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NASA's Roman Space Telescope Launches on SpaceX Falcon Heavy

Falcon Heavy lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on schedule Sunday morning, sending NASA's newest flagship observatory toward an orbit near a million miles from Earth after a decade in which its funding was repeatedly threatened. Cape Canaveral, Florida — Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026 | Updated 7:49 a.m. EDT with confirmed ascent milestones; later mission events described below were scheduled, not yet confirmed, as of this update. Status: What Is Confirmed So Far NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope lifted off at 7:26 a.m. EDT (1126 GMT) aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, according to NASA's official mission blog . In the minutes that followed, NASA's blog confirmed, in near-real time, that Falcon Heavy passed Max Q at 7:27 a.m.; that its two side boosters shut down and separated at about T+2:24 and executed boostback burns; that the center core's main engine cut off at roughly T+3:5...

Greece Signs $3.5bn 'Achilles Shield' Air Defence Deal With Israel

Intergovernmental agreement builds Greece a multi-layered air and missile defence network, as Athens accelerates military modernisation amid tensions with Turkey Published August 31, 2026 Greece and Israel signed an intergovernmental agreement in Tel Aviv on Monday, August 31, 2026. The programme, known in Greece as Achilles Shield (Aspida tou Achillea), will build Greece a multi-layered air and missile defence network. Its total value is €3.035 billion , or about $3.5 billion, according to Greece's Ministry of National Defence, a figure reported independently by Politico Europe and GreekReporter . The deal arrives as Athens accelerates a long-running military modernisation drive, against a backdrop of persistent tension with Turkey. Israel's Ministry of Defense called it the largest defence-export deal in the history of Israeli-Greek relations, and among the largest in Israel's own export history. That is the ministry's own characterisation, not an independent...

Ballroom, Bunker, Battle: What Is Actually Known About Trump's White House Transformation

The East Wing was demolished, a $400 million ballroom is rising in its place, and an underground security complex is under construction beneath it — but the record shows those figures apply to different, sometimes overlapping, parts of one contested project. An investigative reconstruction from court filings, government records and cross-verified reporting Research current through August 23, 2026. Editorial Note on Method This article was built by starting from primary documents wherever they are publicly available — Supreme Court filings and orders, the district court's injunction, the D.C. Circuit's opinion, National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) and Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) vote records, and Secret Service declarations — and using news coverage to fill gaps, corroborate context and supply direct quotations, rather than the reverse. Where reputable outlets reported different figures for the same event (for example, two different vote counts for the same ...

Israel Opens New Tender for 1,234 E1 Settlement Homes as Condemnation Widens

Israel's housing ministry opened bidding on 18 August 2026 for 1,234 settler homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem — a fast-tracked, separate tender that bypassed an earlier one covering the full project, which has sat unopened for eight months. The move has drawn one of the broadest waves of international criticism the Israeli-Palestinian dispute has produced this year, with a Western joint statement that grew from seven governments to more than a dozen plus the European Commission within 48 hours, a joint rejection by eight Arab and Muslim states, and a rebuke from the UN Secretary-General. The new tender covers roughly a third of the approximately 3,401 housing units approved for the E1 corridor, a roughly 12-square-kilometre tract of land between East Jerusalem and the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim . According to the Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now, rather than opening the existing tender for the full project, the state issued and immediately opened for bidding a ne...

Kyrenia Ferry Disaster: FILOJET Capsizes Off Northern Cyprus, 8 Dead

Officials detain the captain and crew as search teams look for 18 people still missing off Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus. Last updated Monday, August 31, 2026, reflecting reporting through Sunday, 9pm local time. Casualty figures changed several times on the first day. This article notes the time and source behind each number, and it will need further updates as the search continues. A catamaran ferry capsized off Kyrenia on Sunday, August 30, killing at least eight people. The vessel, known as FILOJET , was carrying 267 passengers and crew to Türkiye when it began taking on water minutes after leaving port. By Sunday evening, 18 people remained missing and authorities had detained the captain and crew as part of an investigation. Officials in Turkish Cypriot-administered northern Cyprus called it the worst maritime disaster the territory has recorded. Key Facts ● Location: roughly two to 7.5 kilometres off Kyrenia ...

Iran Claims Attacks on US-Linked Targets in Jordan, UAE After Larak Strike

Monday, August 31, 2026 — Report current as of Monday afternoon, Gulf Standard Time Reporting based on U.S. Central Command statements, Jordanian and Emirati military communications, Iranian state media, and international wire coverage Iran said it launched ballistic missiles and drones at U.S.-linked military facilities in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates early Monday, retaliating for an American strike a day earlier on Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz. The Associated Press described the weekend exchange as the first significant U.S.-Iran military action in roughly a month, in a confrontation that has continued in sporadic form since February. Jordan's armed forces confirmed that air defenses intercepted eight missiles that entered the kingdom's airspace at dawn, destroying them before they caused casualties or damage, according to the Jordanian Armed Forces spokesperson's statement, carried by the state Petra news agency . The UAE's accoun...

Moscow Region Reports 600-Drone Attack as Russian Missiles Hit Kyiv, Kremenchuk and Kryvyi Rih; Romania Downs a Drone

Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged another round of long-range strikes overnight into Sunday. Moscow's mayor said 600 drones flew toward the Moscow region; Ukraine's Air Force said Russia struck Kyiv, the central city of Kremenchuk and Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih with a mix of missiles and drones, killing at least one person and wounding others; and a Spanish fighter jet flying a NATO air-policing patrol shot down a drone that had crossed into Romanian airspace from Moldova. Each of the three events is separately documented below. None has been shown to be operationally connected to the others, and this article does not assume otherwise. What Is Confirmed Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram-linked MAX platform that 600 drones flew toward the Moscow region between Saturday evening and 6:30 a.m. Sunday, and that 201 were destroyed within the region itself; he reported three people wounded. This is an official claim by a regional Russian authority. I...

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll Resigns Amid Rift With Defense Secretary Hegseth

The Army's youngest-ever secretary steps down after 18 months, a departure lawmakers and officials say adds to an unsettled picture atop the Pentagon's largest service as the United States remains in active hostilities with Iran. WASHINGTON — September 1, 2026 Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has resigned, submitting his departure to President Donald Trump on Monday after months of escalating friction with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The White House confirmed the resignation and did not dispute it, though it left the Army's civilian leadership post vacant in the middle of an ongoing U.S. military conflict with Iran and alongside an already-unfilled, Senate-unconfirmed chief of staff position. The resignation was first reported Monday by The Wall Street Journal , and was confirmed by White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly, who praised Driscoll's tenure without giving a reason for his exit. Accounts differ on one procedural point: NBC News reported, citing a person f...

U.S. Sanctions ICC President Tomoko Akane and Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye

The United States on August 18 sanctioned International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane of Japan and Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal under Executive Order 14203 , the authority the Trump administration has used against ICC personnel since February 2025. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the designations in a State Department statement , accusing both officials of directly engaging in ICC efforts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute people whose governments have not accepted the court's jurisdiction. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Akane and Seye to its Specially Designated Nationals list the same day and issued General License 12, authorizing the wind-down of certain transactions involving persons blocked in the August 18 action through September 17; the license's precise scope is defined by its full text rather than by news summaries, so readers seeking exact legal effect should consult it directly....

Niger Says Mutinous Soldiers Attacked Niamey Airport and Presidency

Hours of gunfire and explosions left state television briefly in mutineers' hands and the presidential palace surrounded before loyalist troops secured it, in a mutiny the government says it is still working to fully contain. Niamey, Niger — reporting current through Saturday evening, August 29, 2026, Niger time; compiled August 30, 2026 Gunfire and explosions tore through parts of Niger's capital for several hours before dawn on Saturday, August 29, 2026, in an episode the country's own Defence Ministry described as a mutiny within the armed forces. Witnesses, security sources and the government placed the fighting at two sites central to the country's post-coup order: Diori Hamani International Airport , which houses the Base 101 military installation, and the Presidential Palace in the capital's Plateau administrative district. State television and radio went off the air as the violence began; by roughly 9:00 a.m. GMT, two security sources and a diplomat told...

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