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• Relativity Space announced plans in June 2026 to privately build and launch a Mars orbiter by 2028. • The mission will carry NASA's Aeolus atmospheric instruments and serve as a communications relay, funded by an unnamed philanthropic donor. • The announcement comes despite the company's poor track record, as its only rocket flight in March 2023 failed to reach orbit due to a second-stage engine failure.

• The United States Men's National Team (USMNT) secured a significant lead against Paraguay during a 2026 FIFA World Cup Group D match. • The game took place in Los Angeles, with live scoring and highlights tracked by The Sporting News. • This result is critical for the USMNT as they compete for a top position in Group D to advance in the tournament.

A luxury resort backed by the US president’s family may be built on a wildlife-rich nature reserve in one of Europe’s poorest nationsIf the real estate dreams of a billionaire political family come true, an island in one of Europe’s poorest countries will become a luxury hotel complex, sweeping up stretches of the wildlife-rich nature reserve that sits across the water.No public consultation has taken place, but there are signs the idea is on the way to becoming reality. Albania has been rocked by nearly two weeks of fierce protests after fences and heavy machinery came to a sensitive wetland and preparatory work began on the tourism vision of Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner. Continue reading...

More than 20,000 votes cast in Butterfly Conservation’s poll of 60 native species to find nation’s favourite for first timeThe votes are in on Britain’s favourite butterfly, and it is one of the most ubiquitous yet spectacular backyard beauties that has flown to victory.With its lavender, yellow and maroon eye spots and luscious rusty red and black colouration, the peacock butterfly is both beautiful and commonplace, flying throughout spring, summer and autumn in all corners of the British Isles. Continue reading...

Footage shows Elliot Sudal hauling the shark from the surf before releasing it within seconds, sparking online reactionAn angler who reeled in a rare great white shark at a Nantucket beach said he posted extraordinary video of the encounter to social media as an example of how to safely catch and release one of the ocean’s greatest predators.Elliot Sudal said he was “testing the waters” off the Massachusetts beach he regularly uses when he inadvertently snagged the shark on Sunday. Continue reading...

Geoffrey Wall is alleged to have flown over 900 flights domestically and internationally between 2009 and 2025A former Air Canada pilot has been charged after flying for years without a proper license, Canadian police have said.Geoffrey Wall, of Barrie, Ontario, is alleged to have operated as an airline captain between 2009 and 2025 without a license to fly large commercial passenger planes, according to Peel Regional Police. Continue reading...

• On June 5, 2026, at 13:04 UTC, NASA ordered astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) to don spacesuits and prepare for potential evacuation. • The emergency was triggered by a worsening air leak located in the PrK transfer tunnel within the Russian Zvezda service module. • This incident represents a critical safety risk to the crew, necessitating immediate shelter and the readiness of evacuation protocols to prevent loss of life.

Oil tankers may be stuck behind strait of Hormuz, but holding the Iata AGM in Brazil defies warnings of impending shortagesNothing says jet fuel crisis, as one prospective attender put it, like flying everyone to Rio de Janeiro. Aviation leaders will converge in Brazil this weekend for the Iata AGM, the annual global airline summit, with the industry still, for the most part, looking resolutely skyward.The oil tankers may still be stuck behind the strait of Hormuz as the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran flickers on, but for now, airlines continue to defy dire warnings of impending shortages which had stoked fears of a summer of chaos for European holidaymakers. Continue reading...

Experts say dismantling the ocean observation system will ‘severely degrade’ the accuracy of weather predictionsThe Trump administration’s plan to dismantle an ocean observation system vital to understanding the climate crisis and marine ecosystems would “severely degrade” the accuracy of weather predictions and El Niño forecasts, with economic consequences for the US, European and American scientists have warned.Decommissioning the US system, which plays a major part in a global ocean observation network, would lead to a massive increase in error in the annual estimates of ocean heating rates, according to research published last month. Continue reading...

• NASA engineers have successfully completed the final inspection of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's primary mirror, which passed all tests. • Following this final check, the telescope is now being prepared for shipment to its designated launch site in Florida. • This milestone ensures the telescope's optical systems are fully operational before it begins its mission to study dark energy and exoplanets.

UK private equity investor with reputation for hard-nosed restructuring says it is backing existing managementBusiness live – latest updatesFlying Tiger is the latest retailer to be snapped up by Modella Capital, the British investment firm which already owns the former high street arm of WH Smith, now called TG Jones.The Danish company, known for its cut-price homewares and craft kit, operates about 1,000 stores worldwide, including 80 in the UK, where it employs more than 1,000 people. Continue reading...

UK government calls incident ‘unacceptable’ after Su-27 jet comes within six metres of unarmed spy plane over Black SeaA Russian jet flew within six metres of an RAF spy plane flying at 500mph over the Black Sea, one of two mid-air incidents last month described as “dangerous and unacceptable” by the defence secretary John Healey.An Su-27 jet conducted six passes in front of an unarmed RAF Rivet Joint flying close to its nose, potentially risking a collision that could have triggered a diplomatic crisis between the two countries. Continue reading...

Butterfly Conservation poll is open until 7 June with choice of 60 species from small tortoiseshells to purple emperorsWill it be the rapidly disappearing former garden favourite, the small tortoiseshell? Or the poet John Masefield’s “oakwood haunting thing”, the charismatic purple emperor? Or perhaps the brimstone, the ultimate harbinger of spring?The question of which is Britain’s favourite butterfly is being put to a popular vote for the first time. The charity Butterfly Conservation is running the poll, which runs until 7 June, giving people the chance to choose their favourite from the 60 species that fly around Britain every summer. Continue reading...

Health minister Mark Butler says six passengers who have tested negative for hantavirus will land in Western Australia on FridayFour Australian citizens who were aboard the MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak, will soon be home after the government secured a suitable aircraft and crew for the journey.The health minister, Mark Butler, said the citizens, along with a permanent resident and a New Zealand citizen, were due to take off from the Netherlands on Thursday evening local time and would land in Perth on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...

Demonstrators, angered by Russia’s inclusion at arts festival, shouted ‘Curated by Putin, dead bodies included’The Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale was forced to temporarily shutter its doors on the second day of the preview after the activist group Pussy Riot staged a chaotic protest against the country’s inclusion in the art festival.Wearing pink balaclavas, the protesters ran towards the Russian pavilion where they gathered outside and lit pink, blue and yellow flares while playing punk music and shouting slogans, including “Blood is Russia’s Art”. Continue reading...

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for flag, which appeared on 120-metre Spire in SeptemberWhat goes up must come down – unless it’s a Palestinian flag at the top of Dublin’s tallest monument that no one knows how to remove.The flag appeared on the 120-metre Spire on O’Connell Street last September and for seven months it has defied every proposed measure to take it down. Who installed it and how remains a mystery. Continue reading...

• Pittsburgh Penguins beat Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in Game 5 on Monday night, with goals from Connor Dewar, Kris Letang, and Elmer Soderblom. • The win avoids elimination for the second straight game, sending the series back to Philadelphia for Game 6. • Sidney Crosby and the Penguins aim to keep their season alive against a resilient Flyers team.

Former Liberal party senator, who was elected to state upper house in March, says flights ‘worth every cent’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne Nation’s South Australian leader has paid back Australia’s richest person for private flights he took while campaigning in the state’s recent election.Cory Bernardi confirmed on Saturday that he had reimbursed a “substantial” sum of money to Gina Rinehart’s company S Kidman & Co, to comply with new state laws that prohibit political parties and candidates from receiving electoral donations or gifts from individuals, businesses or unions. Continue reading...

• The Pittsburgh Penguins suffered a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of their playoff series, with forward Evgeni Malkin calling for a reset. • Malkin emphasized the need for the team to regroup and improve their performance heading into subsequent games. • The playoff matchup sets up a critical series between the two historic NHL franchises competing for Eastern Conference advancement.

Warmer weather has benefited some species in Britain, but others that rely on specific plants or habitats have struggled“Insectageddon” has not occurred, but there has been a loss of butterfly diversity over the past half a century, according to the world’s largest insect monitoring scheme.More than 44m butterfly sightings scientifically collected in Britain since 1976 show that of the 58 native species recorded, 33 species have declined and 25 have increased in number. Continue reading...

US government reverses course on removing LGBTQ+ Pride flag from New York monument after efforts from advocatesThe Trump administration agreed Monday to keep flying a rainbow Pride flag at the Stonewall national monument, reversing course after removing the banner in February.The government revealed the decision as it seeks to settle a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ+ and historic preservation groups who had sought to block the removal. A judge must still approve the agreement. Continue reading...

• The Artemis II crew completes its historic lunar flyby mission, with crew members returning to Earth on April 10 after traveling farther from Earth than any humans in decades. • During the mission, the crew captured unprecedented photographs of Earth passing behind the Moon and observed portions of the lunar surface never previously seen by human eyes. • The mission marks a major milestone in NASA's Artemis program, re-inspiring public interest in space exploration through iconic imagery showing Earth's perspective from unprecedented distances.

Airline projected a $2bn increase in fuel costs this quarter amid volatility in oil markets sparked by the warThe CEO of Delta Air Lines, Ed Bastian, braced customers for higher fares following the surge in oil prices sparked by the US-Israel war on Iran, amid strong demand from passengers.Though rising oil prices have cost the company an extra $330m in fuel expenses, and it projected a $2bn increase in fuel costs in the current quarter, Delta forecast that revenue would grow 10% as flyers continue to book flights. Continue reading...

Nasa’s Orion capsule will be just over 4,000 miles above lunar surface, allowing astronauts to see both polesThe four astronauts on Nasa’s Artemis II mission are poised to begin the first flyby of the far side of the moon in more than half a century, bringing them to the furthest point from Earth ever reached by humans.The crew of three Americans and one Canadian earlier entered the moon’s “sphere of influence”, where its gravity has a stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth’s. Continue reading...

Four astronauts are set to become Earth’s farthest travelled and exceed a 1970 record on the sixth day of the missionArtemis II astronauts are on course to set a new distance record Monday when they fly by the moon without stopping there – and then swing around for planet Earth.The four astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch of the US space agency Nasa; and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen – will become Earth’s farthest travelled, going 5,000 miles (8,047km) beyond the moon, exceeding the distance record set by 1970’s ill-fated Apollo 13. Continue reading...

Once-hyped, celebrity-backed company snapped up by American Exchange Group for fraction of former valueBusiness live – latest updatesAllbirds, the San Francisco sustainable trainer brand once valued at more than $4bn, is being sold for just $39m after global demand for its wool-based footwear failed to materialise.American Exchange Group, the owner of a string of brands including the fashion label Ed Hardy and the accessories maker Born, is snapping up the struggling company once touted as the future of footwear. Continue reading...

• Asteroid 2026 FA3, approximately 53 feet wide or house-sized, will safely pass Earth on March 27, 2026, at 1.78 million miles away—seven times lunar distance. • NASA’s planetary defense systems monitor the near-Earth object (NEO) using telescopes and radar for precise orbit, trajectory, and speed calculations. • Followed by two more safe flybys the next day; increased detections due to advanced global tracking highlight vigilant space situational awareness.

The insects covered its largest area since 2018, despite threats from habitat loss, climate crisis and pesticidesThe population of monarch butterflies in Mexico increased 64% this winter, compared with the same period in 2025, offering a glimmer of hope for an insect considered at risk of extinction.The figures, released this week by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mexico, showed that the area occupied by monarchs expanded to 2.93 hectares (7.24 acres) of forest from 1.79 hectares (4.42 acres) the previous winter, the largest coverage since 2018. Continue reading...