Europe launches maiden flight of Ariane 6 rocket
CBSN
Running years behind schedule, Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket blasted off on its maiden flight Tuesday, thundering away from the European Space Agency's jungle launch site in French Guiana in a bid to restore independent European access to space.
Facing increasingly stiff international competition, Europe's space agencies see the Ariane 6 as critical to re-establishing and maintaining their foothold in low-Earth orbit and beyond, launching European military satellites, science missions, navigation and communications satellites and other commercial payloads.
"Ariane 6 will power Europe into space," ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said in a post on X. "This is just the first step, we have lots of work to do yet, but we are laser-focused on changing the future of the European space transportation ecosystem."
Top Iranian security official Ali Larijani was killed in overnight strikes, Israel said Tuesday, marking a significant moment for the Islamic Republic in the conflict. In:
Shigeaki Mori, a Japanese atomic bomb survivor in Hiroshima and a historian but best known for a big hug he was given by then U.S. President Barack Obama during his historic visit to the city a decade ago, has died. He was 88. Agence France-Presse contributed to this report. In:
The Taliban in Afghanistan claim that a Pakistani military airstrike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul has killed over 400 people and injured 250 others.
Washington — President Trump said Monday that he's requested to delay his trip to China because of the war with Iran, now in its third week. Joe Walsh contributed to this report. In:
Officials in Cuba reported an island-wide blackout Monday in the country of some 11 million people as its energy and economic crises deepen. Cuba has blamed its woes on a U.S. energy blockade after President Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to it. In:
Two boats carrying 21 people capsized Monday off Henoko, a controversial relocation site for a U.S. military base off Japan's southern island of Okinawa, throwing all into the water and leaving two of them dead, officials said. In:
Ecuador on Sunday began two weeks of operations against drug traffickers with support from the United States, the latest joint show of force against drug cartels in the South American country. In:
Right after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Karabash Elementary, like schools across Russia, was ordered to indoctrinate young minds with a so-called "patriotic curriculum." Pasha Talankin, the school's videographer, was assigned to shoot it all, to prove to Russia's government that the school was toeing the line. In:
Six U.S. service members who were killed in a military refueling aircraft crash over Iraq last week have been identified as members of the Ohio Air National Guard and Florida-based crew members. Tucker Reals contributed to this report. In:
Ten months after taking office, Pope Leo XIV on Saturday finally moved into his apartments in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, a historic papal residence that his predecessor had eschewed. In:
President Trump said the U.S. military "totally obliterated" every military target on Kharg Island during large-scale precision strikes Friday, thrusting the strategic small isle into the global spotlight. In:
Hamas on Saturday called on Iran to refrain from targeting neighboring countries, while affirming Tehran's right to defend itself against Israel and the United States. In:
A Jewish school in Amsterdam was damaged after an overnight explosion against its exterior wall, Mayor Femke Halsema said in a statement Saturday, denouncing the blast as a "cowardly act of aggression." In: