News in Brief
Russia launches lunar lander
REUTERS – Russia launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on Friday in a bid to be the first nation to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole, a region believed to hold coveted pockets of water ice.
The Russian lunar mission, the first since 1976, is racing against India, which launched its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander last month, and more broadly with the US and China, both of which have advanced lunar exploration programs targeting the lunar south pole.
A Soyuz 2.1 rocket carrying the Luna-25 craft blasted off from the Vostochny cosmodrome, 5,550 km east of Moscow, at 2:11 a.m. on Friday Moscow time (1111 GMT on Thursday).
Niger tensions flare up
AP – Tensions are escalating between Niger’s new military regime and the West African regional bloc that has ordered the deployment of troops to restore Niger’s flailing democracy.
The ECOWAS bloc said on Thursday it had directed a “standby force” to restore constitutional order in Niger after its Sunday deadline to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum expired. Two Western officials told AP that Niger’s junta had told a top US diplomat they would kill Bazoum if neighboring countries attempted any military intervention to restore his rule.
Hawaii death toll climbs to 55 with 1,000 missing
REUTERS – Maui’s wildfires have killed at least 55 people, a toll expected to rise, and unleashed destruction on the resort town of Lahaina that will take many years and billions of dollars to rebuild, according to Hawaiian officials.
The fast-moving inferno, which started on Tuesday, spread from the brush outside of town and ravaged the historic city of Lahaina that was once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green said that around 1,000 people are still unaccounted for, as he said that the Aloha State is headed for its deadliest disaster in state history.