Stuck NASA astronauts one step closer to home after SpaceX crew-swap launch

Stuck NASA astronauts one step closer to home after SpaceX crew-swap launch
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been on the International Space Station for nine months. (Reuters)
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Stuck NASA astronauts one step closer to home after SpaceX crew-swap launch

Stuck NASA astronauts one step closer to home after SpaceX crew-swap launch
  • The pressure from Musk and Trump has hung over a NASA preparation and safety process that normally follows a well-defined course

WASHINGTON: NASA and SpaceX on Friday launched a long-awaited crew to the International Space Station that opens the door to bringing home US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the orbital lab for nine months. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:03 p.m. ET (2303 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying four astronauts who will replace Wilmore and Williams, both of whom are veteran NASA astronauts and retired US Navy test pilots and were the first to fly Boeing’s faulty Starliner capsule to the ISS in June. Otherwise a routine crew rotation flight, Friday’s Crew-10 mission is a long-awaited first step to bring the astronaut duo back to Earth — part of a plan set by NASA last year that more recently has been given greater urgency by President Donald Trump.
The Crew-10 launch occurred as Wilmore and Williams were asleep in their daily schedule on the station, Dina Contellam deputy manager of NASA’s ISS program, told reporters after the launch.
After the Crew-10 astronauts’ ISS arrival on Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET, Wilmore and Williams are scheduled to depart on Wednesday as early as 4 a.m. ET (0800 GMT) on Sunday, along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Hague and Gorbunov flew to the ISS in September on a Crew Dragon craft with two empty seats for Wilmore and Williams.
The Crew-10 crew, which will stay on the station for roughly six months, includes NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

PLANNING FOR THE UNEXPECTED
Minutes after reaching orbit, McClain, part of NASA’s astronaut corps since 2013, introduced the mission’s microgravity indicator — per tradition in American spaceflight to signal the crew safely reached space — as a plush origami crane, “the international symbol for peace, hope and healing.”
“It is far easier to be enemies than it is to be friends, it’s easier to break partnerships and relationships than it is to build them,” McClain, the Crew-10 mission commander, said from the Crew Dragon capsule, her communications live-streamed by NASA.
“Spaceflight is hard, and success depends on leaders of character who choose a harder right over the easier wrong, and who build programs, partnerships and relationships. We explore for the benefit of all,” she said.
The mission became entangled in politics as Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, who is also SpaceX’s CEO, urged a quicker Crew-10 launch and claimed, without evidence, that former President Joe Biden had abandoned Wilmore and Williams on the station for political reasons. “We came prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short,” Wilmore told reporters from space earlier this month, adding that he did not believe NASA’s decision to keep them on the ISS until Crew-10’s arrival had been affected by politics.
“That’s what your nation’s human spaceflight program’s all about,” he said, “planning for unknown, unexpected contingencies. And we did that.”
The Crew-10 mission is part of a normal crew rotation happening at an unusual time for NASA’s ISS operations — rather than a dedicated mission to retrieve Wilmore and Williams, who will return to Earth as late additions to NASA’s Crew-9 crew.
Musk says SpaceX had offered a dedicated Dragon mission for the pair last year as NASA mulled ways to bring the two back to Earth.
But NASA officials have said the two astronauts have had to remain on the ISS to maintain adequate staffing levels, and that it did not have the budget or the operational need to send a dedicated rescue spacecraft.
Having seen their mission turn into a normal NASA rotation to the ISS, Wilmore and Williams have been doing scientific research and conducting routine maintenance with the other five astronauts.
Williams told reporters earlier this month that she was looking forward to returning home to see her two dogs and family. “It’s been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us,” she said.

“UNUSUAL” MISSION PREPARATIONS
Trump and Musk’s demand for an earlier return for Wilmore and Williams was an unusual intervention into NASA operations. The agency later brought forward the Crew-10 mission from March 26, swapping a delayed SpaceX capsule for one that would be ready sooner.
The pressure from Musk and Trump has hung over a NASA preparation and safety process that normally follows a well-defined course.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, Steve Stich, said preparing for the mission had been an “unusual flow in many respects.”
The agency had to address some “late-breaking” issues, NASA space operations chief Ken Bowersox told reporters, including investigating a fuel leak on a recent SpaceX Falcon 9 launch and deterioration of a coating on some of the Dragon crew capsule’s thrusters.
Bowersox said it was hard for NASA to keep up with SpaceX: “We’re not quite as agile as they are, but we’re working well together.”


Macron says will announce plans to ‘mobilize civilians’

Macron says will announce plans to ‘mobilize civilians’
Updated 58 min ago
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Macron says will announce plans to ‘mobilize civilians’

Macron says will announce plans to ‘mobilize civilians’
  • Macron said the return of compulsory military service was “not a realistic option“
  • “We are going to look at ways to mobilize civilians,” he told the regional press

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday ruled out bringing back mandatory military service but said he wanted to mobilize society in the face of Russian aggression and would make an announcement in the coming weeks.
Speaking to regional newspapers in comments recorded Friday and published Saturday, Macron said the return of compulsory military service was “not a realistic option.”
He said France no longer had the “logistics” to reintroduce conscription, which ended in 2001.
“We are going to look at ways to mobilize civilians,” Macron told the regional press, adding that he wanted to consolidate the “mobilization of society in the face of crises.”
European countries including France have been debating reinstating compulsory military service to boost their defenses in the face of Russian aggression. Fears about the strength of NATO have surged further after US President Donald Trump said Europe must take care of its own security.
According to a recent poll, 61 percent of French people are in favor of re-establishing some form of compulsory military service.
During his presidential campaign in 2017, Macron had promised to introduce a month-long compulsory service, but the idea received a cool response from the army.
Macron has been looking for ways to encourage young French people to serve.
In January, he asked the government and the army to submit proposals by May on how to mobilize more young volunteers to “back up the armed forces” in case of need.
Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, speaking to Le Figaro, proposed creating “a voluntary military service,” which would enable at least 50,000 men and women to be trained each year.
Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu has suggested strengthening a reserve force to 100,000 people.


Macron wants ‘clear pressure’ on Moscow to accept ceasefire

Macron wants ‘clear pressure’ on Moscow to accept ceasefire
Updated 15 March 2025
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Macron wants ‘clear pressure’ on Moscow to accept ceasefire

Macron wants ‘clear pressure’ on Moscow to accept ceasefire
  • Russia “does not give the impression it sincerely wants peace,” Macron said
  • “Russia must respond clearly and the pressure must be clear, in conjunction with the United States, to obtain this ceasefire“

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday that Europe and the United States had to put pressure on Russia to accept a proposed ceasefire in Ukraine.
Russia “does not give the impression it sincerely wants peace,” Macron said in a statement provided to AFP following a Saturday morning video conference of countries backing Ukraine organized by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
On the contrary, Russian President Vladimir Putin is “escalating the fighting” and “wants to get everything, then negotiate,” he said.
“Russia must respond clearly and the pressure must be clear, in conjunction with the United States, to obtain this ceasefire,” he added.
In a statement released later Saturday, his office said Macron would Canada’s new prime minister Mark Carney on Monday to discuss the war in Ukraine and “other international crises.”
Since returning to the White House in January, US President Donald Trump has stressed his desire to end the three-year old conflict, and has made a spectacular rapprochement with Vladimir Putin.
After a very public falling out between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last month, Kyiv has worked to restore relations. It has backed Washington’s proposed a 30-day ceasefire, which Russia has not accepted.
“This is a moment of truth because if Russia does not sincerely commit to peace, President Trump will toughen sanctions and retaliation, and so that will completely change the dynamic,” Macron said in a interview Friday with French regional papers that was posted late Saturday.
He said planning was accelerating among countries willing to provide security guarantees for Ukraine following any eventual ceasefire, such as France and Britain.
Military leaders from some 30 countries met in Paris on March 11 to discuss plans for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, and will meet again Thursday in Britain.
“Several European countries, and indeed non-European ones, have expressed their willingness to join” a possible deployment to Ukraine to secure a future peace agreement with Russia, said Macron.
This would involve “a few thousand troops” per state, deployed at key points, to conduct training programs and “show our long-term support,” he told the regional papers.
Moscow has firmly opposed such a deployment.
But Macron said: “If Ukraine requests allied forces to be on its territory, it is not up to Russia to accept or reject them.
He added: “Under no circumstances can the Ukrainians make territorial concessions without having any security guarantees.”
Macron will travel to Berlin Tuesday for talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz for talks on Ukraine ahead of an EU summit, Berlin has announced.


Lawyers for detained Columbia student ask for his release on bail

Lawyers for detained Columbia student ask for his release on bail
Updated 15 March 2025
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Lawyers for detained Columbia student ask for his release on bail

Lawyers for detained Columbia student ask for his release on bail
  • Mahmoud Khalil — a 30-year-old permanent US resident of Palestinian descent — was arrested a week ago at his university residence
  • His wife, an American citizen, is due to give birth next month

NEW YORK: A Columbia University student detained over his pro-Palestinian activism is not a flight risk and should be allowed to return home for the birth of his first child, his lawyers argued in a motion for bail on Saturday.
Mahmoud Khalil — a 30-year-old permanent US resident of Palestinian descent — was arrested a week ago at his university residence.
He has not been charged with a crime and is being held in immigration custody in Louisiana. His wife, an American citizen, is due to give birth next month.
The case has become a flashpoint for President Donald Trump’s vow to deport some activists who took part in protests on US college campuses against Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza following the October 2023 attack by the Palestinian militants. Khalil was a prominent member of the protest movement at Columbia University.
His arrest sparked protests this week. Justice Department lawyers have argued the US government is seeking Khalil’s removal because Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reasonable grounds to believe his activities or presence in the country could have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”
The US will likely revoke visas of more students in the coming days, Rubio said on Friday.
Under a provision of the US Immigration and Nationality Act, a law passed in 1952, any immigrant may be deported if the secretary of state deems their presence in the country potentially adverse to American foreign policy. Legal experts have said that provision is rarely invoked, and Khalil’s lawyers have said it was not intended to silence dissent.
“His detention unquestionably chills his speech, as the federal government monitors and controls his ability to communicate with the outside world and has complete power over all of the decisions that impact his daily life inside a remote private prison,” his lawyers argued in the motion for bail.
They said if released, Khalil would return home to help his wife prepare for the birth of their child and start a job at a human rights organization in New York. He has the support of many current and former classmates, professors, colleagues and friends who are calling for his release, they said.
“There are no allegations that Mr. Khalil is a flight risk or a danger to the community,” his lawyers argued. “Mr. Khalil has never been arrested or convicted of a crime.”
The US Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Justice Department said on Friday: “Being in the United States as a non-citizen is a privilege, not a right ... Mahmoud won’t be missed.” Since Khalil’s arrest, federal agents have searched two student residences at Columbia University and the Justice Department said on Friday it was looking into what it said were possible violations of terrorism laws during the protests.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem also said on Friday that a Columbia student from India, whose visa was revoked on March 5, had left the country herself on March 11.
Noem said a second woman — a Palestinian from the West Bank who took part in the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University — was arrested for overstaying her expired student visa, which was terminated in 2022 for lack of attendance.


Terrified Tigrayans seek to flee renewed tensions in north Ethiopia

This photograh taken on May 24, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Mekele, capital of Ethiopia's region of Tigray. (AFP)
This photograh taken on May 24, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Mekele, capital of Ethiopia's region of Tigray. (AFP)
Updated 27 sec ago
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Terrified Tigrayans seek to flee renewed tensions in north Ethiopia

This photograh taken on May 24, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Mekele, capital of Ethiopia's region of Tigray. (AFP)
  • “A war between Ethiopia and Eritrea could break out at any moment,” said General Tsadkan Gebretensae, senior strategist for the Tigray forces in Getachew’s administration, in remarks published this week

ADDIS ABABA: Residents sought to flee mounting tensions in the Tigray region of Ethiopia as a political faction confirmed they had seized control of the town hall in the state capital Mekele.
Ethiopia’s most northerly state, which borders Eritrea, saw a devastating conflict between Tigrayan rebels and the federal government in 2020-22, which claimed up to 600,000 lives, according to some estimates.
The tensions come from an internal power struggle within Tigray between Getachew Reda, head of the state’s regional administration, and Debretsion Gebremichael, head of the dominant local party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
“People are in terror that if armed conflict breaks out, it will be worse than the war they endured,” said Solomon Hagos, a university lecturer in Mekele, who asked for one of his names to be changed for security reasons.
Another resident said people were trying to flee.
“We were trapped in Mekele during the previous war, we do not want that to happen again,” said Mihret, 27, who only gave one name.
“We are trying to leave the region, and we went to the airport, but all the flights are full. We are looking for ways to leave the region; we are afraid,” he added.
Debretsion’s faction seized control of Mekele’s town hall on Thursday to reinstate its chosen mayor and the local radio station.
A spokesman for Debretsion said: “The previous elected mayor was fired by Getachew, which was not legal. So now the previous one has been put back in place.”
Armed supporters of Debretsion also took over the municipality in Adigrat, Tigray’s second-largest town near the Eritrean border, ousting the mayor appointed by Getachew.
“We are afraid of a new siege, of a civil war between Tigrayans,” said Mehari Gebremariam, a civil servant in Adigrat.
The tensions threaten to draw in Eritrea, which has a history of war with Ethiopia, adding another layer of fear among locals.
A war between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 1998-2000 resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was lauded for finally reaching a peace agreement with Eritrea when he came to power in 2018 and won the Nobel Peace Prize.
But relations have soured since the end of the Tigray conflict in 2022.
Eritrea claimed in February that Ethiopia was waging an “intense campaign” against it.
A security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that armed Ethiopian convoys were heading toward the region of Afar, which borders Eritrea, in recent days.
“A war between Ethiopia and Eritrea could break out at any moment,” said General Tsadkan Gebretensae, senior strategist for the Tigray forces in Getachew’s administration, in remarks published this week.
The tensions have led to panic in Mekele.
“People are currently rushing to withdraw from banks because they fear the political tensions could lead to a suspension of basic services,” Hagos told AFP, adding that he had stocked up on food for fear of coming inflation.
He said locals could not cope with the idea of another war.
“Our people are exhausted. Our economy is devastated,” he said.

 


Trump signs a bill funding the government for 6 months, avoiding a shutdown

Trump signs a bill funding the government for 6 months, avoiding a shutdown
Updated 15 March 2025
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Trump signs a bill funding the government for 6 months, avoiding a shutdown

Trump signs a bill funding the government for 6 months, avoiding a shutdown
  • The bill largely keeps government funding at levels set during Joe Biden’s presidency, though with changes
  • Senate Democrats argued for days over whether to force a shutdown, livid that Republicans in the House had drafted and passed the spending measure without their input

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has signed into law legislation funding the government through the end of September, ending the threat of a partial government shutdown and capping off a struggle in Congress that deeply divided Democrats.
Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, said in a post on X that Trump signed the continuing resolution Saturday.
The bill largely keeps government funding at levels set during Joe Biden’s presidency, though with changes. It trims non-defense spending by about $13 billion from the previous year and increases defense spending by about $6 billion, which are marginal changes when talking about a topline spending level of nearly $1.7 trillion.
The Senate cleared the legislation on Friday in a 54-46 party line vote, with 10 members of the Senate Democratic caucus helping the bill advance to passage despite opposition from within their party — most vocally from colleagues in the House, who exhorted them to reject the bill out of hand.
Senate Democrats argued for days over whether to force a shutdown, livid that Republicans in the House had drafted and passed the spending measure without their input. Democrats said the legislation shortchanges health care, housing and other priorities and gives Trump wide leeway to redirect federal spending even as his administration and the Department of Government Efficiency rapidly dismantle congressionally approved agencies and programs.
In the end, enough of the Democratic senators decided a government shutdown would be even worse than letting the funding bill pass.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a shutdown would have given the Trump administration the ability to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel non-essential, furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired.
“A shutdown will allow DOGE to shift into overdrive,” Schumer said. “Donald Trump and Elon Musk would be free to destroy vital government services at a much faster rate.”
Passage of the funding bill through the House earlier in the week was a victory for Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, who managed to hold Republicans together and muscle the bill to passage without support from Democrats — something they’ve rarely been able to achieve in the past.