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Jeep owner Stellantis suspends 2025 earnings forecast over tariffs
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China's Shenzhou-19 astronauts return to Earth
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French economy returns to thin growth in first quarter
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Ex-Premier League star Li Tie loses appeal in 20-year bribery sentence
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Belgium's green light for red light workers
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Haliburton leads comeback as Pacers advance, Celtics clinch
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Rahm out to break 2025 win drought ahead of US PGA Championship
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Japan tariff envoy departs for round two of US talks
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Djurgarden eyeing Chelsea upset in historic Conference League semi-final
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Haliburton leads comeback as Pacers advance, Pistons stay alive
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Bunker-cafe on Korean border paints image of peace
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Tunics & turbans: Afghan students don Taliban-imposed uniforms
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Asian markets struggle as trade war hits China factory activity
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Norwegian success story: Bodo/Glimt's historic run to a European semi-final
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Spurs attempt to grasp Europa League lifeline to save dismal season
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Thawing permafrost dots Siberia with rash of mounds
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S. Korea prosecutors raid ex-president's house over shaman probe: Yonhap
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Filipino cardinal, the 'Asian Francis', is papal contender
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Samsung Electronics posts 22% jump in Q1 net profit
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Pietro Parolin, career diplomat leading race to be pope
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Nuclear submarine deal lurks below surface of Australian election
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China's manufacturing shrinks in April as trade war bites
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Financial markets may be the last guardrail on Trump
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Swedish journalist's trial opens in Turkey
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Kiss says 'honour of a lifetime' to coach Wallabies at home World Cup
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US growth figure expected to make for tough reading for Trump
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Opposition leader confirmed winner of Trinidad elections
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Snedeker, Ogilvy to skipper Presidents Cup teams: PGA Tour
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Win or bust in Europa League for Amorim's Man Utd
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Trump celebrates 100 days in office with campaign-style rally
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Top Cuban dissidents detained after court revokes parole
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Arteta urges Arsenal to deliver 'special' fightback against PSG
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Trump fires Kamala Harris's husband from Holocaust board
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Pakistan says India planning strike as tensions soar over Kashmir attack
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Weinstein sex attack accuser tells court he 'humiliated' her
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France accuses Russian military intelligence over cyberattacks
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Global stocks mostly rise as Trump grants auto tariff relief
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Grand Vietnam parade 50 years after the fall of Saigon
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Trump fires ex first gentleman Emhoff from Holocaust board
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PSG 'not getting carried away' despite holding edge against Arsenal
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Cuban dissidents detained after court revokes parole
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Sweden stunned by new deadly gun attack
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BRICS blast 'resurgence of protectionism' in Trump era
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Trump tempers auto tariffs, winning cautious praise from industry
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'Cruel measure': Dominican crackdown on Haitian hospitals
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'It's only half-time': Defiant Raya says Arsenal can overturn PSG deficit
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Dembele sinks Arsenal as PSG seize edge in Champions League semi-final
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Les Kiss to take over Wallabies coach role from mid-2026
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Real Madrid's Rudiger, Mendy and Alaba out injured until end of season
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US threatens to quit Russia-Ukraine effort unless 'concrete proposals'

Trump vows to plant flag on Mars, omits mention of Moon return
US President Donald Trump vowed Monday to "plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars" but made no mention of NASA's planned return to the Moon, heightening speculation about his space strategy.
During his first term, the Republican launched the Artemis program to return astronauts to the Moon as a stepping stone to the Red Planet -- yet even then he expressed doubts about the Moon's necessity.
"We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars," he said in his inauguration speech at the US Capitol in Washington, remarks unlikely to quell the idea he wants to skip the Moon.
Trump is thought to be joined in his desire by his close ally and Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, who envisages colonizing Mars with the help of his prototype rocket Starship.
Musk retweeted a clip of himself raising two thumbs up, grinning, and clapping wildly as Trump made his remarks.
"We're going straight to Mars. The Moon is a distraction," Musk wrote on X earlier this month.
Such a shift would be seismic for a program projected to cost over $90 billion.
It is also likely to meet stiff opposition in the US Congress, where both Republicans and Democrats have an interest in preserving jobs in their constituencies linked to exploring the Moon.
Much of this revolves around the Space Launch System (SLS), NASA's heavy-lift rocket with contractors and suppliers spread across the country.
China, meanwhile, has set its sights on landing in the lunar south pole by 2030, a move the United States is unlikely to let go unchallenged.
On the other hand, the next NASA chief is slated to be Jared Isaacman, a billionaire private astronaut who has had business dealings with SpaceX, raising questions of possible conflicts-of-interest.
E.Gasser--VB