Russian cosmonauts have boarded the International Space Station (ISS) wearing unusual yellow spacesuits, prompting speculation that the move is a quiet gesture of defiance in support of Ukraine.
The three men, Sergey Korsakov, Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveyev, are the first to be welcomed aboard the ISS since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
A video of one of the men as their space capsule docked with the station showed him in a traditional light blue suit, but this was changed for another matching the colours of the Ukrainian flag before he and his colleagues actually entered.
Asked about the significance of the spacesuit, Mr Artemyev explained that each crew gets to choose its own flight suit to differentiate itself from others.
“It became our turn to pick a colour. But in fact, we had accumulated a lot of yellow material, so we needed to use it. So that’s why we have had to wear yellow,” he said.
But some have speculated that deniability may be an important quality for such a protest, given the crackdown on dissent inside of Russia.
Roscosmos’ press service said on its Telegram channel: “Sometimes yellow is just yellow.
“The flight suits of the new crew are made in the colours of the emblem of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, which all three cosmonauts graduated from… To see the Ukrainian flag everywhere and in everything is crazy.”
The men arrived at the ISS to join two fellow Russians, four Americans, and a German – but there are concerns that diplomatic fallout over the war in Ukraine could undermine the international cooperation necessary to keep it in orbit and astronauts safe.
The future of the project is likely limited. NASA has published plans which could see the 444,615kg structure taken out of orbit in January 2031 and crashed into a “spacecraft cemetery” in the remotest spot on Earth.
But following US sanctions against Russia, the country’s space chief warned that Russia could completely withdraw from the project much earlier than that, although NASA scientists have not seemed overly concerned.
The space agency has told Sky News that despite heated exchanges and deteriorating relations back on Earth, cooperation between Russia and the US on the ISS will continue.
“There really are no tensions in the team,” Joel Montalbano, programme manager for the ISS, told Sky News.
Last week, a tongue-in-cheek videowas posted on social media by Russian government-controlled RIA Novosti, showing NASA astronaut Mark T Vande Hei being left behind on the space station by cosmonauts.
Concerns grew when the video was retweeted by the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin.
It was just one of several barbed tweets sent by the Russian space chief aimed at US and European colleagues since sanctions were imposed on Russia.
“I can tell you for sure Mark is coming home on that Soyuz,” Mr Montalbano told a press conference. “There’s been some discussions about that, but I can tell you that all of them are coming.”
Speaking to Sky News, Juliana Suess, a research analyst at RUSI, said: “The ISS continues to operate normally for the moment.
“As such, astronauts in training in the US have not been recalled and cooperation between engineers in the respective mission control centres continues.
“A statement made by Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, on 2 March, warned about a discontinuation of cooperation but only beyond 2024.
“A complete and sudden halt of cooperation on the ISS would be difficult to say the least, as the crew’s health and operations are dependent on technologies in both segments.
“Crucially, the Russian segment holds the station’s reboost capability, while the Russian segment in turn is dependent on the American segment for its electrical power supply.
“Taking a slightly longer-term view, the space station could be run without the Russian side, if Russia decides to discontinue their work on the ISS after 2024 – which is when the multinational agreement formally ends.
“In the first instance, this would require the replacement of the propulsion systems and their launchers,” she added.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
