First Quantum Minerals Ltd. warned it will be forced to shut its Panama copper mine later this week

Scientists are preparing to receive pieces of a distant asteroid, which will fall to Earth over the weekend and could reveal where we came from. On Sunday, a sample collected by a Nasa spacecraft that landed on Asteroid Bennu will float down into the Utah desert, where it will be gathered by scientists. They will then start work on analysing that material, in the hopes of understanding how planets form and what our solar system was like in its distant past. Nasa sent its Osiris-Rex spacecraft to Bennu in 2016, and it touched down on the distant asteroid in 2020, and scooped up a piece. Since then, it has been flying back towards Earth to drop the sample back home. The sample dropped out of Osiris-Rex will float down into the desert, helped by a parachute that should safely allow it to fall to the ground. The spacecraft itself will continue to fly, on its way to start a new mission to study another asteroid towards the end of the decade. It is the US space agency’s first mission to collect a sample from an asteroid, and is the largest asteroid sample ever returned to Earth. The capsule is estimated to hold around 250g of rocks and dust collected from the asteroid’s surface. Nasa will release a quarter of the sample to a group of more than 200 people from more than 35 globally distributed institutions, including a team of scientists from The University of Manchester, and the Natural History Museum. Asteroid Bennu is a 4.5-billion-year-old remnant of our early solar system and scientists believe it can help shed light on how planets formed and evolved. Experts say the carbon-rich, near-Earth asteroid serves as a time capsule from the earliest history of the solar system. It is anticipated that the sample will provide important clues that could help us to understand the origin of organics and water that may have led to life on Earth. Because the sample has been collected directly from the asteroid, there will be almost zero contamination. Meteorites that fall to Earth are quickly contaminated from the second they make contact with our atmosphere. This means Bennu can give us an unspoiled glimpse into the past. Ashley King, UKRI future leaders fellow, Natural History Museum, said: “Osiris-Rex spent over two years studying asteroid Bennu, finding evidence for organics and minerals chemically altered by water. “These are crucial ingredients for understanding the formation of planets like Earth, so we’re delighted to be among the first researchers to study samples returned from Bennu. ‘We think the Bennu samples might be similar in composition to the recent Winchcombe meteorite fall, but largely uncontaminated by the terrestrial environment and even more pristine.” Dr Sarah Crowther, research fellow in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at The University of Manchester, said: “It is a real honour to be selected to be part of the Osiris-Rex Sample Analysis Team, working with some of the best scientists around the world. “We’re excited to receive samples in the coming weeks and months, and to begin analysing them and see what secrets asteroid Bennu holds. “A lot of our research focuses on meteorites, and we can learn a lot about the history of the solar system from them. “But meteorites get hot coming through Earth’s atmosphere and can sit on Earth for many years before they are found, so the local environment and weather can alter or even erase important information about their composition and history. “Sample return missions like Osiris-Rex are vitally important because the returned samples are pristine, we know exactly which asteroid they come from and can be certain that they are never exposed to the atmosphere so that important information is retained.” The spacecraft launched on September 8, 2016 and arrived at Bennu in December 2018. After mapping the asteroid for almost two years, it collected a sample from the surface on October 20, 2020. The capsule is expected to land at 3.55pm (BST). Astrophysicist Professor Boris Gansicke, Department of Physics, University of Warwick, said: “The asteroids in our solar system contain the raw building blocks from which the Earth was made, so working out their composition will tell us a lot of how our planet formed. “There are many open questions, for instance where did the water that we have on Earth come from? And where did the ingredients that made life possible to develop come from? “To answer those questions, i.e. measure the composition of an asteroid, you need to get your ‘hands’ on them (or in this case the arm of a space mission), and this is what Osiris-Rex achieved. “In a nutshell, it’s similar to sitting in front of a delicious dinner and wanting to have the list of ingredients.” Additional reporting by agencies Read More You need to update your Apple devices right now Amazon Prime Video will soon start running ads – unless you pay even more Amazon Prime Video will soon start running ads unless you pay a monthly fee You need to update your Apple devices right now Amazon Prime Video will soon start running ads – unless you pay even more Amazon Prime Video will soon start running ads unless you pay a monthly fee

The war in Ukraine could last for “decades” with long periods of fighting interspersed by truces, one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s most senior aides has predicted. “This conflict will last a very long time, most likely decades,” former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said during a visit to Vietnam. “As long as there is such a power in place, there will be, say, three years of truce, two years of conflict, and everything will be repeated,” the deputy chairman of Putin’s powerful security council continued, while reiterating Moscow’s claim that Ukraine is a Nazi state. On the frontline, Russia’s Wagner mercenaries have started handing over positions in Bakhmut to the regular Russian military, five days after claiming to have completed the capture of the devastated eastern Ukrainian city. But Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said Wagner has only handed over positions on the city’s outskirts and “inside the city itself Wagner fighters remain”. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has said he is ready to return his forces to Bakhmut if the regular army is struggling. Read More Russia has started deploying tactical nuclear warheads to Belarus, says Lukashenko As the Ukraine war spills into Russia, a dangerous new front is about to explode The Russians out for revenge on Putin Roger Waters ‘dresses as SS officer’ and projects Anne Frank’s name onto stage during gigs in Germany

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers encountered a skeptical federal judge when they argued that he should toss out criminal fraud charges their client faces after the collapse of his cryptocurrency business

Two pregnant migrant women who were looking to turn themselves in to US immigration authorities last week say Texas National Guard members denied them water when they asked for it.

As a heatwave take over much of America and Europe, with seawater in Florida reaching 100 degrees or more, much of Greece on fire, and July set to be the hottest month in living memory, some are still putting their head in sand about climate change and what the heatwave means for our Earth. Some right-wing conspiracy theorists have suggested that the heatwave is in fact a hoax and the numbers being reported are false. GB News presenter Neil Oliver has accused the BBC "and others" of "driving fear" by using "supposedly terrifying temperatures", in a clip that has been viewed over 2 million times. Oliver claims that the reported temperatures of "40 this and 40 that... were obtained using satellite images of ground temperatures," he said. "That's never been the temperature that's used in weather reporting and forecasting." Many conspiracy theorists have latched onto the temperature reported by BBC from the interior of Sicily (47C) and a weather station in sea-side Palermo (37C) from the BBC weather app, as proof that the BBC is faking its data. The BBC disputed the claims, stating that ground temperatures "are not used in the BBC's weather reporting and forecasting" unlike Oliver's false claim. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Oliver also retweeted other claims that climate data is manipulated and false, showing he is just one of many who are promoting such conspiracies. Former Fox News commentator Steven Milloy called it the "heat wave hysteria hoax": Some conspiracy theorists in the UK have argued that the heatwave and climate change are a hoax due to most of the country facing heavy wind and rain during the summer: However, the heavy rain fall during typically warmer and drier months is another sign of climate change's effects. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Hugo Carvajal, a close ally of late President Hugo Chávez, faces drug trafficking charges in the US.

The actors and writers strike have resulted in most Hollywood film and television productions being shut down, from the “Gladiator” sequel to the live action “Lilo & Stitch."

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution Ltd. will invest 5.7 trillion won ($4.3 billion) to

An Indiana county judge has dismissed a state lawsuit filed against TikTok that had accused the app of deceiving its users about the level of inappropriate content for children on its platform and the security of consumers’ personal information

Prized NBA top draft pick Victor Wembanyama's first appearance in a San Antonio Spurs uniform could come in Las Vegas, after the team announced Wednesday he won't travel to...

An effort to disbar a conservative attorney who devised ways to keep President Donald Trump in the White House after his defeat in the 2020 election is beginning in Los Angeles