Briefly

UNITED STATES

Rocket piece set to crash into moon

A piece of a SpaceX rocket floating in space since last year was expected to smash into the moon at high speed early on Wednesday morning, though the impact was unlikely to be confirmed for at least several hours. The school-bus-size object is the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that had launched a lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace toward the moon in January 2025. Weighing 4 metric tons, the rocket body had been due to hit the moon around 2:35 am, traveling at 8,690 kph, but none of the spacecraft orbiting the moon were expected to be in a position to capture images of the impact live. The impact was unintentional, SpaceX said. The rocket piece was expected to hit Einstein Crater on the moon's western limb, which is often difficult to see from Earth.

MIDDLE EAST

Israel did not agree to Gaza plan: Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel did not agree to the US-backed plan for Gaza, even after receiving assurances that an Israeli pullout would only happen after Hamas disarms. In a video posted on his social media accounts on Tuesday night, Netanyahu said the team of US President Donald Trump "believes that they can bring about the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza". Netanyahu met with the US-backed Board of Peace on Monday and received guarantees that the Israeli army would only be required to leave its current positions in Gaza after Hamas disarms. But pressure has been growing on the premier from the right flank of his ruling coalition to reject the deal.

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA