Los Angeles

Instrument malfunctions on Mars-bound rover

An instrument aboard one of the two NASA rovers en route to Mars has malfunctioned, prompting worries it could harm the robot’s information-gathering ability, a scientist said Wednesday.

If left unfixed, the instrument could still determine the presence of iron-bearing minerals in the rocks and soil on the Martian surface, but not their relative abundance, said Steve Squyres, of Cornell University.

Scientists hope that testing the minerals will help solve the riddle of whether Mars was ever a warmer, wetter place capable of sustaining life.

Washington, D.C.

U.S. calls on Libya to pay up on Pan Am 103

The State Department on Wednesday urged Libya to take responsibility for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and to compensate families of the victims as required by the U.N. Security Council.

Formal Libyan acceptance of responsibility could come as early as Aug. 14, in a note to the Security Council. If the notification is deemed credible, that could lead to a lifting of U.N. sanctions.

London

95.7 degrees a heat record

Londoners experienced the hottest day in the city’s history Wednesday when the temperature hit 95.7 degrees Fahrenheit, beating the 95 degrees recorded in 1990.

Elsewhere, roadways buckled under the scorching sun in Germany, water levels on rivers dropped, and wildfires forced people to flee as record-breaking heat, blamed for at least 37 deaths, tormented Europe.

Experts from Italy’s state-funded CNR research center said the heat wave was among the five worst in the past 150 years. They linked the combination of exceptional heat and drought to intense monsoon activity in Africa and said the situation would likely last until September.