From bicycles to rockets, learning through experience – whether human or machine – is shaping the future of space exploration.

AI is making spacecraft propulsion more efficient – and could even lead to nuclear-powered rockets

Ever seen the northern lights? You have a magnetic layer in Earth’s atmosphere to thank for those beautiful displays. But the magnetosphere does a lot more than create auroras.

Earth’s magnetic field protects life on Earth from radiation, but it can move, and the magnetic poles can even flip

Most astronauts who menstruate pause their cycle with hormones before hitting the stars, but in the future, we'll need more options.

Scientists sent a menstrual cup to space. This is how it went

The Geminids return with near-perfect viewing conditions, offering skywatchers up to 150 meteors an hour under dark December skies.

Geminid meteor shower 2025 peaks next week. Here's what you need to know about this year's best meteor shower

On Episode 188 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik discuss Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur and private astronaut, who took had his second confirmation as NASA's next leader.

This Week In Space podcast: Episode 188 — A New NASA Leader Rises?

Israel's Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir has declared that the troops' pullback line in Gaza is the new border between Israel and the Palestinian territory. During a visit to forces in northern Gaza on Sunday, he said the so-called "yellow line" was the new border, a forward defensive line for Israeli border communities and also an attack line.

Israeli Chief of Staff declares new border with Gaza Strip

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is set to begin his inaugural visit to China on Monday, six weeks after he was forced to delay the trip when he was unable to secure enough meetings with key leaders in Beijing amid tensions over Taiwan. During talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, Wadephul is expected to address Chinese restrictions on rare-earth exports, which have made life difficult for European businesses who rely on the resources for manufactu

German foreign minister heads to China to talk rare-earth exports

The soldier and bereaved families spoke on the necessity of equal conscription amid the IDF's manpower shortage. Bereaved families and a wounded soldier spoke on the urgency of equal conscription to Israel’s military during a session of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sunday, as lawmakers debated advancing the bill to enforce haredi (ultra-Orthodox) conscription to the IDF.

'We need everyone,' wounded reservist urges Knesset panel to advance haredi draft law

Notably, Germany opposed various sanctions proposals in the EU. It is one of the few countries Israel can count on to at least abstain from one-sided UN General Assembly resolutions.

Merz visit highlights new strategic, and strained, Germany-Israel bond

Patrice Talon says the situation is "totally under control" not long after explosions were heard in Cotonou.

Benin coup thwarted by loyalist troops, president tells nation

The 2026 budget passed its first test, yet the battles over defense, taxes, and reforms expose a government more focused on managing crises than shaping policy. Israel’s state budget for 2026 passed its first hurdle on Friday, receiving approval from the government in the annual high-stakes process, which could potentially trigger early elections.

What did the gov’t approve for Israel’s 2026 state budget?

Two were arrested for terror-related activity in the West Bank, while nine were arrested for criminal activity in Umm al-Fahm. The IDF and Israel Police arrested eleven people over the weekend in crime and terror-related activities since Thursday, according to statements by the IDF, Shin Bet, and Israel Police.

IDF, police arrest eleven for criminal, terror-related activity over weekend

Merz will also meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday morning, before visiting Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial later in the day. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told President Isaac Herzog that Germany wants to be more involved in the situation in the Gaza Strip, including the return of the remains of the final hostage, St.

Herzog, German Chancellor Merz discuss final Gaza hostage, Arrow 3 exchange in Jerusalem

Gunmen stormed a hostel near Pretoria and opened fire, killing 11 people including a three-year-old.

At least 11 killed in South Africa mass shooting

Esther says she faced sexual violence on her journey to Europe after fleeing abuse in Nigeria.

Single women risk rape and exploitation in search for better life in Europe

Drone strikes on a town in South Kordofan on Thursday are said to have killed at least 50 people.

Deadly attack on kindergarten reported in Sudan

Looking at the weather map on his computer and seeing three simultaneous tropical storms forming across Asia in late November, climatologist Fredolin Tangang’s first thoughts drifted to the 2004 disaster movie “The Day After Tomorrow.”

How a cocktail of rogue storms and climate chaos unleashed deadly flooding across Asia

In the statement, Katz indicated that combat soldiers and other conscripts who are already serving and scheduled to complete their service during 2026 may have to delay their discharge from the IDF. The standard amount of service time for an IDF soldier is to be extended from 30-32 months to 36 months, according to a plan being prepared by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich , the pair announced in a Friday morning statement following the approval of the state budg

Defense Minister Katz moves to extend IDF service to 36 months

The issue of forcing citizens to serve in the military is back as the war between Russia and Ukraine grinds on.

Which European countries have mandatory or voluntary military service

The UN condemned continued incidents of summary executions, arbitrary killings, abductions, sexual violence, arbitrary detentions, looting and the destruction of homes. The Syrian regime needs to take more steps to ensure an end to the violence targeting minority groups in Syria, including violent offences against the Druze community, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights insisted on Friday ahead of the anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime.

‘More should be done’: UN pushes Syrian regime on justice for Druze, Alawites and minority groups

The deputy for the slain Yasser Abu Shabab, Duhaini was documented walking among the militia’s operatives and boosting their morale after his predecessor's death. Ghassan Al-Duhaini, deputy official to the slain Popular Forces militia head Yasser Abu Shabab, has been appointed to lead the anti-Hamas armed group in Rafah in southern Gaza.

Ghassan Al-Duhaini to replace Abu Shabab as Popular Forces leader in Gaza

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has removed his former chief of staff Andriy Yermak from the National Security Council amid a sprawling corruption investigation that has rocked Kiev. Yermak is also no longer a member of the Stavka, the high command of Ukraine's armed forces, according to two presidential decrees published on Friday.

Zelensky confidant dismissed from further posts amid bribery scandal

The royal symbol on the newly discovered figurines solves a long-standing mystery by identifying who was buried in the sarcophagus.

Treasure trove found in Egyptian tomb solves ancient mystery

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is seeking a solution with Belgium on the issue of the provision of Russian funds to support Ukraine. On Thursday, Merz said that he was taking the Belgian government's concerns seriously.

Merz postpones Norway trip for Belgium talks on frozen Russian assets

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine panel on Thursday delayed a vote on the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns.

RFK Jr.'s vaccine panel delays hepatitis B shot vote after chaotic meeting

The Abu Shabab militia is a result of a short-sighted Israeli policy that doesn’t seem to want to see a legitimate and stable Gaza governance emerge. Gaza militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab was killed on Thursday, according to numerous reports.

Yasser Abu Shabab's killing raises questions about Israel's militia strategy in Gaza

If Thailand complied, it would deliver a painful blow to Israel’s agricultural sector at the very moment it was struggling to recover from the shock of the attack. Iran offered Thailand help in securing the release of Thai hostages held in Hamas captivity on the condition that Bangkok label Israel an “unsafe country” and instruct its tens of thousands of agricultural workers working there to leave immediately, two sources familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

Hostages as leverage: Iran's secret demand aimed at crippling Israel's agriculture

An alleged Palestine Action member has told jury the group "didn't want any harm" during a break-in.

Violence 'never part' of break-in plan, court told

Ireland, Spain, Netherlands, and Slovenia refuse to participate in next year’s event after calling for Israel to be bann

Four countries to boycott Eurovision 2026 over Israel’s inclusion

The Israeli military says it struck Hezbollah sites, less than 24 hours after Israel and Lebanon sent civilian envoys to meet.

Israel strikes south Lebanon after first direct talks in decades

Rescue workers say they recovered bodies from a camp for displaced people. The IDF says it "struck a Hamas terrorist".

Five killed in Israeli air strikes on tents near Khan Younis, medics say

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A federal labor judge in Brazil ordered the government to add a poultry unit of meatpacker JBS to a so-called "dirty list" of employers responsible ​for subjecting workers to slavery-like conditions, according to a Tuesday court ruling seen by Reuters. The case ‌stems from a federal raid last year that found 10 people working in slavery-like conditions for a contractor hired to load and unload cargo ‌for poultry unit JBS Aves, in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul stat

Brazil judge orders government to add JBS subsidiary to 'dirty list' for slavery

Several Israeli soldiers were injured in calshes in the south of the Gaza Strip, despite a fragile ceasefire, the Israeli army said on Wednesday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said "troops encountered several terrorists who emerged from an underground terrorist infrastructure.

Israel says soldiers wounded in Gaza fighting amid fragile truce

In a surprising turn of events, Malaysia’s transport ministry has decided to resume its search for the missing MH370 flight, more than ten years after the aircraft vanished without leaving a viable explanation. Authorities from the Southeast Asian country confirmed in an official statement that the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft will commence […] The post Malaysia To Revive Search for Missing Flight MH370 appeared first on Mandatory.

Malaysia To Revive Search for Missing Flight MH370

A Palestinian journalist has been killed in an Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip, according to media reports Tuesday. Another journalist was injured in the drone strike in Khan Younis in the south of the territory, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

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