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Five night sky events to look out for this autumn

BBC News

Image caption, This year's November full moon will appear as a supermoon. This is 2025's November Beaver Moon captured above forests in Hungary Autumn brings longer nights to the northern hemisphere, offering more opportunities to get outside and look up at the night sky. There is plenty to look out for over the coming months, from impressive meteor showers to dazzling star clusters. The series of spectacles begins with the Pleiades as the autumn nights draw in. It will be followed by the impressive Orionid meteor shower in late October, and a planetary parade, the Leonid meteor shower and a supermoon in November.


Russians seek answers over hundreds missing after Ukraine's 2024 incursion

BBC News

Russians seek answers over hundreds missing after Ukraine's 2024 incursion I used to have complete faith in our country, says Lyubov. The last time she spoke to her mother was a day after Ukrainian forces broke into Russia's Kursk region more than two years ago. Now she feels resentful towards the [Russian] state, in a country where most people avoid criticising the full-scale invasion unleashed on Ukraine in February 2022. The local governor says more than 300 Russians are still missing in Kursk region, but no-one really knows the true figure. Lyubov says she tried to persuade her mother to leave her village in the Sudzha area, but blames Russian state TV propaganda for her refusal to listen.


BBC director-general says he was not aware of 'severity' of cuts needed

BBC News

BBC director-general says he was not aware of'severity' of cuts needed Image caption, BBC director-general Matt Brittin says he wasn't aware of the severity of cuts needed at the corporation BBC director-general Matt Brittin has said he was not aware of the severity of the cuts the corporation needed to make when he took on his role. Savings targets were announced in June, with planned cuts across news, nations and content divisions to deliver £160m of £500m in savings by the 2028-29 financial year. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Thursday, Brittin said: On the financial side, I knew that cuts had been announced and that savings had been announced, but I hadn't really understood the severity. There are expected to be around 2,000 jobs cut as part of the process. During the conversation with Kirsty Wark, his first major industry appearance, Brittin also said he had been impressed by the creativity and talent at the BBC, but added every media organisation is struggling with rapidly changing consumer behaviour and the power of the AI revolution.


Manga-inspired theme park to be built near Paris

BBC News

Three theme parks will be built near Paris as part of a €6bn (£5.13bn) deal agreed between France and Saudi Arabia. The new development is expected to include a manga-themed park, inspired by the popular Japanese franchise Dragon Ball Z. French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the move as on a scale not seen since Disneyland Paris, and added you know my interest for manga. An opening date for the parks - which will be built near Cergy-Pontoise - has not set by the Élysée Palace, but they will open in stages and construction is expected to take years. The project was given the green light during a two-day state visit to France by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It stemmed from a previous discussion between Macron and bin Salman about their shared passion for Japanese comics, in particular Dragon Ball Z, advisers to the president told reporters on Monday.


These bookshops let Chinese readers question their country - now the doors are closing

BBC News

When Chen Zhu heads to Hong Kong from mainland China every month, there's one place she always goes: Hunter Bookstore. Founded four years ago by a former councillor, the independent bookshop has earned a reputation for stocking what authorities would consider sensitive books - accounts of Hong Kong's pro-democracy campaigners to famous allegories on authoritarianism, such as George Orwell's Animal Farm or Hajime Isayama's Manga series Attack on Titan. It's a short journey from Zhu's home in Guangzhou on China's southern coast to the crowded street in Hong Kong's Sham Shui Po district, where Hunter is sandwiched between fabric sellers, garages and trendy cafes. But, for the 23-year-old, it is also a passage into a different, freer world - where she can find answers to forbidden questions. When she learned the bookshop had been raided by police in late June, Zhu broke into tears: I was devastated.


Chinese robotics giant Unitree soars in stock market debut

BBC News

Image caption, Unitree's humanoid robots have been at the centre of a huge marketing push The world's biggest humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics made its stock market debut in Shanghai on Wednesday, with its shares soaring by more than 600%. In the highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO), the firm's shares opened at 1,100 yuan (£120.60; The listing on the tech-focused Star Market - which is widely known as China's Nasdaq - marks a milestone for Beijing's ambitious plans for the country's robotics industry. It comes as the US and China are locked in a battle to dominate the global market for robots and artificial intelligence (AI) models that power them. Robots like automated industrial equipment and smart vacuum cleaners are already widely used in factories, warehouses and homes. Now, the humanoid robotics industry is attracting huge amounts of investment as major companies - including Tesla, BYD and Amazon - are developing two-legged machines capable of performing tasks usually carried out by people.


AI to help planes avoid climate-warming 'sky graffiti'

BBC News

AI to help planes avoid climate-warming'sky graffiti' We've all looked up and seen the white lines trailing behind aircraft in the sky. Known as contrails, these icy clouds contribute to climate change, and scientists have been trying to work out how to stop them. Now, a £5m UK trial will test whether AI can help, by predicting where warming contrails are likely to form and getting planes to avoid those areas. The 30-month Operation Blue Skies project brings together Google, the UK government, the Met Office, air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and academic researchers. It will focus on the Shanwick Oceanic airspace in the eastern half of the North Atlantic corridor which accounts for approximately 5% of global contrail warming.


Air India pilot's reported cannabis test: What it can and can't tell investigators

BBC News

Air India pilot's reported cannabis test: What it can and can't tell investigators Reports that an Air India pilot tested positive for cannabis after a flight sound like the sort of finding that should make an aviation investigator sit up. But the reported result has not been officially confirmed, and even a confirmed positive would not necessarily be the smoking gun it might appear to be. On 4 August, an Air India Airbus A320 flying from Phuket to Delhi suddenly lost about 91m (300ft) of altitude, injuring 13 passengers and four crew members. The aircraft, carrying 137 passengers and eight crew, landed safely in Delhi. The incident is under investigation.


Dating app Bumble divides users by ditching its signature 'women-first' chat rule

BBC News

Bumble divides users by ditching its signature'women-first' chat rule Dating app Bumble has divided its users by dropping its signature rule which allowed only women to send the first message to a match. When the app launched 2014, founder and boss Whitney Wolfe Herd said it distinguished itself from rivals like Tinder by allowing women to make the first move. But the thing that made Bumble famous will now be ditched following a trial which showed more engagement - and a survey among users which found 66% of women prefer men to send the first message. Reaction across online forums has highlighted a divide among users about whether the update will get more people using Bumble - or if it makes it just like any other dating app. Previously, only same-sex relationships did not have to follow the strict women-first rule.


CJP protest: The youth movement India's Modi didn't see coming

BBC News

It began with a fear familiar to millions of young Indians: if the examinations that determine their future cannot be trusted, what can? Weeks later, on Monday, tens of thousands of young men and women tried to march on India's parliament. Police responded with tear gas and baton charges. Thousands more have returned to the streets in the days since. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led movement born out of anger over repeated examination paper leaks, has quickly become India's biggest student mobilisation in years. It is demanding education reforms and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.