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It’s been more than 60 years since a woman travelled into space without a man. And now six of them have blasted off from Earth.

Popstar Katy Perry, author Lauren Sanchez, journalist and TV presenter Gayle King, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, former rocket scientist Aisha Bowe and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn successfully took off in Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin rocket this afternoon (UK time).

It was the latest flight of the New Shepard programme, named NS-31, and was aimed at creating a “lasting impact that will inspire generations”, with the women forming the first all-female crew since Russian engineer Valentina Tereshkova’s solo flight to space in 1963.

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All-female crew is launched into space

Pic: Blue Origin
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The capsule landing with a thud. Pic: Blue Origin

Among the celebrities gathered to watch the historic launch were Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian, and Oprah Winfrey, a long-time friend of Gayle King.

She told Blue Origin host Charissa Thompson that she had “never been more proud” of her friend.

“I think life is about continuing to grow into the best of yourself, and I think this is one of the fullest expressions of yourself that you can have,” she added.

The flight profile of the New Shepard rocket. Pic: Blue Origin
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The flight path of the New Shepard rocket. Pic: Blue Origin

The trip only lasted around 11 minutes, with the reusable self-driving rocket taking off from Launch Site One in West Texas, at 8.30am local time (2.30pm BST).

It reached a maximum height of 107km (62 miles) above Earth, with the women technically entering space as the capsule crosses the Karman line, which is internationally recognised as the boundary of space.

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Kardashians share support for all-female crew

They will not, however, be classed as astronauts by the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA or US military, which all have different eligibility requirements for people to become commercial astronauts.

While in space, the crew had about four minutes of weightlessness to float around and take in the views of Earth from the capsule’s large windows.

The crew capsule then descended back to Earth using three parachutes.

(L-R) William Shatner and Jeff Bezos before their respective New Shepard flights
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(L-R) William Shatner and Jeff Bezos before their respective New Shepard flights. Pic: Reuters/AP

Before Monday’s flight, 52 people had been taken into space as part of billionaire and Amazon chief Mr Bezos’ programme, including the man himself, who joined the New Shepard’s maiden voyage in 2021.

Star Trek actor William Shatner became the oldest person in space when he joined the mission at the age of 90.

Pic: Blue Origin
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Sanchez hugging Bezos after going up into space. Pic: Blue Origin

How the crew was picked

Mr Bezos’ fiancee led the mission. Sanchez told Elle magazine she chose her fellow crew members because each had “proven their ability to inspire others”.

She said all the women will be able to spread the word on what they felt like during the trip, and also expand on ideas of what the next generation of space explorers will look like.

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Katy Perry gears up for spaceflight

Perry, who is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, told Elle that she had been wanting to go to space for almost 20 years, so it was a no-brainer when she got the call.

She said: “Even when Blue Origin was first talking about commercial travel to space, I was like, ‘Sign me up! I’m first in line’. And then they called me, and I was like, ‘Really? I get an invite?’.”

Gayle King poses at the red carpet during the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 2, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Cole
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Journalist and broadcaster Gayle King. Pic: Reuters

For King, who is best known as the co-host of US breakfast show CBS Mornings, the decision wasn’t quite so easy.

“When I got the call from Lauren and Jeff, my first reaction was a no,” she said, adding that she still had “a lot of trepidation” ahead of the trip.

Aisha Bowe arrives at the 56th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
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Former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe. Pic: AP

Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist and chief executive of technology company STEMBoard, said she feels like she has been “training for and waiting for this moment [her] entire life”, while civil rights activist Nguyen and film producer Flynn both said the opportunity was a dream come true.

“It was the most incredible experience of my life to be up there and see such vast darkness in space and look down on our planet,” Flynn said.

Amanda Nguyen arrives for the Time 100 Gala celebrating Time magazine's 100 most influential people people in the world in New York, U.S., June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
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Civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen. Pic: Reuters

Photo by: Demis Maryannakis/STAR MAX/IPx.11/14/18.Kerianne Flynn at "This Changes Everything" New York Premiere At DOC NYC With Presenting Sponsors Lyft Entertainment And NYWIFT at the SVA Theater.
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Filmmaker Kerianne Flynn. Pic: Demis Maryannakis/AP

Glammed-up astronauts?

As well as making history by being the first all-female crew in space, the women were also thought to be the first group of astronauts to have their hair and makeup done for a mission.

“Who would not get glam before the flight,” Sanchez said, before joking that fake eyelashes would be “flying round the capsule”.

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Highlights from William Shatner’s Blue Origin flight in 2021

Bowe said she had already tested out the hairstyle she planned to have on launch day – by skydiving in Dubai.

“I think it’s so important for people to see us like that,” Nguyen said. “This dichotomy of engineer and scientist, and then beauty and fashion. We contain multitudes. Women are multitudes. I’m going to be wearing lipstick.”

Perry put it another way: “We are going to put the ‘ass’ in astronaut.”

The all-female crew of NS-31, the space programme owned by Amazon's Jeff Bezos
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The all-female crew of NS-31, the space programme owned by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos

The women also shared details of what they planned to take to space, including the original flag from Apollo 12 – the second mission to the moon – a stuffed animal, shells from Malaysia, and conch chowder, the national dish of The Bahamas, which Bowe grew up eating.

Read more:
Is Bezos chasing down Musk in the billionaire space race?
SpaceX tourists return to Earth

Did Perry sing in space?

Before the flight, Perry said she felt like she should perform while floating above the Earth, which would make her the first artist to sing in space.

There was speculation that she might sing one of her own songs, but later revealed she actually chose Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World.

Pic: Blue Origin
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Perry kissing the ground after going to space. Pic: Blue Origin

She said: “I think that it’s not about me or about me singing my songs, it was about a collective energy in there. It’s about this wonderful world that we see right out there and appreciating it.”

She added that she would “for sure” write a song about her experience in space, which she said was “10/10”.

Pic: Blue Origin
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Pic: Blue Origin

Perry said she was taking part in the mission for her daughter Daisy Dove Bloom, who she shares with British actor Orlando Bloom, to teach her that “any type of person can reach their dreams”.

Exiting the capsule after landing, the Firework singer held up a real daisy flower in the air, before kissing the ground.

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Why Ukraine’s European allies will be nervously watching VE Day events in Red Square

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Why Ukraine's European allies will be nervously watching VE Day events in Red Square

Donald Trump has a soft spot for military spectacles and autocrats.

He will be looking on with envy as Vladimir Putin parades both in Moscow today, with Chinese leader Xi Jinping flying in to join Victory Day events in Red Square.

European allies of Ukraine will be watching nervously, wary of anything that could upturn the delicate quest for peace.

President Trump‘s patience with peddling his much vaunted “peace deal” has been wearing thin and allies had feared Ukraine could be punished for it.

That would have been grotesquely unfair, of course. Ukraine has bent over backwards to accommodate Mr Trump’s one-sided diplomacy that has so far seemed to favour the aggressor in this obscene war.

Russian army soldiers marching during a dress rehearsal for Victory Day parade in St. Petersburg on 7 May. Pic: AP/Dmitri Lovetsky
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Pic: AP

True, the Trump proposal does not agree to Russian annexation of all the land already taken by force and stops short of ordering the complete demilitarisation of Ukraine, but otherwise the proposals are pretty much everything that Moscow has asked for.

The deal is being pushed by Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s golf partner turned chief negotiator, a man regarded by diplomats as out of his depth and lost in the rough when it comes to the arts of statecraft.

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Like his president, Mr Witkoff has a history of doing business with Russian oligarchs, an apparently starry-eyed view of the Russian leader and has called Ukraine a “false country”.

Moment of truth approaching

Mr Witkoff and Mr Trump have so far given Mr Putin the benefit of the doubt, but a moment of truth is approaching. While Ukraine has agreed to a longer ceasefire in principle, Mr Putin will not.

Ukraine’s European allies feared that Mr Trump was about to despair of progress, blame Ukraine and take US military support with him.

Then came the minerals agreement between the US and Ukraine. The breakthrough gave the US president something to show for his efforts and assuaged his desire for some kind of deal. He seems to have moved on for now, at least, and approved the first $50m of arms sales to Ukraine.

Russian Air Force fly over Red Square, leaving trails of smoke in the colors of the Russian national flag during rehearsal. Pic: AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko
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Members of the Russian Air Force fly over Red Square during the rehearsal. Pic: AP

But these remain a tense few days ahead with plenty at stake.

Mr Putin’s self-declared three-day ceasefire raises the spectre paradoxically of escalation if either side breaks it.

The Russian lull is seen here in Kyiv as little more than a ploy.

If the Russian leader was serious about giving peace a chance, they say, he would have signed up to the permanent ceasefire being proposed by the Trump team.

Besides, Russia broke the last truce in Easter as soon as it had begun and used it to carry out surveillance and reinforcement operations says Kyiv. Why risk another pointless pause that is exploited by the invaders?

Escalation possible

If Russia plays the same games this time and Ukraine retaliates, there could be a significant escalation. Likewise, with any Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow during Victory Day.

Any major flare-up will not be looked on favourably by the US president if it upstages his first trip abroad this presidency, a three-day tour of the Middle East.

For now, his attention is not so much on the Ukraine conflict and he is no longer issuing threats to walk away and stop supporting the Ukrainians.

Russian servicemen march towards the Red Square before Victory Day military parade general rehearsal on 7 May. Pic: AP/Pavel Bednyakov
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Russian servicemen march towards Red Square in the rehearsal. Pic: AP

Read more from Sky News:
Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of breaching ceasefire
Putin prepares to host dozens of world leaders for Victory Day parade

That will be a relief here in the Ukrainian capital. They would be unwise to do anything to reengage him, for now at least.

Their European allies, though, know American involvement in this war appears to be receding.

Can they fill the vacuum?

This week, they remember the sacrifices made to bring peace and security to their continent 80 years ago.

Can they find the political will and unity to do so again, even without America?

Astonishingly, given all we have been through, that is still an open question.

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India will respond ‘in exactly the same light’ if Pakistan retaliates, high commissioner tells Sky News

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India will respond 'in exactly the same light' if Pakistan retaliates, high commissioner tells Sky News

India will respond to any escalation from Pakistan “proportionally and in exactly the same light”, the country’s high commissioner has told Sky News.

Weeks after 26 tourists were shot dead by gunmen in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month, India carried out missile strikes in Pakistan and Islamabad-administered parts of the disputed region.

On Wednesday, India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, while Pakistan said it was not involved in the April attack and the sites were not militant bases.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has since vowed that India will “now have to pay the price” for their “blatant mistake,” and skirmishes have also been reported along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

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Speaking to Sky’s The World with Yalda Hakim on Thursday, India’s high commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, said “the original escalation is Pakistan’s sponsored terror groups’ attack on civilians”.

India strikes ‘reasonable,’ says high commissioner

He then insisted India’s strikes in Pakistan and Kashmir were “precise, targeted, reasonable and moderate,” adding: “It was focused principally and solely on terrorist infrastructure.

“We made it abundantly clear that the object of this exercise was clearly to avoid military escalation.

“A fact that was actually acknowledged – in a left-handed way of course – by the Pakistani side in terms of their own statements, which said the airspace hadn’t been violated.”

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India awaits Pakistan’s response

Pakistan chose ‘to escalate the matter’

The high commissioner also said about claims Pakistan shot down Indian aircraft with Chinese-made fighter jets: “If it satisfies Pakistan’s ego to say that they’ve done something, they could have used that as an off-ramp to move on.

“Clearly they’ve chosen not to, and they’ve chosen to escalate the matter.”

A boy collects papers from the debris of a residential house damaged by a cross-border shelling in Gingal village near the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan, in Indian Kashmir's Baramulla district, May 9, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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A boy collects papers from the debris of a damaged house in Gingal village. Pic: Reuters

And when asked about Pakistan’s threats of retaliation, Mr Doraiswami said: “We’re not looking for an escalation, but if Pakistan responds, as we have done, we will respond proportionally and in exactly the same light.”

He then referenced the border skirmishes, saying: “I do want to remind everybody: For the last 15 days, they’ve also opened artillery fire along the Line of Actual Control… That’s led to civilian casualties.”

Read more:
The story of India and Pakistan’s deadly conflict
How India and Pakistan’s militaries match up

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It comes after India said Pakistan attacked its military stations in the Kashmir region with drones and missiles on Thursday.

The country’s defence ministry said stations at Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur were “targeted by Pakistani-origin” weapons, and added “the threats were swiftly neutralised”.

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The demands and challenges facing the new pope

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The demands and challenges facing the new pope

There is a long list of demands in the new pope’s in-tray, ranging from the position of women in the church to the ongoing fight against sexual abuse and restoring papal finances.

People both inside the Catholic Church and around the world will be watching how the new pontiff deals with them.

US Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the new pope on Thursday after just two days of conclave.

The 69-year-old, who becomes the first American pope, will take the name Leo XIV.

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‘Evil will not prevail, we are all in the hands of God’, the new American Pope told the crowd.

On Friday, Pope Leo will lead his first holy mass as pontiff after already paying a surprise visit to see staff at his former residence.

Here, Sky News Europe correspondent Siobhan Robbins takes an in-depth look at the challenges facing the new pontiff.

Sexual abuse

Many Catholic insiders credit Pope Francis with going further than any of his predecessors to address sexual abuse.

He gathered bishops together for a conference on the issue in 2019 and that led to a change that allows cooperating with civil courts if needed during abuse cases.

But it didn’t go as far as forcing the disclosure of all information gathered in relation to child abuse.

Any abuse allegations must now be referred to church leaders, but reformers stopped short of decreeing that such cases should also be automatically referred to the police.

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Clerical abuse victim says church still has ‘so much to do’

While many abuse victims agree they saw progress under Pope Francis, who spent a lot of time listening to their accounts, they say reforms didn’t go far enough.

The next pope will be under pressure to take strong action on the issue.

Newly-elected Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Pic: Reuters
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Newly-elected Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Pic: Reuters

Women

Pope Francis also did more to promote women in the Vatican than any other pontiff.

Two years ago, he allowed women to vote in a significant meeting of bishops.

While he was clear he wanted women to have more opportunities, he resisted the idea that they needed to be part of the church hierarchy and didn’t change the rules on women being ordained.

A woman kneels at St. Peter's Square, on the first day of the conclave to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez
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A woman kneels at St. Peter’s Square, on the first day of the conclave to elect the new pope. Pic: Reuters

His successor will need to decide if they push this agenda forward or rein it back in.

It’s a pressing concern as women do a huge amount of the work in schools and hospitals, but many are frustrated about being treated as second-class citizens. 10,000 nuns a year have left in the decade from 2012 to 2022, according to Vatican figures.

Inclusion

“Who am I to judge?” Pope Francis famously said when asked about a gay monsignor in 2013.

His supporters say he sought to make the church more open, including allowing blessings for same sex couples but while critics argue he didn’t go far enough, some conservatives were outraged.

A gay couple kisses each other as thousands of catholics and conservatives gather together against the legalization of gay marriage and to defend their interpretation of traditional family values in Monterrey City, Mexico September 10, 2016. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril
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A gay couple kiss at a Catholic protest against the legalisation of gay marriage in Mexico. File pic: Reuters

African bishops collectively rejected blessings for same sex couples, saying “it would cause confusion and would be in direct contradiction to the cultural ethos of African communities”.

How welcome LGBTQ+ people feel in the church will depend partly on decisions made by the pontiff.

Conversely, the Pope must also bring together disparate groups within the Catholic faith.

Many are demanding a leader who can unite the various factions and bring stability in an increasingly unstable world.

The global south

While the Catholic church is losing members in its traditional base of Europe, it’s growing rapidly in the global south.

The area has become the new centre of gravity for Catholicism with huge followings in countries like Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines.

Pope Francis tried to expand representation by appointing more cardinals from different areas of the world, and the new Pope will be expected to continue this.

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Behind the scenes at the conclave

Finance

The Vatican is facing a serious financial crisis.

The budget deficit has tripled since Pope Francis’s election and the pension fund has a shortfall of up to €2bn (£1.7bn).

These money worries, which were compounded by COVID-19 and long-standing bureaucratic challenges, represent a major concern for the next pope.

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