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An uncrewed Blue Origin ​New Glenn rocket exploded on a Florida launchpad during a test on Thursday, in a major setback for Jeff Bezos’ space ‌venture as it seeks to narrow the gap with Elon Musk's IPO-bound SpaceX. Video posted by NASASpaceflight, which livestreams launches from Florida, showed the towering New Glenn rocket igniting on the pad at about 2100 ET (0100 GMT on Friday) before erupting into a massive fireball that billowed skyward, sending a towering plume of flames and smoke into the air. Blue Origin ​was preparing the rocket for its fourth launch, which was due to deliver 48 Amazon Leo satellites into low-Earth orbit, part of efforts ​to build a broadband constellation to rival Musk’s Starlink network. Amazon Leo satellites were not integrated on the rocket ⁠at the time of the incident, a source familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named due to its sensitivity. The sound of the explosion just arrived at our cams miles away. pic.twi...

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is the headline speaker at Asia's premier defence summit opening Friday, but China's top officials aren't expected, despite weighty questions like Taiwan and the war in Iran. Beijing's defence minister is to skip the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore for the second year running, which analysts viewed as a sign of China's rising power. Yet, the forum that brings together top officials from around 45 nations has historically provided a setting for debate as well as quiet and high-profile diplomacy. Defence Minister Dong Jun's absence means no meeting there with Hegseth as China warns the US over its involvement with Taiwan and Washington seeks an end to the Mideast war. The Middle East was the source of 57 per cent of China's direct seaborne crude imports in 2025 -- 5.9 million barrels per day (mbd) -- maritime tracking firm Kpler said. Hegseth's second trip to the Shangri-La Dialogue comes after US President ...

Russia and Afghanistan signed an agreement on military-technical cooperation during the International Security Forum in the Moscow region, as Moscow continues expanding ties with the Taliban-led authorities in Kabul. The agreement was signed Wednesday evening by Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob. “Interaction with Russia is important for us. Afghanistan and Russia have long-standing historical relations, and we want to continue moving in this direction. We have expanded bilateral relations,” Yaqoob said. Shoigu said Western countries should unfreeze Afghan assets and assume responsibility for rebuilding the country after two decades of military presence. Read: Russia warns Armenia over EU embrace “We are convinced that Western countries should unfreeze blocked Afghan assets, fully recognize their responsibility for their 20-year presence in Afghanistan and bear the burden of the country’s p...

At least seven Palestinians were killed and 18 were injured in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday that targeted an apartment in a residential building in Gaza City, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. It said its crews recovered seven bodies, including those of two children and two women, following the strike, which targeted a home near Al-Israa Tower on Omar al-Mukhtar Street. It added that the injured were transferred to Al-Saraya Field Hospital near the site of the strike. 🚨 7 Palestinians were killed and 18 injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment in a residential building in Gaza https://t.co/uNm8c3qGCU pic.twitter.com/E5RDa0FeV9 — Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) May 28, 2026 Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that Israeli warplanes carried out a violent airstrike targeting an apartment in the Farah residential building on Omar al-Mukhtar Street, a densely populated area in central Gaza City. Read: Trump Board of Peace's official Gaza...

Average global temperatures are forecast to reach near-record levels in the next five years, ‌with Arctic temperatures expected to warm faster than other regions, a report by the UN weather agency and the UK’s Met Office said on Thursday. The annual report, which gives regional predictions for temperatures and rain, predicts that annual global mean near-surface temperatures will range between 1.3°C and 1.9°C above ​the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period. "There's very clear evidence that the climate is warming and that the global average temperature ​is continuing to rise," Melissa Seabrook, a research scientist at the UK Met Office, told Reuters. In the ⁠2015 Paris Agreement, governments promised to try to prevent the average global temperature rise from exceeding 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, ​above which severe climate events were seen growing in intensity. 2024 record for warmest year seen broken The report said it is ...

New clothes for children, sacrificial sheep and Eid biscuits, the hallmarks of Eidul Azha, are all either unaffordable or unavailable in Gaza, casting a shadow over what is usually a time of celebration and joy. "I go to the market only to look around because I cannot afford to buy anything. Whenever I ask about prices, I return heartbroken," Nadia Abu Shamala, a Palestinian resident of Gaza, told AFP. "This year, Eid comes with none of the joy we once knew in Gaza because of the effects of the war, the soaring prices, and our inability to provide even the simplest needs for our children," said the 40-year-old woman from Gaza's north displaced to the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah for over two years. Many Palestinian bakers make Eid biscuits for Eidul Azha but this year many Gazans can't afford to buy them. PHOTO: AFP Despite a US-brokered ceasefire that began in October 2025, Israeli air strikes are still common in Gaza, where 80% of...