Nasa's powerful next-generation telescope has blasted off into space from its launchpad in Florida, with a mission to explore dark energy, black holes and other mysteries of the Universe.

The Nancy Grace Roman telescope will capture vast panoramic views of space, with a field of vision 100 times larger than both the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, Nasa says.

The mission begins with a 100-day journey to a vantage point roughly one million miles from Earth, where the telescope will then start charting planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets.

"Roman is going to change the way we look at the Universe," said Nicky Fox, a Nasa administrator.

Google Maps has changed ⁠the name of “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” for U.S. users to reflect President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the lake, according to a Google statement.

Mr. Trump announced on Thursday (August 27, 2026) that he was ‌changing the name of the smallest of the five Great Lakes, part of an escalating trade feud with Canada that has prompted the ‌two countries to impose reciprocal tariffs on billions of dollars in goods.

The ‌President’s ⁠order affects the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), which sets the ⁠standards for official U.S. maps. It does not have any impact on Canadian naming conventions or how the rest of the world refers to the lake.

The inaugural Women's Champions Trophy, scheduled to take place in February 2027, is set to be moved out of Sri Lanka, with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) likely to lose its hosting rights, according to Cricinfo.

The six-team tournament will be staged at another venue during the same window, with India emerging as the likely hosts. The new host is expected to be confirmed at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Board meeting in October.

Sri Lanka have lost the hosting rights after concerns over government interference in the country's cricket administration, according to the Cricinfo report. The tournament was set to be Sri Lanka's second ICC event in a year after co-hosting the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup earlier this year.

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Thursday said the state will have a ‘Mahila Vishwavidyalaya’, a university in which the faculty, students as well as non-teaching staff will all be women. He made the announcement at a function in the state capital where a sum of Rs 600 crore was disbursed among beneficiaries, through DBT, under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana which was rolled out last year.Comparing Top University Degree Programs

“I extend my greetings to all sisters of Bihar on the eve of Raksha Bandhan. We believe that the state can prosper only if our women do well… A Mahila Vishwavidyalaya will be set up in the state. The university will be run by women, from top to bottom. The vice chancellor, professors, other staffers and students shall all be women,” the chief minister said.

When Tim Cook took over as chief executive of Apple in August 2011, following Steve Jobs' second departure from the company amid his deteriorating health, expectations were sky-high and doubts were equally strong.

Cook was widely viewed as an operations and supply-chain expert rather than a traditional product guy like Jobs. The key question at the time was whether he could sustain Apple's extraordinary run of innovation and growth.

Fifteen years later, the numbers offer a compelling answer. Under Cook, Apple's market capitalisation has surged from roughly $350 billion to around $4 trillion, while its stock has jumped nearly 25-fold.

Apple shares, which traded at about $13 when Cook assumed the top job, have risen 2,359.2 per cent to $319.70 at the latest close.

Norway's King Harald V has died at the age of 89, after he was taken to hospital last week for treatment for a rare blood condition.

The palace in Oslo said he passed away peacefully at 06:35 local time (04:35 GMT) on Friday at the national hospital in Oslo.

The royal flag on the roof of the palace has been lowered to half-mast and a period of national mourning has been declared leading up to the day of his funeral. Crowds of mourners have streamed to the royal palace to lay flowers and flags.

Harald was the nation's first king born there since the 14th Century. He has been succeeded by his son Haakon, 53, who will hold an extraordinary council of state with the government later on Friday.

NABARD and NaBFID have signed a strategic MoU to strengthen collaboration on infrastructure projects with strong rural impact. On the occasion, Dr Shaji Krishnan V., Chairman, NABARD, highlighted the potential to advance financially sustainable rural infrastructure and bridge the rural-urban divide. Mr Rajkiran Rai G, Managing Director, NaBFID, signified the opportunity to build bankable projects that strengthen rural incomes.

The collaboration will focus on:

* Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects

* Agri-value chains

* Rural infrastructure

The MoU was signed in the presence of Ms Monika Kalia, Deputy Managing Director & CFO, NaBFID; Mr Goverdhan S. Rawat and Dr Ajay K. Sood, Deputy Managing Directors, NABARD; along with senior officials from both institutions.

India will host the 18th BRICS Summit on the 12th and 13th of next month at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. The Summit will bring together leaders of BRICS Member and Partner Countries, along with Outreach Invitees.

India’s BRICS Presidency is guided by the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, reflecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a people-centric approach rooted in the spirit of “Humanity First”. In addition to these areas, the leaders will exchange views on strengthening intra-BRICS cooperation on common priorities and share perspectives on global and regional matters of mutual importance.

Under India’s Chairship this year, over 350 meetings and high-level engagements have been held in over 25 cities across the country to further strengthen the BRICS strategic partnership across three fundamental pillars. These include political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. Through these engagements and business-to-business and people-to-people initiatives, India’s BRICS Chairship has contributed to advancing BRICS cooperation through practical and development-oriented outcomes.

Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama, who became famous for her colourful polka dot-covered sculptures and installations, has died at the age of 97.

Kusama, who had voluntarily lived in a psychiatric hospital for decades, was known for her bright red wig and her giant, quirky creations.

Her exhibitions drew large crowds around the world, and her vibrant works fetched some of the highest ever prices for a female artist.

A statement from her company said: "Throughout an extraordinary lifetime devoted entirely to artistic creation, Kusama pursued an internationally acclaimed career as a pioneering avant-garde artist whose creative practice encompassed visual art, performance, fiction, and poetry."

The Telangana government has launched a gold and copper mining exploration programme at the Devadurga block in Karnataka, where the former's SCCL has secured exploration rights.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka launched the initiative on Thursday at the gold and copper mining block in Devadurga by the state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) at Lingadahalli village of Raichur district, an official release said.

Following the launch, he inspected the mineral exploration sites on the ground.