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NASA found intriguing rocks on Mars, so where does that leave Mars Sample Return?

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NASA’s interim administrator Sean Duffy was fired up on Wednesday when he joined a teleconference to talk about new scientific findings that concerned the potential for life to have once existed on Mars.

“This is exciting news,” said Duffy about an arrow-shaped rock on Mars found by NASA’s Perseverance rover. The rock contained chemical signatures and structures that could have been formed by ancient microbial life. The findings were intriguing, but not conclusive. Further study of the rocks in an advanced lab on Earth might prove more definitive.

Duffy was ready, he said, to discuss the scientific results along with NASA experts on the call with reporters. However, the very first question—and for any space reporter, the obvious one—concerned NASA’s on-again, off-again plan to return rocks from the surface of Mars for study on Earth. This mission, called Mars Sample Return, has been on hold for nearly two years after an independent analysis found that NASA’s bloated plan would cost at least $8 billion to $11 billion. President Trump has sought to cancel it outright.

Duffy faces the space press

“What’s the latest on NASA’s plans to retrieve the samples from Perseverance?” asked Marcia Dunn, a reporter with the Associated Press, about small vials of rocks collected by the NASA rover on Mars.

“So listen, we’re looking at how we get this sample back, or other samples back,” Duffy replied. “What we’re going to do is look at our budget, so we look at our timing, and you know, how do we spend money better? And you know, what technology do we have to get samples back more quickly? And so that’s a current analysis that’s happening right now.”

A couple of questions later, Ken Chang, a science reporter with The New York Times, asked Duffy why President Trump’s budget request called for the cancellation of Mars Sample Return and whether that was still the president’s intent.

“I want to be really clear,” Duffy replied. “This is a 30-year process that NASA has undertaken. President Trump didn’t say, ‘Hey, let’s forget about Mars.’ No, we’re continuing our exploration. And by the way, we’ve been very clear under this president that we don’t want to just bring samples back from Mars. We want to send our boots to the Moon and to Mars, and that is the work that we’re doing. Amit (Kshatriya, the new Associate Administrator of NASA) even said maybe we’ll send our equipment to test this sample to Mars itself. All options are on the table.”



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Trump says he’s sending the National Guard into Memphis to ‘fix’ crime like D.C.

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President Donald Trump said Friday that he’s planning to send federal law enforcement and the National Guard into Memphis, Tennessee, to lower crime in the city following his surge into Washington, D.C., over the last month.

“We’re going to Memphis. Memphis is deeply troubled,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” in New York. “The mayor is happy. He’s a Democrat. And the governor of Tennessee, the governor is happy. We’re gonna fix that just like we did Washington.”

The president then raised the issue of lowering crime in Chicago, a frequent talking point of his, saying, “I would’ve preferred going to Chicago,” and criticizing Democratic officials in the city for opposing the move.

Trump said he decided on Memphis after speaking with someone he knows on the board of Fedex who brought up the crime rate in the city.

“We’re going to Memphis.” Trump said. “I’m just announcing that now, and we’ll straighten that out — National Guard and anybody else we need. And by the way, we’ll bring in the military, too, if we need it.”

FBI data shows that violent crimes have hovered at around 15,000 to 16,000 a year in Memphis in the last five years, marking an increase of several thousand from a decade ago.

The offices of Memphis Mayor Paul Young and Republican Gov. Bill Lee didn’t immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment.

Trump acknowledged that he has “more power” in D.C., whose officials share authority with the federal government, and said the administration has had a positive relationship with Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser.

“We’ve had a great relationship,” Trump said. “Everybody’s happy, and the mayor was not in favor of it at first … and then she saw the results, and everyone’s going up and thanking her. We have no crime anymore.”

Trump’s emergency order authorizing a federal takeover of the D.C. police force for 30 days expired this week, and would have required Congress to extend it further under a law that grants the city some autonomy.

Bowser said federal law enforcement personnel would remain in the nation’s capital, but the Metropolitan Police Department would stop transporting people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

While the city would return to the “status quo,” she said, “federal police officers are going to be in the district … federal police officers can enhance the public safety mission of MPD.”

Bowser said last month that the increase of federal forces in the nation’s capital did lead to a drop in crime.

“We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city,” she said. In the first 20 days of the federal takeover, there had been an 87% drop in carjackings compared with the same period last year. The data cited also showed a 45% decrease in violent crime and a 15% fall in crime overall in the district from the same period last year.



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Prince Harry makes surprise visit to Ukraine in support of wounded service members

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LONDON — Britain’s Prince Harry arrived in Ukraine on Friday for a surprise visit in support of wounded service members.

It’s the second time that Harry has visited the country, which is among the nations bidding to host the Invictus Games in four years’ time.

The sporting competition, which he founded, is a Paralympic-like competition for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans.

It’s the second time that Harry has visited the country, which is among the nations bidding to host the Invictus Games in four years’ time.

The sporting competition is a Paralympic-like competition for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans.

Harry’s representatives confirmed his arrival.

“We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process,” Harry told the Guardian newspaper while on an overnight train to the capital.



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Packers defense smothers Commanders, Jayden Daniels in 27-18 win: Key takeaways

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By Nicki Jhabvala, Matt Schneidman, Saad Yousuf and Matt Moret

The Green Bay Packers defense all but shut down the Washington Commanders’ offense in the NFL’s first “Thursday Night Football” game of the season, going on to win the bruising matchup 27-18. Green Bay combined for 404 yards, while Washington totaled just 230 yards in a game that left each side with injuries.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love had a great showing, racking up 292 yards and two touchdowns, including a pass to Romeo Doubs that opened the scoring with four and a half minutes left in the first quarter. Running back Josh Jacobs also recorded 84 rushing yards and a touchdown that made him the first Packer to score a rushing touchdown in 10 consecutive games.

Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels finished the first half with just 49 passing yards, which he boosted to 200 by the end of the game.

Both teams lost key players to injury during the first half.

Jayden Reed, a standout receiver for the Packers who had three catches for 45 yards and a touchdown against the Detroit Lions last week, left the contest less than five minutes into the first quarter. The team later ruled out Reed, 25, with a shoulder injury after he struggled to walk down the Lambeau Field tunnel while clutching his collarbone. Coach Matt LaFleur said postgame Reed fractured his collarbone and is headed to the IR. He is out for the foreseeable future, but the team expects him to return some point this season.

Commanders defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. was carted off the field in the second quarter with a quad injury that sidelined him for the rest of the game. Wise’s injury occurred during an extra-point attempt following the Packers’ second touchdown. Packers tackle Anthony Belton fell back on Wise’s right leg during the play, and the entire Commanders bench gathered around the 31-year-old as he left the field.

Veteran Commanders running back Austin Ekeler also left the game with five and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter following a non-contact injury. Medical staff assisted him to the sideline as he hopped to the bench on one foot. He was carted back to the locker room and ruled out with an Achilles injury.

Washington never got its running game going, with rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Ekeler and Daniels combining for 51 yards.

Green Bay held onto a double-digit lead throughout the first half. The score gap closed briefly after Daniels made a 20-yard pass to Zach Ertz for the Commanders’ first TD of the night, but Love extended the Packers’ lead on the next drive, hitting tight end Tucker Kraft in the end zone with an 8-yard pass.

Daniels connected with free-agency acquisition Deebo Samuel for a 10-yard touchdown with under four minutes left in the game. The Commanders successfully made a two-point conversion after the play, with Daniels firing a quick shot to Luke McCaffrey in the back of the end zone.

Brandon McManus, the Packers’ 12th-year kicker, missed his first try of the game when his kick hit the left upright, but he rebounded to make his next two field-goal attempts, one from 22 yards out and another from 56 yards. Commanders kicker Matt Gay likewise made two of his three field-goal attempts.

Kraft comes up big

Consider Thursday night Kraft’s coming out party. The third-year tight end had a semi-breakout season in 2024 but turned in the best game of his career against the Commanders to the tune of six catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. According to the Amazon Prime broadcast, Kraft’s receiving yards were the most by a Packers tight end since Richard Rodgers in 2015. On Kraft’s crucial touchdown catch to put the Packers up 14 with less than nine minutes remaining, Kraft perfectly sold the block before releasing into the end zone, where Love found him wide open. It’s nights like these that show why Kraft can be one of the NFL’s best tight ends this season.

Parsons delivers yet again

For the second consecutive game to start his Packers career, Micah Parsons’ influence could be felt beyond just the box score. Parsons only had two tackles and half a sack to go along with three quarterback hits, but he’s even more of a difference-maker on the field. He drew a hands-to-the-face penalty on right guard Nick Allegretti to force a third-and-17 that preceded a punt, drew a false start on left tackle Laremy Tunsil before chasing down a dump-off on second down and pressuring Daniels into an incompletion on third down.

In the second half, Parsons drew a hold on right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. but still shared a sack of Daniels with linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and later split Conerly and running back Jeremy McNichols to pressure Daniels into a 1-yard scramble. So far, he’s been worth every penny of the record-breaking $188 million deal he signed with the Packers.

Packers secondary holds strong

Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon told The Athletic before the season that he sees all the negative things fans say about him, and there have seemed to be a lot in recent years. Still, the Packers entrusted him as their No. 1 cornerback after the release of Jaire Alexander, and Nixon showed why on Thursday. Nixon had never broken up more than two passes in a game since entering the league in 2019 — he didn’t become a full-time defensive player until 2023 — until he broke up five against the Commanders.

Matt Schneidman in Green Bay

Commanders offense sputters

The Commanders haven’t looked this bad since at least 2023. Maybe earlier. The offense couldn’t generate much of anything against the Packers’ front, which dominated with its speed and power. The right side of Washington’s offensive line, with Conerly Jr., a rookie, and Allegretti, struggled the most, leaving Daniels under duress for much of the game.

Making matters worse, Washington’s receivers couldn’t get open, and in critical stretches, including a fourth-and-4 in the fourth quarter, Terry McLaurin was oddly not on the field. It’s baffling that the score was as close as it was for much of the game.

The Commanders’ defense was worse, allowing the Packers to pick apart the middle of the field. There were busted coverages, missed tackles and costly penalties (two holding calls on cornerback Marshon Lattimore).

Injuries piled up for Washington. The team later lost star blocking tight end John Bates and receiver Noah Brown to groin injuries. It was without rookie cornerback Trey Amos and left guard Brandon Coleman for stretches because of shoulder injuries, though both later returned. With Bates, Brown, Ekeler and Wise all going down, Washington lost four starters to injuries. Brutal.

If there were bright spots for the Commanders, they were their punt and kickoff teams. They gave Washington good field position, but the offense couldn’t do anything with it. Samuel returned two kicks for 78 total yards, and rookie Jaylin Lane picked up 50 yards on three punt returns. In coverage, safeties Percy Butler, Jeremy Reaves and Tyler Owens all made big stops to pin the Packers deep in their own territory.

— Nicki Jhabvala in Green Bay

(Photo of Packers’ Rashan Gary and Devonte Wyatt tackling Commanders’ Jayden Daniels: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)



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