Nasa is gearing up to launch the Lucy mission on Saturday for a voyage that could revolutionise our knowledge of planetary origins and the formation of the solar system.

China continues to build coal-fired power plants to fuel its growing economy, at a rate that outpaces the rest of the world combined – accounting for 28% of all global CO2 emissions.

Boeing has found a defect in the strength of titanium parts used in its Dreamliner 787 airplane. Titanium is used for fittings that secure floor beams for supporting passengers seats, galleys and lavatories.

Russia has undergone its largest peacetime population decline in recorded history over the last 12 months, according to an analysis of official government statistics.

The world needs to triple investment in clean, renewable energy sources by the end of the decade to avert catastrophic climate change, the International Energy Agency warns.

The successor to the Hubble Space Telescope has arrived at Europe’s Kourou spaceport in French Guiana to prepare for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket on December 18.

William Shatner – Captain Kirk in cult classic Star Trek – has boldly gone where no 90-year-old sci-fi actor has gone before, aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. He is the oldest person ever to travel into space.

Tropical Storm Pamela is picking up momentum in the Pacific off Mexico and forecasters say it should be back to hurricane strength again before striking the coast north of the port of Mazatlan on Wednesday.

Far-right French TV pundit Éric Zemmour recently overtook Marine Le Pen in the polls for the first time, suggesting he rather than she could challenge Emmanuel Macron in the 2022 presidential election.

A record number of migrant children have crossed the dangerous Darien Gap jungle between Colombia and Panama this year on their way to the United States, according to UNICEF.

Plans to avert a crisis in Afghanistan could see boxes of cash flown into Kabul by the United Nations for distribution to the poor, following the freezing of offshore reserves and an abrupt end to foreign aid.

The James Bond franchise is Hollywood’s longest-running franchise and one of the world’s most financially successful, earning $7.4 billion at the global box office.

Austria got a new chancellor on Monday, two days after former leader Sebastian Kurz resigned amid corruption allegations. Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen swore in Alexander Schallenberg, the former foreign minister, as chancellor.

Discoveries of how cells detect temperature and touch at a molecular level explain how these stimuli are converted into nerve signals, enabling us to perceive and interact with the world around us.

The UK and the EU are edging closer to a trade war after Brussels rejected London’s demands to rewrite the Brexit deal’s contentious Northern Ireland Protocol. On Tuesday, the UK’s Brexit minister will seek “a significant change” to the protocol.

David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens have been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in economic sciences for contributions to labour economics and analysis of causal relationships.

The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to journalists Dmitry Muratov of Russia and Maria Ressa of the Philippines for their “courageous fight” to safeguard “freedom of expression”.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has followed in the footsteps of neighbouring rivals, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, investing billions of dollars to make their mark on international sports.

The World Health Organisation has endorsed the world’s first malaria vaccine and said it should be given to children across Africa in the hope that it will spur stalled efforts to curb the spread of the parasitic disease.

Gazprom has cut EU gas supplies through the Yamal-Europe pipeline, pushing prices at the Dutch TTF – the premier trading hub for gas futures – above €100 per megawatt hour.

Global sales of electric vehicles (EVs), estimated at 2.5m units in 2020, are forecast to grow to 31.1m by 2030, around a third of all new vehicle sales. But skilled labour shortages may hamper progress.

More than five billion people could have difficulty accessing water in 2050, the United Nations warned. "The State of Climate Services 2021: Water" report comes just weeks before COP26 summit.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s surprise retirement from politics when his term ends in 2022 clears the way for his daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio to run for the presidency.

A former Facebook employee behind a series of bombshell allegations published by The Wall Street Journal, has revealed her identity in a U.S. primetime TV interview.

The Pandora Papers are a massive leak of confidential financial records that reveal how the world’s richest stash their wealth away from tax inspectors, regulators and the public.

Gas prices are closing in on €100 per megawatt-hour – up 400% since the start of the year – while Europe’s gas stockpiles are at their lowest level in a decade, and wind generation is down by almost a third.

Extreme weather events linked to climate change – such as heatwaves, floods and forest fires – now occur with alarming regularity. The past decade was the warmest since records began.

A smaller than normal extension of Arctic sea ice for this time of year could weaken the polar vortex above the North Pole, unleashing a deep freeze across energy-challenged Europe this winter.

Australian beef exports to China have plunged amid diplomatic tensions in the first eight months of 2021, to half of what they were in the same period last year, while U.S. beef exports have surged.

Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is one of the largest comets ever seen, measuring a colossal 150km wide. The newly discovered comet is set to fly through our inner solar system in 10 years.

Airbus is researching an “extra-performance wing” capable of changing shape during flight as part of efforts to make future aircraft more efficient and reduce carbon emissions.

An EU court has cancelled two trade deals with Morocco after a case brought by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks independence for the disputed territory.

The COP26 conference aims to address man-made global warming to avert a climate catastrophe. If current practices are not radically altered, global temperatures could rise 3.1°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100.

American military leaders, appearing before Congress, acknowledge strategic failures and uncomfortable truths in the 20-year U.S.-led combat mission in Afghanistan.

China has unveiled sophisticated new aircraft at its top air show in Zhuhai, with an eye on disputed territories from Taiwan to the South China Sea and its growing rivalry with the United States.

The new 735-member Bundestag tops both the 672-seat chamber elected in 1994 and the 709-seat chamber in 2017 to become the largest ever. The only parliament that is any larger is the Chinese National People’s Congress.

Boeing expects that Chinese airlines will need 8,700 new aircraft – valued at almost $1.5 trillion – over the next two decades, doubling the country’s commercial fleet size as air travel booms.

Benchmark European gas prices have rocketed by more than 400% since September 2020 due to low stock levels, reduced LNG exports from Russia, and high demand in Asia.

Semiconductor-starved companies are being forced to wait for a record 21 weeks, putting a brake on post-pandemic recovery particularly in the automotive industry which is expected to lose around $110bn in sales.

The long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum, described as the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilisation, is due to open on the outskirts of Cairo. Approximately 100,000 ancient artifacts will be on display, including the complete Tutankhamun collection.

NASA’s new VIPER rover is set to search a lunar crater for ice – which could provide drinking water, air and rocket fuel needed for future manned missions to the moon. It is due to blast-off in November 2023.

Australia’s decision to rip up its A$80bn deal with France for 12 diesel-powered submarines will see it buying either the UK’s nuclear-powered Astute-class boats or the U.S. navy’s equivalent, Virginia-class vessels.

Russia was responsible for the 2006 assassination of Alexander Litvinenko in London, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. Litvinenko died after drinking tea laced with the radioactive polonium 210.

A long cold winter which drained stocks, a summer heat wave with lower wind speeds, hurricanes in the U.S and restricted gas flows from Russia have all combined to cause a dangerous surge in gas prices.

Around 5,000 people have been evacuated from villages on the island of La Palma as lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano surges downhill, devastating everything in its path.

The U.S., UK, and Australia have launched AUKUS – a new Indo-Pacific defence alliance to counter China’s influence. The pact will enable Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines.

With preorders newly opened for the iPhone 13, Apple is looking to bolster production after recent Covid-19 manufacturing woes in Southeast Asia saw it slip to fourth place in the global smartphone market.

Woolly mammoths vanished from Earth 10,000 years ago, but scientists are embarking on an ambitious project to bring the beasts back to the Arctic tundra.

The Kremlin is ensuring that the ruling, but unpopular, United Russia party wins a majority in the State Duma. Political opponents have been jailed, driven into exile or barred from standing.

North Korea fired a pair of ballistic missiles off its east coast, South Korea's military said, ratcheting up regional tensions just days after testing a cruise missile with possible nuclear capabilities.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group (CSG21) is deep into the Pacific leg of its 28-week maiden deployment.

Egyptian natural gas will be piped to Lebanon through Jordan and Syria as the Arab states seek to help end power shortages in their crisis-hit neighbour.

Swiss Climeworks and Iceland’s Carbfix have started to turn carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into minerals and permanently store the greenhouse gas deep underground in basalt rock.

Swedish pop sensation ABBA is returning to the stage as virtual avatars, digitally recreated to appear 40 years younger than they are today. The “ABBA Voyage” stage show begins next May in London.

The Taliban’s all-male interim Afghan government is stacked with hardliners from their 20-year battle against the U.S.-led coalition, a move unlikely to win the international support they desperately need.

Singapore’s aviation regulator has lifted the operational ban on Boeing’s 737 Max that was imposed more than two years ago, leaving China as the only major market where regulators are yet to give the plane a green light.

Dutch scientists have developed a prototype surgical tool for keyhole surgery, based on the egg-laying methods of parasitic wasps. The new device could remove cancerous tissue from previously inoperable areas.

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UEFA Champions League Matchday 3, Tuesday fixtures. Europe’s new UEFA Champions League season continues, with key fixtures including Atletico Madrid hosting Liverpool, with former Reds striker Luis Suarez gunning for his old team

The New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors will tip-off to mark 75 years since the NBA’s first regular-season game, between the Knicks and Huskies. The anniversary will celebrate the iconic moments that have defined the growth of an American dream to global popularity.

The NBA 75th anniversary season launches with a star studded doubleheader -- defending champions Milwaukee Bucks host Brooklyn, while perennial favourites LA Lakers take on Golden State Warriors, with the remaining games played October 20.

The 2022 Tour de France will begin with a 13km individual time trial in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 1, and finish in the Champs Elysees in Paris on July 24. Next year's Tour will see the return of the Paris-Roubaix cobblestones and the notorious climb of Alpe d’Huez.

The United Arab Emirates and Oman host the seventh ICC Twenty20 World Cup, the pulsating 20-over format of cricket.

Joe Root will captain an experienced 17-player squad for the five-match Ashes Test series in Australia. The First Test starts at The Gabba, in Brisbane.

Premier League matchday 8 features league leaders Chelsea travelling to newly promoted Brentford, and Newcastle United -- fresh from their Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) £300m (US$408 million) takeover -- against Tottenham Hotspur.

Lewis Hamilton leads the tightly-fought F1 Championship by just two points, ahead of Max Verstappen, as Turkish 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship Grand Prix takes place.

The 125th Boston Marathon takes place, the latest edition of the world’s oldest annual marathon and the fourth race of the World Marathon Majors series in 2021.

For the first time, the UEFA Women’s Champions League will kick off with a 16-team group stage, alongside a new brand identity and anthem, with overall prize money quadrupled for the new season.

Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed yet another UEFA Champions League record, making his 178th appearance in Manchester United’s victory over Villarreal at Old Trafford.

England’s 30th Premier League season is underway, with Champions League qualification, fierce rivalries, title glory or relegation all set to be decided over 380 enthralling matches.

For the first time, all six marathon majors are scheduled over a gruelling seven weeks, due to Covid-19 postponements. Many athletes will be running their first marathon since the onset of the pandemic.

The 2022 winter Olympic Games, officially known as the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, take place in Beijing, China, in February, and include a record 109 events over 15 disciplines, in seven sports.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has praised the ‘Halo’ safety system for saving his life during a collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the Italian Grand Prix.

Opening games of the National Football League (NFL) 2021 season. The NFL schedule has expanded for the first time since 1978 as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the Dallas Cowboys in the traditional Kickoff Game to launch the 102nd NFL season.

Europe’s premier club competition opens with the group stage on September 14, featuring 32 teams bidding to be crowned European Champions including 2020-21 winners Chelsea. The knockout stage begins on February 16, 2022 with the Round of 16, and culminates in the Final at Petersburg Stadium, Russia on May 28.

Italian Serie A season, Italy’s premier football competition. Venetian club Venezia return to Serie A for the first time since 2002, securing a remarkable rise from the fourth tier of Italian football.

Fussball-Bundesliga season, Germany’s premier football competition. Bayern Munich aim to challenge for their tenth successive domestic title against rivals Red Bull Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund.

Spain’s Primera Division season, officially known as La Liga. Defending champions Atletico Madrid aim to defend their title against rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona, beginning life without Lionel Messi.

The 30th Premier League season kicks off, with Manchester City defending champions and Brentford, Norwich City and Watford all promoted to the top flight.

The 30th Premier League season kicks off, with fierce rivalries played out over 380 enthralling matches. The world’s most watched football league drew an estimated cumulative global audience of 3.2 billion in 2019.

England’s 30th Premier League season kicks off, with Champions League qualification, fierce rivalries, title glory or relegation all set to be decided over 380 enthralling matches.