Anti-abortion activists march in Washington DC

Hello. Anti-abortion activists were the latest recipients of US President Donald Trump's pardons ahead of an annual anti-abortion rally in DC. At a Nasa lab, a private company is testing ways to make oxygen on the moon. In Ukraine, stand-up comedians' dark humour is helping people deal with dark times. And finally, a court in Pakistan metes out a punishment fit for a YouTuber's crime. Before you read on, test your news knowledge in this week's quiz.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Trump pardons anti-abortion activists

Vice-President JD Vance addressed the March for Life rally in Washington DC. Credit: Reuters

President Donald Trump has pardoned 23 anti-abortion activists, including some convicted of blockading a reproductive health clinic and intimidating staff and patients. The pardons were signed on Thursday, ahead of the largest annual anti-abortion rally in Washington DC. In 2020, Trump became the first sitting president to attend the March for Life in person. This year, he recorded a message, as he is visiting disaster-hit areas in North Carolina and California. You can get the latest here.

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YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

How to make oxygen on the moon

Nasa's Artemis mission plans to land astronauts on the moon in 2027. Credit: Nasa

Nasa’s Johnson Space Center is hosting an experiment by private company Sierra Space to create oxygen on the moon. Besides allowing humans to breathe, oxygen is also needed to make rocket fuel for spacecraft that might launch from the moon to destinations further afield – including Mars.

What is the biggest challenge of the project?

The regolith, a type of rock material that covers the lunar surface, is full of metal oxides. Much depends on whether we can build reactors to extract these resources effectively. While the science of extracting oxygen from metal oxides is well understood on Earth, doing this on the moon is much harder.

How so?

One issue is the extremely jagged, abrasive texture of the regolith itself, which can wear out the machines used in the process. And the one crucial thing that you can’t test on Earth, or even in orbit around our planet, is lunar gravity – which is roughly one sixth that of the Earth.

How does that affect the oxygen-making process?

Because of the moon’s relatively feeble gravitational pull, oxygen-containing bubbles forming in the regolith do not rise as fast as they do on Earth, hindering the process of extraction.

PICK OF THE WEEK

How comedy provides relief in war time

Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 sparked a renewed interest in Ukrainian comedians. Credit: Oli Zakrevska

As Ukrainian soldiers fight on the front lines, the country's comedians are battling the grim realities of life in a country at war, trying to make people laugh. Making fun of the danger makes it easier to cope with, says one stand-up comedian who spoke to BBC Monitoring Russia editor Vitaliy Shevchenko.

And finally... in Pakistan

A Pakistani YouTube star has been ordered to create 12 animal welfare videos as punishment for illegally owning a lion cub. Rajab Butt, who has 5.6 million subscribers, was pictured with the cub at his wedding after he was given the animal by the owner of another YouTube channel. In a statement, Mr Butt said he regretted accepting the cub and acknowledged that "keeping wild animals in such circumstances is inappropriate".