Japan’s space agency launched the MMX probe aboard an H3 rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. It aims to land on Mars’ moon Phobos, collect soil and return the samples to Earth in 2031.

JapanMMX probePhobosspace exploration

Japan’s H3 rocket carried a probe into space on a pioneering mission to collect samples from a Martian moon.

JapanMars moonspace exploration

Japan launched an uncrewed spacecraft on Tuesday toward Phobos, a moon of Mars. The mission aims to become the first to collect samples from the small rocky body and bring them back to Earth for analysis.

JapanPhobosspace mission

A spacecraft led by Japan’s space agency has launched toward Phobos, where it aims to collect 10g of dust and return it to Earth in 2031. Scientists hope the sample will help resolve how Mars’s two moons formed.

PhobosMars moonssample returnspace exploration

A jury convicted a Canadian man of animal cruelty on Monday afternoon after he took Peachy, a flamingo, from an enclosure at a well-known Las Vegas hotel. Prosecutors described the act as drunken and malicious.

Las Vegasflamingoanimal crueltyjury verdict

A Las Vegas court convicted Ontario man Mitchell Fairbarn of animal cruelty on Monday for taking Peachy, a flamingo, from its habitat at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino last March. Prosecutors described the act as drunken and malicious.

Las Vegasanimal crueltycourt ruling

A collapse at an illegal gold mine in Santa Bárbara de Iscuandé, in southwestern Colombia’s Nariño province, killed 14 people and injured seven. Rescue operations have ended, and another 12 to 15 miners are reported missing.

Colombiamine collapseillegal mining

Torrential rain struck eastern Spain on Monday, with flooding killing at least four people in recent days, sweeping away cars, inundating roads and leaving residents stranded. Emergency crews carried out more than 400 rescues in Valencia, where some areas received 700 litres of rain per square metre in 24 hours.

Spainfloodstorrential rainValencia

Torrential rain triggered severe flooding in eastern Spain, sweeping away cars and submerging roads. At least four people died.

eastern Spainfloodingtorrential rain

Trump says he is ready for talks with Putin and Xi, while criticizing Zelenskyy over peace efforts.

Donald TrumpUS-China-Russia relationssummitUkraine peace

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an unannounced visit on Monday, Axios reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. The visit has not been officially confirmed, and the Pentagon declined to comment. A day earlier, President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu in next week’s Israeli election, while Vice President JD Vance said he would not get involved in the vote.

US-Israel relationsPete HegsethBenjamin NetanyahuIsraeli election

Emmanuel Macron said the Persian Gulf conflict was driving living costs and fuel prices cited by demonstrators amid riots and looting in France. He said France was suffering the consequences and would visit the Gulf to discuss the energy crisis. Donald Trump criticized France’s border policy, while JD Vance attacked its immigration policy. Experts cited in the report disputed Macron’s explanation, and French officials blamed the ultra-left for disorder.

France protestsEmmanuel MacronUS-Iran warDonald Trump

US President Donald Trump said mass unrest in France stemmed from immigration, not other issues, and said he had urged French President Emmanuel Macron to close the borders. Demonstrations over rising fuel prices and falling purchasing power took place across France on October 17. Organizers estimated 800,000 participants, while the Interior Ministry put the figure at 550,000. Protests turned into riots and clashes with police in several cities; Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 1,800 people had been detained nationwide.

FranceDonald Trumpimmigrationprotests

After protests across France descended into riots, National Rally leader Marine Le Pen attacked Macron’s handling of the crisis and blamed the left and immigration for the destruction, presenting her party as able to restore order. The article notes she offered no firm evidence that immigrants led the rioting; grievances included school conditions and planned public-spending cuts.

France protestsMarine Le PenNational Rallyriots

Mahmoud Khalil is asking the US Supreme Court to step into his ongoing legal battle with the US administration, seeking to avoid being arrested again and deported.

Mahmoud KhalilUS Supreme Courtdeportation

Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to overturn a ruling that opened the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to arrest and deport him again.

Mahmoud KhalilU.S. Supreme Courtdeportation

Richard Riehle, remembered for playing Tom Smykowski in Mike Judge’s corporate satire “Office Space,” has died at 78.

Richard RiehledeathOffice Space

Witnesses said a man turned around and rammed independent MP Helen Haines twice near her Wangaratta electorate office. Haines remained in critical but stable condition after emergency surgery, while police planned to interview the arrested driver. Neighboring barber Ricky Jeffries was praised for intervening and holding the driver until police arrived.

Australian politicsHelen HainesWangarattaattack

Independent MP Helen Haines attended a dog park opening in Mansfield on Monday morning. At 3.35pm, as she unloaded a car outside her electorate office, a man understood to be known to authorities allegedly struck her with his car and turned around after seeing her. Haines is critically injured. The report says threats and abuse against Australian politicians have been increasing.

Helen HainesAustralian politicsalleged attackpolitician safety

Independent MP Helen Haines is critically injured after being struck by a car outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, regional Victoria. She underwent surgery and remains in hospital. A 43-year-old man is in custody as authorities investigate the alleged attack; the motive is unknown.

Helen HainesAustralian politicsalleged attackWangaratta

Independent MP Helen Haines was severely injured when struck by a car outside her office in Wangaratta, Victoria. Police arrested a man but have not said she was deliberately hit; Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it an apparent attack. MPs and experts had warned that threats against politicians were increasing.

Australian politicsHelen Hainespolitical violence

Independent MP Helen Haines is critically ill in hospital after being hit by a car outside her constituency office in Wangaratta. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it appeared to be a deliberate act, while police are investigating whether it was intentional and say there is no ongoing threat to the community.

Australian politicsHelen HainesWangarattacar attack

Australian MP Helen Haines is in critical condition after a car struck her outside her office in Victoria. Police arrested a 43-year-old man accused of carrying out the attack and found a knife in his vehicle.

AustraliaHelen Hainescar attackpolice

Haitian gangs fired on an armoured vehicle over the weekend, leaving four soldiers from El Salvador unaccounted for. It was the first major attack since an international gang suppression force began operations in the violence-hit Caribbean country.

HaitiEl Salvadorgang violencemissing soldiers

Haitian gangs attacked an armored vehicle, leaving four Salvadoran soldiers unaccounted for. It was the first major attack since an international force to suppress gangs began operating.

Haitigang violenceSalvadoran soldiersinternational force

International forces in Haiti are trying to contact four Salvadoran soldiers who went missing after gangs attacked their armoured vehicle with explosives in Croix-des-Bouquets, north of Port-au-Prince. They escaped the burning vehicle, but fighting has hindered attempts to reach them. The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss Haiti on Monday, with the attack expected to dominate proceedings.

Haitigang violenceSalvadoran soldiersUN Security Council

Germany called in Iran’s ambassador on Monday, the Foreign Ministry said on X, after a German court sentenced two men for plotting to kill the head of a Jewish organization in Germany.

GermanyIrandiplomatic relationsassassination plot

A Russian drone struck the central park in Nova Vodolaha, in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, killing six people, including two girls, and wounding 15 others, seven of them children, Ukrainian officials said. President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Shahed drone carried out the strike; the younger girl, Angelina, and her mother were among the dead.

drone strikeUkrainecivilian casualties

A Russian drone hit a park in Nova Vodolaha, Kharkiv Oblast, on Oct. 19, killing six people, including three children, the governor said. The interior minister said those killed included an infant in a stroller and two women. Prosecutors opened a pre-trial investigation into a possible war crime.

Russian attackKharkiv Oblastdrone strikecivilian casualties