All posts tagged: Probes

France probes judicial ‘dysfunction’ after suspected murder of 11‑year‑old Lyhanna

France probes judicial ‘dysfunction’ after suspected murder of 11‑year‑old Lyhanna

Published by Sam Flores

France’s government on Friday grappled with outrage over an 11-year-old girl’s killing after it emerged that the main suspect was previously accused of sexually abusing children. “It is clear that there has been a dysfunction,” President Emmanuel Macron said in Montenegro where he was attending a European summit. “It’s unacceptable.” He said he had urged Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government to investigate what had gone wrong at a cabinet meeting on Friday. A girl, named in the press only as Lyhanna, went missing on May 29 near the southwestern village of Fleurance after she was last seen getting into a man’s car. After days of combing the countryside, investigators found the body of a child wearing the same clothes as her in an abandoned silo on Thursday. Formal identification is under way. A 41-year-old father of two, whose daughter was a school friend of Lyhanna, has been detained as the key suspect. Incomprehension has grown nationwide after it emerged the suspect had twice previously been formally accused of raping a child, but the investigations had …

NASA announces end of long-operating Mars probe’s mission

NASA announces end of long-operating Mars probe’s mission

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON, May 29 : NASA announced on Tuesday the end of the mission of its MAVEN spacecraft, which spent more than 11 years orbiting Mars to study the atmosphere of Earth’s planetary neighbor, after losing contact with the robotic probe six months ago. MAVEN, short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, was the U.S. space agency’s first mission devoted to observing the Martian atmosphere and its evolution. Launched in 2013, it began orbiting Mars in 2014 and exceeded its originally planned one-year mission by a decade. NASA officials told reporters on Wednesday that they last heard from MAVEN on December 6, when it experienced an unexpected loss of signal after passing behind Mars from Earth’s vantage point, and was later determined to be in “an unrecoverable state.” Mike Moreau, MAVEN project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said a NASA review board is working to determine what caused the failure. MAVEN was involved in relaying Mars science data from assets such as the robotic surface rovers Curiosity and Perseverance to Earth. Tiffany …

Hidden tunnels, fake doors: China probes mining tragedy that killed 82

Hidden tunnels, fake doors: China probes mining tragedy that killed 82

Published by Sam Flores

BEIJING: Unmarked tunnels, missing trackers and fake doors have been uncovered during an initial probe into the deadliest mining tragedy in China in over 15 years, with the government vowing to leave no stone unturned, state media reported on Tuesday (May 26). At least 82 people were killed by a gas explosion late on Friday at the Liushenyu mine in the coal-rich province of Shanxi in northern China. Two remained unaccounted for with a further 128 hospitalised, state media said. The blast is the deadliest mining accident in China since 2009, ​when a gas explosion at the Xinxing Mine in Heilongjiang province ⁠killed 108 people. While the cause of Friday’s incident remains under investigation, the official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday said concealed mining tunnels, falsified drawings and outsourced and unregistered miners, who had not been provided with required life-saving location trackers, were contributing factors to the deadly incident. “YIN-YANG DRAWINGS” The mine, controlled by Shanxi Tongzhou Coal Coking Group, maintained two separate sets of plans and surveillance systems, Xinhua said. One set matched actual …

Robot probes 16th century Italian shipwreck 1.5 miles below the Mediterranean

Robot probes 16th century Italian shipwreck 1.5 miles below the Mediterranean

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. An intrepid sub-sea robot recently dove nearly 1.5 miles below the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of southern France. The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) went down to examine  the wreckage of a merchant ship that dates back to the 16th century. There, it found hundreds of ornately decorated ceramics, jars, and jugs strewn across the sand.  From the boat, a French navy sailor remotely controlling the robot plucked these treasures up ever so gently with the robot’s  pincers. Despite centuries of ocean burial, the artifacts still maintained the bold blue and yellow geometric designs they had when the ship mysteriously capsized. But the ship’s discovery was mostly due to luck, and its current exploration is only made possible by modern advances in robotics. Archaeologists are officially calling the site Camarat 4. It sits roughly 30 miles off the coast of Ramatuelle, but French authorities are keeping the exact location secret to prevent unauthorized visitors from nosing around. Camarat 4 …

Mali probes soldiers suspected of involvement in military base attacks | Military News

Mali probes soldiers suspected of involvement in military base attacks | Military News

Published by Sam Flores

Five army personnel, including three active-duty soldiers, identified as suspects in last week’s coordinated attacks. Published On 2 May 20262 May 2026 Malian authorities say they are investigating soldiers suspected of involvement in a wave of simultaneous attacks on army bases across the country last week, claimed by an al-Qaeda affiliate and separatists. A prosecutor at a military tribunal near the capital, Bamako, said in a statement on Friday that five suspects had been identified, including three active-duty soldiers, one retired person and a soldier who was killed in fighting near a Bamako army base. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “The first arrests have been successfully carried out, and all other perpetrators, co-perpetrators, and accomplices are actively being sought,” the statement said. The coordinated assault on the morning of April 25 struck at the heart of the West African country’s ⁠military government, which took power after coups in 2020 and 2021. The defence minister was killed and Russian forces backing the government were forced out of the northern town of Kidal, which …

US to Hold Public Hearings on April 28-29 Related to Probes of Forced Labor

US to Hold Public Hearings on April 28-29 Related to Probes of Forced Labor

Published by Sam Flores

April 24 (Reuters) – The U.S. Trade ⁠Representative’s ⁠office said on Friday ⁠it would hold public hearings next week ​regarding a set of ongoing Section 301 unfair trade ‌practices investigations into dozens ‌of countries suspected of failing to act to ⁠prevent ⁠imports of goods made using forced labor. The hearings will take ​place on April 28-29 at the U.S. International Trade Commission headquarters in Washington, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s office ​said in a statement. The hearings feature 12 panels and roughly ⁠60 ⁠witnesses spanning advocacy groups, ⁠human ​rights groups, U.S. industry groups and representatives of foreign governments, ​according to ⁠the schedule. USTR launched the investigations on March 12 into the economies of 60 countries, saying they failed to ban imports of goods produced with forced labor. The ⁠list includes some major U.S. trade partners and allies such ⁠as Australia, Canada, the European Union, Britain, Israel, India, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. China and Russia are also on the list. President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to rebuild tariff pressure on countries around the world after …

FBI probes cases of missing or dead scientists, including four from the L.A. area

FBI probes cases of missing or dead scientists, including four from the L.A. area

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON — Amid growing national security concerns, the FBI said Tuesday that it has launched a broad investigation into the deaths or disappearances of at least 10 scientists and staff connected to highly sensitive research, including four from the Los Angeles area. “The FBI is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state and state and local law enforcement partners to find answers,” the agency said in a statement. The FBI’s announcement comes after the House Oversight Committee announced that it would investigate reports of the disappearance and deaths of the scientists, sending letters seeking information from the agencies involved in the federal inquiry as well as NASA, which owns the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, where three of the missing or dead scientists worked. “If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security and to U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets,” Reps. James Comer …

House Dem Sam Liccardo probes suspicious oil trades during Iran war

House Dem Sam Liccardo probes suspicious oil trades during Iran war

Published by Sam Flores

Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif., attends a news conference with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus during the House Democrats’ 2025 Issues Conference at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia, March 13, 2025. Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif., is probing whether the nation’s top financial regulators are examining a number of trades placed moments before President Donald Trump provided a major update on the Iran war. In a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig being sent Friday and shared exclusively with CNBC, Liccardo said he wrote to “express alarm over recent reporting that indicates large trades were made on crude oil prices and S&P 500 E-mini Futures right before the President announced action, or lack thereof, in Iran.” “The timing indicates bets were placed by those with advance knowledge of the President’s action, strongly suggesting illicit trading on insider information, in violation of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, and …

US probes suspicious oil trades made before Trump Iran pivots, source says

US probes suspicious oil trades made before Trump Iran pivots, source says

Published by Sam Flores

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is examining a series of trades in oil futures placed shortly before major shifts in President Donald Trump’s Iran war policy, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday (Apr 15). CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said in remarks prepared for delivery to Congress on Thursday that the agency will go after wrongdoers, but nothing in the testimony addressed any specific investigation and an agency spokesperson declined to comment. “I want to be crystal clear: to anyone who engages in fraud, manipulation, or insider trading in any of our markets: we will find you, and you will face the full force of the law,” Selig said in the remarks seen by Reuters. The CFTC probe is focused on trading of oil futures contracts on platforms belonging to CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange, with investigators examining at least two instances of oil trades made on Mar 23 and Apr 7, the source said. Well-timed trades may have generated millions of dollars in profits, drawing concern from lawmakers and legal …

Nike probes kit design issue ahead of World Cup

Nike probes kit design issue ahead of World Cup

Published by Sam Flores

April 10 : Nike is investigating a design issue affecting several national team kits ahead of this year’s soccer World Cup, British media reported on Friday, after problems with the shirts became visible during last month’s international break. Bulging around the shoulder seams was visible on shirts worn by teams including England, France and Uruguay during the international window. A Nike spokesperson told The Guardian newspaper that the company had identified a “minor issue” with the kits, adding that performance was unaffected but the “overall aesthetic is not where it needs to be.” The issue is present on both match shirts worn by players and replica versions sold to supporters, according to the BBC, with some fans raising concerns. The American sportswear giant produces kits for a number of World Cup teams, including co-hosts the United States and Canada, as well as Brazil, the Netherlands and Croatia. The kits have been designed with cooling technology to help players cope with high temperatures expected at the tournament, which kicks off on June 11 and is also …