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Virgin Galactic launches space tourists

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:46:04 GMT

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. — Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness.This first private customer flight had been delayed for years; its success means Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic can now start offering monthly rides, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business.“That was by far the most awesome thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said Jon Goodwin, who competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics.Goodwin, 80, was among the first to buy a Virgin Galactic ticket in 2005 and feared, after later being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, that he’d be out of luck. Since then he’s climbed...

Hawaii wildfires turn the vibrant town of Lahaina into a scene of desolation. Follow live updates

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:46:04 GMT

By REBECCA BOONE (Associated Press)Follow live updates about wildfires racing across part of Maui in Hawaii, destroying sections of a historic town on the island and forcing some to flee to the relative safety of the ocean, where the Coast Guard rescued them. The fires forced evacuations in some areas, including the popular tourist spot of Lahaina. The National Weather Service says Hurricane Dora, which is passing south of the island chain at a safe distance, was partly to blame for strong winds driving the flames, knocking out power and grounding firefighting helicopters.The images and stories coming out of the historic town of Lahaina paint an increasingly grim scene as Hawaii’s emergency responders work to rescue victims and control wildfires that have ravaged parts of Maui this week.A flyover of the Lahaina area Thursday showed normally vibrant communities had been reduced to gray and black. Street after street was nothing but rubble and foundation, said Associated Press v...

Supreme Court blocks bankruptcy deal with liability shield for Sackler family

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:46:04 GMT

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would shield members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids.The justices agreed to a request from the Biden administration to put the brakes on an agreement reached last year with state and local governments. In addition, the high court will hear arguments before the end of the year over whether the settlement can proceed.The deal would allow the company to emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used to fight the opioid epidemic. Members of the Sackler family would contribute up to $6 billion.But a key component of the agreement would shield family members, who are not seeking bankruptcy protection as individuals, from lawsuits.The U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee, represented by the Justice Department, opposes releasing the Sackler family from legal liability.The justices directed the parties to address whe...

How to help or donate in response to the deadly wildfire in Maui

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:46:04 GMT

By Thalia Beaty, Associated PressWhile rescue and emergency operations continued Thursday at the deadly wildfires that swept across the Hawaiian island of Maui, many people are already looking for ways to support the response and provide relief to those affected.The full extent of the damage and the recovery needs may not be known for up to a week, said Regine Webster, vice president of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, and she urged people to be patient before deciding where to give their support.“You literally have to wait for the firefighters to complete their work before that damage assessment can be fully realized,” she said.Related ArticlesNation | Live Maui map: Here’s where the deadly wildfires are raging now Nation | Maui wildfire: Before and after photos show devastation Nation | Photos: Maui reels from deadliest U.S. wildfire since 2018 Camp Fire Philanthropy experts recommend giving to experienced organizations that are...

Hammerhead shark spotted far off Cape Cod coast, white shark seen 30 yards off Orleans beach

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:46:04 GMT

A hammerhead shark was recently spotted far off the Cape Cod coast during a New England Aquarium aerial survey of a marine protected area.The hammerhead was one of more than 700 ocean animals that researchers saw in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the only marine national monument in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean.The New England Aquarium scientists flew above the biodiversity hotspot 150 miles off the coast of Cape Cod last week, capturing photos of fin whales and pilot whales along with bottlenose, striped, and Risso’s dolphins.The researchers also spotted Chilean devil rays, manta rays, common dolphins, sunfish, and the hammerhead shark.“The Aquarium has been documenting the marine mammal biodiversity in the Monument for seven years, and every aerial survey flight is breathtaking,” said Orla O’Brien, an associate scientist in the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.“Our photos only scratch the surface of the o...

Holy Cross quarterback Matt Sluka leads an offensive juggernaut

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:46:04 GMT

WORCESTER — Holy Cross quarterback Matt Sluka has the luxury of multiple options to work with in the 2023 season.That’s a welcome relief for the can-do field general who is no longer required to do it all for the Crusaders’ offense. The 6-3, 216-pound senior from Locust Valley, N.Y., has the pieces in place to replicate the high-volume offense from 2022.Holy Cross went undefeated in the regular season (11-0) for the third time in program history and reached the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs. Holy Cross is the preseason pick to repeat as Patriot League champions and ranked No. 6 in the FCS Coaches Poll.“This year it is more about finding playmakers and getting them the ball and our offense is stacked,” said Sluka, during the Crusaders’ media day on Thursday morning at Fitton Field.“Being able to get anyone the ball in space and allow them to make plays is going to be the key to our offense. It is almost like there are not enough plays to get everyone the ball and it has been grea...

Turnover at POST Commission as one commissioner joins, another plans to leave

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:46:04 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey appointed a police chief to the state’s powerful panel that licenses law enforcement in Massachusetts on Thursday just as another commissioner is quitting.Healey tapped Framingham Police Department Chief Lester Baker to serve on the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission. Baker, who was sworn in virtually before a morning meeting, replaces Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn.As Baker joins, officials told the Herald that Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell are nearing a decision on Chaplain Clementina Chéry’s replacement. Chéry sent a letter in March informing the pair that she intended to resign from her POST commissionership on April 14 or upon the appointment of her successor, whichever came later.In the March 23 letter obtained by the Herald, Chéry said she believed it was time to return to giving her “undivided attention” to the Louis D. Brown Institute, which she leads and co-founded.“I am thus ready to let another deserving individual have ...

Dye & Durham completes sale of TM Group to Aurelius

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:46:04 GMT

TORONTO — Dye & Durham Ltd. says it has completed the sale of its TM Group business to alternative investment firm Aurelius in an agreement worth up to 91 million pounds.The previously announced sale came after a British competition regulator took issue with the software company’s acquisition of the business in 2021. The company announced the acquisition of TM Group (UK) Ltd. in July 2021 in a deal worth about 91.5 million pounds.However, the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ordered the sale of the acquisition after it found it would “substantially” lessen competition in property search reports in England and Wales.Dye & Durham previously said it plans to use the net proceeds it receives at closing to reduce debt.In a previous release announcing the deal, CEO Matthew Proud said Dye & Durham plans to seek new merger and acquisition opportunities in the United Kingdom to continue to grow its business.This report by The Canadi...

FEC moves toward potentially regulating AI deepfakes in campaign ads

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:46:04 GMT

The Federal Election Commission has begun a process to potentially regulate AI-generated deepfakes in political ads ahead of the 2024 election, a move advocates say would safeguard voters against a particularly insidious form of election disinformation.The FEC’s unanimous procedural vote on Thursday advances a petition asking it to regulate ads that use artificial intelligence to misrepresent political opponents as saying or doing something they didn’t — a stark issue that is already being highlighted in the current 2024 GOP presidential primary. Though the circulation of convincing fake images, videos or audio clips is not new, innovative generative AI tools are making them cheaper, easier to use, and more likely to manipulate public perception. As a result, some presidential campaigns in the 2024 race — including that of Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis — already are using them to persuade voters. The Republican National Committee in April released an entirely AI-generated ad meant t...

A Georgia teacher wants to overturn her firing for reading a book to students about gender identity

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:46:04 GMT

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia public school teacher took the stand Thursday trying to reverse her firing after officials said she improperly read a book on gender fluidity to her fifth grade class.Katie Rinderle had been a teacher for 10 years when she got into trouble in March for reading the picture book “My Shadow Is Purple” at Due West Elementary School in suburban Atlanta’s Cobb County.The case has drawn wide attention as a test of what public school teachers can teach in class, how much a school system can control teachers and whether parents can veto instruction they dislike. It comes amid a nationwide conservative backlash to books and teaching about LGBTQ+ subjects in school.“This termination is unrelated to education,” Craig Goodmark, the lawyer defending Rinderle, argued Thursday. “It exists to create political scapegoats for the elected leadership of this district. Reading a children’s book to children is not against the law.”Officials in Cobb County, ...