Author: News Room

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has successfully carried out the longest test flight of its massive Starship rocket, but it disintegrated on its return to Earth. The module was destroyed while approaching its landing point in the Indian Ocean. Here are the highlights of the Starship rocket and Thursday’s launch by the United States company: Starship and the milestones it achieved on this flight The test flight was the third for Musk and SpaceX, and its Starship rocket travelled halfway around the Earth before it re-entered the atmosphere. The rocket, which consists of a spacecraft also called Starship, and a rocket booster…

Marc Lamont Hill talks to journalist and writer Mariam Barghouti on the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.More than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, and with no sign of an imminent ceasefire, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the enclave is at risk of famine. Residents in the occupied West Bank have rallied in solidarity with Gaza despite facing intensified raids conducted by Israeli forces and increased attacks by settlers. What is the situation now in the occupied West Bank? And what future lies ahead for Palestine? This…

Islamabad, Pakistan – The US Congress will hold a hearing next week on the “future of democracy” in Pakistan and the state of relations between the two countries, weeks after a controversial election in Pakistan that the country’s biggest opposition party alleges was manipulated. But foreign policy analysts said that the March 20 hearing of the subcommittee of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs is unlikely to affect the direction of ties between the nations that have been rocky, though they have improved in the past two years. Formally, Pakistan welcomed the hearing, saying that it hopes that deliberations…

Dollar General is backing away from the self-checkout trend in retail. The company is pulling out self-checkout stands in 300 stores that have the highest levels of shoplifting and merchandise losses. In 9,000 other stores, Dollar General is converting some or all of its self-checkout registers to regular checkout with cashiers. And in another 4,500 or so stores, Dollar General is limiting self-checkout to purchases of five items or less. Dollar General said the moves will help it reduce shrink — the retail industry term for shoplifting, employee theft, damaged products, administrative errors, online fraud and other factors. Dollar General…

Solana (SOL) blockchain DEX volume is currently at an all-time high. The entire 24-hour DEX volume in Solana has exceeded the $3.5 billion level. This surge forms part of the trend that the cryptocurrency market has been experiencing recently, with notable growth in a short period. Data from DeFi data aggregator DeFi Llama shows that Solana weekly DEX volume reached over $13.3 billion on Saturday. This milestone is a sign of the increasing importance of blockchain in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. A significant increase in the worth of a few Solana-based meme coins accompanies this growth in DEX volume.…

We look at whether there is a shift within the Jewish community against Israel’s actions and policies.Israel’s war on Gaza rages on, now in its sixth month, causing mass devastation and resulting in the deaths of more than 31,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. With mounting humanitarian crises, Jewish groups across the world have rallied in large numbers to denounce Israel’s actions and policies. This is not the first time Jewish communities have come together to criticise Israel. A growing number of progressive Jewish groups have been organising against Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians for years. This week on UpFront,…

Washington, DC – As the United States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in 2021, millions of Afghans faced the prospect of life once more under Taliban rule. For thousands among them, the danger was particularly acute: They had worked with the departing Americans and could be subject to Taliban reprisals as a result. But a long-running US programme offered the possibility of life abroad: Translators, contractors and other Afghan employees with direct ties to the US military were eligible for a Special Immigrant Visa, or SIV. Now, less than three years later, advocates fear this narrow immigration pathway — a…

A judge in Georgia has ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can remain on former President Donald Trump’s election interference case, but only if the deputy she had a romantic relationship with resigned his post. In response to Friday’s ruling, Nathan Wade stepped down from his position as special prosecutor, amid scrutiny about his relationship with Willis. Questions about their romance had threatened to delay — and possibly derail — one of the four separate criminal cases Trump currently faces in the United States. “I am offering my resignation in the interest of democracy, in dedication to the…

St. Patrick’s Day at the White House is ordinarily a moment for celebration, with the fountains dyed green and a crystal bowl of shamrocks exchanged as a symbol of friendly ties between the United States and Ireland. There will still be shamrocks this year, but Israel’s war in Gaza is lending a darker backdrop to the occasion. President Joe Biden is welcoming a delegation of Irish leaders under pressure from their constituents — Ireland is a place where support for the Palestinian cause runs deep, informed by what many regard as shared history — to make a strong case for…

The Cleveland Cavaliers are bringing in Marcus Morris Sr. for frontcourt depth. As first indicated by Milwaukee Bucks guard (and former teammate) Patrick Beverly via the X account for his podcast, Morris is coming to Cleveland. Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the deal is a 10-day deal and he’ll be able to play on Monday in the Cavaliers’ game against the Indiana Pacers. If he sticks around beyond the initial 10-day deal, Morris is playoff eligible. He was bought out by the San Antonio Spurs after being sent there in a three-team deal at the NBA trade deadline. He started…