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Euronaut cadets all set for space mission by 2030

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:57 GMT

COLOGNE, Germany — The European Space Agency wants to make sure that all five of its new astronaut cadets get a mission to the International Space Station before the orbital outpost is retired at the end of the decade.Late last year, the Paris-based ESA selected its final list of five new career astronauts whittled down from 22,000 applicants. The roll call includes prospective space explorers from the U.K., Belgium, Switzerland, Spain and France.“The aim is that before 2030, all of them will have had the chance to fly to space and the International Space Station,” said Frank De Winne, a former Belgian astronaut who now runs the European Astronaut Center.This week, the ESA cadets are closing out the first month of their basic training at the training hub just south of Cologne’s city airport, with a hard deadline to get them mission-ready by May 31 next year.The aim is to have at least one of the five assigned to a specific mission to fly in 2026, De Winne said.The plan to get ...

Germany’s top Green slams radical climate protesters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:57 GMT

BERLIN — Germany’s most senior Green politician, Robert Habeck, has slammed radical activists who glue themselves to the ground to highlight the climate emergency, saying such protests are “unhelpful” and “downright wrong.”Activists from the “Last Generation” movement caused a stir in Germany in recent months by gluing themselves to streets, highways and even airport runways to raise awareness of the need to step up the fight against climate change.Speaking at an election rally in Bremen on Tuesday evening, Habeck, who is vice chancellor and economy minister, sharply criticized these protesters. “With all understanding for the frustration that we are running out of time [to stop global warming]… I think it’s politically wrong how these actions are going, because in a democracy it’s always about creating majorities. And that is recognizably not the case [here],” Habeck said.Some two-thirds of Germans have a negative op...

Ukraine denies it tried to kill Putin in Moscow drone attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:57 GMT

Ukraine has denied that it tried to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin during an overnight drone attack on his official residence in Moscow.Russia claims it foiled a Ukrainian-backed plot to target Putin — but officials in Kyiv have rubbished the Kremlin’s allegations which sparked a storm Wednesday afternoon.“We consider these actions to be a planned terrorist attack and attempt on the life of the President,” the original Kremlin statement said, adding that Putin was “not injured [and] the schedule of his work has not changed.”The Kremlin did not give any evidence that Ukraine had carried out the attack and POLITICO was unable to independently verify the claims.“The Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures where and when it sees fit,” Putin’s office said, adding that two drones headed toward the Kremlin had been destroyed by the Russian military and special services.A series of unverified videos has since...

Texas massacre suspect’s longtime partner arrested after accused gunman captured

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:57 GMT

(CNN) — [Breaking news update, published at 9:29 a.m. ET]The woman who lived with and shares a child with the Texas massacre suspect has been booked into the Montgomery County jail, online sheriff’s records show.Divimara Lamar Nava faces a charge of hindering apprehension or prosecution of a known felon, a third-degree felony. She was arrested at the same place in Montgomery County that suspected gunman Francisco Oropesa was arrested Tuesday night, case records show.[Original story, published at 8:36 a.m. ET]“Several arrests” have been made in connection with the capture of the man suspected of fatally shooting five people last week in a Texas home, and “others are hinging on what’s going on right now,” a sheriff’s deputy said Wednesday.FOLLOW LIVE UPDATESIn addition to accused gunman Francisco Oropesa, fewer than five others have been arrested, Chief Deputy Tim Kean of the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office said. “Bu...

Van collides with school bus on Route 20 in Auburn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:57 GMT

A van collided with a school bus on Route 20 in Auburn Wednesday morning, according to police. The incident happened just after 9 a.m. near Millbury Street. Police say the school bus was empty other than the driver at the time of the crash. It is unclear if anyone was injured. No additional information has been released.https://twitter.com/AuburnMAPolice/status/1653749784065261569

New Hampshire man faces more charges over explosive devices

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:57 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A man accused of lighting two suspected pipe bombs and leaving them to explode in a New Hampshire town, injuring one person, is facing related charges in federal court.Dale Stewart Jr., 54, of Webster, was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Concord on Wednesday on two firearms possession charges regarding a “destructive device” found in his pickup truck, investigators said. An attorney was not listed for him.Last week, two explosive devices went off along roads in the town of Weare. The first one was near a home and caused a small fire. A passer-by was injured when he went to take a closer look at the second one, police said.Stewart pleaded not guilty last week to state charges of throwing or placing explosives and possession of an infernal machine, among others. A judge ordered that Stewart remain in jail and receive a mental health evaluation.The federal charges allege that the device found in Stewart’s truck last week was consistent...

Experimental Alzheimer’s drug slows cognitive declines in large trial, drugmaker Eli Lilly says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:57 GMT

(CNN) — An experimental Alzheimer’s medication slowed declines in patients’ ability to think clearly and perform daily tasks by more than a third in a large clinical trial, drugmaker Eli Lilly said Wednesday.Based on the results, in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease, Lilly said it plans to file for approval from the US Food and Drug Administration by the end of June.The medicine, donanemab, works by removing plaque buildups in the brain known as amyloid that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. However, there were some side effects reported; there were three deaths in the trial among people taking the drug, two of which were attributed to adverse events such as brain swelling or microhemorrhages, known as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities or ARIA. The trial was run in more than 1,700 patients for 18 months.“For every medicine, for every disease, there are potential risks and potential benefits,” said Lilly’s chief...

Russia says it foiled an alleged attack on Kremlin, Putin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:57 GMT

MOSCOW — Russian authorities accused Ukraine on Wednesday of attempting to attack the Kremlin with two drones overnight in an effort to assassinate President Vladimir Putin.The Kremlin decried the alleged attack attempt as a “terrorist act” and said Russian military and security forces “disabled” the drones before they could strike. It did not elaborate.A statement on the Kremlin’s website said debris from the unmanned aerial vehicles fell on the grounds of the seat of Russia’s government but did not cause any damage. The statement, which did not explain what caused the drones to break up, said no casualties were reported.A video published overnight on a local Moscow news Telegram channel, which appeared to have been shot across the river from the Kremlin, showed what looked like smoke rising over the Kremlin.According to the text accompanying the video, residents of a nearby apartment building reported hearing bangs and seeing smoke at around 2:30 a.m. local time (7:30 p.m. Eastern...

Fed expected to raise key interest rate amid banking turmoil

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:57 GMT

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER (AP Economics Writer)WASHINGTON (AP) — Poised to raise interest rates Wednesday for a 10th time, Federal Reserve officials are facing two competing economic trends that could make their future rate decisions more difficult and treacherous.On the one hand, turmoil in the banking sector and political battles over the government’s borrowing limit could weaken the economy if banks restrict lending and financial markets tumble on fears of a default on the nation’s debt. Such anxieties would argue against further rate hikes, at least for now.On the other hand, inflation, while slowing, is persisting at a level far above the central bank’s 2% target rate, raising concerns that the Fed might have to further tighten credit to slow price increases. Additional rate hikes would follow — a trend that would lead to ever-higher borrowing rates and heighten the risk of a recession.The wide range of potential outcomes could provoke divisions among Fed officials, even as they’r...

UN humanitarian chief in Sudan, seeking guarantees on aid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:57 GMT

PORT SUDAN, Sudan (AP) — The U.N.’s humanitarian chief arrived in Sudan’s main seaport on Wednesday, as thousands of Sudanese and foreign nationals gathered there in hopes of fleeing the conflict-torn east African country. Martin Griffiths, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator at the United Nations, tweeted that he came to the city of Port Sudan to affirm the U.N.’s commitment to the Sudanese people. His arrival in the Red Sea port came on the last day of a shaky truce, meant to expire at midnight, that has done little to quell the fighting. It also comes amid increasing concern about the humanitarian situation for those trapped and displaced by the fighting, which is the result of a power struggle between the country’s two top generals. But questions remain over how U.N. agencies can operate with limited staff and supplies amid the chaos. More than a week after the brutal fighting erupted in the country’s capi...