World
A hidden ocean on Mars, would it spur human settlement?
A stream of liquid water could be brimming beneath the craggy, tan rock crust on Mars, enough to make up a whole ocean, according to a NASA study, whose results were published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Here’s more about NASA’s latest discovery, and what it tells us about the potential of human settlements on the Red Planet in the future:
How did NASA find water on Mars?
NASA’s outer-space robotic explorer, the InSight Lander, touched down on Mars in 2018. It studied seismic waves on the planet, which read data from more than 1,300 marsquakes before shutting down two years ago.
InSight collected data from a plain near the planet’s equator called Elysium Planitia.
A group of researchers combined this data with computer models and speculated that underground water is the most likely explanation for the seismic readings.
While NASA found liquid saltwater on Mars in 2015, the latest discovery is significant because it indicates the large amount of water the planet possibly holds in fractures 11.5km (7.15 miles) to 20km (12.4 miles) underground.
The lead scientist of the research, Vashan Wright of the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said that if the InSight data collected at Elysium Planitia is representative of the rest of Mars, the water would be enough to fill a global ocean 1 to 2km (0.6 to 1.2 miles) deep.
Drills and other equipment will be needed to further investigate and confirm the presence of water.
It has long been discovered by scientists that Mars once had water, maybe even in ample amounts. Last year, China’s Mars rover also found that water may be more widespread than previously thought.
“There were thoughts that some of the water escaped when Mars lost its atmosphere,” Wright told Al Jazeera.
How did Mars lose its atmosphere?
Alastair Gunn, a radio astronomer at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester, told the BBC that Mars used to have a strong magnetic field like Earth.
The motion of molten iron in Earth’s core generates the field, which protects from cosmic radiation and from the solar wind, which refers to energetic charged particles flowing from the sun.
However, Mars cooled internally and switched off this field. This solar wind stripped Mars of its atmosphere, turning it cold and dry.
Will there be human settlements on Mars?
A NASA rover called the Perseverance Rover, which was launched in 2020, has manufactured oxygen on Mars, Amitabha Ghosh, a space scientist who has worked with NASA, told Al Jazeera. “So we just need water in some form for human existence as well as making rocket fuel,” said Ghosh.
Plans for humans to inhabit Mars are not recent.
Billionaire and technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has been striving to colonise Mars for over a decade under SpaceX, his rocket company.
SpaceX employees have long been fleshing out the blueprint of a Martian city where humans roam, complete with dome habitats and spacesuits.
“Elon Musk is making a Starship which can carry 200 people to Mars in six months. It’s all coming together,” Ghosh added.
The SpaceX website deems Mars one of Earth’s closest habitable neighbours.
Musk is not the only one with Mars city dreams. The United Arab Emirates Space programme, particularly the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center, aims to establish a human settlement on Mars by 2117.
“In 10-15 years, it might not look like science fiction any more,” said Ghosh.
Who would live on Mars?
It is unlikely that most people will be able to afford to live on Mars, in case human settlements are established on the planet.
Space missions are priced very high. In 2011, Cirque Du Soleil billionaire Guy Laliberte paid $35m to go to space.
Las Vegas-based Bigelow Space Operations (BSO) said in 2019 that it would charge private astronauts $52m a seat to visit the International Space Station for a month or two.
Should humans live on Mars?
The prospect of humans living on the Red Planet has raised ethical questions: Some thinkers question whether it is right to move to a “backup planet” after wrecking environmental damage on Earth.
Ian Stoner, an instructor of the Department of Philosophy at Saint Paul College Minnesota, wrote an article arguing against establishing human settlements on Mars on moral grounds.
“Human presence on Mars, he argued in an article, is likely to constitute a significantly invasive or destructive investigation of the Martian environment.” Humans will impart bacteria, yeast and fungus on the environment of the planet, he added.
Earth is already marred by environmental damage due to warming temperatures which have resulted in rising sea levels, floods and droughts. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey asked 10,329 American adults about their top priorities for NASA missions. Sixty percent of respondents wanted NASA to monitor asteroids that could hit Earth.
For 50 percent of the respondents, the top priority was to monitor key parts of Earth’s climate system. Only 11 percent of respondents stated the exploration of Mars as their top priority.
Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, rebuked the idea that Mars should be colonised instead of climate change on Earth being tackled, in an interview with US-based publication Aerospace America.
“If we do not take action to reduce and eventually eliminate our carbon emissions, they will overwhelm human civilisation as we know it, long before Mars is ready to be colonised by large numbers of people,” Hayhoe is quoted saying.
While space missions have been unearthing new details about the presence of water and oxygen on the Red Planet, Mars has not been explored by crewed space missions. There is not enough information about how long humans can sustainably survive on the planet.
World
2 people killed in collision between jet and vehicle at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, source says
NEW YORK (AP) — An Air Canada regional jet struck a fire truck on the runway after landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday night, crushing the nose of the plane, according to authorities and photos of the wreckage.
Two people were killed, according to a person familiar with the investigation into the crash. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an active investigation.
Two Port Authority employees who were traveling in the fire truck also were injured, the person said.
There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the aircraft, a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada, according to a statement from the airline. The flight originated at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, the major airport serving Montreal.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement that the jet had struck a rescue and firefighting vehicle that was responding to a separate incident at about 11:45 p.m. The airport was closed as of 3 a.m. to facilitate the investigation, officials said.
Photos and videos from the scene showed severe damage to the front of the aircraft, with cables and debris hanging from a mangled cockpit. Nearby, a damaged emergency vehicle lay on its side.
Stairways used to evacuate passengers from aircraft were pushed up to the emergency exits on the jet, a Bombardier CRJ. The impact left the jet with its crumpled nose tilted upward.
In the moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard on a radio transmission giving clearance to a vehicle to cross part of the tarmac, then trying to stop it.
“Stop, Truck 1. Stop,” the transmission says. The controller can then be heard frantically diverting incoming aircraft from landing.
Jazz Aviation issued a statement confirming the accident and noting the passenger and crew list was preliminary and subject to confirmation.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the incident.
World
Trump, Starmer agree Strait of Hormuz must reopen as Middle East conflict escalates
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President Donald Trump spoke with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday to discuss escalating tensions in the Middle East, with a focus on the urgent need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restore global shipping.
The leaders discussed the current situation in the Middle East, and in particular, the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to resume global shipping, Downing Street said in a statement.
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Keir Stamer, UK prime minister, during a news conference providing an update on the situation in the Middle East, at Downing Street in London, UK, on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“They agreed that reopening the Strait of Hormuz was essential to ensure stability in the global energy market. They agreed to speak again soon.”
The call came amid a rapidly intensifying conflict in the region, with Iran blocking the strategically vital strait since the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iranian targets on Feb. 28.
The military action triggered swift retaliation from Tehran and has since escalated into a broader regional war as Iran has sent missiles into numerous neighboring countries not directly involved in the initial conflict.
UK NUCLEAR SUBMARINE DEPLOYED TO ARABIAN SEA BEFORE IRAN TARGETS KEY US-UK BASE: REPORTS
President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office of the White House, on St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
On March 21, Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran demanding the reopening of the key maritime route, through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil supply passes.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump warned that failure to comply would result in further U.S. action, including potential strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure.
EU PUSHES FOR END OF IRAN WAR IN A MANNER WHERE ‘EVERYBODY SAVES FACE’
Bulk Carrier, Belray, in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz on March 22, 2026 in northern Ras al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. (Getty Images/Getty Images)
Sunday’s conversation between Trump and Starmer perhaps reflected a thaw in the tense relationship between the two leaders.
Trump had publicly criticized the U.K. government, stating that Britain “should have acted a lot faster” in allowing the U.S. to use British military bases for strikes targeting Iranian missile sites.
Starmer had also maintained that the use of U.K. bases could only be justified under the principle of “collective self-defense” in the region.
He had initially declined to support the U.S.-Israeli military operation, drawing repeated criticism from the White House.
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Meanwhile, Trump appeared to apply public pressure, sharing a “Saturday Night Live” clip Sunday mocking the British prime minister’s handling of the crisis.
World
French elections: Paris stays left as far right makes mixed gains
France’s municipal runoff delivered a mixed verdict for the country’s main political forces on Sunday: the Left held Paris with Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire, the far-right and its allies scored a major symbolic win in Nice, and mainstream parties pointed to resilience in several big and mid-sized cities ahead of the 2027 presidential race.
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Municipal elections in France are local contests to elect mayors and local councils, but they are closely watched because they test party organisation, alliance-building, and grassroots strength before national campaigns begin.
In the capital, Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire defeated conservative rival Rachida Dati, ensuring Paris remains under left-wing control after outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo chose not to seek another term.
The result extends a quarter-century of left-led rule of the capital and hands to the Socialists one of the most visible prizes of the night. Grégoire presented the result as a mandate for a progressive vision of the city.
Elsewhere, the left also had reasons to celebrate. In Marseille, Socialist incumbent Benoît Payan was re-elected after the far right had hoped to seize France’s second-largest city.
While in Lyon, Green mayor Grégory Doucet held on after a hard-fought race against his conservative rival, which was reshaped by a last-minute merger with the list of hard-left party France Unbowed.
Socialists record strong showing
The Socialists also held or performed strongly in several regional cities, reinforcing the impression of a broader recovery for the traditional left.
For the far right, the picture was more complex. National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella hailed what he called the party’s biggest local breakthrough, and RN kept the southwestern city of Perpignan while also winning smaller municipalities.
But the party fell short in several of the larger cities it had targeted, notably Marseille, Toulon and Nîmes. The exception was Nice, where Éric Ciotti — once a senior figure in the mainstream right and now allied with RN — won the race, giving the far right and its partners control of France’s fifth-largest city.
The elections also brought clearer signs of fragmentation on the centre-right and in President Emmanuel Macron’s camp.
Former prime minister Édouard Philippe was re-elected in Le Havre, strengthening his standing as a possible 2027 contender, while Macron’s centrist forces could point to a symbolic win in Bordeaux, where Renaissance candidate Thomas Cazenave defeated outgoing Green mayor Pierre Hurmic.
At the same time, the loss of Macron’s former PM, François Bayrou, in southwestern Pau, underlined the vulnerabilities of the broader presidential alliance.
Turnout remained a concern. According to the Interior Ministry, participation in mainland France stood at 48.1% at 5 p.m., higher than the Covid-disrupted 2020 election but still below pre-pandemic levels.
Taken together, the results do not predict who will succeed Macron in 2027. But they do sketch the political landscape from which that contest will emerge: a left that can still win major cities, a mainstream right that remains locally entrenched, a centre searching for durable footholds, and a far right that is growing but may still face limits in the country’s biggest urban battlegrounds.
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