The United Nations Security Council has greenlit the deployment of an armed multinational force to Haiti, as the Caribbean nation wrestles with rampant gang violence and political paralysis.

Astronomers believe they might have found the source of the brightest explosion ever in space. The record-breaking explosion recorded in October 2022 was the most powerful ever seen, leaving equipment and instruments struggling to measure it as it pointed directly at planet Earth. The bright gamma-ray burst is officially called GRB 221009A and when it first went off, scientists were left scrabbling to point telescopes in its direction to record it. The explosion has affectionately been nicknamed BOAT, standing for “brightest of all time”, and was caused by the death of a large star located 2.4 billion light-years away – relatively close in terms of space activity. The star collapsed into a black hole after ejecting its outer envelope, causing this huge, bright explosion comprised of gamma rays, producing not only a narrow structured jet but with an additional outflow of gas. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter This “exceptionally rare event” surprised astronomers, who had not predicted the existence of gas, and certainly provides plenty of new information around the question of how black holes form. The study’s lead author and astronomer from George Washington University, Brendan O'Connor, explained: “GRB 221009A represents a massive step forward in our understanding of gamma-ray bursts, and demonstrates that the most extreme explosions do not obey the standard physics assumed for garden variety gamma-ray bursts.” He continued: “GRB 221009A might be the equivalent Rosetta stone of long GRBs, forcing us to revise our standard theories of how relativistic outflows are formed in collapsing massive stars.” The huge and long-lasting blast measured up to 18 teraelectronvolts which is a staggering record for a gamma-ray burst, leaving scientists to hypothesise that it was a supernova. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The roughly two hours of oral arguments that an extremely conservative appeals court heard Wednesday in a blockbuster abortion pill case suggested that the judges were not buying the Biden administration's arguments for why courts should not second guess how the government has regulated a medication abortion drug.

(This story has been refiled to change from 'Brazil and Brazil' to 'Brazil and Russia' in paragraph 6) By Nigel

West African leaders said they’re ready to use force to restore democracy in Niger if necessary, as a

From a booming restaurant chain to a clothing line, Mark Wahlberg has already found incredible success in a number of business ventures

A Marine suspected of involvement in the death of another Marine was taken into custody at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Wednesday night, the base said in a statement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a Chinese pilot’s “dangerous action” in a close encounter with an

By Rich McKay The Texas Senate on Sunday was set to begin deliberations to permanently remove from office

Hundreds of Haitians have marched through the capital, Port-au-Prince, in protest at the reported abduction of an American nurse and her daughter

Nic Kerdiles, a former hockey player who was engaged to the reality TV star Savannah Chrisley, was killed in a motorcycle crash in Nashville early Saturday morning, police said.

A new report has identified nearly 500 industrial fishing vessels where workers face hazardous, forced conditions sometimes akin to slavery