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• The ISS National Lab hosted a dedicated track at the ASCEND 2026 conference to discuss the current state and future of research and development in low Earth orbit (LEO). • Former NASA official and current director of the Trivedi Institute for Space and Global Medicine, Rubins, highlighted the need to translate space-based discoveries into tangible benefits for human populations on Earth. • The event featured a session titled “A Microgravity Laboratory of the Future,” which examined the evolving role of national laboratories in space to maintain scientific and economic leadership.

• China is promoting its Global Security Initiative (GSI) to reduce international confrontation and foster security cooperation through dialogue and diplomacy. • The GSI has been implemented via mediation efforts, peace talks, counterterrorism cooperation, and support for UN-centered multilateralism. • China argues that military interventions and external involvement by certain nations have increased strategic distrust and prolonged conflicts in various regions.

US says it struck Iranian military sites at the weekend, as Iran targets an airbase used by the US to attack southern IranGood morning, Martin Belam here. I will be popping into your inbox writing First Thing regularly for the next little while. Here are today’s main stories …Is this the end of the ceasefire, then? The US and Iran have sporadically exchanged strikes since their ceasefire took effect in early April, as negotiations aimed at a more durable agreement drag on. A similar exchange occurred last Thursday. The war launched by the US and Israel on 28 February has killed thousands of people – mainly in Iran and Lebanon – and caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices.What was Comey accused of? Comey, who was indicted in North Carolina in April, faces up to 10 years in prison for a photo of seashells arranged to read “86 47.” Prosecutors allege the post constituted a threat against Donald Trump, the 47th US president. Comey denies the allegation. Continue reading...

Attacks reported in Kuwait – home to a US military base – and around the strait of Hormuz in latest exchange of fire as peace negotiations continueMiddle East live – latest updatesThe US said it struck Iranian military sites at the weekend and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Monday it had targeted a US base in response, the latest in a series of exchanges amid negotiations to end the three-month-old war.The strikes on Iran’s Gulf coast were in response to “aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters”, the US military’s central command (Centcom) said on X. Continue reading...

• NASA has unveiled plans for a sprawling, city-like lunar outpost that could eventually stretch over hundreds of square miles. • The agency's administrator described the current era as a "Golden Age" of lunar exploration, signaling a shift toward permanent habitation. • This initiative matters as it transitions moon missions from short-term visits to the establishment of a long-term human presence on the lunar surface.

Office for Product Safety and Standards advises stopping use of Maxi-Cosi FamilyFix Slide Pro bases immediatelyA baby car seat product that poses a risk of injuries to children because of a malfunctioning safety indicator has been recalled by its manufacturer.Maxi-Cosi is recalling all of its FamilyFix Slide Pro bases from buyers, information on the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) website shows. Continue reading...

Seven years after Lisa Wiese went missing, a police raid on the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light has given her family a glimmer of hopeAs he watched the footage of a convoy of police vehicles driving through the security gates of the headquarters of a religious sect, AbdelRahman Hashem felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe now his two children would get answers to what happened to their mother.The last time the children heard from her was seven years ago. In an email sent from a budget hotel in India, she had written: “Mommy loves and misses them so much, so very much … they are both my best friends and my favorite people in the whole world.” Two days later, she disappeared. Continue reading...