A Russian satellite has broken up into more than 100 pieces of debris in orbit, forcing astronauts on the International Space Station to take shelter, US space agencies said.
There were no immediate details on what caused the break-up of the RESURS-P1 Russian Earth observation satellite, which was decommissioned in 2022.
US Space Command said on Thursday there was no immediate threat as it tracks the debris swarm.
The event occurred around 10:00 am Mountain Time (1600 GMT) on Wednesday, Space Command said. It occurred in an orbit near the space station, prompting US astronauts on board to shelter in their spacecraft for roughly an hour, NASA's Space Station office added.
Large debris-generating events in orbit are rare but of increasing concern as space becomes crowded with satellite networks vital to everyday life on Earth, from broadband internet and communications to basic navigation services.
Russia sparked international fury in 2021 when it struck one of its defunct satellites in orbit with a ground-based anti-satellite missile, creating thousands of pieces of debris to test a weapon system ahead of its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The prospect of satellite collisions and space warfare have added urgency to calls from space advocates and lawyers to have countries establish an international mechanism of managing space traffic, which does not currently exist.
Aircraft maintenance engineers and other technical staff at Canada's WestJet Airlines went on strike at the start of a long weekend on Friday, after rounds of negotiations failed to produce an agreement on pay and working conditions.
The US military's pier off Gaza has once again been removed because of sea conditions, the Pentagon said, adding it did not make sense for it to return until aid is moved from a nearby marshalling area to people in Gaza.
The Biden administration has sent Israel large numbers of munitions, including more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles, since the start of the war in Gaza, said two US officials briefed on an updated list of weapons shipments.
President Joe Biden said he intended to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the November presidential election, giving no sign he would consider dropping out of the race after a feeble debate performance that dismayed his fellow Democrats.
Seven people died and five others were injured when a train collided with a bus at a crossing in Slovakia on Thursday evening, emergency services said.