Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another mammoth Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as the spacecraft came tumbling down and broke apart.
This time, wreckage from the latest explosion was seen streaming from the skies over Florida. It was not immediately known whether the spacecraft's self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up.
The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket blasted off from Texas. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost as the spacecraft went into an out-of-control spin.
Starship reached nearly 90 miles (150 kilometers) in altitude before trouble struck and before four mock satellites could be deployed. It was not immediately clear where it came down, but images of flaming debris were captured from Florida, including near Cape Canaveral, and posted online.
The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour.
“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.
SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly" during the ascent engine firing. "Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses,” the company said in a statement posted online.
Starship didn't make it quite as high or as far as last time.
NASA has booked Starship to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX’s Elon Musk is aiming for Mars with Starship, the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket.
Like last time, Starship had mock satellites to release once the craft reached space on this eighth test flight as a practice for future missions. They resembled SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, thousands of which currently orbit Earth, and were meant to fall back down following their brief taste of space.
Starship’s flaps, computers and fuel system were redesigned in preparation for the next big step: returning the spacecraft to the launch site just like the booster.
During the last demo, SpaceX captured the booster at the launch pad, but the spacecraft blew up several minutes later over the Atlantic. No injuries or major damage were reported.
According to an investigation that remains ongoing, leaking fuel triggered a series of fires that shut down the spacecraft’s engines. The on-board self-destruct system kicked in as planned.
SpaceX said it made several improvements to the spacecraft following the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration recently cleared Starship once more for launch.
Starships soar out of the southernmost tip of Texas near the Mexican border. SpaceX is building another Starship complex at Cape Canaveral, home to the company’s smaller Falcon rockets that ferry astronauts and satellites to orbit.
SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion
https://arab.news/j6cfr
SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion
- Starship reached nearly 90 miles (150 kilometers) in altitude before trouble struck
Tibetans face up to uncertain future as Dalai Lama turns 90
- The charismatic Nobel Peace Prize-winning Buddhist will reveal if there will be another Dalai Lama after him
- The Dalai Lama has been lauded by his followers for his tireless campaign for greater autonomy for Tibet
The charismatic Nobel Peace Prize-winning Buddhist – who Tibetans say is the 14th reincarnation of the 600-year-old post – will reveal if there will be another Dalai Lama after him.
The inevitable change ahead brings wider concerns for Tibetans over the struggle to keep their identity alive after generations in exile, following a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
There is widespread support among Tibetans in exile for the Dalai Lama role to remain, said Dawa Tashi, once jailed in Tibet for his criticism of Beijing.
The Dalai Lama has said the institution will continue only if there is popular demand.
“I strongly believe the reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama will continue,” said Tashi, of the India-based Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy.
“This hope is not only shared by Tibetans inside and outside Tibet, but by thousands who are connected to the Dalai Lama across the world,” he said.
The leader, who turns 90 on July 6, and thousands of other Tibetans have lived in exile in India since Chinese troops crushed the uprising in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
The Dalai Lama has been lauded by his followers for his tireless campaign for greater autonomy for Tibet, a vast high-altitude plateau in China about the size of South Africa.
The Dalai Lama handed over political authority in 2011 to an exiled government chosen democratically by 130,000 Tibetans globally.
At the same time, he warned that the future of his spiritual post faced an “obvious risk of vested political interests misusing the reincarnation system.”
Many Tibetans in exile fear China will name a successor to bolster its control over Tibet.
The Dalai Lama has said that if there is a successor it will come from the “free world” outside China’s control.
The Dalai Lama has long said he does not seek full independence for Tibet.
Beijing says the territory is an integral part of China and that the Dalai Lama “has no right to represent the Tibetan people.”
Whatever the Dalai Lama decides about his role, “the freedom movement must continue regardless,” said Kunga Tashi, a 23-year-old Tibetan software engineer in India’s tech hub Bengaluru.
“The Chinese government and even Tibetans still equate the Dalai Lama with the freedom struggle,” he said. “And that is why his reincarnation feels like a turning point.”
The Dalai Lama, recognized worldwide in his red robes and wide smile, lives an austere monastic life in India’s Himalayan hill town of McLeod Ganj. He has said he wants to live until 113.
Penpa Tsering, the sikyong or head of the government which is also based in McLeod Ganj, said that senior Buddhist elders, or lamas, will meet the Dalai Lama on July 2.
The same day they will open the grand meeting of religious leaders, during which a video message by the Dalai Lama will be broadcast.
No details of its message have been released.
The Dalai Lama’s translator of nearly four decades, Thupten Jinpa, believes that “the continuity of the institution will remain,” meaning that, in time, there “will be a new Dalai Lama.”
“Today, many young Tibetans prioritize personal success over collective struggle,” said Geshema Tenzin Kunsel, a nun in her 50s from Dolma Ling Nunnery, near McLeod Ganj.
“In his absence, I fear what our future might look like.”
Tibetans who spoke to AFP say they will keep up their campaign no matter what happens in the coming weeks.
“While we haven’t yet achieved our goal of returning to a free Tibet, we’ve come further than anyone could have imagined – and that’s because of His Holiness (the Dalai Lama),” said Sonam Topgyal, 26, a university student in New Delhi.
Nepal-based Sakina Batt, 35, a former civil servant with the Tibetan administration, is part of Tibet’s minority Muslim population.
She too believes that the reincarnation process should “continue as it has for generations, preserving its sacred tradition without interruption.”
But she also said that it depended on the people, not just one leader.
“The future of Tibetans depends on unity and resilience,” she said. “It’s ultimately up to us to shape our own destiny.”
Ecuador reveals how notorious gang leader ‘Fito’ hid in his hometown for 18 months after jailbreak
- It turned out the country’s most wanted man was hiding out at a family member’s mansion in his own hometown
- International arrest warrant issued for Adolfo Macias, who was serving a 34-year prison sentence when he escaped
QUITO: Ever since Ecuador’s most notorious gang leader vanished from his prison cell in January 2024, authorities have been searching the world, offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of Adolfo Macias, alias “Fito.”
It turned out the country’s most wanted man was hiding out at a family member’s mansion in his own hometown.
Ecuadorian security forces recaptured the kingpin Wednesday at an underground bunker beneath a marble-walled house in the port city of Manta, some 260 kilometers southwest of the capital of Quito.
In remarks to reporters Thursday, authorities revealed further details about their efforts to locate Macias and the hiding place where he spent his final weeks as a fugitive.
Authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for Macias, who was serving a 34-year prison sentence for drug trafficking, organized crime and murder in a Guayaquil prison before his shock escape. Macias is also wanted by the United States on accusations of trafficking drugs and smuggling weapons.
A month ago, authorities closed in on the drug trafficker’s family, arresting several of his relatives, seizing their assets and raiding their businesses. Interior Minister John Reimberg described the crackdown on Macias’ family as a “psychological operation” crucial to security forces’ efforts to locate the notorious leader of Ecuador’s “Los Choneros” gang.
“It contributes to a person’s conflict, their loss of control,” he said in a press conference Thursday.
But what put Ecuadorian intelligence on his trail was the unusual behavior of a municipal transit official in Manta, who stopped showing up to work several months ago. Surveilling the official led intelligence services to Macias’ inner circle, according to Victor Ordonez, a national police commander.
Authorities discovered that this official frequented a swanky three-story building equipped with an indoor pool, well-appointed gym and game room and outfitted with gleaming marble floors and walls.
Furniture was wrapped in plastic and flat screen TVs were still in their boxes. All over the house were statues of Saint Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes venerated by Mexican drug traffickers. Los Choneros is believed to have been one of the first from Ecuador to forge ties with Mexican drug cartels.
Ordonez also said that authorities received final confirmation that Macias would be in the house at the time of the 10-hourlong raid from his young daughter.
In the predawn darkness Wednesday, hundreds of heavily armed soldiers and security officers stormed the mansion and blocked off the surrounding streets. But Macias was nowhere to be found.
Security forces flew drones overhead and noticed that the land around the house appeared uneven, with suspiciously altered vegetation that suggested infrastructure and possible ventilation below the surface.
The fugitive was hunkered down in an air-conditioned bunker that could only be accessed through a small hatch, its entrance concealed by a cement and tile floor in the laundry room and openable only from the inside.
Police brought in heavy machinery to start excavating, and when the roof above his head began to cave in Macias recognized that capture was inevitable, Minister Reimberg said. The alternative was being crushed to death.
“When this happened, Fito panicked,” he said. “He opened the hatch where military and police personnel were located and left the hole.”
Within moments, Ecuador’s most powerful drug lord was writhing on the ground with a gun pointed at his head, forced to repeat his full name out loud.
Shirtless and with an unkempt beard, a haggard “Fito” was shepherded outside by a squad of officers and brought to the country’s highest-security prison, known as La Roca, or the Rock, in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city.
Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa announced after the capture that the Macias would be extradited to the US to face prosecution. He was indicted in New York City in April on charges of importing and distributing thousands of pounds of cocaine in the US.
“We have done our part,” Reimberg said. “I expect the US extradition request to arrive in the next few hours or at most the next few days.”
Clashes break out in Togo’s capital as protesters call for the president’s resignation
- President Gnassingbé faced increasing pressure from critics over recent changes in the constitution that could effectively keep him in power indefinitely
LOME, Togo: Clashes broke out between protesters and security forces in several parts of Togo’s capital Lomé on Thursday, as President Faure Gnassingbé faced increasing pressure from critics over recent changes in the constitution that could effectively keep him in power indefinitely.
A heavy police presence could be seen throughout the capital, where many businesses remained closed. Hundreds of protesters set up concrete block barricades in several neighborhoods of Lomé, with some burning tires and throwing projectiles at security forces.
Military jeeps were deployed as reinforcements in some areas. Police dispersed dozens of protesters with tear gas and arrested around 10 people in the Bè neighborhood, a stronghold of the opposition.
Civil society groups and social media influencers had called for protests on June 26, 27, and 28, after the government’s clampdown on protests early this month.
A coalition of political groups known as “Hands Off My Constitution” said in a Facebook post on Wednesday it “strongly urges Faure Gnassingbé to immediately and unconditionally release all of the roughly one hundred political prisoners, and to take urgent measures to restore purchasing power to the population.
It called for an “unprecedented peaceful demonstration.”
Togo’s leader Faure Gnassingbé, who has ruled since 2005 after the death of his father, was in May sworn in as President of the Council of Ministers. The powerful role has no official term limits and he is eligible to be re-elected by parliament indefinitely.
Opposition politicians have denounced the move as a “constitutional coup.”
Demonstrations are rare in Togo because they have been banned in the country since 2022 following a deadly attack at Lome’s main market.
But the latest change in government structure has been widely criticized in a region threatened by rampant coups and other threats to democracy.
After NATO deal, how far will EU go for trade peace with Trump?
- France and Germany want Brussels to move fast in search of a deal
- EU has until July 9 to reach a deal or see swingeing tariffs kick in on a majority of goods
BRUSSELS, Belgium: After satisfying Donald Trump’s calls for Europe to ramp up defense spending in NATO, EU leaders in Brussels turned Thursday to the next big challenge ahead: how to seal a trade deal with the US leader.
Time is running out. The European Union has until July 9 to reach a deal or see swingeing tariffs kick in on a majority of goods, unleashing economic pain.
The European Commission, in charge of EU trade policy, has been in talks with Washington for weeks, and the leaders of Europe’s two biggest economies France and Germany on Thursday urged Brussels to move fast in search of a deal.
“France is in favor of reaching a quick agreement, we don’t want it to drag on forever,” President Emmanuel Macron told reporters after summit talks involving the bloc’s 27 leaders and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.
While Macron said European nations “do not want a deal at any cost,” Germany’s chancellor has signalled he wants to close a deal fast — even if it means an unbalanced outcome with some level of US tariffs on EU goods.
“It’s better to act quickly and simply than slowly and in a highly complicated way,” Friedrich Merz told a press conference after the talks.
The EU has put a zero-percent tariff proposal on the table — but it’s widely seen as a non-starter in talks with Washington.
Von der Leyen said the commission had just received the latest US counterproposal, adding: “We are assessing it as we write, speak right now.”
‘Swiss cheese’ option
According to several diplomats, the goal at this point is rather to let Trump claim victory without agreeing a deal that would significantly hurt Europe.
One diplomat suggested leaders would be happy with a “Swiss cheese” agreement — with a general US levy on European imports, but enough loopholes to shield key sectors such as steel, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and aeronautics.
This would be less painful than the status quo with European companies currently facing 25-percent tariffs on steel, aluminum and auto goods exported to the United States, and 10 percent on a majority of EU products.
Merz had earlier this week taken aim at the EU’s approach to talks as overly complicated, urging “rapid, joint decisions for four or five major industries now.”
The issue was the focus of Thursday’s summit dinner, at which von der Leyen was able to test leaders’ red lines in negotiations.
If no agreement is reached, the default tariff on EU imports is expected to double to 20 percent or even higher — Trump having at one point threatened 50 percent.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday suggested the administration could extend the July deadline but said “that’s a decision for the president to make.”
Avoiding escalation
Unlike Canada or China, which hit back swiftly at Trump’s tariff hikes, the EU has consistently sought to negotiate with the US leader — threatening retaliation only if no agreement is reached.
“We will not allow ourselves to be provoked, we will remain calm,” said Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, urging the EU to avert an all-out trade war with Washington.
Talks between EU and US negotiators have intensified in recent weeks.
Trump divides the Europeans.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are both vocally supportive of Trump — while others are more wary.
“The problem is that on behalf of the United States, we have a heavyweight dealmaker — on our side, European Union, have light capacity and capability leaders to negotiate,” said Orban.
Pro-trade countries in Europe’s north are especially keen to avoid an escalation.
The EU has threatened to slap tariffs on US goods worth around 100 billion euros, including cars and planes, if talks fail to yield an agreement — but has not made any mention of those threats since May.
The United States is also using the negotiations to try to extract concessions on EU rules — particularly digital competition, content and AI regulations, which Washington claims unfairly target American champions such as Apple, Google, and Meta.
Europeans are ready to discuss common transatlantic standards, but the EU’s digital rules are a red line for Brussels.
Japan executes man convicted of murder for killing and dismembering 9 people in his apartment
TOKYO: A man convicted of murder for killing and dismembering nine people in his apartment near Tokyo was executed Friday, Japan’s Justice Ministry said.
Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the “Twitter killer,” was sentenced to death in 2020 for the killings in 2017 of the nine victims, most of whom had posted suicidal thoughts on social media. He was also convicted of sexually abusing female victims.
He was hanged in high secrecy with nothing disclosed until the execution was carried out.
The execution was carried out amid growing calls to abolish the capital punishment since the acquittal of the world’s longest-serving death-row inmate Iwao Hakamada last year.
