BEIJING: China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe looks set to begin its historic journey back to Earth from the moon’s far side after collecting samples that scientists expect will help answer key questions about the early evolution of the solar system.
Chang’e-6, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, was launched on May 3 from the southern Chinese island province of Hainan.
The fully robotic probe landed on Sunday in a previously unexplored location in a gigantic impact crater called the South-Pole Aitken Basin, on the side of the moon that permanently faces away from Earth.
China’s previous Chang’e mission collected samples from the moon’s near side in December 2020, restarting global lunar material retrieval efforts after a gap of 44 years.
The uncrewed Luna 24 mission launched by the former Soviet Union in 1976 collected 170.1 grams (6 ounces) of samples from Mare Crisium, or “Sea of Crises,” on the near side of the moon.
Between 1969 and 1972, six Apollo missions, all crewed, collected 2,200 samples weighing a total of 382 kilograms, also from the side of the moon facing Earth.
James Carpenter, head of the European Space Agency’s lunar science office, said the samples collected by the Apollo missions from the moon’s near side suggested the South-Pole Aitken Basin on the far side was caused by an epoch of extremely heavy bombardment of the solar system, Earth and moon.
“This is a really core event in the history of the whole solar system, but there is some controversy about whether it happened or not,” he said.
“To understand that, you need to anchor those events, and that’s going to be done with samples from the lunar far side from the South-Pole Aitken Basin.”
SMALL WINDOW
After landing, Chang’e-6 had a 14-hour window to drill, excavate, and seal 2 kg of material, with the goal of being the first probe to bring back such samples from the moon’s far side. This compares to the 21-hour window Chang’e-5 had in 2020.
“Once it gets dark, once the sun goes over the horizon, the mission has to end, so there is a limited time window between landing, getting those samples, and getting off the surface again, so it’s quite an exciting mission because it has to be done quickly,” Carpenter said.
While China said it had improved the efficiency of its digging and drilling machines compared with 2020, the mission could still encounter snags at the sampling phase.
Chang’e-5 returned 1.73kg of lunar samples, rather than the planned 2kg, as the drill was only able to create a hole one meter deep, rather than two meters, after encountering impenetrable layers beneath the surface.
The Chang’e-6 samples will be transferred and sealed on a rocket booster atop the lander, which will launch back into space, dock with another spacecraft in lunar orbit and transfer the samples.
A landing in China’s Inner Mongolia is expected around June 25.
Throughout the probe’s journey, payloads from Italian, French, and Pakistani research institutes, as well as the European Space Agency, will collect data on questions pertaining to space and the moon, highlighting the growing international weight of China’s space program, which is competing with the United States to build a lunar outpost in the next decade.
Carpenter said there was “extremely strong” collaboration between European and Chinese scientists in analizing the lunar samples brought back by Chang’e-5, and he hoped this would be repeated for Chang’e-6.
China’s lunar probe could return with answer to origins of solar system
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China’s lunar probe could return with answer to origins of solar system
- Chang’e-6, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, was launched on May 3
- A landing in China’s Inner Mongolia is expected around June 25
Indian villagers beat five to death for ‘witchcraft’
Three people have been arrested and have confessed to the crime, police in the northern state of Bihar said in a statement.
Three women — including a 75-year-old — were among those murdered.
The main accused believed that his son’s recent death was caused by one of those killed, and blamed “him and his family of practicing witchcraft,” the statement said.
“After beating the victims to death, the perpetrators loaded the bodies onto a tractor and dumped them in a pond,” police said.
The murderers and victims all belonged to India’s Oraon tribe in Bihar, India’s poorest state and a mainly Hindu region of at least 130 million people.
Despite campaigns against superstition, belief in witchcraft remains widespread in rural areas across India, especially in isolated tribal communities.
Some states, including Bihar, have introduced laws to try to curb crimes against people accused of witchcraft and superstition.
Women have often been branded witches and targeted, but the killing of the family of five stands out as a particularly heinous recent example.
More than 1,500 people — the overwhelming majority of them women — were killed in India on suspicion of witchcraft between 2010 and 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
Some believe in the occult, but attackers also sometimes have other motives including usurping their rights over land and property.
Germany must honor visa obligations to Afghan refugees, rules court
- Since May 2021, Germany has admitted about 36,500 vulnerable Afghans including former local staff by various pathways
- Some 2,400 Afghans approved for admission are waiting in Pakistan to travel to Germany without a clear idea of when
BERLIN: A German court ruled on Tuesday that the government is obliged to issue visas to Afghan nationals and their family members who were accepted into a humanitarian admissions program that the new center-right coalition intends to shut down.
After the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 by Western allies, Germany established several programs to resettle local staff as well as particularly vulnerable Afghans.
Since May 2021, Germany has admitted about 36,500 vulnerable Afghans including former local staff by various pathways.
Some 2,400 Afghans approved for admission are waiting in Pakistan to travel to Germany without a clear idea of when, as the program has been suspended pending a government review, the foreign ministry in Berlin said this month.
The court decision, in response to an urgent appeal by an Afghan woman and her family, ruled that the government was legally bound to honor its “irrevocable” commitment to them.
“The applicants assert that they are entitled to a visa and can no longer remain in Pakistan. They face deportation to Afghanistan, where they fear for their lives,” it said.
However, the government is within its rights to end the program for Afghans and refrain from issuing any new admission commitments going forward, according to the court in Berlin.
NGOs have said that an additional 17,000 Afghans are in the early stages of selection and application under the now-dormant scheme.
The court’s decision can be appealed.
The foreign ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Germany’s new government has pledged a tougher stance on migration after several high-profile attacks and the rise of the far-right made it a pivotal issue in February elections.
As a part of that push, conservative Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has vowed to halt refugee admission programs and to deport people to Afghanistan and Syria.
Cambodian garment workers fret Trump’s new tariff threat
- Cambodia, a major manufacturer of low cost clothing for Western brands, was among the nations hardest hit by Trump’s “Liberation Day” blitz of tariff threats in April
PHNOM PENH: As Cambodian garment workers took breaks from toiling in sweltering factories on Tuesday, they feared for their jobs after US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 36 percent tariff.
“I beg the US to reduce the tariff for the sake of workers in Cambodia,” 38-year-old Im Sothearin told AFP as she rested from her work in an underwear factory in the capital Phnom Penh.
“If they charge a high tariff, it is only workers who are going to suffer,” said the mother-of-three who earns only $300 a month.
“Factories might be closed or workers will have their wages lowered, or be forced to work faster.”
Cambodia — a major manufacturer of low-cost clothing for Western brands — was among the nations hardest hit by Trump’s “Liberation Day” blitz of tariff threats in April.
The US president originally outlined a 49-percent rate if Cambodia failed to broker a deal with Washington. On Monday, he lowered it to 36 percent and extended the negotiation deadline to August 1.
While the levy is lower than the original eye-watering figure, it has done little to allay anxieties.
“If the tariff is that high, companies won’t have money to pay,” 28-year-old pregnant worker Sreymom, who goes by only one name, told AFP as she bought fruit on her lunch break.
“I am worried that we won’t have jobs to do,” the 11-year veteran of the factory floor said. “I want the tariff to be reduced more.”
Cambodia’s chief negotiator in talks with Washington called the reduction in the proposed rate — announced in a letter among more than a dozen Trump despatched to trade partners — a “huge victory.”
“We are so successful in negotiations,” Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol told reporters in Phnom Penh. “We still have a chance to negotiate further to reduce the tariff rate more.”
But back in April commerce ministry spokesman Penn Sovicheat told AFP that harsh US tariffs on his country were “not reasonable.”
Cambodia said it had about $10 billion in exports to the United States last year, mainly garment products.
The nation has been paying a 10-percent standby rate as negotiators rush to make a deal.
Many factories in Cambodia are Chinese-owned. The White House previously accused the kingdom of allowing Chinese goods to stop over on the way to US markets, thereby skirting steeper rates imposed on Beijing.
Yi Mom has had a two-decade career in the garment industry. But she frets it may be ended if Cambodia fails to soften the blow threatened by the United States.
“I fear that the high tariff will affect factories and will result in fewer jobs for workers,” said the 47-year-old.
“Then we will have low wages and will not be able to support our families.”
UN says ‘deeply troubled’ by Kenya protest killings
- The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights meanwhile reported at least 10 deaths, 29 injuries, 37 arrests and two abductions
GENEVA: The United Nations on Tuesday expressed serious concern over the deaths of at least 10 people in Kenya where police and protesters clashed during anti-government demonstrations the previous day.
The violence erupted on Saba Saba Day (meaning Seven Seven) when demonstrators annually mark the events of July 7, 1990 when Kenyans rose up to demand a return to multi-party democracy after years of autocratic rule by then-president Daniel arap Moi.
“We are deeply troubled by the killings yesterday of at least 10 people, as well as looting and destruction of property in Kenya,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
She said that “lethal ammunition, rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons were used” as police responded to the protests.
She highlighted that Kenyan police had reported that at least 11 people were killed, 52 police officers injured and 567 arrests made.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights meanwhile reported at least 10 deaths, 29 injuries, 37 arrests and two abductions, she added.
“We have also received reports of looting and damage to public and private property by unidentified individuals in multiple locations.”
Shamdasani said the violence came “barely two weeks after 15 protesters were reportedly killed and many more injured in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya on 25 June.”
UN rights chief Volker Turk renews “his call for calm and restrain, and full respect for the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” she said.
“It is essential that legitimate grievances at the root of these protests are addressed,” the spokeswoman said.
The UN rights office noted that Kenyan police had announced an investigation into earlier incidents.
Shamdasani stressed that “under international human rights law, intentional lethal force by law enforcement officers, including with firearms, should only be used when strictly necessary to protect life from an imminent threat.”
Turk reiterates “his call for all reported killings and other alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law, including with respect to use of force, to be promptly, thoroughly, independently and transparently investigated,” she said.
“Those responsible must be held to account.”
Acropolis shuts, outdoor work halted as heatwave scorches Greece
- To protect outdoor workers, the labor ministry has decreed a work stoppage from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. in various parts of the country, including several islands
- The Greek culture ministry said the world renowned site would be shut till 5:00 p.m
ATHENS: Greece’s top archaeological monument, the Acropolis, was partially shut Tuesday as part of emergency measures to protect visitors and workers around the country during a four-day heatwave.
The Greek culture ministry said the world-renowned site would be shut till 5:00 p.m. (1400 GMT) “for the safety of workers and visitors, owing to high temperatures.”
The four-day heatwave confirmed by meteorologists began Sunday is the second to grip Greece since late June.
Temperatures are expected to reach 42 Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, with a maximum of 38 Celsius in Athens.
Similar temperatures are expected on Wednesday.
To protect outdoor workers, the labor ministry has decreed a work stoppage from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. in various parts of the country, including several islands.
The stoppage mainly affects construction work and delivery riders.
“Days with a heatwave make my job more difficult,” cycle-riding courier Michalis Keskinidis told AFP.
“We drink a lot of water to protect ourselves from the heat, combined with electrolytes, and take breaks whenever possible,” the 43-year-old said.
The 2,500-year-old Acropolis, built on a rock overlooking the capital that offers little shade, draws tens of thousands of visitors daily.
Last year it recorded some 4.5 million visitors, an increase of over 15 percent compared to 2023.
Officials had been forced to order similar shutdowns in the past two years in heatwave conditions.
The Greek civil protection authority has warned of high fire risk in the greater Athens area, in central Greece and the Peloponnese peninsula.
Greece’s fire department has been dealing with up to 50 fires daily, the head of the Greek fire service officers’ union Constantinos Tsigkas told state TV ERT.
Elsewhere, Serbia’s hydrometeorological service RMHZ warned that weather conditions could fuel more fires, after 620 fires were recorded Monday.
But there are also thunderstorms expected in Serbia’s northern Vojvodina region, as well as in western and central areas.
RHMZ has also warned of the possibility of hail and hurricane-force gusts of wind.
Croatia has already felt the impact of storms since Monday, with several of the country’s regions affected.
Two people were injured and hospitalized in Vinkovci after a storm knocked down a power line on a family house near the eastern town, police said.
The authorities said they had taken dozens of calls over wind-related emergencies including trees blocking roads, damaged roofs and power failures.
On Tuesday, heavy rain and gale-force winds flooded roads, knocked down trees and caused power outages at the Croatian port town of Split, the state-run HRT broadcaster reported.
At the town’s port, a ferry broke its moorings and hit a catamaran and a tourist excursion boat, sinking the latter.
There was similar trouble further north, with storms raging in Hungary and Slovakia.
In Budapest, strong winds damaged roofs, felled trees onto roads and downed power lines on Monday, with the national meteorological service HungaroMet measuring winds up to 137 kilometers (85 miles) per hour locally.
Rail traffic was severely disrupted across Hungary with full restoration of services potentially requiring weeks, according to Construction and Transport Minister Janos Lazar.
In Slovakia, gale-force winds caused power outages and blew off the roof of a block of flats in the eastern town of Gelnica and fallen trees disrupted road and railway transport across the region.
The country’s weather service SHMU has issued a storm warning with heavy rain, wind and hail for Tuesday, mainly for central and eastern Slovakia.
