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An Angara 1.2 rocket launches the Kosmos 2560 satellite, thought to be called EMKA-3, into orbit from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on Oct. 15, 2022. Another trio in the Kosmos series — Kosmos 2581, 2582 and 2583 — launched in February 2025 and shortly thereafter released a mystery object into orbit. (Image credit: Roscosmos) ******************************************************************** A trio of secretive Russian satellites launched earlier this year has released a mysterious object into orbit, sparking interest among space trackers and analysts. The three satellites, designated Kosmos 2581, 2582 and 2583, launched on a Soyuz-2.1V rocket from Plesetsk cosmodrome early on Feb....

The U.S. government has banned American government personnel in China, as well as family members and contractors with security clearances, from any romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens, The Associated Press has learned. Four people with direct knowledge of the matter told the AP about the policy, which was put into effect by departing U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns in January shortly before he left China. The people would speak only on condition of anonymity to discuss details of a confidential new directive. Though some U.S. agencies already had strict rules on such relationships, a blanket “non-fraternization” policy, as it...

The American Alliance for Equal Rights reported the groups to the IRS over their discriminatory scholarships and programs.. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and two other nonprofit organizations have come under fire for allegedly implementing scholarship and career advancement programs that discriminate against white Americans, potentially violating federal law and jeopardizing their tax-exempt status. The American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) reported three organizations, the Gates Foundation, the Lagrant Foundation, and the Creative Capital Foundation, in letters to the IRS, claiming the nonprofits have “intentionally” discriminated against white people. These cases of discrimination, AAER says, constitute “sufficient grounds” for...

Calling “shotgun” to ride in the front seat may no longer be an option for small-sized California middle and high schoolers. Citing crash statistics that show small-framed children, regardless of age, are disproportionately hurt in crashes when not in the back seat or using a booster seat, traffic safety advocates are pushing for a controversial bill that would ban teens up to 16 years old from sitting in the front seat if they’re not tall enough.

Data table...Grant number...applicant name...

I am looking for links to original videos/photos from inside the capital building when Ashli Babbitt was shot. Not outside in the hallway (which are easily available) but inside the room showing the barricades. Specifically I want to see several 'claims' are true: 1. That Senators/Congress people were in the room and they had to be protected. Frequently quoted as justification for shooting. 2. That the Shooter (Michael Byrd) was alone (not with other security near the door) and he warned people not to come through. 3. Actual videos of the glass and doors being broken before Ashli Babbitt tried...

Key Points “That is what I see, that Donald Trump will buckle under pressure, that he corrects his announcements under pressure,” German economy minister Robert Habeck said Thursday. Elsewhere, outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he believed the latest tariff decisions by Trump were “fundamentally wrong,” according to a CNBC translation. On Wednesday, Trump imposed 20% levies on the European Union, including on the bloc’s foremost economy Germany. ****************************************************************

World leaders across the globe are reacting to President Donald Trump’s "Liberation Day" tariff announcements, with some expressing disappointment and others making threats. On Wednesday, the president announced a baseline tariff of 10% on imports, in addition to reciprocal tariffs based on what each nation imposes on U.S. goods. Trump believes these tariffs will incentivize foreign investment in the U.S. and spur domestic job growth. While several U.S. allies articulated their frustration with the tariffs, they also expressed a lack of interest in launching trade wars. Many called for negotiations with the U.S. for new trade agreements. European Commission President...

A Texas high school star athlete was stabbed in the heart and left to die in his loving twin brother’s arms following a fight over a seat at a track meet, the boy’s heartbroken father said. Austin Metcalf was attending a track and field championship between other area schools at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco, Texas, when the fatal attack happened on April 2. Metcalf, a junior at Frisco ISD’s Memorial High School, was in the stands at the stadium when a confrontation broke out between the teen and 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony. Anthony, a senior at Centennial High School, was allegedly...

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) continues to buy unprecedented amounts of gold as the global financial is deleveraging (i.e. investors exchange credit assets for gold). In 2024, the Chinese central bank covertly bought 570 tonnes, encouraging gold’s ascent in global international reserves by 4%, the largest gain in four decades. Gargantuan Gold Purchases by the Chinese Central Bank This article is an analysis of formal and informal sources that indicate the PBoC is currently sitting on more than 5,000 tonnes of monetary gold located in Beijing – more than TWICE what has been publicly admitted. Legacy media outlets routinely...

The president launched a new chapter in U.S. trade, imposing a 10 percent universal tariff on trading partners and higher reciprocal levies on some.. WASHINGTON—Just 72 days after taking office, President Donald Trump announced on April 2 sweeping trade policy changes, introducing what he called “reciprocal tariffs” for all countries and declaring it “Liberation Day in America.” For decades, the United States has kept low trade barriers, promoting free trade agreements with minimal or zero tariffs—at least on its part. Those days are now over. ​​At a White House event, Trump presented a large chart outlining baseline and reciprocal tariff...

This is news to me. I've heard of some disruptions with some of our vendors in Canada. How does anyone function with the regular mail being down?

Everyone including me was apoplectic over President Trump’s full-throated endorsement of Lindsey Graham for his 2026 Senate race. What was POTUS thinking? Graham is a RINO, a war hawk. This man hates MAGA. Lindsey Graham said Trump-supporters embrace “demagoguery,” called MAGA “bats--- crazy,” said Trump’s foreign policy is “gibberish,” that Trump doesn’t have the “temperament or judgment” to be president. Then Graham lined up with the real January 6 insurgents (Democrats) and attacked MAGA as violent. He tried to implicate President Trump in the alleged “insurrection.” He said, “Those responsible for Capitol security, including our political leaders, must also be...

Pittsburgh police have reopened Grant Street to one lane after it was closed to traffic in Downtown Pittsburgh as at least two manhole covers along the thoroughfare popped loose, one with a thunderous boom, around noon Tuesday. The cause was traced to a fire affecting high voltage wires under Grant Street, according to Emily Bourne, a police spokeswoman. Pressure built up beneath the street and dislodged the manhole covers, she said. People could feel the initial blast a block away at the Allegheny County Courthouse. No one was injured, according to Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt.

Key Points Stellantis is pausing production at two assembly plants in Canada and Mexico as the company attempts to navigate President Donald Trump’s new round of 25% automotive tariffs. The actions will result in roughly 900 U.S.-represented employees at supporting plants getting temporarily laid off in addition to roughly 4,500 hourly workers at the Canadian plant. ****************************************************************************

What happened in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon can’t be underestimated, an undeniable shot heard throughout the world of global trade. President Donald Trump imposed a nearly universal 10% tax on most foreign products entering the United States, and in so doing ended the era of free trade. The legacy of Trump’s gamble won’t be written in the first few weeks after the imposition of these new and historic tariffs – though legacy news media will try to gauge it through the certain volatility of investment markets in the next few weeks. Rather, the verdict will be...

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services in February, he promised “radical transparency” and declared that “both science and democracy flourish from the free and unimpeded flow of information.” But when the Trump administration laid off thousands of employees on Tuesday, the targets included the very people who communicated the health department’s work to Americans....

Popular nursing influencer Hailey Okula — who gained hundreds of thousands of followers sharing her struggles getting pregnant — has died of complications from giving birth to her first child. Okula — an ER nurse known online as Nurse Hailey — died from unspecified complications after giving birth to her son, Crew, late last month, her husband, Matthew Okula, wrote on Instagram Tuesday. Nurse Hailey grew her large following from sharing her infertility struggles in a two-year journey to get pregnant through IVF. When she was finally able to share the good news in September, she told her followers: “Being...

[We republish from our edition of yesterday the following official account of the battle on Friday:] FIRST DISPATCH. [OFFICIAL.] WASHINGTON, April 1, 1865. Maj.-Gen. Dix: The following telegram in relation to the military operations now going on at the front was received this morning. Nothing later has reached this department. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. CITY POINT, Va., March 31, 1865 -- 3 P.M. Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War: At 12:30 P.M. to-day, Gen. GRANT telegraphed me as follows: "These has been much hard fighting this morning. The enemy drove our left from near Dabney's House back...

Rashida Tlaib and Wisam Rafeedie to speak at PACC's 7th Annual Conference: (photo credit: PACC, screenshot) Rafeedie, who ran a clandestine publishing house for the PFLP during the 1980s, also appeared at the same conference as Tlaib in May.