AFP

Poland on Wednesday said a deadly blast that killed two people in a village near the border with Ukraine was likely caused by a stray Ukrainian air defence missile launched against a Russian barrage.

Polish President Andrzej Duda played down international fears of a further escalation in the war in Ukraine saying there was “no indication that this was an intentional attack on Poland”.

Duda said it was “very likely” the Soviet-era missile was launched by Ukraine in what he called an “unfortunate accident” but he said the blame lay with Russia because of its attacks on Ukraine.

After emergency talks of the NATO military alliance, its chief Jens Stoltenberg also said there was “no indication of a deliberate attack” on Poland. 

The blast occurred in the village of Przewodow in eastern Poland at 1440 GMT on Tuesday, killing two farm workers.

“I’m scared. I didn’t sleep all night,” Anna Magus, a 60-year-old teacher at the local elementary school, told AFP.

“I hope it was a stray missile because otherwise we’re helpless,” she said.

An image released by police showed investigators working inside a large crater next to an overturned vehicle.

NATO member Poland put its military on heightened alert and summoned Russia’s ambassador late Tuesday but had cautioned against reaching any hasty conclusions as to the origin of the Soviet-era missile.

– ‘Nothing to do with’ Russia –

Western powers voiced solidarity with Poland in intensive rounds of diplomacy, including on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia’s Bali.

NATO ambassadors held emergency talks in Brussels, while the Kremlin said it had “nothing to do with” the missile blast.

“Photographs of the wreckage… were unequivocally identified by Russian military experts as fragments of a guided anti-aircraft missile of a Ukrainian S-300 air defence system,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

It added that its own strikes “were carried out on targets only on the territory of Ukraine and at a distance of no closer than 35 kilometres from the Ukrainian-Polish border.”

Ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s security council, said on Twitter that the incident “proves just one thing: waging a hybrid war against Russia, the West moves closer to the world war”.

Poland is protected by NATO’s commitment to collective defence — enshrined in Article 5 of its founding treaty — but the alliance’s response will likely be heavily influenced by whether the incident was accidental or intentional.

Warsaw has said it may invoke Article 4 of the treaty under which any member can call urgent talks when it feels its “territorial integrity, political independence or security” are at risk.

– ‘Consequence of Russia’s actions’ –

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and still holds swathes of territory despite a series of recent battlefield defeats.

The conflict has caused deep unease in neighbouring Poland where memories of Soviet domination are still very raw.

Poland shares a 530-kilometre (329-mile) border with Ukraine and has taken a lead in providing military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and sanctioning Russia.

Despite the likelihood a Ukrainian missile was involved, the Polish government was clear it still held Russia responsible.

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski told RMF radio that “in all likelihood, we are dealing with a consequence of Russia’s actions”.

He also responded to criticism of Poland’s own air defences.

“Missile defence systems around the world are never one hundred percent effective systems that protect each millimetre of every country’s territory,” he said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had on Tuesday rejected as a “conspiracy theory” the idea that it may have been a Ukrainian missile.

– ‘Slap in the face’ of G20 –

President Volodymyr Zelensky sent “condolences over the death of Polish citizens from Russian missile terror”.

The explosion came after a wave of Russian missiles hit cities across Ukraine on Tuesday, including Lviv, near the border with Poland.

Zelensky said the strikes cut power to some 10 million people, though it was later restored to eight million of them, and also triggered automatic shutdowns at two nuclear power plants.

He said Russia had fired 85 missiles at energy facilities across the country, condemning the strikes as an “act of genocide” and a “cynical slap in the face” of the G20.

burs/dt/yad

NASA launched the most powerful rocket ever built on a journey to the Moon on Wednesday, in a spectacular blaze of light and sound that marked the start of the space agency’s new flagship program, Artemis.

The 32-story tall Space Launch System (SLS) blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 01:47 am (0647 GMT), producing a record 8.8 million pounds (39 meganewtons) of thrust.

“What you have done today will inspire generations to come, thank you!” Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, NASA’s first female launch director, told cheering teammates. 

Fixed to the rocket’s top was the uncrewed Orion spaceship that will orbit Earth’s nearest neighbor, in a test run for later flights that should see the first woman and first person of color touch down on lunar soil by the mid-2020s.

About two hours after launch, NASA said the spacecraft was on its trajectory to the Moon, and later released the first images taken of Earth receding behind the craft.

“Now we are going back to the Moon, not just for the sake of going to the Moon, but to learn how to live on the Moon in order to prepare to send humans all the way to Mars,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson told a news conference after the launch.

“This is the next beginning, this is the Artemis generation,” added Nelson, who said he watched the launch from the roof of the rocket assembly building along with a group of astronauts.

America last sent astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo era, from 1969-1972. 

This time it hopes to build a sustained presence — including a lunar space station — to help prepare for an eventual mission to Mars in the 2030s.

There were nervous moments as teams worked to overcome technical issues that ate into the two-hour launch window, which opened at 1:04 am.

First, engineers were forced to pause the flow of liquid hydrogen into the core stage Tuesday night because of a valve leak, but a team sent to the launch pad resolved the issue after about an hour, by tightening loose bolts. 

Later, the space agency reported that a radar site monitoring the rocket’s flight path was experiencing problems due to a faulty ethernet switch, which had to be replaced.

It was third time lucky for NASA after two previous launch attempts were canceled for technical reasons. The launch was also delayed due to weather setbacks including Hurricane Ian, which battered Florida in late September.

– ‘Extremely excited’ –

About 100,000 people were expected to have gathered along the coast to witness the historic event.

Todd Garland drove from Frankfurt, Kentucky to watch from Cocoa Beach. 

Wearing an Artemis T-shirt, the 55-year-old told AFP tearfully: “This has been an experience I’ve looked forward to all my life. 

“My first memory is my mother waking me up at two years old to watch the Moon landing and I’ve always wanted to see a launch ever since, and now I have.”

Kerry Warner, 59, a grandmother and semi-retired educator who lives in Florida, added the launch was “part of America and what America is all about.”

– Far side of the Moon –

The Orion crew capsule was lifted by two boosters and four powerful engines under the core stage, which detached after just a few minutes.

A final push from the upper stage set the capsule on its way to the Moon, though it will take several days to reach its destination. 

The upper stage will meanwhile release 10 CubeSats to carry out science experiments, including one that will unfurl a sail-powered by sunlight and perform asteroid reconnaissance work.

Rather than landing on the Moon, Orion will assume a distant orbit, venturing 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) beyond the far side — further than any other habitable spacecraft so far.

Finally, the spaceship will embark on the return leg of its journey. When passing through the atmosphere, the capsule’s heat shield will need to withstand a temperature half as hot as the Sun’s surface.

Though Orion isn’t carrying humans this time, it has three sensor-equipped dummies on board to help gather safety data for future crew members.

The mission will last 25-and-a-half days, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on December 11.

NASA is banking on a successful mission after developing the SLS rocket for more than a decade. 

It will have invested more than $90 billion in its new lunar program by the end of 2025, according to a public audit.

Artemis 2 will involve a flyby of the Moon with astronauts in 2024, while Artemis 3 will see boots on lunar soil, no sooner than 2025. 

NASA hopes to settle into a yearly launch schedule, and will include international partners from Japan, Canada and Europe.

Prosecutors in London on Wednesday said they have approved seven new sexual offence charges against the Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey. 

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the “House of Cards” and “American Beauty” star has been charged over “a number of sexual assaults against one man between 2001 and 2004”.

It also authorised “one charge of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent” against the 63-year-old actor, who lives in the United States.

The CPS, which is responsible for bringing prosecutions in England and Wales, said the seven new charges refer to alleged crimes committed before and after 2003, when new legislation on sexual offences entered force. 

This means Spacey is now facing a total of 11 charges of sexual assault in Britain.

Spacey in July pleaded not guilty at London’s Old Bailey court to four charges of sexual assault against three men between 2005 and 2013 in London and Gloucestershire in western England.

None of the alleged victims can be identified under English law. Reporting restrictions prevent further details being disclosed before trial.

Spacey voluntarily appeared at a London court when the first charges were brought and vowed to defend himself against the charges.

Those allegations referred to a period when he was artistic director of London’s Old Vic Theatre, between 2004 and 2015.

A New York court last month dismissed a $40 million sexual misconduct lawsuit brought against Spacey by an actor, Anthony Rapp, who claimed the Hollywood star targeted him when he was 14.

A judge had ruled that Rapp had brought the case too late for a criminal charge.

Spacey’s acting career ended five years ago when Rapp’s allegations emerged and he was dropped from the final season of “House of Cards” and other upcoming projects.

Allegations against him emerged in the wake of the #MeToo movement that saw numerous claims of sexual assault and harassment in the movie industry.

He has always denied allegations of sexual abuse.

In 2019, charges against the actor of indecent assault and sexual assault were dropped in Massachusetts. 

NASA launched the most powerful rocket ever built on a journey to the Moon on Wednesday, in a spectacular blaze of light and sound that marked the start of the space agency’s new flagship program, Artemis.

The 32-story tall Space Launch System (SLS) blasted off from the storied Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 01:47 am (0647 GMT), producing a record 8.8 million pounds (39 meganewtons) of thrust.

“What you have done today will inspire generations to come, thank you!” Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, NASA’s first female launch director, told cheering teammates. 

Fixed to the rocket’s top was the uncrewed Orion spaceship that will orbit Earth’s nearest neighbor, in a test run for later flights that should see the first woman and first person of color touch down on lunar soil by the mid-2020s.

About two hours after launch, NASA said the spacecraft had completed a propulsive maneuver to escape the pull of Earth’s gravity and was on its path to the Moon.

“Trans-lunar injection burn complete! NASA Orion is on its way to the Moon!” tweeted Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator for exploration systems.

America last sent astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo era, from 1969-1972. 

This time it hopes to build a sustained presence — including a lunar space station — to help prepare for an eventual mission to Mars in the 2030s.

There were nervous moments as teams worked to overcome technical issues that ate into the two-hour launch window, which opened at 1:04 am.

First, engineers were forced to pause the flow of liquid hydrogen into the core stage Tuesday night because of a valve leak, but a team sent to the launch pad resolved the issue after about an hour, by tightening loose bolts. 

Later, the space agency reported that a radar site monitoring the rocket’s flight path was experiencing problems due to a faulty ethernet switch, which had to be replaced.

It was third time lucky for NASA after two previous launch attempts were canceled for technical reasons. The launch was also delayed due to weather setbacks including Hurricane Ian, which battered Florida in late September.

– ‘Extremely excited’ –

About 100,000 people were expected to have gathered along the coast to witness the historic event.

Todd Garland drove from Frankfurt, Kentucky to watch from Cocoa Beach. 

Wearing an Artemis T-shirt, the 55-year-old told AFP tearfully: “This has been an experience I’ve looked forward to all my life. 

“My first memory is my mother waking me up at two years old to watch the Moon landing and I’ve always wanted to see a launch ever since, and now I have.”

Kerry Warner, 59, a grandmother and semi-retired educator who lives in Florida, added the launch was “part of America and what America is all about.”

– Far side of the Moon –

The Orion crew capsule was lifted by two boosters and four powerful engines under the core stage, which detached after just a few minutes.

A final push from the upper stage set the capsule on its way to the Moon, though it will take several days to reach its destination. 

The upper stage will meanwhile release 10 CubeSats to carry out science experiments, including one that will unfurl a sail-powered by sunlight and perform asteroid reconnaissance work.

Rather than landing on the Moon, Orion will assume a distant orbit, venturing 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) beyond the far side — further than any other habitable spacecraft so far.

Finally, the spaceship will embark on the return leg of its journey. When passing through the atmosphere, the capsule’s heat shield will need to withstand a temperature half as hot as the Sun’s surface.

Though Orion isn’t carrying humans this time, it has three sensor-equipped dummies on board to help gather safety data for future crew members.

The mission will last 25-and-a-half days, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on December 11.

NASA is banking on a successful mission after developing the SLS rocket for more than a decade. 

It will have invested more than $90 billion in its new lunar program by the end of 2025, according to a public audit.

Artemis 2 will involve a flyby of the Moon with astronauts in 2024, while Artemis 3 will see boots on lunar soil, no sooner than 2025. 

NASA hopes to settle into a yearly launch schedule, and will include international partners from Japan, Canada and Europe.