were in their teens to mid-20s, police said. Authorities planned to look into whether sound-dampening material on the ceiling ...
Ireland's Prime Minister Micheal Martin will visit China from Sunday and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the first visit by an Irish leader in 14 years, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday. Beijing has been strengthening ties with individual members of the European Union despite tensions with the EU bloc over tariffs and human rights issues. In late 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish King Felipe VI met with Xi in separate trips to China. During his five-day trip, Martin will also meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who had invited him, and Zhao Leji, chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the ministry said in a statement. Besides Beijing, he will travel to Shanghai, it added. Through the visit, the ministry said, China is ready to work with Ireland to expand cooperation and foster China-EU relations. In December, China imposed up to 42.7 per cent of provisional tariffs on dairy products, including milk and .