Author: Anadolu Agency

NASA has announced revisions to its Mars Sample Return Program, aiming to simplify the mission, reduce costs, and expedite the timeline for bringing Martian soil samples to Earth. The initial plan, which involved multiple spacecraft, is being restructured to address technical and financial challenges. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Tuesday that the agency is now considering two new options for the spacecraft that will land on Mars to collect samples. One option involves using a landing technique similar to the successful methods employed for the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers. This method uses rockets to slow the spacecraft’s descent and a…

At first light in Mabatini, a crowded slum clinging precariously on the rugged hills of Tanzania’s port city of Mwanza, life stirs into action. Children’s laughter echoes down narrow dirt paths, fishmongers shout their prices, and the sharp clatter of cooking pots signals the start of the day. From a craggy outcrop overlooking this chaotic sprawl, Elias Kabashi, a fisherman and father of four, gazes out at Lake Victoria. The lake sparkles faintly in the distance, reflecting the rising sun. To a casual observer, it looks serene, almost eternal. But for Kabashi, who has fished its waters for over a…

Kabul on Wednesday “totally rejected” US President-elect Donald Trump’s claim that outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration is paying billions of dollars to the Taliban in Afghanistan, claiming Washington did not pay a single penny and instead confiscated Afghanistan’s money. Hamdullah Fitrat, the Afghan Taliban’s deputy spokesperson, reacted strongly to Trump’s statement, saying the US is spending money to “serve its own interests.” “The United States’ claims regarding the provision of billions and millions of dollars in aid to the Islamic Emirate are entirely incorrect, and we categorically reject these assertions,” Fitrat said in a statement on X. Earlier on Tuesday,…

NATO ships will start guarding critical locations in the Baltic Sea later this week, Finnish public broadcaster YLE reported on Wednesday. Around 10 ships, which will include some ships from NATO’s Baltic Fleet on duty and some that will be deployed by certain NATO countries will conduct patrol and protection missions in the Baltic Sea until April, according to the broadcaster. Noting that the ships would be placed near energy and data cables, the broadcaster said: “They are expected to create a deterrent effect and increase the risk for those who might sabotage the cables.” BALTIC SEA INCIDENTS The Baltic…

A British lawmaker has called for economic and military isolation of Israel to bring it to “some form of negotiated settlement,” and suggested the Israeli ambassador to the UK should face expulsion. Independent MP John McDonnell recalled the crippling situation in the Gaza Strip that has been exacerbated during harsh winter conditions. “We’ve witnessed over the Christmas period when we’re celebrating with our families, the scenes of children starving and freezing to death as a result of Israeli actions,” he said. Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, McDonnell said that the only solution that they have had in…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday criticized US President-elect Donald Trump over threats to take over Greenland and Canada. “Borders must not be moved by force. This principle applies and it is a foundation of our peace order,” Scholz said in a statement. Trump had previously expressed interest in the Arctic island of Greenland, which belongs to Denmark. At a recent news conference at his Mar-a-Lago home, he did not rule out using the military to gain control of the Panama Canal or Greenland. The incoming American president, who will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, said he would also be…

Russian envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, accused Israel on Wednesday of pursuing a “fait accompli” in Syria, and warned about “the unlawful actions of Israel” that threaten Syria’s territorial integrity. Nebenzia pledged continued support to Syria during a “new stage in their history.” “We would in particular like to point to the direct threat to the territorial integrity of Syria borne by the unlawful actions of Israel, which is carrying out a policy of fait accompli on the occupied Golan Heights,” he told a UN Security Council session on Syria, adding that 500 square-kilometers (123, 553 acres) of Syrian…

Germany on Wednesday criticized far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call for destroying the Palestinian cities of Jenin and Nablus in the occupied West Bank just like Jabalia in northern Gaza. “We strictly reject these statements. They are not helpful. They are escalating and they do not help to find peace in the Middle East conflict,” deputy Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner told journalists in Berlin. “We are very concerned about the situation in the West Bank,” he added in the wake of escalating tensions in the West Bank. On Monday, Smotrich called for the massive destruction in the West…

Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington has been working with Türkiye, which “has very legitimate concerns,” regarding the PKK terror group and terrorism. “We’ve been working very closely as well with our ally, our partner … (Türkiye) which has very legitimate concerns, of course, about the PKK and about terrorism, to navigate this transition, to navigate it in a way that I think leads to a resolution of many of those concerns,” Blinken said in a joint news conference with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. He emphasized efforts to address these challenges…

The UN deputy high commissioner for human rights on Wednesday called on Russia to halt the summary executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war, saying such executions “constitute a war crime.”
 “I am deeply concerned by a significant increase in credible allegations of executions of Ukrainian military personnel captured by Russian armed forces. Summary executions constitute a war crime,” Nada Al-Nashif said in her speech on the findings of the human rights office’s periodic report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine. According to Al-Nashif, the office recorded 62 such executions in 19 separate incidents between September and November and…