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Record-breaking heat wave grips western United States

A record early heat wave striking the western United States on Friday is a one-in-500-year event and almost certainly the result of human-caused climate change, experts say. The heat has been toppling records this week and is set to continue into the weekend across western cities while expanding eastward. Four locations in the desert area near the California-Arizona border registered 44.4 degrees Celsius on Friday, a US national record for March. The readings were recorded near Yuma and Martinez Lake in Arizona, and around Winterhaven and Ogilby in California. Read: Intense heatwave grips US, triggering record-breaking temperatures Already, 65 cities have recorded new March highs, ranging from Arizona and California to Idaho, Weather.com reported. Death Valley reached 40°C on Thursday, while typically cool and foggy San Francisco tied its historic March record at 29°C. In Colorado, skiers were seen hitting the slopes shirtless. The National Weather Service issued extreme heat warni...
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NASA confirms support for delayed European Mars rover: ESA

NASA has confirmed that it will contribute to Europe’s Martian rover Rosalind Franklin, which is scheduled to launch in 2028 after repeated delays, the European Space Agency said on Wednesday. The rover aims to be the first on the red planet capable of drilling up to two metres (6.5 feet) below the surface to search for extraterrestrial life. However, the mission relies on several elements from NASA, which US President Donald Trump has targeted with steep budget cuts since returning to the White House in January. ESA director general Josef Aschbacher said he had received “a letter from the NASA administration to confirm the contributions” of the US space agency to the mission. “That is good news,” Aschbacher said on the sidelines of the ESA’s ministerial council meeting being held this week in the German city of Bremen. The mission was originally intended to launch in 2020, but suffered several setbacks. In 2022, it was suspended after the ESA ended cooperation with Russia — the agency’s main partner for the mission — following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The ESA then turned to the United States for help. Aschbacher said NASA was contributing to three of the mission’s elements: the launcher, radioisotope heater unit and braking engine. The braking engine had been confirmed some time ago, but the other two elements will be a relief for the ESA. NASA is also providing “one instrument to analyse traces of possible life on Mars,” Aschbacher added. The rover, which is named after British scientist Rosalind Franklin, is planned to touch down on the Martian surface in 2030.

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At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

A bridge collapsed at a cobalt mine in southeast Democratic Republic of Congo killing at least 32 wildcat miners, a regional government official said Sunday. The bridge came down Saturday onto a flooded zone at the mine in Lualaba province, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, the provincial interior minister, told reporters. He said 32 bodies had been recovered and more were being searched for. The DRC produces more than 70 percent of the world supply of cobalt, which is essential for batteries used in electric cars, many laptop computers and mobile phones. More than 200,000 people are estimated to be working in giant illegal cobalt mines in the giant central African country. Local authorities said the bridge collapsed at the Kalando mine, about 42 kilometres (26 miles) southeast of the Lualaba provincial capital, Kolwezi. "Despite a formal ban on access to the site because of the heavy rain and the risk of a landslide, wildcat miners forced their way into the quarry," said Mayonde. He said ...
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US, Philippines kick off joint military drills in South China Sea with 16,000 troops

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Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

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