"NASA's Ingenuity helicopter has made the first-ever powered flight on another planet, 117 years after the Wright Brothers' historic flight on this planet… The flight itself was modest. The 4-pound helicopter rose 10 feet in the air, hovered briefly, and returned to the Martian surface. An images taken from the craft showed Ingenuity's shadow on the surface and another taken from the Perseverance rover showed an airborne Ingenuity."
"Starship SN15 is expected to undergo a Static Fire test as early as Tuesday to clear the path for a test flight no earlier than Wednesday as SpaceX’s rapidly reusable interplanetary launch and landing system gained a massive sign of NASA approval – and a ton of government cash to boot… SpaceX was the sole winner of NASA’s initial Human Landing System (HLS) award worth in total more than $2.9 billion, meaning the human return to the Moon’s surface will be via Starship."
"An 'out of control' fire is burning in Cape Town's Table Mountain National Park, damaging buildings and prompting the evacuation of hikers from the city's most famous landmark, South African officials said Sunday… Two firefighters were injured and admitted to the hospital and nine structures were destroyed in the blaze, Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson for the Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services, told CNN in an email on Sunday."
"The White House is hosting a two-day summit on climate change this week where leaders from 40 countries will discuss plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately reverse global warming… The summit highlights the United States' return to the Paris climate agreement, and it is the Biden administration's first major opportunity to reestablish the country as a trustworthy player in international climate diplomacy."
"More than 200 tons of fossilized giant clam shells, worth nearly $25 million, were seized in a joint law enforcement raid in the Philippines' province of Palawan Friday. The Philippine Coast Guard said the haul was the largest to date in the province."
"This has fuelled an incredibly lucrative trade in the endangered animals (sea cucumbers), one that has grown steadily in recent decades. In the 1980s, sea cucumbers fetched less than £50 a kilo; now prices have risen to more than £200 a kilo, with rarer species valued at more than £2,500 a kilo."
"A suspected poacher was killed by a herd of breeding elephants that he encountered while fleeing from park rangers, according to South African officials… Three people attempted to run away after they were spotted by rangers at the Kruger National Park, one of Africa's largest game reserves, on Saturday, South African National Parks officials said." Sometimes, senior, the bull no lose. Well, they were attempting to poach a rhino. They just ran the wrong way.
"The United States has reached another important milestone in the race to protect its population against the coronavirus, with more than a quarter of Americans now fully vaccinated against Covid-19… More than 84 million people -- roughly 25.4% of the population -- have been fully vaccinated, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released Sunday."
"Resuming the use of Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N) COVID-19 vaccine in the United States will require clear guidelines for the medical community on how to best treat patients that develop a rare type of blood clot, as well as alerting vaccine recipients to be aware of the telltale symptoms, according to heart doctors and other medical experts."
"Otters at an aquarium in Atlanta have tested positive for Covid-19 but are expected to make full recoveries… 'They began exhibiting mild respiratory symptoms such as sneezing, runny noses, mild lethargy, and some began coughing,' the Georgia Aquarium said in a statement… The aquarium said the Asian small-clawed otters are doing well." The more animals the virus can infect, the more chances it has to mutate.
"Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, has reached a new deal with reduced tax breaks for its scaled back manufacturing facility in southeast Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers and the the company announced on Monday."
"Authorities are looking for whoever opened fire at a tavern in southeast Wisconsin overnight, killing three people and seriously wounding two others, the Kenosha County sheriff said… Gunfire broke out both inside and outside the The Somers House tavern around 12:40 a.m. Sunday, Sheriff David G. Beth said."
"Vandals threw a pig's head at the onetime home of a former California police officer who was a defense witness for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer accused of killing George Floyd, police said."
"A manhunt was underway Sunday for a former sheriff’s deputy wanted in the fatal shooting of three people in Austin, Texas, as an official said it wasn’t known if the suspect was still in the city."
"The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a Kentucky man whose pickup truck was seized at the Mexican border and held by the federal government for more than two years." Property seizure laws need reforming.
"Flexible hours for working parents, daycare centers at the office, equal pay. Between the 1960s and 1980s, there was a real sense that big workplace changes were just beyond the horizon… At the time a very common job for women was clerical work. And in 1973, a group of secretaries in Boston formed a women's labor organization. They called themselves the '9to5.'" The Planet Money podcast on the making of "9 to 5" and how workers gained rights and then lost them.
"From the Johnson & Johnson pause to talk of “break-through cases” among the already-vaccinated, we’re facing an onslaught of dispiriting and confusing vaccine news. On this week’s On The Media, a guide to separating the facts from the noise. Plus, why pro-labor journalists got the story of an Amazon warehouse union drive so wrong. And, how media coverage of labor movements has morphed over the past century."
"The Czech Republic said on Sunday it had informed NATO and European Union allies about suspected Russian involvement in a 2014 ammunition depot explosion and the matter would be addressed at an E.U. foreign ministers' meeting on Monday… The central European country expelled 18 Russian embassy staff on Saturday over the issue and said investigations had linked Russian intelligence to the explosion, which killed two people."
"The Justice Department said Friday that a Nazi sympathizer who stormed the US Capitol on January 6 poses a threat to Jewish residents in his native New Jersey and therefore shouldn't be released from jail." Wow, all these stories about the economically concerned… okay, I can't even finish that joke. Fucking Nazis are involved, you say?
"Conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is scrapping the planned launch of her "America First" caucus after receiving blowback from leaders in her own party, despite confirming through a spokesperson on Friday that the caucus would launch… Nick Dyer, Greene's spokesperson, told CNN in an email on Saturday afternoon the Georgia Republican is not 'launching anything.'" Such disingenuous bullshit. Uh uh, I didn't write it, I didn't even read it before :: checks notes :: she threw her full support behind it and said it was her idea.
"Rep. Maxine Waters on Sunday said she told GOP Rep. Jim Jordan to 'shut your mouth' during a hearing last week because the Ohio lawmaker was not respecting other lawmakers on the panel and was bullying the panel’s witness, Dr. Anthony Fauci… The brief exchange between the California Democrat and Jordan (R-Ohio), which took place during a House coronavirus subcommittee hearing, quickly became a viral video clip. In it, Jordan repeatedly seeks to question the top infectious disease doctor after his time expires." Well, she said that after she reminded Rep. Jordan that his time had expired.
"Win or lose, California Republicans are hoping a campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom could broaden their path out of the wilderness… A once-mighty party in the state that produced Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan has struggled for years to reverse a spiral into irrelevancy. Republicans hold no statewide offices, have been relegated to a super-minority in the state Legislature, are consistently outspent by a well-funded California Democratic Party machine and lag registered Democrats by nearly five million voters. They hold just 11 House seats in a 53-member delegation — and that's only after clawing back four last year."
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