Admins
SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew successfully complete first commercial spacewalk
A tech billionaire and one other crew member stepped out for the first private spacewalk Thursday, teaming up with SpaceX on an endeavour hundreds of miles above Earth that’s been reserved until now for professional astronauts. Entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and his crew waited until their capsule was depressurized before popping open the hatch. “Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, it sure looks like a perfect world,” said Isaacman. This spacewalk was simple and quick — less than two hours — compared withRead more
How Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris might impact the U.S. presidential election
Taylor Swift is nobody’s idea of an opening act, and she followed Kamala Harris’s first U.S. presidential debate performance minutes later by endorsing the Democratic nominee. Swift made the endorsement for the Nov. 5 presidential election in an Instagram post to her 283 million followers, calling Harris a “steady-handed, gifted leader.” “There were people this morning on my TikTok page who were literally crying because of this news, just crying out of joy and relief,” said Brian Donovan, a University of Kansas professor who teaches a course called The SociologyRead more
Hunter Biden pleads guilty trial in tax case in surprise move to avoid trial
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to federal tax charges Thursday in a surprise move that spares President Joe Biden and his family another likely embarrassing and painful criminal trial of the president’s son. Hunter Biden’s stunning decision to guilty plea to misdemeanor and felony charges without the benefits of a deal with prosecutors came hours after jury selection was supposed to begin in the case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. “Enough is enough,” defence attorney Abbe Lowell told the judge before Hunter Biden enteredRead more
U.K. competition watchdog probing use of ‘dynamic pricing’ in Oasis ticket debacle
Britain’s competition watchdog on Thursday launched an investigation into Ticketmaster over the sale of Oasis tickets, including the use of “dynamic pricing” to hike the cost to fans at the last minute. Thousands of fans waited long hours in virtual queues last weekend to get their hands on tickets for the British band’s reunion shows next summer, only to find that prices had jumped in a “dynamic pricing” scheme. Many thought they would pay the advertised rate of £148.50 ($264) but ended up paying more than double at £355.20 ($632).Read more
Canada still hasn’t recognized the likely winner of Venezuela’s election — Venezuelans want to know why
Some Venezuelan-Canadians say the Trudeau government has failed to stand up for democracy in its response to the July 28 Venezuelan presidential election — an election tainted by widespread evidence of fraud and a government campaign of arrests, disappearances and torture of poll workers. Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia ruled out seeking asylum abroad yesterday after a judge loyal to the Nicolas Maduro regime issued a warrant for his arrest on Monday. Global Affairs Canada condemned the arrest warrant in a media statement. Gonzalez was still in hiding when this articleRead more
Trump pleads not guilty to revised federal indictment in 2020 election case
Lawyers for Donald Trump entered a not guilty plea on his behalf on Thursday in a Washington, D.C., court in relation to a revised indictment filed in a federal election subversion case. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team filed last week to strip out certain allegations of the original indictment handed down in 2023, after a momentous U.S. Supreme Court ruling this summer that set out limits on when former presidents could be subject to criminal prosecution. The former U.S. president faces four charges related to plotting to overturn the results ofRead more
Brazil shutters X amid judge’s feud with Elon Musk
Brazil started blocking Elon Musk’s social media platform X early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through its mobile app after the company refused to comply with a judge’s order. X missed a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to name a legal representative in Brazil, triggering the suspension. It marks an escalation in the months-long feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. To block X, Brazil’s telecommunications regulator, Anatel, told internet service providers to suspend users’Read more
Harris’s first campaign interview a spring cleaning for her political resumé
Kamala Harris’s first sit-down interview as a presidential candidate won’t be the sort of television moment history remembers for better, or for worse. History rarely recalls a closet decluttering. Thursday’s exchange with CNN included her tossing out old bits of her political resumé that risk hampering her current run, as she faced her first questions about past positions and why they shifted. Does she still support a ban on oil fracking? Nope – not anymore. When asked what changed, it wasn’t quite clear. Decriminalize illegal border-crossings? Against that too now. WhatRead more
2024 U.S. election: Will faster ballot counting prevent a 2020-style meltdown?
A young state senator in Michigan foresaw trouble before the last U.S. presidential election, warning of looming chaos in the counting of votes. In fairness, this hardly required clairvoyance: the potential for problems was apparent, even months before the 2020 vote, with analysts, including CBC News, predicting near-certain bedlam. It would take days to properly count Democrats’ votes because they tended to vote more often by mail, especially during the pandemic, and those mailed ballots would take longer to process; and Donald Trump would exploit that delay to delegitimize the election.Read more
Alaska governor declares disaster after Ketchikan landslide kills 1, hospitalizes 3 others
One person was killed by a landslide that prompted a mandatory evacuation in the Alaska city of Ketchikan, authorities said. Three people were also transported to the Ketchikan Medical Center following the landslide, which struck around 4 p.m. local time Sunday and damaged homes and infrastructure, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and City of Ketchikan said in a joint statement Sunday. All other individuals have been accounted for, the statement said. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared a disaster for Ketchikan, while Borough Mayor Rodney Dial and city Mayor Dave Kiffer issued aRead more