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Image captured by Mars rover shows a mysterious ‘doughnut’ on the planet’s surface

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:58:06 GMT

(CNN) — An image captured by the Mars rover Perseverance shows a mysterious doughnut-shaped rock on the red planet’s surface.Launched in July 2020, the Mars Perseverance rover continues to explore the planet’s 28-mile-wide (45-kilometer-wide) Jezero Crater for signs of ancient microbial life, according to NASA. The rover collects samples of rock and broken rock and soil (called regolith) for possible return to Earth by a future Mars mission.The Mars “doughnut” is one of the latest objects captured about 100 meters (roughly 328 feet) away in the delta of the Jezero Crater by the SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager — one of the rover’s cameras helping scientists see what’s on the planet’s surface.The Perseverance team hasn’t made the rover go closer to the doughnut-shaped rock to examine or sample it, so its exact makeup and origins are unknown, said Jim Rice, an assistant research scientist in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. Rice, who is on the rover’s...

Strong service sector means no relief over eurozone inflation in June

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:58:06 GMT

Underlying inflation in the eurozone accelerated in June, with fresh evidence that labor-intensive services are now the biggest headache for the European Central Bank.While monthly headline inflation dropped to 5.5 percent from 6.1 percent in May, core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose to 5.4 percent from 5.3 percent. Prices for services, which form the largest part of the economy, rose 0.6 percent on the month. According to figures released on Friday by Eurostat, they were the only major component of the index that accelerated, but they did so by enough to completely offset slowing food inflation and absolute falls in energy prices. Falling energy prices, which were down 5.6 percent on the year in June, have brought headline inflation down from a peak of 10.6 percent in November. Food price inflation, which peaked at over 15 percent in March, also remains a problem. Prices for food, alcohol and tobacco rose 0.4 percent and were up 11.7 percent from a y...

Dutch slap new restrictions on chips exports to China

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:58:06 GMT

The Netherlands imposed new export controls on microchips technology on Friday, restricting the sales of Dutch manufacturer ASML’s advanced chips machinery to China.ASML will have to seek export licenses for some of its more advanced microchip printing machines from September onward, new rules published Friday said. The firm is one of the few suppliers globally that manufactures these advanced printers. The Dutch industry giant has been a target of Washington’s campaign to stop cutting-edge microchip technology from ending up in China. The Netherlands agreed in January to curb the sale of some of ASML’s gear to China, in a political deal with the U.S. and Japan.The Hague’s move to curb tech exports comes as the European Union is rolling out a strategy to stop other blocs from weaponizing global supply chains against Europe’s interests. EU leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss the bloc’s economic reliance on China. The E...

Dighton police chief among 5 charged in insider trading scheme

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:58:06 GMT

Dighton’s police chief and a reserve officer are on paid administrative leave after they were among five people charged with federal insider trading charges.Dighton Police Chief Shawn Cronin was allegedly tipped off to the impending merger of two pharmaceutical companies and with that information, he and others made stock trades that earned them more than $2.3 million in ill-gotten gains, according to the federal complaint. Cronin allegedly received $72,000.He was placed on paid administrative leave during an emergency meeting Thursday night.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Motorists should prepare for traffic delays as holiday weekend travel gets underway

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:58:06 GMT

If you’re traveling for the holiday weekend, it would be wise to leave early and prepare for delays.Americans are expected to set a record for holiday travel this weekend, and some 1.2 million Massachusetts residents will hit the roads.Friday is expected to be the worst travel day, with a peak expected for travelers to the Cape around 11 a.m.AAA suggests travelers hit the road before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.Stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest travel updates.

Nice Start to the Holiday Weekend

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:58:06 GMT

The holiday weekend is off to a fantastic start! We’ll have a beautiful summer day today with partly cloudy skies and warm temperatures. The blue sky between the clouds might be more of a filtered blue with some very high level wildfire smoke but other than muting our blue skies it really won’t have an impact for us today. There’s also the chance (incredibly small chance) of an isolated shower. It’s much like yesterday when most of us had no idea that one or two showers popped up. If you got underneath one, it was just a very quick light shower and you were able to carry on with your day. That’s the chance that’s back today.The forecast will get a little more unsettled as the holiday weekend rolls on. Even though the rain chances will go up, the temperatures won’t fluctuate much. So the good news is we will have warm air all the way through the 4th. There’s a small spot shower chance both Friday and Saturday, a 10% chance each day. Sun...

Driver slams through front door of closed KMart in Brockton

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:58:06 GMT

Workers were seen boarding up a shattered glass door late Thursday night after a driver crashed through the front door of a former KMart location in Brockton.It’s unclear if there were any injuries.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Smoke returns to GTA today with unsettled weather expected for Canada Day

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:58:06 GMT

Toronto is starting Friday with the worst air quality in the world ahead of long weekend that is expected to see plenty of unsettled weather.Environment Canada has issued another special air quality statement for most of Southern Ontario. The weather agency warns of high levels of air pollution due to smoke from northern wildfires.“Smoke plumes from forest fires over northeastern Ontario and Quebec has returned to the area resulting in deteriorated air quality once again,” reads the statement.There are showers and thunderstorms in the forecast for Friday, but CityNews 680 meteorologist Jill Taylor says the wet weather won’t do much in the way of clearing the haze. The smoke is expected to linger for most of the day, and possibly into Saturday.“This wildfire smoke could become even more widespread as we work through the morning,” says Taylor. “We’ve got some showers moving through this morning, then widespread smoke, and then the possible for...

Trump and DeSantis are among the 2024 GOP hopefuls set to appear at the Moms for Liberty gathering

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:58:06 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the main rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, are scheduled to speak Friday at the annual gathering of Moms for Liberty, a two-year-old group that has fiercely opposed instruction related to race and gender identity in the nation’s classroom.The group, which has quickly become a force in conservative politics, advocates “parental rights” in education, but an anti-hate watchdog has labeled it “extremist” for allegedly harassing community members, advancing anti-LGBTQ+ misinformation and fighting to scrub diverse and inclusive material from lesson plans. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis, also are slated to address the group Friday at the downtown Philadelphia hotel hosting the conference. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are set to give remarks on Saturday.Their attendance underscores the influence o...

Haitians need aid and face ‘staggering levels’ of gender violence, UN children’s chief says

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:58:06 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Close to half of Haiti’s people, 2.2 million adults and 3 million children, need humanitarian aid and thousands of youngsters face “staggering levels” of gender-based violence, the head of the U.N. children’s agency said Thursday.“Haitians and our team, they’re telling me it’s never been worse than it is now — unprecedented hunger and malnutrition, grinding poverty, a crippled economy, resurgence of cholera, and a massive insecurity that creates a deadly downward spiral of violence,” said Catherine Russell, the executive director of UNICEF.Russell said what was clear during her just-completed visit was that the police don’t have the capacity to secure the country and protect the population from violent gangs and “something needs to change.”“We have to, as an international community, say we can’t watch this country completely fall apart,” she said. “And so my job is to try to bring some attention to that problem and to make sure people understand how terri...