World's Largest Iceberg Breaks Off Antarctica

A fishing boat sails past a large iceberg at the mouth of the Jakobshavns ice fjord near Ilulissat, Greenland, May 15, 2007. REUTERS/Bob Strong/File Photo
A fishing boat sails past a large iceberg at the mouth of the Jakobshavns ice fjord near Ilulissat, Greenland, May 15, 2007. REUTERS/Bob Strong/File Photo
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World's Largest Iceberg Breaks Off Antarctica

A fishing boat sails past a large iceberg at the mouth of the Jakobshavns ice fjord near Ilulissat, Greenland, May 15, 2007. REUTERS/Bob Strong/File Photo
A fishing boat sails past a large iceberg at the mouth of the Jakobshavns ice fjord near Ilulissat, Greenland, May 15, 2007. REUTERS/Bob Strong/File Photo

A giant slab of ice bigger than the Spanish island of Majorca has sheared off from the frozen edge of Antarctica into the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest iceberg afloat in the world, the European Space Agency said on Wednesday.

The newly calved berg, designated A-76 by scientists, was spotted in recent satellite images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, the space agency said in a statement posted on its website with a photo of the enormous, oblong ice sheet.

Its surface area spans 4,320 square km (1,668 square miles) and measures 175 km (106 miles) long by 25 km (15 miles) wide.

By comparison, Spain's tourist island of Majorca in the Mediterranean occupies 3,640 square km (1,405 square miles). The US state of Rhode Island is smaller still, with a land mass of just 2,678 square km (1,034 square miles).

The enormity of A-76, which broke away from Antarctica's Ronne Ice Shelf, ranks as the largest existing iceberg on the planet, surpassing the now second-place A-23A, about 3,380 square km (1,305 square miles) in size and also floating in the Weddell Sea.

Another massive Antarctic iceberg that had threatened a penguin-populated island off the southern tip of South America has since lost much of its mass and broken into pieces, scientists said earlier this year.



King Charles, Camilla to Visit Canada in May

Britain's King Charles III (L) holds an audience with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney at Buckingham Palace, in central London, on March 17, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's King Charles III (L) holds an audience with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney at Buckingham Palace, in central London, on March 17, 2025. (AFP)
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King Charles, Camilla to Visit Canada in May

Britain's King Charles III (L) holds an audience with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney at Buckingham Palace, in central London, on March 17, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's King Charles III (L) holds an audience with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney at Buckingham Palace, in central London, on March 17, 2025. (AFP)

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will visit Canada, where the monarch is head of state, from May 26-27 and attend the opening of parliament, Buckingham Palace said Friday.

"The King, accompanied by The Queen, will attend The State Opening of the Parliament of Canada, in Ottawa," a statement read.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, winner of this week's general elections, said the visit would be "an historic honor which matches the weight of our times".

The king hosted Carney at Buckingham Palace in March, at a time when US President Donald Trump was issuing threats against the Commonwealth nation.

It will be Charles' first visit to Canada since becoming king in 2022 and his first trip to a Commonwealth country since touring Australia and Samoa in October.

That visit saw a much-reduced schedule, being the first foreign trip since the king was diagnosed with an unspecified cancer in February 2024.

He is still receiving weekly treatment, but recently completed a visit to Italy.