عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

China Launches Three-Crew Space Flight as Part of Moon Ambitions

A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft with astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying, who is the first astronaut from Hong Kong, blasts off to China's Tiangong space station from the launchpad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)
A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft with astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying, who is the first astronaut from Hong Kong, blasts off to China's Tiangong space station from the launchpad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

China Launches Three-Crew Space Flight as Part of Moon Ambitions

A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft with astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying, who is the first astronaut from Hong Kong, blasts off to China's Tiangong space station from the launchpad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)
A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft with astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying, who is the first astronaut from Hong Kong, blasts off to China's Tiangong space station from the launchpad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)

China launched its Shenzhou-23 mission on Sunday, which will see a Chinese astronaut spend a full year in orbit for the first time, a crucial step in Beijing's ambition to send humans to the Moon by 2030.

The Long March 2-F rocket blasted off in a cloud of flames and smoke on time at 11:08 pm (1508 GMT) from the Jiuquan launch center in China's northwestern Gobi Desert, video from state broadcaster CCTV showed.

The mission marks the first spaceflight ever undertaken by an astronaut from Hong Kong: 43-year-old Li Jiaying (Lai Ka-ying in Cantonese), who previously worked for the Hong Kong police.

Other crew members include 39-year-old space engineer Zhu Yangzhu and 39-year-old Zhang Zhiyuan, a former air force pilot, who is travelling into space for the first time.

The crew is set to carry out numerous scientific projects in life sciences, materials science, fluid physics and medicine.

A key experiment of Shenzhou-23 will be the full-year stay in orbit by one of the crew in order to study the effects of a long stay in microgravity.

- Year-long experiment -

The experiment is part of China's preparations for future lunar missions, as well as missions to Mars.

The astronaut selected for this one-year mission will be named at a later date, depending on the progress of the Shenzhou-23 mission, a spokesperson for the Chinese space agency (CMSA) said on Saturday.

The main challenges will be long-term effects on humans, including bone density loss, muscle wasting, radiation exposure, sleep disturbances, behavioral and psychological fatigue, said Richard de Grijs, an astrophysicist and professor at Macquarie University in Australia.

He also underlined the importance of reliable water and air recycling systems, as well as the ability to manage potential medical emergencies far from Earth.

China is "steadily" building operational experience for "sustained occupation" of its Tiangong space station, and year-long missions are an important step towards future lunar and potentially deep-space ambitions, de Grijs told AFP.

"A year in orbit pushes both hardware and humans into a different operational regime compared with the shorter Shenzhou missions of the program's earlier phases," he said.

Crews aboard Tiangong have until now largely remained in orbit for six months before being replaced.

The Shenzhou-23 mission is part of China's goal to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030, a race in which the United States is also competing with its Artemis program.

- Pakistani crew members -

China is testing the equipment required for its goal, with an orbital test flight of its new Mengzhou spacecraft set for 2026.

The Mengzhou craft will replace the ageing Shenzhou line, and will carry China's astronauts to the Moon.

Beijing hopes to have built the first phase of a manned scientific base by 2035, known as the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).

China also plans to welcome its first foreign astronaut, from Pakistan, aboard the Tiangong station by the end of this year.

The Asian giant has significantly expanded its space programs over the last 30 years, injecting billions of dollars into the sector in order to catch up with the United States, Russia and Europe.

In 2019, China landed a spacecraft the Chang'e-4 probe on the far side of the Moon -- a world first.

Then in 2021, it landed a small rover on Mars.

China has been formally excluded from the International Space Station (ISS) since 2011, when the United States banned NASA from collaborating with Beijing, prompting the Asian giant to develop its own space station project.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Oldest Pearl Harbor Survivor Is Keeping Memory of the Surprise Bombing Alive at 106

Freeman K. Johnson, a 106-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor, holds up his dog tag, May 6, 2026, in Centerville, Mass. (AP)
Freeman K. Johnson, a 106-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor, holds up his dog tag, May 6, 2026, in Centerville, Mass. (AP)
TT
TT

Oldest Pearl Harbor Survivor Is Keeping Memory of the Surprise Bombing Alive at 106

Freeman K. Johnson, a 106-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor, holds up his dog tag, May 6, 2026, in Centerville, Mass. (AP)
Freeman K. Johnson, a 106-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor, holds up his dog tag, May 6, 2026, in Centerville, Mass. (AP)

On the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, the country's oldest living survivor of the Japanese bombing was far below deck helping repair one the boilers of the USS St. Louis.

Freeman Johnson, who turned 106 in March, never witnessed the surprise attack. He never heard his shipmates firing antiaircraft guns at the attacking planes — shooting down a torpedo plane. By the time he was topside, the St. Louis, a light cruiser, had evaded midget submarines and safely set out to sea.

"While all the rigamarole was going on topside, I was inside a steam drum. Couldn’t see anything, absolutely nothing," said Johnson, a Centerville, Massachusetts, resident whose living room is filled with mementos and photos of his Navy service, including photos of the St. Louis and him as a young sailor, along with a collection of Navy challenge coins and ribbons representing the places he visited. He still has his military identification tag — popularly known as dog tag.

Even as the St. Louis headed into the Pacific Ocean, Johnson, whose job was known as a fireman on the ship, knew little about the attack.

"We were way out to sea, way out. You couldn’t see any land at all. All you saw was ocean," he said. "I was just a sailor, just a swabbie, I was not an officer. They don’t tell you anything if you don’t need to know. And I didn’t need know it. So they tell you nothing."

When he visited schools, children often asked Johnson whether he was scared that day. "You’re not scared. You’re too busy to be scared," he said, his gravelly voice rising. "Besides, you don’t know what you’re scared of. You can’t see anything. What are you afraid of?

One of only 11 survivors

Johnson became the oldest survivor after World War II Navy veteran Ira "Ike" Schab died in December. He was 105. With Schab's passing, there remain only 11 survivors of the surprise attack, which killed just over 2,400 troops and propelled the United States into the war. The United States mourns the nation’s fallen service members on Memorial Day, which takes place Monday.

Every year, there is a remembrance ceremony at the military base’s waterfront for Pearl Harbor survivors.

About 2,000 survivors attended the 50th anniversary event in 1991. A few dozen have showed in recent decades. In 2024, only two made it. That is out of an estimated 87,000 troops stationed on Oahu that day. None made the pilgrimage to Hawaii last year.

Growing recognition

For most of his life, Johnson avoided the spotlight and talked little about surviving the bombing. After all, he was one of the tens of thousands sailors who were there on that tragic day. He recalled his wife, Ruth, "thought that was something special" so she called the Navy and "the girl laughed at her."

But as the oldest survivor, he's become a local celebrity and the reluctant face of one of the most important events in World War II. Johnson showed up at his 106th birthday party in a limousine and was mugged by television cameras. He gets letters from all over the world and is routinely called a hero wherever he goes out.

Johnson, who is hard of hearing, needs a walker to get around and suffers from congestive heart failure, can recall his wartime experience down to the smallest detail. A 19-year-old who was unemployed and living at home in Waltham, Johnson said he feared being drafted so he signed up for the Navy — because he felt it would be less physically taxing than the Army.

"As a kid, I walked. If I wanted to go somewhere, I walked or took my bicycle. But I didn't want to walk from France to Germany," he said, sitting in a recliner, dressed in an oversized flannel shirt and waving his hands like an orchestra conductor.

"It's a long way carrying a knapsack with you ... Water for a day, food for a day, a 9-pound Springfield rifle all on your back and walking through the mud," he said. "No thanks. That’s why I joined the Navy."

Witnessing history

Johnson's memories have less to do with battles while on the St. Louis, and later aboard the USS Iowa, than their significant roles in history. He helped commission the Iowa and recalled the battleship's preparations in November 1943 ahead of transporting President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Tehran Conference with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

The ship was equipped with two elevators and a bathtub. All the ammunition and much of the oil was removed to lighten the ship as it made its way down the Potomac River to pick up Roosevelt. It was reloaded before the ship headed out to sea.

"It was a big meeting," Johnson said, recalling how the crew were photographed with Roosevelt. "I don’t know what they talked about, but I didn’t need to know. We picked him back up, brought him home."

Johnson also witnessed the war's end aboard the Iowa. He was on the Iowa's mast watching the surrender ceremonies about a mile away in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945.

"I could see the boats coming up with the Marines escorting the Japanese onto ship and sitting around a table," he said. "It was all over. That was the end of the war. A bunch of us got together — the war is over. Let's go home."

Telling the story of Pearl Harbor

These days, his daughter, Diane Johnson, is often by his side. They live together and always take a trip on Dec. 7, often attending Pearl Harbor remembrance events, including the 65th and 80th anniversary in Hawaii. She often poses questions to get her father talking and likes to nag him that he has "a responsibility" to share the story of Pearl Harbor —- especially for children who know little about the bombing.

"It’s kind of overwhelming when you think of it. Well, the 106 is what gets me," she said. "When I think about his history, he’s at the beginning, he’s at middle, he is at the end when he witnessed the surrender. It’s something."

Johnson began getting more attention several ago, when Diane Johnson heard a local television report suggesting the last survivor in the state had died. She called to correct the record and that raised his profile. Johnson also started making regular appearances in the Cape Cod St. Patrick's Parade, often leading from the front.

"I wish more people were like him today. He just gets on and doesn't complain about anything," said Desmond Keogh, the chairman of the parade who has accompanied Johnson. "It's what this country was all about. They were just a different generation. They did what was best for their country."

For all the attention to Pearl Harbor, the gruff Johnson, who is known for his cackling laugh and mischievous smile, doesn't see it as a defining moment in his life.

That would have been getting married after the war to his late wife and having three daughters. He also worked for years in a machinist shop, then in a convenience store and, finally, delivering meals to seniors — all jobs he retired from, the last one at the age of 90.

"Pearl Harbor just happened. I can’t put it any other way," he said.

Varieties

‘Party in the Back’: Competitors Vie for European Mullet Crown

A woman attends the annual European Mullet Cup in Audregnies, southern Belgium, on May 23, 2026. (AFP)
A woman attends the annual European Mullet Cup in Audregnies, southern Belgium, on May 23, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

‘Party in the Back’: Competitors Vie for European Mullet Crown

A woman attends the annual European Mullet Cup in Audregnies, southern Belgium, on May 23, 2026. (AFP)
A woman attends the annual European Mullet Cup in Audregnies, southern Belgium, on May 23, 2026. (AFP)

Hundreds of distinctively coiffured participants gathered this weekend in southern Belgium for the annual European Mullet Championship to celebrate the once-maligned hairstyle.

Best captured by the tagline "business in the front, party in the back", the mullet typically combines a closely cropped fringe and sides with flowing locks down the back of the neck.

Popularized in the 1980s, it fell dramatically out of fashion before making a somewhat subversive comeback in recent years.

This year's European championship is the fourth to be held since a group of enthusiasts in Belgium borrowed the idea from Australia of staging a competition.

Would-be champions for this edition came from as far afield as France, Spain and England.

For many of those involved, the mullet is much more than a hairdo -- it has become a way of life.

"The mullet is open -- to others, to difference, to adventure. It has a wild side," said event spokesman David Hubert, who goes by the pseudonym Edgar Funkel.

In the quest to be crowned with the title of best mullet in Europe, hopefuls first had to fill out a questionnaire explaining more about themselves.

"Of course, we choose a great hairstyle, but what we really want is to choose a wonderful person," said jury member Lolita Demoustiez, 39 -- known as Dalita.

"What matters is that the person carrying the mullet truly embodies values such as tolerance, kindness and the freedom to be oneself."

Belgian competitor Christine, 60, said her striking new haircut had helped her get through a recent difficult period in her life.

"It feels absolutely brilliant, and I still haven't taken any antidepressants," she said, showing off her silver grey do.

"Long live the mullet!"

Around 50 finalists were selected to show off their mullets before the cheering crowds.

Winners were selected in a range of categories, including junior mullet, traditional mullet, unusual mullet and veteran mullet.

Eventually, the overall champions for 2026 were selected: the duo of Berenice, 44, and Samuel, 46 -- better known to their fans as BesaMulet.

Varieties

Bangladesh Puts AI in Driving Seat to Tackle Terrible Traffic

In April, Dhaka police linked traffic cameras to artificial intelligence software designed to automatically detect violations. Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP
In April, Dhaka police linked traffic cameras to artificial intelligence software designed to automatically detect violations. Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP
TT
TT

Bangladesh Puts AI in Driving Seat to Tackle Terrible Traffic

In April, Dhaka police linked traffic cameras to artificial intelligence software designed to automatically detect violations. Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP
In April, Dhaka police linked traffic cameras to artificial intelligence software designed to automatically detect violations. Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP

Bangladesh's densely populated capital, infamous for grinding gridlock, has launched its first AI-powered traffic enforcement system in a bid to bring order to one of the world's most congested cities.

Across Dhaka, buses, cars, motorcycles and pedal rickshaws jostle for space -- seeming to treat signals, pedestrian crossings and even traffic police as obstacles to overcome.

On-the-spot police fines often spark arguments, confrontations are common, and officers are sometimes struck by vehicles refusing to obey commands.

"Those who violate the rules turn against us," traffic sergeant SM Nazim Uddin told AFP.

"But since AI was introduced, people behind the wheel have started obeying the law -- and we have been spared the everyday quarrels."

Despite repeated attempts to modernize traffic management, the city of more than 22 million people had remained reliant on manual control, with officers stretching ropes across roads before traffic lights turned green.

But in April, Dhaka police linked traffic cameras to artificial intelligence software designed to automatically detect violations.

Motorist Hannan Rahman Jibon, 28, was among the first drivers caught.

"I ran a red light and the owner of my car, who was sitting at home, received a text message saying that the vehicle had violated traffic rules," said Jibon, who was hit with an automatic 2,000 taka ($16) fine.

"I am more careful now, with cameras installed in many different parts."

- 'Getting results' -

One study, by the US National Bureau of Economic Research, ranked Dhaka as the "slowest city" in the world.

With an average speed of just 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) per hour, according to a World Bank and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology study, it is quicker to walk.

City police spokesman N.M. Nasiruddin said the AI system used existing traffic-monitoring camera feeds -- with the software identifying offences ranging from signal and lane violations to illegal parking.

Coverage does not stretch across all the city, and manual traffic enforcement will be phased out over time, but police say it is changing behavior.

"We have started getting results," Nasiruddin said. "We have prosecuted at least 300 vehicles."

Inside a control room at police headquarters, analyst Sharmin Afroze, 52, monitored a bank of live traffic feeds, plugged into the AI system, where violations it flags are checked by humans.

"Before, police used to stop vehicles, check papers and determine fines," Afroze told AFP, noting that in a single day, the system had recorded nearly 800 traffic violations.

For now, police are only fining the worst offenders -- while giving the others a warning.

- 'Do not follow rules' -

Still, officials admit the technology faces hurdles.

"We are facing some challenges too," Afroze said. "For example, some number plates are blurred or too small to identify."

Police are working with the road transport authority to address the issue, while additional features -- such as vehicles driving on footpaths -- will be added soon.

The system also currently targets motor vehicles, and police are still considering how to regulate Dhaka's vast fleet of pedal rickshaws, a defining feature of the city's traffic.

Hasib Mohammed Ahsan, a professor at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said the long-term success of the system would depend less on technology -- and more on whether authorities consistently enforce the rules.

"We have spent huge amounts of money on traffic signals and their upgrades, but those efforts were never sustained," Ahsan said.

"We do not follow rules, there is no consistency in our planning, and there is no accountability for failure."