Japan Launches Probe to Fetch Soil From Mars Moon Phobos
TANEGASHIMA, Japan — Japan sent a spacecraft toward Mars early Tuesday, local time, on a mission designed to land on the larger Martian moon, Phobos, gather a handful of its surface material and carry it back to Earth. The Martian Moons eXploration probe, known as MMX, rode an H3 rocket off the pad at the
Navy Raises Gecko Robotics Ship Inspection Deal to $300M
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The U.S. Navy is betting bigger on climbing robots and artificial intelligence to keep its warships out of the repair yard, more than quadrupling the cap on a maintenance inspection deal with Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics to $300 million. The expansion, announced Tuesday, comes only six months after the Navy and the General
TikTok Staff Warned Leaders of Child Safety Risks
OAKLAND, Calif. — Employees inside TikTok spent years pressing company leaders about dangers the app posed to children, from minors appearing in paid sexual livestreams to teens slipping past age limits, and many of them came away frustrated with the response, according to sworn depositions filed in federal court in March. The testimony belongs to
Midterm Ad Spending Tops $10B as Super PACs Pour in Cash
WASHINGTON — Money for political ads in this year’s midterm elections has blown past $10 billion, a record for a non-presidential year, and the total is on track to climb to about $11.6 billion by the Nov. 3 vote, according to the tracking firm AdImpact. The previous midterm high was $8.9 billion in 2022. The
Cost of Living Anger Drives Protests Across Europe
PARIS — The unrest that swept French cities over the weekend is part of a wider wave of anger across Europe, where hundreds of thousands of people have marched against high rents, fuel and food bills and public services they say are falling apart. France drew the biggest crowds, with more than half a million
Korean Stocks Sink Nearly 4% as AI Fears Hit Chipmakers
SEOUL, South Korea — Worries over whether the huge sums poured into artificial intelligence will pay off hammered South Korean markets on Tuesday, dragging the main stock index down nearly 4% and sending a newly listed data center company sharply below its offering price. The benchmark Kospi lost 215.27 points, or 3.73%, to finish at
Rogers Targets El-Sayed Support as Obama Plans Detroit Rally
DETROIT — Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers used a televised town hall in the Detroit area on Monday night to argue that his Democratic rival, Abdul El-Sayed, can be beaten among two groups that usually anchor Democratic wins in Michigan: Black voters and Jewish voters. The race for the open seat is one of the
Deadly Fire at Canadian Army Base Wainwright Injures Many
WAINWRIGHT, Alberta — An incident in a training area at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright on Saturday afternoon left people dead and injured and touched off a fire that strong winds pushed past the edge of the base and into the countryside around it. Canada’s defence minister, David McGuinty, said Saturday that there were both deaths
France Protests Turn Violent as Arrests Top 1,800
PARIS — A nationwide day of marches over the cost of living and crumbling schools in France gave way to looting, arson and running fights with riot police on Saturday, and the government said Sunday that more than 1,800 people had been taken into custody. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu put the count at 1,200 arrests
Japan Readies Launch of Mission to Sample Mars Moon Phobos
TANEGASHIMA, Japan — Japan’s space agency is counting down to the launch of a spacecraft built to do something no mission has done before: land on one of the two moons of Mars, scoop up some of its surface and carry it home. The Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft, known as MMX, is set to ride