India could be about to take one giant leap ahead of Russia in the space race – with its latest lunar mission just days away from attempting to land.
India’s space agency ISRO announced via X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday that it will attempt to land its Vikram robotic lander on Wednesday.
The post was sent as news broke about the demise of Russia’s Luna-25, which crashed into the moon’s surface after spinning into uncontrolled orbit.
India’s Vikram robotic lander is due to touch down a few hundred miles from Russia’s targeted site – within the lunar south pole – on Wednesday, according to ISRO.
“Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on 23 August, around 6.04pm Indian Standard Time (IST).
“Thanks for the wishes and positivity!”
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The lander – launched into space in July – is designed to run tests on the composition of the moon’s surface, as well as monitor seismic activity, temperature and radiation levels.
It will also attempt to find the presence of water ice in the lunar soil – something Russia had hoped to do with its Luna-25 lander.
The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed craters contain water.
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The frozen water in the rocks could be transformed into air and rocket fuel, potentially allowing for longer human trips.
No country has ever actually ventured into the region before.
However, the space corporation said it lost contact with the craft after it ran into unspecified trouble while preparing for the pre-landing orbit.
“The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon,” Roscosmos said in a statement on Sunday.
It comes after the country reported an “abnormal situation”that its specialists were analysing on Saturday. The mission was the country’s first to the lunar surface in almost 50 years.
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Russian craft crashes into moon
Russian state television put news of the loss of Luna-25 at number 8 in its line up at noon on Sunday and gave it just 26 seconds of coverage.
News about fires on Tenerife and a four-minute item about a professional holiday for Russian pilots and crews featured higher than the Luna-25’s failed mission.
Russia said a special inter-departmental commission had been formed to investigate the reasons behind the loss of the Luna-25.
Despite the crash, Vitaly Egorov, a popular Russian space analyst, said the mission had some successes, including taking pictures of the moon’s surface.
“Luna 25 showed important progress. It flew toward the moon, carried out orbit correction, and tested onboard electronics and scientific tools,” he said via videocall.
“It even managed to collect some small scientific data during the flight and from the lunar orbit. It also sent photos of the moon.
“Russian cosmonautics was not at this level before. But then, an error occurred somehow.”
There are mechanisms to protect the regime in events like this and the Revolutionary Guard, which was founded in 1979 precisely for that purpose, will be a major player in what comes next.
In the immediate term, vice-president Mohammed Mokhber will assume control and elections will be held within 50 days.
Mokhber isn’t as close to the supreme leader as Raisi was, and won’t enjoy his standing, but he has run much of Khamenei’s finances for years and is credited with helping Iran evade some of the many sanctions levied on it.
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Drone footage of helicopter crash site
Raisi’s successor will most likely be the chosen candidate of the supreme leader and certainly another ultra-conservative hardliner – a shift back to the moderates is highly unlikely.
Likewise, we shouldn’t expect any significant change in Iran’s foreign activities or involvement with the war in Gaza. It will be business as usual, as much as possible.
However, after years of anti-government demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, this might be a moment for the protest movement to rise up and take to the streets again.
Iranian protesters have expressed “joy” over the death of President Ebrahim Raisi who was dubbed the “Butcher of Tehran”.
Speaking to Sky News’ The World With Yalda Hakim, three Iranians spoke on the condition of anonymity over fears of being tracked down by the country’s regime.
A protest leader – who is currently in hiding – suggested Sunday’s crash, that also killed Iran’s foreign minister, was “pre-planned”.
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Rescuers reach helicopter crash site
“We may not be across everything, but it’s been a known fact for a long time that Raisi was a serious contender to replace the Supreme Leader Khamenei, and perhaps some didn’t want that to happen.
“But all in all, this was very good news.
“All I can say is that the only thing that has made me truly happy over the past five years has been the news of Raisi’s death.”
Mr Raisi’s time in charge included major protests over Mahsa Amini – the woman who died after she was arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.
The US said Mr Raisi had “blood on his hands” as the former hardline cleric was “a brutal participant in the repression of the Iranian people for nearly four decades”.
From the voices speaking out on The World with Yalda Hakim from inside Iran there was a sense of celebration on the eve of the funeral of their dead president but also a sense of realism.
One dead president the fall of a regime does not make. That is the bitter truth for those brave Iranians speaking out and the millions of Iranians they represent. They detest a man who presided over a brutal crackdown on protests that saw hundreds killed on the streets, and thousands incarcerated, tortured, raped or killed after their arbitrary arrest.
But there are reasons for Iranians to find some hope in the news of the president’s death.
Analysts have compared the Iranian theocratic Islamic regime to the Soviet Union in its dying days.
It is ideologically bankrupt. Its people do not believe in what it stands for anymore. It is morally bankrupt too, after the brutal repression that crushed the Women, Life and Freedom protests. But it remains powerful, with many people on its payroll and it is hard to predict how or when it falls.
Iran’s people want one thing though, and its government the opposite, and that ultimately is impossible to sustain.
Raisi had a unique skill set. He was both a zealous idealogue and an ex-judge. A man who understood how both Iran’s judiciary and presidency works. He combined a passionate belief in the Iranian revolution with an expertise in how its regime operated.
It has been said many times in the last 24 hours that Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, will find another hardliner to replace him. There are plenty more where he came from.
But no one with quite his skills and expertise. That may not be important immediately but at the moment of greatest danger in the not so distant future when Khamenei dies, it could make all the difference.
With no anointed successor, the supreme leader’s passing could usher in a period of instability and weakness for the regime. Raisi was seen as a potential successor but also a powerful stabilising force as president in that perilous hiatus, someone who could hold the ring while the new order is established and power struggles fought out.
Raisi’s death may well not mean immediate change for Iran but it could ultimately hasten its end.
A housewife, who was beaten up for taking parting in the “Woman, Life, Protest” movements, said: “The public hatred towards this regime is not a secret to anyone.
“Raisi’s death proved that the pain that this inflicted on our people will one day hit them back.
“My personal reaction to the death of Raisi… I was very happy.
“I’m not upset at all. Even though I never wish death on anyone, but this man, not only did he not do anything for our nation, but he ordered the death of countless young innocent people.”
Following news of Mr Raisi’s death, US State department spokesperson Matt Miller said the Iranian president “was involved in numerous horrific human rights abuses, including playing a key role in the extra judicial killing of thousands of political prisoners in 1988”.
“Some of the worst human rights abuses occurred during his tenure as president, especially the human rights abuses against the women and girls of Iran,” he added.
The US approach to Iran “will not change” because of Mr Raisi’s death, Mr Miller said.
Joe Biden has said ‘what is happening in Gaza is not genocide’ following an arrest warrant request by the International Criminal Court prosecutor for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US president branded the warrant request as “outrageous,” adding “whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.”
“What’s happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that,” Mr Biden said at a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House.
He said American support for the safety and security of Israelis is “ironclad”.
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan KC has applied for arrest warrants to be issued for Israel’s prime minister and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar over alleged war crimes.
He is also seeking arrest warrants for Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant – and other top Hamas leaders Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri, more commonly known as Deif (commander-in-chief of the military wing of Hamas, known as the al Qassam Brigades), and Ismail Haniyeh (head of Hamas’s political bureau).
Mr Netanyahu said: “As prime minister of Israel, I reject with disgust the Hague prosecutor’s comparison between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas.
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“With what audacity do you compare Hamas that murdered, burned, butchered, decapitated, raped and kidnapped our brothers and sisters and the IDF soldiers fighting a just war.
“No pressure and no decision in any international forum will prevent us from striking those who seek to destroy us.”
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In a statement, Mr Khan outlined the reasons his office was applying for the arrest warrants.
“Now, more than ever, we must collectively demonstrate that international humanitarian law, the foundational baseline for human conduct during conflict, applies to all individuals and applies equally across the situations addressed by my office and the court,” he said.
“This is how we will prove, tangibly, that the lives of all human beings have equal value.”
On the Hamas leaders, he said he has reasonable grounds to believe they “bear criminal responsibility” for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”.
He outlined a list of alleged crimes, including murder, taking hostages and rape and other acts of sexual violence.
“We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Israel by Hamas and other armed groups pursuant to organisational policies. Some of these crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day,” he said.
On Mr Netanyahu and his defence minister Mr Gallant, Mr Khan said he has reasonable grounds to believe they too “bear criminal responsibility” for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”.
He outlined a list of alleged crimes, including “starvation of civilians” and “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population”.
“We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to state policy. These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day,” he said.
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Benny Gantz, a former military chief and member of Israel’s war cabinet, harshly criticised Mr Khan’s announcement, saying Israel fights with “one of the strictest” moral codes and has a robust judiciary capable of investigating itself.
South Africa, which has been leading a genocide case against Israel, welcomed the news Mr Khan was seeking the arrest of Israeli and Hamas leaders.
“The law must be applied equally to all in order to uphold the international rule of law,” the office of South African president Cyril Ramaphosa said.