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SpaceX/SpaceX/TNS

SpaceX knocks out 1st of pair of Space Coast launches for the weekend

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SpaceX sent up one rocket Saturday and has one more set for Sunday from the Space Coast.

First up was a Falcon 9 on the Galileo L12 mission carrying global navigation satellites for the European Commission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 8:34 p.m.

The first-stage booster flew for a record-tying 20th time, but was expended getting ...Read more

Hollie Adams/Getty Images North America/TNS

UK's Sunak says Rwanda flights plan is having a deterrent effect

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Concerns that asylum seekers are relocating from the U.K. to the Republic of Ireland show that the British government’s plan for deportations to Rwanda is already acting as a deterrent to illegal immigration, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.

In an interview with Sky’s "Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips" program, Sunak said that the ...Read more

Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/TNS

Bird flu confirmed in Colorado dairy cows as outbreak spreads

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture found bird flu in northeast Colorado dairy cows this week, according to state officials.

This is the first time avian flu has been diagnosed in Colorado cattle, the state Department of Agriculture said in its announcement.

Bird flu in dairy cows has been confirmed in eight other states, the USDA said. Those ...Read more

Ukraine gets Australian funding pledge for air defense, drones

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Australia has ramped up military aid for Ukraine, with A$100 million ($65 million) in new funding to go toward short-range air defense systems, drone development and other equipment needed in the nation’s war against Russia.

“While Ukraine is here fighting for its sovereignty and for its nation, it is also fighting for the maintenance of ...Read more

TNS

Florida boy, 14, accidentally kills 11-year-old brother with gun found in alley

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A 14-year-old Florida boy accidentally killed his 11-year-old brother while playing with a gun he found in an alley near their home, police in St. Petersburg said Friday.

The incident occurred shortly after 12 p.m. Upon responding to reports of a child being shot in a home, officers found 11-year-old Amir Williams with his two older siblings.

...Read more

Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/TNS

2024 on track to be deadliest year in a decade for NYC pedestrians, motorists

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NEW YORK — Seventy-eight people in New York have been killed this year in traffic crashes, according to city data, putting 2024 on track to be the deadliest year since the start of the city’s Vision Zero traffic safety program in 2014.

The deadly statistics follow those of 2023, which had a particularly low rate of pedestrian deaths, the ...Read more

Patrick Semansky/Pool/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Blinken bound for Saudi Arabia in latest Middle East visit

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WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia Monday for his seventh Middle East trip since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, setting off a war in Gaza that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and threatened to widen into a regional conflict.

Fresh from a visit to Beijing and Shanghai, the top U.S. diplomat will...Read more

Alex Kormann/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS

'We've waited long enough': Minneapolis education support workers authorize strike

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MINNEAPOLIS — Members of the union representing Minneapolis teachers voted Friday to authorize a strike, staging a potential walkout for scores of education workers.

Support professionals with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers voted to authorize the strike Friday night. At least 92% voted in favor. The vote allows union leaders to call a...Read more

Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/TNS

Central Park robbery spree has visitors on edge; taking precautions

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NEW YORK — A major uptick of muggings in Central Park — including three violent robberies within a 28-hour span — has left parkgoers on edge, wondering if they will be targeted next, visitors to the iconic greenspace said Saturday.

“It’s a little unnerving,” Upper West Side resident Deborah Moralez said about the jump in robberies ...Read more

Ritu Jethani/Dreamstime/TNS

Fulton Bank takes over Republic after Pa. declares Philly's largest bank 'unsafe and unsound'

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PHILADELPHIA — Fulton Financial Corp. of Lancaster will roughly double its presence in the Philadelphia area by taking over $4 billion in customer deposits, nearly $3 billion in loans, and 30 area branches from the long-troubled Republic Bank of Philadelphia.

Republic was seized by Pennsylvania’s banking department and its assets ...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

Columbia University is being torn in 2 by anger, hurt amid Gaza protest encampments

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NEW YORK — The tent demonstrations over the war in Gaza that have roiled Columbia University for the last two weeks have sparked anger and debate, and exploded into a national phenomenon.

But while the high-profile protests and calls for the resignation of the Columbia president seize public attention, a damaging and perhaps lasting change is...Read more

Vivien Killilea/Getty Images North America/TNS

Bill Maher slams pro-Palestine protesters as ignorant, unemployed narcissists

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Bill Maher isn’t mincing words when it comes to pro-Palestine protesters, who have been demonstrating across the country this week amid the months-long war in Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre of Israeli civilians.

In Friday night’s “New Rule” segment of HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” the Emmy Award winner dubbed such ...Read more

Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Carvalho faults alleged actions of school safety worker who failed to stop fatal fight

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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles school district has removed a campus-safety contractor from Washington Preparatory High School after an adult — who apparently worked for the contractor — refused to intervene before a fight that ended with the death of a student, schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho said Friday.

The fight began after an individual...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Tick-borne Powassan virus reported in Massachusetts: 'The virus can invade the central nervous system'

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BOSTON — A confirmed case of the tick-borne Powassan virus has been reported in the Bay State, according to officials who are warning residents to take precautions against the disease.

The Sharon Health Department has confirmed the town’s first case of Powassan virus — which like Lyme disease, is transmitted through infected ticks.

...Read more

Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

100 protesters detained as Northeastern Police break up Israel-Hamas war protest

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BOSTON — Police broke up a protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from Israel at Northeastern University following similar breakups at other Greater Boston universities including Emerson and Tufts and other universities around the country.

The break-up of the encampment began earlier Saturday morning on the campus’ ...Read more

Jonathan Weiss/Dreamstime/TNS

Southern California woman pleads guilty in $150 million counterfeit postage scheme

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LOS ANGELES — A San Gabriel Valley woman who was accused of using counterfeit postage on tens of millions of packages pleaded guilty Friday to defrauding the United States Postal Service out of more than $150 million.

Lijuan "Angela" Chen, 51, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and one count of using counterfeit ...Read more

Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Key Bridge collapse: By the numbers, a month later

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BALTIMORE — A month after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, federal, state and local authorities as well as local community organizations have banded together to focus on recovery efforts.

On March 26, the Key Bridge collapsed after a support pillar was struck by the container ship Dali, killing six construction workers and leaving tons...Read more

Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Cal Poly Humboldt closes campus for rest of semester over Gaza protests

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EUREKA, Calif. — Cal Poly Humboldt officials are closing the campus for the remainder of the semester with classwork continuing remotely, as pro-Palestinian student activists refuse to end their occupation of two academic buildings.

This closure means that anyone on campus without authorization by University Police is subject to citation or ...Read more

Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images of North America/TNS

Divest-or-ban law rattles TikTok influencers pushing pro-Biden content

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WASHINGTON — When President Joe Biden returned to the White House after delivering his State of the Union address, 23-year-old TikTok influencer Awa Sanneh joined roaring cheers alongside administration staffers gathered on the mansion’s back porch.

Biden told the group “how important” social media content is to reach Gen-Z voters, ...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

Columbia won't call on NYPD to clear pro-Gaza protesters' tent city again

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NEW YORK — Columbia University administrators on Saturday vowed not to bring the New York City Police Department in to clear out a pro-Gaza tent city on the school’s property, claiming that police intervention would only inflame an already tense situation.

“We called on the NYPD to clear an encampment once, but we all share the view, ...Read more