By Fatimah Idera NASA and SpaceX successfully launched a new crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, marking a critical step in bringing home NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded in space since last June. According to NASA’s live broadcast, the Dragon spacecraft lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 p.m. ET…

Officials of the Chinese government are planning to limit social media and screen time for youths, citing concerns about harmful online content. While some youth in China admit to spending an excessive amount of time on the internet, many are skeptical about new government proposals aimed at regulating the time young Chinese spend online and on social media sites. In conversations at China’s annual political meetings that wrapped up in…

Hamas said Friday it would be releasing Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage held in Gaza. The 21-year-old New Jersey native will be the only living hostage in the next release, which will include the bodies of four dual nationals who died in captivity, the terror group said, as negotiations forged ahead on the second phase of a cease-fire deal with Israel. Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American, will be…

Police in Japan said Friday that they had arrested a suspect in the fatal stabbing of a YouTuber while she was livestreaming on a downtown Tokyo street. Tokyo metropolitan police said they had arrested Kenji Takano, 42, on the spot on suspicion of attempted murder Tuesday. He has since been sent to the prosecutors but has not been charged yet. The victim, Airi Sato, 22, was rushed to a hospital…

Vladimir Putin has praised Donald Trump for “doing everything” to improve relations between Moscow and Washington, after Trump said the US has had “very good and productive discussions” with Putin in recent days. Putin told a meeting of his security chiefs that improved relations with the US were now on the agenda. “We know that the new administration headed by President Trump is doing everything to restore at least something…

Mark Carney has been sworn in as Canada’s prime minister, succeeding Justin Trudeau, as the country faces questions about its sovereignty from US President Donald Trump and a trade war with Canada’s largest trading partner, the United States. Carney, a former central banker who has never held public office in Canada, is stepping in to confront numerous challenges facing the country, including leading the Liberal Party into an election to…

President Donald Trump has said the US had “very good and productive discussions” with Vladimir Putin and that “thousands of Ukrainian troops” were surrounded by the Russian army, a claim refuted by the Ukrainian military and independent analysts. In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump said there was a “very good chance” the war between Russia and Ukraine could “finally come to an end.” The US president made…

More than 50 universities are being investigated for alleged racial discrimination as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes that his officials say exclude white and Asian American students. The Education Department announced the new investigations Friday, one month after issuing a memo warning America’s schools and colleges that they could lose federal money over “race-based preferences” in admissions, scholarships or any aspect…

Twelve passengers who sustained minor injuries from the American airlines flight engulfed in flames have been transported to the hospital following the evacuation of all passengers and crew members through the slide. Denver International Airport confirmed this in a post shared on their social media platform X. “DEN emergency crews responded to an aircraft incident earlier this evening at gate C38. All passengers were safely evacuated from the plane. 12…

By Fatimah Idera US stock markets fell today on Wall Street as Donald Trump threatened to impose 200% tariffs on French wine, cognac, and alcoholic drinks imported from Europe. The S&P 500 lost 1.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed down 2% after resuming its decline from the heavy losses suffered earlier this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.3% as concerns grew that the US tariff war…

President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to eliminate a key tool that lower courts have used to block various aspects of his agenda. In an emergency appeal Thursday, Trump asked the justices to rein in or shelve three nationwide injunctions lower-court judges have issued against his bid to end birthright citizenship. But his request could have repercussions far beyond the debate over the controversial citizenship plan. Judges have…

Senior diplomats from Iran, Russia and China gathered in Beijing on Friday for talks on Tehran’s nuclear issues, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported, days after Tehran rejected U.S. “orders” to resume dialogue over the Iranian nuclear programme. In 2015, Iran reached a deal with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany and agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. But in…