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A SpaceX booster rocket has returned to earth and been caught by giant robotic arms - following a successful launch of the company's Starship spacecraft.It was the first attempt to bring the rocket's 232-foot Super Heavy booster back to the launch tower. After separating from the Starship at a height of 46 miles (74km), it returned to Boca Chica in Texas, seven minutes after launch, where it was grabbed and clamped in place using what are described as "chopsticks".Arguably, they look more like metal arms, or giant pincers."Are you kidding me?" SpaceX's Dan Huot said close to the launch site. "I am shaking right now." "This is a day for the engineering history books," added SpaceX's Kate Tice.Space X owner Elon Musk said on X, which he also owns: "The tower has caught the rocket!!" ...

SpaceX is set to launch its fifth test flight of its Starship rocket on Sunday, as the company looks to make an ambitious attempt at catching the rocket's booster.Elon Musk's company has a 30-minute window, from 8 a.m. ET to 8:30 a.m. ET, in which to launch Starship from its Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas. If SpaceX is unable to launch within that window for weather or technical reasons, the company will postpone the attempt to a later date.Assuming the launch goes according to plan, Starship would reach space and then travel halfway around the Earth before reentering the atmosphere and splashing down. Additionally, the rocket's "Super Heavy" booster would return after separating from Starship and land on the arms of the company's launch tower.The Federal Aviation Administration...

Keithbinns | E+ | Getty ImagesU.S. officials believe Israel has narrowed down what they will target in their response to Iran's attack, which these officials describe as Iranian military and energy infrastructure.There is no indication that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, but U.S. officials stressed that the Israelis have not made a final decision about how and when to act.The region has been on edge awaiting Isreal's response to an Iranian missile barrage launched on Oct. 1, which Iran said was in response to Israel's invasion of Lebanon and the assasination of its allies, including Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and Hezbollah's powerful leader, Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.Iran's attack caused little damage in Israel.The U.S. does not know when Israel's...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer marks 100 days in office Saturday with little cause for celebration.Starmer's center-left Labour Party was elected by a landslide on July 4, sweeping back to power after 14 years. But after weeks of stories about feuding, freebies and fiscal gloom, polls suggest Starmer's personal approval rating has plummeted, and Labour is only slightly more popular than a Conservative Party that was rejected by voters after years of infighting and scandal."You couldn't really have imagined a worse start," said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. "First impressions count, and it's going to be difficult to turn those around."Starmer won the election on promises to banish years of turmoil and scandal under Conservative governments, get Bri...

China's consumer inflation rate fell in September, while producer price deflation deepened, even as Beijing rolls out more stimulus measures in a bid to revive flagging demand and shaky economic activity.The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4% from a year earlier last month, against a 0.6% rise in August, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Sunday, missing a 0.6% increase forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.CPI was unchanged month-on-month, versus a 0.4% gain in August and below an estimated 0.4% increase.The producer price index (PPI) fell 2.8% year-on-year in September, versus a 1.8% decline the previous month and below an expected 2.5% decline. Source link

Winter afternoon in Vilnius, Lithuania.Loop Images | Universal Images Group | Getty ImagesLithuanians voted Sunday in the first round of parliamentary elections that could lead to the center-right governing coalition being replaced by the opposition Social Democrats and smaller center-left parties.Despite economic successes, strict COVID-19 measures and an influx of migrants have cast shadows over conservative Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė's government, which took office in 2020.Although European Union member Lithuania has seen annual double-digit personal income growth and has one of the lowest inflation rates in the 27-nation bloc, many voters don't seem to be impressed."There's a lot of disappointment and discontent among voters," said Rima Urbonaitė, a political analyst at Vilnius' M...