Nasa has said it will return a four-person crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS), cutting short their mission a month early because of a "serious medical condition" affecting one of the astronauts. The agency did not disclose the name of the crew member or the medical condition, citing health privacy, but said the person was in a stable condition. "This is not an emergency evacuation," said a Nasa official, adding: "We always err on the side of the astronaut's health." On Wednesday, Nasa abruptly cancelled a spacewalk due to take place on Thursday, when two astronauts were set to step outside the ISS, citing a "medical concern". The decision to bring back the crew early was announced by Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman and other agency officials at a news conference on Thursday. They gave few details, but said the medical issue was not related to space operations, and was not an injury. An update was expected within 48 hours on the timeline for the astronauts' return, they added. This is the first early evacuation in the history of the ISS, which has been continuously inhabited since 2000. The four-person team is called Crew-11, and consists of Nasa astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui from Japan's JAXA space agency, and a Russian cosmonaut, Oleg Platonov. One American astronaut will remain aboard the ISS, officials say, and will be accompanied by two Russian cosmonauts. Dr James Polk, Nasa's chief health and medical officer, told reporters this is the first time in Nasa's over-65 year history that a mission would return early due to a medical issue. Crew-11 launched to the ISS in August last year on a SpaceX Crew Dragon and were expected to remain in orbit for about six months, returning around next month, after being replaced by another four-person crew a few days earlier. The ISS has basic medical equipment, supplies and communication systems that let doctors on Earth talk privately to astronauts in space, assess their condition and advise treatment, much like a secure video or phone consultation with a GP. Returning the four-person crew early could delay some experiments and maintenance tasks until the new crew arrive next month, according to Dr Simeon Barber, a space scientist at the Open University. "The space station is a big, complex feat of engineering, it's designed to be operated by a certain minimum level of crew," he said. He added that the remaining crew would probably be forced to "dial back on some of the more experimental work and focus more just on the housekeeping and keeping the station healthy, waiting for the full complement of crew to be restored." Source : BBC

Astronaut's 'serious medical condition' forces Nasa to end space station mission early

Pilgrims can now safely access Sri Pada through the Hatton route, as the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) has confirmed that the landslide threat in the Mahagiridamba area has been eliminated, according to Venerable Dorapane Sumanajothi Thera. Following an inspection conducted yesterday (8), NBRO officials assessed the site, which was previously restricted after a landslide caused by Cyclone Ditwah.&nbsp; The collapse of a large earth mound in Mahagiridamba had raised safety concerns among pilgrims. The Thera stated that the area has now been renovated with concrete side walls, new steps, and safety railings, making it safe for worshippers to visit Sri Pada along the Hatton route.

Safe access restored to Sri Pada via Hatton route 

Goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier was the hero as Paris St Germain clinched their fourth consecutive French Super Cup title, beating rivals Olympique de Marseille 4-1 in a penalty shootout after a dramatic 2-2 draw in Kuwait on Thursday. PSG looked to be cruising to victory after an early goal from Ousmane Dembele, who had also scored the late winner in last season’s 1-0 final victory over AS Monaco in Doha. However, Marseille stunned the French champions with two late goals to turn the game on its head. Mason Greenwood converted a penalty and a Willian Pacho own goal gave Marseille a shock lead. But PSG refused to be beaten, launching a wave of attacks that culminated in Goncalo Ramos snatching an equaliser in the final seconds to send the contest to penalties. Chevalier proved the decisive figure in the shootout, saving spot-kicks from Matt O’Riley and Hamed Traore.Ramos, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, and Desire Doue all converted for PSG to seal the win. Record 14-time winners PSG, who faced last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up Marseille after the Parisians had won both the league and the French Cup, won the competition for the 12th time in the last 13 years. “Luck sometimes plays its part, but the most important thing is that we prepare our goalkeepers for penalties... Our keeper had a fantastic game,” PSG coach Luis Enrique told reporters. “You don’t always have to be at your best to win. That’s what happened today; we didn’t maintain our top level for the entire match, but we won... We showed our ability to fight back, even in the final minute,” he added. DE ZERBI ‘HEARTBROKEN’ AFTER DEFEAT Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi expressed his disappointment. “I’m heartbroken... We played a fantastic game but lost in the end... The first thing I told the team was that I never cry after a loss. But this match was an exception, and I cried afterwards because we put in a great performance against one of the strongest teams in Europe,” he said. “I told our players to be proud of their performance and that they have to accept these difficult moments,” he added.“Today we delivered one of our best performances in a while. I am extremely happy and proud of the performance... Our team deserved to win.” The drama began early, with Chevalier forced into a seventh-minute save from a Leonardo Balerdi header before Nuno Mendes headed just wide at the other end. Dembele broke the deadlock in the 13th minute, latching onto a pass from Vitinha before lifting a left-footed shot over the keeper and into the net. Marseille responded, with Greenwood firing just over the bar before goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli denied Mendes.Chevalier was called into action again to thwart an effort from Emerson in the 34th minute. After the break, Chevalier produced a superb double save, first denying a dangerous header from Igor Paixao and then a powerful shot from Amine Gouiri less than two minutes later. The introduction of substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 67th minute gave Marseille a boost, and they were awarded a penalty in the 74th minute when Greenwood was brought down by the keeper. The forward stepped up to level the score. Marseille thought they had won it in the 87th minute when PSG defender Pacho inadvertently turned a cross from Traore into his own net. However, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, a swift counter-attack led to Bradley Barcola heading a long ball into the path of Ramos, who made no mistake to send the game to penalties. Source: Reuters

PSG clinch French Super Cup after shootout win over Marseille

Six whales have died on a remote beach in New Zealand's South Island following a mass stranding and volunteers are racing against time to get 15 others that are still alive back to the sea. Some 55 pilot whales washed up on Farewell Spit on Thursday. While most managed to make their way back out to sea, 15 have restranded and are now spread along about 1km (0.6mi) of the beach. A video from Project Jonah, a non-profit working with marine mammals, showed volunteers pouring buckets of water on the whales to keep them cool. "When the tide comes in, we're going to have to move really quickly to bring these whales together, then move them out to deeper waters," said Louisa Hawkes from Project Jonah. Pilot whales are highly social animals and have a natural instinct to look out for one another. Volunteers hope to bring the 15 stranded whales together in a "nice tight group" to help them refamiliarise with one another and swim out together, Hawkes said. They will attempt to refloat the whales this afternoon, but time is tight. "We have to do all of that before the tide turns and drops again," Hawkes said. The group is calling for volunteers to help with the refloating. New Zealand's conservation department has deployed rangers, a boat and a drone to Farewell Spit to monitor any further strandings. Mass strandings regularly occur at Farewell Spit, located on the northern-most tip of the South Island. The conservation department describes it as a "naturally occurring 'whale trap'" located along a migratory route for long-finned whales. "Whales may be easily deceived and caught out by the gently sloping tidal flats and a rapidly falling tide," it said in a statement on Thursday. In February 2017, more than 400 long-finned pilot whales washed up there – the largest stranding in New Zealand for more than 100 years. Source : BBC

Six whales die after mass stranding on remote NZ beach

OpenAI has launched a new ChatGPT feature in the US which can analyse people’s medical records to give them better answers, but campaigners warn it raises privacy concerns. The firm wants people to share their medical records along with data from apps like MyFitnessPal, which will be analysed to give personalised advice. OpenAI said conversations in ChatGPT Health would be stored separately to other chats and would not be used to train its AI tools - as well as clarifying it was not intended to be used for “diagnosis or treatment”. Andrew Crawford, of US non-profit the Center for Democracy and Technology, said it was “crucial” to maintain “airtight” safeguards around users’ health information. It is unclear if or when the feature may be introduced in the UK. “New AI health tools offer the promise of empowering patients and promoting better health outcomes, but health data is some of the most sensitive information people can share and it must be protected,” Crawford said. He said AI firms were “leaning hard” into finding ways to bring more personalisation to their services to boost value.“Especially as OpenAI moves to explore advertising as a business model, it’s crucial that separation between this sort of health data and memories that ChatGPT captures from other conversations is airtight,” he said. According to OpenAI, more than 230 million people ask its chatbot questions about their health and wellbeing every week. In a blog post, it said ChatGPT Health had “enhanced privacy to protect sensitive data”. Users can share data from apps like Apple Health, Peloton and MyFitnessPal, as well as provide medical records, which can be used to give more relevant responses to their health queries. OpenAI said its health feature was designed to “support, not replace, medical care”. ‘Watershed moment’ Generative AI chatbots and tools can be prone to generating false or misleading information, often stating this in a very matter-of-fact, convincing way. But Max Sinclair, chief executive and founder of AI marketing platform Azoma, said OpenAI was positioning its chatbot as a “trusted medical adviser”. He described the launch of ChatGPT Health as a “watershed moment” and one that could “reshape both patient care and retail” - influencing not just how people access medical information but also what they may buy to treat their problems. Sinclair said the tech could amount to a “game-changer” for OpenAI amid increased competition from rival AI chatbots, particularly Google’s Gemini. The company said it would initially make Health available to a “small group of early users” and has opened a waitlist for those seeking access. As well as being unavailable in the UK, it has also not been launched in Switzerland and the European Economic Area, where tech firms must meet strict rules about processing and protecting user data. But in the US, Crawford said the launch meant some firms not bound by privacy protections “will be collecting, sharing, and using peoples’ health data”. “Since it’s up to each company to set the rules for how health data is collected, used, shared, and stored, inadequate data protections and policies can put sensitive health information in real danger,” he said. Source: BBC

OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health to review your medical records

Nasa has said it will return a four-person crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS), cutting short their mission a month early because of a “serious medical condition” affecting one of the astronauts. The agency did not disclose the name of the crew member or the medical condition, citing health privacy, but said the person was in a stable condition. “This is not an emergency evacuation,” said a Nasa official, adding: “We always err on the side of the astronaut’s health.” On Wednesday, Nasa abruptly cancelled a spacewalk due to take place on Thursday, when two astronauts were set to step outside the ISS, citing a “medical concern”. The decision to bring back the crew early was announced by Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman and other agency officials at a news conference on Thursday. They gave few details, but said the medical issue was not related to space operations, and was not an injury.An update was expected within 48 hours on the timeline for the astronauts’ return, they added. This is the first early evacuation in the history of the ISS, which has been continuously inhabited since 2000. The four-person team is called Crew-11, and consists of Nasa astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui from Japan’s JAXA space agency, and a Russian cosmonaut, Oleg Platonov. One American astronaut will remain aboard the ISS, officials say, and will be accompanied by two Russian cosmonauts.Dr James Polk, Nasa’s chief health and medical officer, told reporters this is the first time in Nasa’s over-65 year history that a mission would return early due to a medical issue. Crew-11 launched to the ISS in August last year on a SpaceX Crew Dragon and were expected to remain in orbit for about six months, returning around next month, after being replaced by another four-person crew a few days earlier.The ISS has basic medical equipment, supplies and communication systems that let doctors on Earth talk privately to astronauts in space, assess their condition and advise treatment, much like a secure video or phone consultation with a GP. Returning the four-person crew early could delay some experiments and maintenance tasks until the new crew arrive next month, according to Dr Simeon Barber, a space scientist at the Open University. “The space station is a big, complex feat of engineering, it’s designed to be operated by a certain minimum level of crew,” he said. He added that the remaining crew would probably be forced to “dial back on some of the more experimental work and focus more just on the housekeeping and keeping the station healthy, waiting for the full complement of crew to be restored.” Source: BBC

Astronaut’s ‘serious medical condition’ forces Nasa to end space station mission early

Prime Minister(PM) Harini Amarasuriya stated that web links will be fully removed from education modules for all grades in the second and third school terms. She told Parliament today (09) that the decision was taken by the Academic Affairs Board of the National Institute of Education. The Prime Minister clarified that internet use is not mandatory for teaching, and all required content is included in the Teacher’s Guide. She added that further teacher training will be conducted before the new school term begins.

Web links removed from school education modules

Iran’s government cut off the country from the internet and international telephone calls Thursday night as a nighttime demonstration called by the country’s exiled crown prince drew a mass of protesters to shout from their windows and storm the streets. The protest represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fueling the protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy. The demonstrations that have popped up in cities and rural towns across Iran continued Thursday. More markets and bazaars shut down in support of the protesters. So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 42 people while more than 2,270 others have been detained, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The growth of the protests increases the pressure on Iran’s civilian government and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. CloudFlare, an internet firm, and the advocacy group NetBlocks reported the internet outage, both attributing it to Iranian government interference. Attempts to dial landlines and mobile phones from Dubai to Iran could not be connected. Such outages have in the past been followed by intense government crackdowns. Meanwhile, the protests themselves have remained broadly leaderless. It remains unclear how Pahlavi’s call will affect the demonstrations moving forward. “The lack of a viable alternative has undermined past protests in Iran,” wrote Nate Swanson of the Washington-based Atlantic Council, who studies Iran. “There may be a thousand Iranian dissident activists who, given a chance, could emerge as respected statesmen, as labor leader Lech Wałęsa did in Poland at the end of the Cold War. But so far, the Iranian security apparatus has arrested, persecuted and exiled all of the country’s potential transformational leaders.” Thursday’s demonstration rallies at home and in streetPahlavi had called for demonstrations at 8 p.m. local (1630 GMT) on Thursday and Friday. When the clock struck, neighborhoods across Tehran erupted in chanting, witnesses said. The chants included “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to the Islamic Republic!” Others praised the shah, shouting: “This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return!” Thousands could be seen on the streets before all communication to Iran cut out. “Iranians demanded their freedom tonight. In response, the regime in Iran has cut all lines of communication,” Pahlavi said. “It has shut down the Internet. It has cut landlines. It may even attempt to jam satellite signals.” He went on to call for European leaders to join U.S. President Donald Trump in promising to “hold the regime to account.” “I call on them to use all technical, financial, and diplomatic resources available to restore communication to the Iranian people so that their voice and their will can be heard and seen,” he added. “Do not let the voices of my courageous compatriots be silenced.” Pahlavi had said he would offer further plans depending on the response to his call. His support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian officials appeared to be taking the planned protests seriously. The hard-line Kayhan newspaper published a video online claiming security forces would use drones to identify those taking part. Iranian officials have not acknowledged the scale of the overall protests, which raged across many locations Thursday even before the 8 p.m. demonstration. However, there has been reporting regarding security officials being hurt or killed. The judiciary’s Mizan news agency report a police colonel suffered fatal stab wounds in a town outside of Tehran, while the semiofficial Fars news agency said gunmen killed two security force members and wounded 30 others in a shooting in the city of Lordegan in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. A deputy governor in Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province told Iranian state television that an attack at a police station killed five people Wednesday night in Chenaran, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) northeast of Tehran. Late Thursday, the Revolutionary Guard said two members of its forces were killed in Kermanshah. Iran weighs Trump threat Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after the 12-day war, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 1.4 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran’s theocracy. It remains unclear why Iranian officials have yet to crack down harder on the demonstrators. Trump warned last week that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” America “will come to their rescue.” Speaking to talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Trump reiterated his pledge. Iran has “been told very strongly, even more strongly than I’m speaking to you right now, that if they do that, they’re going to have to pay hell,” Trump said. Trump demurred when asked if he’d meet with Pahlavi. “I’m not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that as president,” Trump said. “I think that we should let everybody go out there, and we see who emerges.” Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi remains imprisoned by authorities after her arrest in December. “Since Dec. 28, 2025, the people of Iran have taken to the streets, just as they did in 2009, 2019,” her son Ali Rahmani said. “Each time, the same demands came up: an end to the Islamic Republic, an end to this patriarchal, dictatorial and religious regime, the end of the clerics, the end of the mullahs’ regime.” Source: AP

Internet and phones cut in Iran as protesters heed exiled prince’s call for mass demonstration

The Government launched a new initiative today (9) to provide housing and financial aid to families affected by Cyclone Ditwah.&nbsp; The ceremony was held in Anuradhapura and was attended by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who officiated the event. Under the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ program, the project aims to assist disaster-affected communities by constructing new homes and offering compensation to those who lost their residences.&nbsp; The initiative will initially cover the districts of Anuradhapura and Kurunegala. Specifically, housing developments will be launched in Galnewa and Rajanganaya within the Anuradhapura District, as well as in Nikaweratiya and Rideegama in Kurunegala, according to the President’s Media Division.

Astronaut's 'serious medical condition' forces Nasa to end s ...

Safe access restored to Sri Pada via Hatton route

Safe access restored to Sri Pa ...

PSG clinch French Super Cup after shootout win over Marseille

PSG clinch French Super Cup af ...

Six whales die after mass stranding on remote NZ beach

Six whales die after mass stra ...

OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health to review your medical records

OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health ...

Astronaut’s ‘serious medical condition’ forces Nasa to end space stati ...

Astronaut’s ‘serious medical c ...

Web links removed from school education modules

Web links removed from school ...

Internet and phones cut in Iran as protesters heed exiled prince’s cal ...

Internet and phones cut in Ira ...

President Dissanayake inaugurates Cyclone Ditwah housing

President Dissanayake inaugura ...

Safe access restored to Sri Pada via Hatton route

Safe access restored to Sri Pa ...

PSG clinch French Super Cup after shootout win over Marseille

PSG clinch French Super Cup af ...

Six whales die after mass stranding on remote NZ beach

Six whales die after mass stra ...

OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health to review your medical records

OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health ...

Astronaut’s ‘serious medical condition’ forces Nasa to end space stati ...

Astronaut’s ‘serious medical c ...

Web links removed from school education modules

Web links removed from school ...

Internet and phones cut in Iran as protesters heed exiled prince’s cal ...

Internet and phones cut in Ira ...

President Dissanayake inaugurates Cyclone Ditwah housing

President Dissanayake inaugura ...

Bringing the news paper to your fingertips

Safe access restored to Sri Pada via Hatton route

Safe access restored to Sri Pa ...

PSG clinch French Super Cup after shootout win over Marseille

PSG clinch French Super Cup af ...

Bringing the news paper to your fingertips

Six whales die after mass stranding on remote NZ beach

Six whales die after mass stra ...

OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health to review your medical records

OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health ...

Astronaut’s ‘serious medical condition’ forces Nasa to end space stati ...

Astronaut’s ‘serious medical c ...

Web links removed from school education modules

Web links removed from school ...