Globe-trotting

Private lander aces moon touchdown

Cape Canaveral: A private lunar lander carrying a drill, vacuum and other experiments for NASA touched down on the moon on Sunday, the latest in a string of companies looking to kickstart business on Earth's celestial neighbour ahead of astronaut missions. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander descended from lunar orbit on autopilot, aiming for the slopes of an ancient volcanic dome in an impact basin on the moon's northeastern edge of the near side.

Breakaway state Abkhazia chooses new leader

Tblisi: The acting leader of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia won a presidential election in the territory, months after his predecessor was driven from office, state media said on Sunday, citing preliminary results. Acting President Badra Gunba took almost 55% of the vote in the Saturday election, ahead of opposition leader Adgur Ardzinba on just under 42%, Abkhazian state news agency Apsnypress reported, citing the electoral commission.

Microsoft shutting down Skype in May

Seattle: Microsoft is closing down Skype, the video-calling service it bought for $8.5 billion in 2011, which had helped spark a transformation in how people communicate online. The tech giant said Friday it will retire Skype in May and shift some of its services to Microsoft Teams, its flagship videoconferencing and team applications platform. Skype users will be able to use their existing accounts to log into Teams. Microsoft has for years prioritised Teams over Skype.