​ Artemis II leaves Earth’s orbit on track for far side of the Moon. 6 minutes ago. Pallab Ghosh,Science Correspondent, Cape Canaveral,. Alison Francis,Senior Science Journalist,. Kevin Churchand. Emily Selvadurai. NASA. The four astronauts on the Artemis II mission have now left the Earth’s orbit, after their Orion spacecraft fired its main engine for a final push towards the Moon.. The five minute and 55 second engine burn, known as the translunar injection (TLI), went “flawlessly”, Nasa’s Dr Lori Glaze said afterwards.. And from the Orion capsule, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said the crew was “feeling pretty good up here on our way to the Moon”.. Artemis II is now on a looping path that will carry the crew around the far side of the Moon and back again. It is the first time since 1972 that humans have travelled outside of the Earth’s orbit.. On the livestream from Orion, Earth is slowly shrinking, as the capsule moves further and further into space.. Hansen, who is the first non-American to travel to the Moon – told Nasa’s mission control that the crew “firmly felt the power” of those who have persevered and worked so hard on this mission.. “Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of,” he said. “It’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the Moon.”. After spending roughly a day in a stretched‑out “high Earth orbit”, Orion’s engines, navigation and life-support systems were checked, while the capsule looped our planet.. At last, the final approval was given, and the engine burn could begin – the mission’s last, big move towards the Moon.. Behind the crew’s seats, the service module lit its single main engine in a long, steady push that added thousands of kilometres per hour to Orion’s speed.. The TLI propelled the spacecraft on a journey that is expected to carry the crew farther from Earth than anyone has been before – more than 4,700 miles (7,600 km) beyond the Moon – before gravity swings them back.. Nasa estimates that this could edge past the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970, depending on the fine details of the timing and trajectory.. TLI is not a point of no return for Orion – even after the big burn to the Moon, controllers can still carry out the equivalent of a handbrake turn in space and bring the crew back to Earth if something goes seriously wrong.. In the event of an emergency, the U-turn is the fastest way home in the first 36 hours after the TLI. After that it can be just as quick, and often simpler, to stay on course around the Moon and fall back to Earth, Orion programme manager Howard Hu said before the launch.. He added that the team have “run hundreds of thousands of [simulations] to ensure that we are able to get the crew home safely.”. At a briefing after the successful engine burn, he was all smiles, telling reporters: “What a great couple of days!”. As Orion surges into deep space, the views through its windows will become steadily more inspirational: the Earth shrinking to a s  

​ Trump removes US Attorney General Pam Bondi. 8 hours ago. Ana Faguyand. Bernd Debusmann Jr,at the White House. US President Donald Trump has removed Attorney General Pam Bondi – a longtime ally and fierce defender of his administration – from her post as America’s top law enforcement officer.. Trump praised her in a post on Truth Social and said she would be “transitioning” to a role in the private sector.. Bondi’s time leading the justice department was often overshadowed by its handling of the release of files relating to Jeffrey Epstein and its investigation into the convicted sex offender.. She is the second Trump administration official in recent weeks to be cut from her post, after Kristi Noem was ousted as homeland security chief in March. Bondi will be replaced by her former deputy, Todd Blanche.. Bondi said she would be “working tirelessly” to transfer her work to Blanche, adding that the job had “been the honour” of a lifetime.. She added that in her new private sector position – which she did not identify – she would “continue fighting for President Trump and this administration”.. The announcement comes less than two months after a combative congressional hearing in which Bondi was peppered with questions from lawmakers – at times descending into shouting matches in which she called one Democrat a “washed-up loser”.. As recently as Thursday morning, Trump was defending Bondi, saying: “She is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job.”. But hours later, Trump confirmed her departure on Truth Social, saying that her new private sector role would be “announced at a date in the near future”.. Reuters. Trump lauded Bondi’s performance as attorney general in his post, saying she had done “a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in crime across our country”.. But the president had reportedly grown increasingly frustrated with Bondi, in particular over her handling of the Epstein files.. When she was sworn into the post in February 2025, she vowed transparency over the Epstein case and promised to release an alleged client list associated with the disgraced financier, who died in 2019.. The department later said no such list existed.. In the end, millions of files related to Epstein were released under pressure – including from Trump supporters – and only after Congress passed a law requiring the Department of Justice to make unclassified records public.. The agency, and subsequently Bondi, faced bipartisan backlash, with lawmakers accusing the justice department of failing to obscure some identifying information about survivors, while protecting the identities of those who were not victims.. Getty Images. A handful of Republicans who worked with her closely over the years praised her on Thursday.. “Pam Bondi led this Department with strength and conviction and I’m grateful for her leadership and friendship,” Blanche wrote on X. “We will continue backing the blue, enforcing the law, and doing everything in our power to keep Ameri  

​ Fears cost of water and beer to soar as India’s scorching summer hits. 9 hours ago. Cherylann Mollan. Getty Images. Indians are bracing for summer, with temperatures expected to cross 45C in some parts of the country. But the war with Iran is already putting India’s $6bn bottled water industry under strain as manufacturers struggle to access crucial raw materials.. Last month, market leader Bisleri increased prices by 11%, making a box of 12 one-litre bottles costlier by 24 rupees ($0.26; £0.20). Brands like Bailley and Clear Premium Water have also increased their prices, Reuters news agency reported.. According to a study by Data for India, about 15% of urban households and 6% of rural households depend on bottled water for their drinking needs. Relying on bottled water is expensive, especially for people in rural areas. But access to clean water remains a challenge in many parts of India, especially in summer, due to reasons including water shortages, groundwater contamination and infrastructure gaps.. Brands and bottle manufacturers warn that a prolonged war will risk making a crucial commodity prohibitively expensive for many Indians. About 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which is now almost completely blocked by Iran. The disruption in global shipping has sent global fuel prices soaring.. India, which relies heavily on oil and gas imports to meet domestic demand, is feeling the pressure.. Vijaysinh Dubbal, president of the Maharashtra Bottled Water Manufacturers Association, explains that the main reason bottled water – which is largely sold in plastic bottles – has become expensive is because of the surging costs of crude oil. The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil briefly hit $119 (£90) earlier this week, close to its highest since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.. Crude oil is used to make Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) resin pellets – granules that are heated and passed through moulds to create PET preforms. These preforms, which look like plastic test tubes, are sold to brands and bottle manufacturers to be shaped into plastic bottles of the desired shape and size.. “The cost of preforms has increased from 115 rupees a kg to around 180 rupees per kg. There is also a shortage in the supply of preforms,” Dubbal says, adding that about 20% of bottle manufacturing plants in Maharashtra state have temporarily shut operations.. Getty Images. While some companies have increased prices, Dubbal says many brands and vendors have absorbed them so far, shielding consumers.. So, the price of a one-litre bottle of drinking water, which sells for about 20 rupees, or that of a five-litre one, which sells for about 60-70 rupees, has largely remained unchanged.. “But absorbing extra costs is not a sustainable practice for companies. If things get worse, customers are likely to face the heat,” he says.. He adds that the strain on supply couldn’t have come at a worse time,  

​ Hegseth asks US Army’s top general to step down. 10 hours ago. Max Matza. Getty Images. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked Army Chief of Staff Randy George to step down from his post, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement on social media that George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately”.. The Army chief normally serves a four-year term. George, a career military officer who graduated from the West Point military academy, was nominated for the role in 2023 by former President Joe Biden.. The latest shakeup comes after Trump said in an address to the nation that the US-Israel war with Iran is expected to conclude “very shortly”.. George served as an infantry officer in the first Gulf War and in recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was not immediately clear why he was being asked to leave.. “We are grateful for his service, but it was time for a leadership change in the Army,” an unnamed senior defence official told CBS.. Pentagon spokesperson Parnell said: “The Department of War is grateful for General George’s decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement.”. He will be replaced by Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen Christopher LaNeve who will become the acting army chief of staff, according to US media.. Parnell said LaNeve is “a battle-tested leader with decades of operational experience and is completely trusted by Secretary Hegseth to carry out the vision of this administration without fault”.. The US Military Academy at West Point posted photos on Wednesday of George meeting with troops, saying he “shared experience-driven guidance with cadets preparing to lead”.. Since entering the Pentagon, Hegseth has fired more than a dozen senior military officers, including the Chief of Naval Operations and the Air Force’s Vice Chief of Staff.. Trump says Iran war objectives ‘nearing completion’ in address to nation. Pentagon fires intelligence agency chief after Iran attack assessment. Pete Hegseth brings combative style as face of Trump’s war in Iran. Donald Trump. United States  

​ Judge dismisses most of Blake Lively’s claims in harassment lawsuit against Baldoni. 9 hours ago. Madeline Halpert. AFP via Getty Images. A federal judge has dismissed most of the claims in a sexual harassment lawsuit that actress Blake Lively filed against her It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni.. Judge Lewis Liman threw out 10 of 13 allegations in Lively’s case, including harassment and defamation.. He left in place three claims against Baldoni – breach of contract, retaliation, and aiding and abetting in retaliation – which will now go to a civil trial in New York on 18 May.. The Hollywood legal battle began in 2024 when Lively sued Baldoni, accusing him of harassment and a smear campaign on the set of their hit movie. He denied it and counter-sued.. A member of Lively’s legal team, Sigrid McCawley, told the BBC’s US partner CBS the case “has always been and will remain focused on the devastating retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy” the actress’ reputation.. She noted that the sexual harassment claims were dropped, “not because the defendants did nothing wrong”, but because of a technicality.. Lively plans to testify during the trial, McCawley said, and would continue “to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation”.. The BBC has contacted Baldoni’s lawyers for comment.. A judge last year dismissed Baldoni’s $400m (£295m) counter-lawsuit against Lively, which alleged civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy.. The case stems from interactions between Baldoni and Lively on the set of It Ends With Us, an adaption of a best-selling Colleen Hoover novel.. The film features Lively as the main character, Lily Bloom, a young woman who grew up witnessing domestic abuse and finds herself in the same position years later.. Lively’s legal team have accused Baldoni and his film studio, Wayfarer, of planning to wreck her reputation, including by social media manipulation and using friendly journalists to sow certain narratives.. She shared details of the allegations in a New York Times article published before her lawsuit.. Getty Images. Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios in December 2024, alleging he sexually harassed her on set and retaliated against her for bringing those complaints, among other allegations.. In his 152-page opinion on Thursday, Judge Liman listed a host of reasons for dismissing the many allegations against Baldoni.. For one, he said, harassment claims Lively brought against Baldoni under California law did not hold up because the filming – where the misconduct allegedly occurred – took place in New Jersey.. “None of these acts or occurrences provides the ‘substantial connection’ to California needed to sustain Lively’s sexual harassment claims,” Liman wrote.. The judge also said Lively was ineligible to bring certain claims of harassment and retaliation because she was an independent contractor rather than an employee.. Lively had also accused Baldoni