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British journalist dies after Russian missile hits hotel in Ukraine

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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – A British security adviser working with a group of journalists was killed when a Russian missile struck a hotel in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, Reuters news agency has confirmed.

Ryan Evans, 38, was staying at the Sapphire Hotel in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region when a Russian missile struck on Saturday night.

Two other members of the six-member Reuters team were hospitalized with injuries.

Local officials said the hotel was hit by an Iskander-M Russian ballistic missile, leaving the journalists with blast injuries, concussions and cuts.

Associated Press reporters at the scene described the hotel as “ruins” as excavators were used to clear debris hours after the attack.

In addition to the hotel, a nearby multi-story building was also destroyed, said Donetsk regional governor Vadim Pilashkin.

Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region also came under Russian fire, injuring several civilians, regional governor Ole Tsinihubov wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday.

Five people, including a 4-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, were injured when two houses were hit by a Russian strike in the Suhuiv district of Kharkiv.

In Kharkiv, eight people were injured when a two-story house caught fire after a Russian attack.

Five people were killed in Ukrainian shelling in the Russian border region of Belgorod, authorities said on Sunday.

Twelve people were injured in the Russian village of Rakhidon, 38 kilometers (23 miles) from the border with Ukraine, including a 16-year-old girl who was reported to be in critical condition, regional governor Vyacheslav Klatkov said on Sunday. Another died in a separate drone strike in the border village of Solovevka, he later wrote on social media.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Israel Closes Ben Gurion Airport, Hezbollah Fires Rockets Into Lebanon

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel launched airstrikes across southern Lebanon early Sunday to repel a major Hezbollah rocket and missile attack. The militant group responded by launching hundreds of rockets and drones to avenge the killing of a top commander last month.

Both sides stopped the heavy firefight by midnight and immediately signaled no further escalation. It comes as Egypt holds high-level talks aimed at a ceasefire 10-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza Diplomats hope it will ease regional tensions.

Israel and Hezbollah said they only targeted military targets. Israel’s military said one soldier in the navy was killed and two others were wounded by an interceptor or shrapnel from one of the incoming fire. Two Hezbollah fighters and one allied fighter were killed, the groups said.

Hezbollah called it an initial retaliation for its attack on Israeli military positions Murder of Fuad Shukur In an Israeli airstrike on Beirut last month. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was expected to speak later on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had intercepted thousands of rockets aimed at northern Israel and shot down drones headed toward the center of the country.

“I repeat – this is not the end of the story,” he said.

Planes were diverted as air raid sirens blared

Air raid sirens were reported across northern Israel, and Israel’s international airport was closed and flights diverted for about an hour. Israel’s Home Front Command later lifted restrictions in most areas.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said Hezbollah planned to attack targets in northern and central Israel. Initial assessments found “very little damage” but the military was on high alert. About 100 Israeli planes took part in the strikes, he said.

Hezbollah said its attack involved more than 320 Katyusha rockets and a “large number” of drones targeting several sites in Israel. It said the operation was “a classified Israeli military target to be announced later” and targeted “enemy bases and camps and Iron Dome (missile defense) sites”.

Hezbollah said the strikes would allow them to carry out strikes deeper into Israel, but a statement later said “military operations for today have been completed”. It rejected Israel’s claim that it had repelled a strong attack. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah provided evidence for their claims.

Some Israelis were shocked. In the northern city of Acre, retired teacher Sadia Even Tzur, 76, said she was at the synagogue when her bedroom was damaged and came home five minutes later. “I went up and saw the extent of the miracle that had happened to me,” he said. A window was broken and debris was on his bed.

Lebanon’s conservative Economy Minister Amin Salam said after an emergency government meeting that officials were “a little too optimistic” about slowing the expansion. “We are very reassured that both parties have confirmed that the expected proceedings have been completed,” he said.

President Joe Biden has been “closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon,” said Sean Chavet, a spokesman for the National Security Council. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, the Pentagon said. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown is on a regional visit that includes Israel, Egypt and Jordan.

All-out war was avoided for now

Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Washington, DC-based Middle East Institute, said it is “still subject to the terms of engagement and unlikely to lead to an all-out war at this point.”

Danny Citrinowicz, an expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Hezbollah may be trying to “balance the equation without turning into a war.” Each side hopes their story will be enough to declare victory and avoid a wider conflict, he said.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel soon after the war in Gaza began, prompted by Hamas’s October 7 attack in southern Israel. Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire almost daily, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.

Hezbollah is believed to have fought a standoff with Israel in 2006 Very powerful Now. The United States and Israel estimate that they have about 150,000 rockets capable of striking anywhere inside Israel. The group has developed drones and precision-guided munitions capable of evading Israel’s defenses.

Israel has promised a crushing response to any major Hezbollah attack. It has an extensive multi-layered missile defense system and is backed by a US-led coalition that helped shoot down hundreds of missiles and drones launched from Iran earlier this year. There was the US Army Builds its forces across the region in recent weeks.

Hezbollah is a close ally of Iran He also threatened to retaliate against Israel For the killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month. Israel did not say whether it was involved.

Iranian state media on Sunday reported the Hezbollah attack, calling it a success, but there was no immediate comment from Iranian officials.

The United States and other mediators see a cease-fire in Gaza as key to avoiding a wider Middle East war. Hezbollah has said it will stop attacks on Israel if a ceasefire is reached.

Egypt is targeting high-level talks in Cairo on Sunday Reduce gaps A ceasefire and a plan to release Hamas prisoners. The talks included CIA director William Burns and David Barnia, head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.

Hamas sent a delegation to mediate through Egyptian and Qatari mediators but did not directly participate in the talks.

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Associated Press writers Karim Sehayeb in Beirut, Melanie Littman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sami Magti in Cairo, Alexis Tribulard in Acre, Israel, and Amar Madani in Buellton, California contributed.

SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission takes a new approach to spacewalks and spacesuits

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How do you solve space motion sickness – so astronauts aren’t “nausea and throwing up” the entire mission?

How about you Test the new space suit Want to make sure it works not only in weightlessness, but also in the vacuum of space?

Finally, what would it be like to launch into space?

Those are some of the questions the crew of the upcoming Polaris Dawn mission will focus on as they prepare for their history-making civilian mission — scheduled to fly aboard a SpaceX Dragon aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral early Tuesday morning.

Florida Today interviewed two crew members of Polaris Dawn: Sarah Gillis, who is an astronaut trainer at SpaceX, and Anna Menon, who works in mission control at SpaceX and oversees crew operations.

Tropical Storm Hone prompts warnings for Hawaii’s Big Island

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Tropical Storm Hon on Saturday near Hawaii’s Big Island with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, forecasters said.

Hon’s center was 185 miles southeast of Hilo Saturday afternoon and moving west at 15 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

Tropical Storm Hone is forecast to pass near or south of the island Saturday night into early Sunday morning. Its strength is likely to peak Sunday night into Monday, the Hurricane Center said.

“A slight increase in strength is expected in the next 48 hours,” the center said. “However, Hoan is forecast to be below hurricane strength at its peak.”

A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when its sustained winds reach at least 74 miles per hour.

Steady rain was falling on the Big Island Saturday afternoon and is expected to intensify and threaten flash flooding, the weather service office in Honolulu said.

Residents of the Big Island could see 6 to 12 inches of rain, it said.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for Hawaii County, and swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip currents across the island chain Saturday, the hurricane center said.

“Rapidly rising” waves of 14 to 18 feet are forecast Saturday along the Big Island’s east coast, where waves will remain dangerously “large and erratic” through Sunday, the National Weather Service said in a coastal hazard message.

Wave heights will increase rapidly along the east coast of Maui, the weather service said.

“Stay away from the coast in affected areas,” it said.

Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency issued a “red flag” warning Friday for the leeward portions of all islands because high winds could contribute to wildfire risk.

A hurricane is east of Honolulu in the direction of the Hawaiian Islands, but is forecast to become a tropical depression while offshore east of the state. There are no coastal watches or warnings for the storm, which has been named Typhoon Gilma.

Fauci Tests Positive for West Nile Virus, Former Top US Doctor Gives Update, Hospitalized

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Anthony Fauci was hospitalized with the deadly West Nile virus.

Fauci, the former longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is now recovering and returning home.

Fauci, 83, who served on the White House’s coronavirus task force, is expected to make a full recovery, a spokesman told CNN.

West Nile virus is the most common mosquito-borne disease in the Americas, with an average of 2,200 cases reported each year. Department of Health and Human Services.

About 1,000 people are hospitalized each year with the most severe disease, which can spread to the brain and nervous system, causing brain swelling, brain damage and death with a mortality rate of 3-15 percent.

There is no specific treatment for the virus or a vaccine, but 80 percent of cases are mild, and sufferers may experience flu-like symptoms or a rash.

August and September, when the mosquito season is at its peak, are the most likely to be infected with the virus.

Fauci Tests Positive for West Nile Virus, Former Top US Doctor Gives Update, Hospitalized

Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, contracted West Nile virus but is expected to make a full recovery.

West Nile virus is transmitted by mosquitoes. More severe cases can cause brain swelling, brain damage and death

West Nile virus is transmitted by mosquitoes. More severe cases can cause brain swelling, brain damage and death

As of August 20, there were 216 West Nile virus cases in 33 states in the United States, according to the CDC tracker.

About 65 percent of the total caseload is reported to be neuro-invasive.

In early June, scientists saw a higher-than-usual number of West Nile virus cases, prompting heightened alarm.

Fauci addressed the West Nile virus in 2004 when he was NIAID director.

Responding to a question from someone on the online ‘Ask the White House’ forum, he wrote that controlling mosquitoes is the best way to prevent the virus.

‘ he added.Many promising candidatesfor a vaccine, but in the more than twenty years since he made this statement there has been no cure or vaccine for the virus.

In June, Fauci testified before Congress to better explain the government’s response to Covid.

Fauci told Republicans the six-foot social distancing rule ‘just came up’ and he doesn’t remember how it came about.

He added that he was ‘not aware of any studies’ that supported social distancing.

Fauci also acknowledged that Covid-19, which has killed more than 1.2 million Americans in total, may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China.

I keep an open mind as to what is indigenous, he said.

Fauci is pictured testifying before the House Oversight and Accountability Select Subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic on June 3, 2024.

Fauci is pictured testifying before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability on the Coronavirus Pandemic on June 3, 2024.

Meanwhile, another mosquito-borne disease has wreaked havoc in a Massachusetts town.

The board of health in Oxford, a city of 13,300 people about 50 miles southwest of Boston, has instituted an outdoor curfew in hopes of reducing the chances of people being bitten by mosquitoes that carry eastern equine encephalitis (EEE).

A small-town resident contracted the rare and untreatable disease — also known as ‘Triple E’ — in the first domestic case of an American in nearly four years.

Like West Nile virus, triple E causes fever and brain swelling.

About one-third of people with EEE die and those who recover often suffer lifelong physical and mental difficulties.

Massachusetts’ 8 p.m. dusk curfew is only a recommendation — not a rule — but city officials hope it will push people inside before peak mosquito hours, reducing the risk of exposure.

Although not required, the local school district may enforce a curfew, meaning after-school programs and sports may be canceled, ended early, or moved indoors.

Shohei Ohtani: The Dodgers star became the fastest player in MLB history to record a 40-40 season.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani Fastest 40-40 player in baseball.

The Japanese superstar hit a two-out grand slam for his 40th homer in the ninth inning. stole his 40th baseThe Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 on Friday night.

Ohtani hit the streak in his 126th game and the team’s 129th, the fastest in major league history and the sixth record to reach 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in a season. He was the first Dodgers player to do so.

“It’s really about winning,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “Obviously the record is part of the process, but I think the most important thing is to win the game.”

He broke the previous mark set by Alfonso Soriano in 2006 in 148 games for the Washington Nationals.

“It’s just storybook — 40-40 on the same night,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t know if that was ever done, and then he won it with a Grand Slam. He’s definitely known for plays, which I’ll remember for a long time.

Ohtani’s 389-foot shot tied the game at 3-3. Rays center fielder Jose Siri gave chase and the ball came back into the field. He then threw it into the stands so Ohtani didn’t end up with the souvenir, says Will Ireton, Ohtani’s interpreter.

Dodgers starter Bobby Miller was watching on television in the clubhouse when Ohtani made history.

“That’s what I called it,” he said. “I felt like how cool would it be to get that 40-40 in a Grand Slam going on? He is a really good player.”

Ohtani took a curtain call as the crowd of 45,556 stood and cheered. Teammates Miguel Rojas and Teoscar Hernandez doused him with water on the field.

“It’s a huge amount to be able to do it in front of the home crowd,” Ohtani said.

Ohtani joins Soriano, Ronald Acuna Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and Jose Canseco in the 40-40 club. Acuna became a member last season when he belted 41 homers and stole 73 bases.

After not making the postseason in his six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani finds himself in a pennant race with the NL West-leading Dodgers.

“The first goal is to get to the postseason and win the World Series,” he said. “Whatever my record decision is, that’s part of the process.”

In the fourth, Ohtani led off with an infield single against Tyler Alexander and moved to second on Freddie Freeman’s at-bat.

His 12 stolen bases in August without getting caught were the most in a month by a Dodger since Rafael Furgal’s 12-for-12 streak in September and October 2007.

“I know he takes good care of his feet to be able to do that and be that dynamic player,” Roberts said. “He does his homework on opposing pitchers and he gets great jumps. He’s a great base stealer. He’s very skilled.”

Roberts noted that earlier in the season and when the Dodgers faced the Angels, Ohtani was tentative on the basepaths and his stolen base percentage was not high.

“He’s an elite base stealer with a high hit rate,” the manager said. “I’m sure there will be many more plays to come.”

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge leads the majors with 49 homers. He’s favored to win AL MVP honors, and Ohtani is projected to do the same in the NL.

“I don’t see anybody better, obviously Judge is in the conversation, but man, I’ll take Shohei,” Roberts said.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Northeast cities voluntarily release lockdown to prevent spread of mosquito-borne disease

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Four Massachusetts cities — Douglas, Oxford, Sutton and Webster — have enacted voluntary evening lockdowns in an effort to prevent the spread of a deadly disease. A mosquito-borne disease.

The decision comes after the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) confirmed the first human case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) since 2020 in Worcester County.

According to a public health advisory shared with Fox News Digital, on Wednesday, the Oxford Board of Health voted to support a recommendation that people stay indoors after 6:00 p.m., effective immediately on September 30.

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Beginning October 1, it is recommended to stay indoors after 5:00 PM until the first hard frost.

The period from dusk to dawn is considered “Mosquito peak time,” the notification said.

Mosquito lock

Four Massachusetts cities — Douglas, Oxford, Sutton and Webster — have enacted voluntary evening lockdowns in an effort to curb the spread of the deadly mosquito-borne disease. (iStock)

The advisory identifies four communities as “critical-risk”.

“It is the responsibility of the health board to protect it Public HealthAnd we take EEE very seriously, and we strongly encourage residents to follow these recommendations given the severity of EEE and its presence in our community,” a City of Oxford spokesperson said in an email to Fox News Digital.

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“So far this year in Massachusetts, only one human has been infected with EEE, but across the state, mosquitoes have tested positive for EEE.”

The infected man, who lives in Oxford, is “hospitalized and courageously fighting this virus,” according to a Wednesday memo from the Oxford city manager provided to Fox News Digital.

The lockdowns are considered recommendations, and there will be no enforcement if residents don’t comply, a city spokeswoman said.

A mosquito on human skin

Eastern equine encephalitis is caused by a virus that is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito, according to the CDC, which describes it as a “rare but serious disease.” (Reuters/CDC/James Katani)

“We want to educate our residents about EEE and the seriousness of the disease and make them aware of the risk,” the statement continued.

“However, if they wish to use city fields outside of these recommendations, they must show proof of insurance and sign an indemnity form.”

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Oxford is working with three other critical-risk communities, all four of which offer similar recommendations, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Schools are functioning “Adjust and adjust their game schedule so practices and games take place earlier in the evenings and on weekends,” the email stated.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Oxford Public Schools for comment.

What is Eastern Equine Encephalitis?

Eastern equine encephalitis Caused by a virus It is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which describes EEE as a “rare but serious disease”.

“Eastern equine encephalitis can cause brain infection (encephalitis), which can be fatal.”

Only a few cases are reported in the U.S. each year, mostly in eastern or Gulf Coast states, the agency says on its website.

Humans and other animals infected with the virus are considered “dead-end hosts,” the CDC says, meaning they cannot be transmitted to mosquitoes that bite them.

Old man in hospital

Elderly and immunocompromised people are at higher risk of mosquito-borne meningitis, an expert said. (iStock)

Common symptoms EEE can include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, stiff neck, seizures, behavioral changes, and insomnia.

These usually appear five to 10 days after the bite.

The disease is fatal, resulting in the death of 30% of those affected. According to the CDC, it can also lead to chronic neurological deficits.

‘Zika-like’ mosquito-borne virus has spread to Europe, health officials warn

“Eastern equine encephalitis can cause a brain infection (encephalitis), which can be fatal,” says Edward Liu, MD, chief. Infectious diseases at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Fox News Digital said.

According to Liu, the elderly and immunocompromised are at higher risk for mosquito-borne meningitis.

A person uses insect repellent on his hand

Experts say preventing mosquito bites is the best way to protect against the disease. (iStock)

Innovator Vice Chair in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at the University of California, San Diego, Dr. John Ayers confirmed on Fox News Digital that EEE is “severe but extraordinarily rare.”

“With no apparent preventative measures, cases are significantly rarer than being struck by lightning,” he said.

Prevention and treatment

The fact that local mosquitoes carry the virus and that a Massachusetts patient is infected is “concerning,” Liu said.

Click here to get the Fox News app

“While evening lockdowns can be safe, other options include educating the public about the risk, promoting mosquito repellent use, and spraying to prevent the spread of mosquitoes,” he advised.

Ayers added, “I don’t think there’s anything you can do to meaningfully reduce your individual chances of disease, because they are Already very low.”

“There is no cure for these viral encephalitis, so prevention and supportive care are the only measures.”

He agrees that killing mosquitoes, reducing standing water areas where they can nest, and spraying to kill their larvae are common mosquito-killing strategies.

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“There is no cure for these viral encephalitides, so prevention and supportive care are the only measures,” noted Liu.

Currently available No vaccine Eastern horse for encephalitis.

For more health articles, visit foxnews/health

The CDC has confirmed that preventing mosquito bites is the best way to prevent infection.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the CDC for additional comment.

NASA to announce if stranded astronauts can return on Starliner | Space

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NASA is expected to announce as soon as Saturday whether American astronauts stuck aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will be able to return home with the faltering Boeing Starliner spacecraft or have to wait for a SpaceX vehicle — another dilemma. For the embattled rival aircraft manufacturer.

SpaceX plans to launch one of its riskier missions next week, the first private sector spacewalk, with innovative slim spacesuits and an airlock-free cabin.

“NASA’s decision on whether to return Starliner to Earth with astronauts is expected at the end of an agency-wide review before Saturday, August 24,” the space agency said in a statement.

Starliner sent its first two astronauts into space in June, a critical test before getting NASA approval for regular flights. But the capsule sprung leaks and some of its thrusters failed in what was supposed to be an eight-day mission docked to the ISS a few months later.

Agency Administrator Bill Nelson will participate in the agency-wide review, the statement said. For months, Boeing has sought to allay fears of Starliner problems with new test data that the company said confirmed the spacecraft’s safety for astronauts.

NASA weighs that data against a low appetite for risk on the mission, one of four Starliner crashes since 2019.

The agency has prepared a backup plan for the Starliner crew — including veteran NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — to have two seats on the upcoming SpaceX Crew Dragon mission.

If that option is chosen, Wilmore and Williams won’t come home until the mission is completed in February 2025, meanwhile the Starliner will be brought back to Earth empty.

Boeing struggled to develop the Starliner and compete with SpaceX’s similar but more experienced Crew Dragon.

Boeing has taken a $1.6 billion loss on the Starliner project, bond filings show. The American jet has been reeling in recent years after a spate of accidents involving its 737 Max model, and a horrific incident in January that saw a door panel explode mid-flight on the newest version of the plane, which is still being investigated.

Boeing is under pressure from the upstart SpaceX, created by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who founded Tesla, the terrestrial electric vehicle maker and now owns social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur, along with a retired Army fighter pilot and two SpaceX employees, will launch on Tuesday in a modified Crew Dragon craft for a mission that includes a spacewalk.

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Two days later, the plan was to make a 20-minute spacewalk 434 miles (698 km) into space. So far, only government astronauts aboard the ISS, which orbits 250 miles above Earth, have attempted to walk into the empty expanse of space.

SpaceX’s five-day mission, called Polaris Dawn, will swing into an oval-shaped orbit, get as close as 118 miles to Earth and as far as 870 miles — the distance no humans have gone since the end of America’s Apollo lunar program. In 1972.

A modified craft will have the crew wear thin spacesuits so it can open its hatch door in the vacuum of space — an unusual procedure that eliminates the need for an airlock.

“They’re pushing the envelope in a lot of ways,” retired NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman told Reuters in an interview. “They go to much higher altitudes with a much harsher radiation environment than what we went through from Apollo.” Isaacman created the mission at an estimated cost of $100 million.

Isaacman will be accompanied by mission pilot Scott Poteed, a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, and SpaceX senior engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.

“There’s not a lot of room for error,” Reisman said.

Powell’s Keynote Jackson Hole Speech: Live Updates

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Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on August 4, 2022.

Source: NYSE

Stock futures rose on Friday morning as traders awaited Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s all-important policy speech for guidance on future rate cuts.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average rose 85 points, or 0.21%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.34% and 0.56%, respectively.

The central bank chairman, who is scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. ET from the central bank’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is expected to signal whether the central bank is appropriate to begin cutting interest rates soon, with limited clues about the size and frequency of interest rate hikes. reductions.

“Powell is expected to lay the groundwork for the Fed’s first rate cut in four years,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technology strategist at LPL Financial. “Signs of subdued price pressures and cooling economic growth could be enough to prompt policymakers to begin lowering the target rate.”

According to CME Group, markets are betting on a quarter percent cut at the September 17-18 meeting. FedWatch. Minutes of the July session showed a “majority” of members in favor of the September cut.

Stocks were pressured by a surge in Treasury yields ahead of the Jackson Hole speech on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 0.9%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.7%, its worst day since Aug. 5. The blue-chip Dow lost 177 points.

The Dow and S&P 500 are still modest this week. However, the Nasdaq is down 0.1% year to date, poised to post its fifth negative week in six.

Seattle Mariners named Scott Servais, Dan Wilson manager

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The stunning decline of the Seattle Mariners prompted a leadership change, with the club replacing manager Scott Servais with Dan Wilson.

The team announced Thursday afternoon that hitting coach Jared DeHart has been waived.

“We believe we need a new voice in the clubhouse,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said in a statement. “Dan knows our team and has been a key member of our organization working with players at every level for the last 11 years. He is well-respected inside and outside our clubhouse and we believe he will do a great job leading our team moving forward in the final six weeks of the season.”

“I want to thank Scott for all his efforts in Seattle over the past nine seasons,” Dipoto said. “He has poured his passion into the team and our community, and I know I speak for the entire Navy system in thanking him for his hard work.”

The Mariners have turned a 10-game lead in the American League West into a five-game deficit in the standings, hurting the march to the postseason for a franchise seeking its first medal. Servais presided over a frustrating situation — the Mariners’ elite pitching staff’s performance continued to be squandered by a sagging offense that was near the bottom of the league by many measures.

Servais, 59, was in his ninth season as Mariners captain. Since his hiring in 2016, he has compiled a 680-642 record (.514 hitting percentage), though the club’s lone appearance during his tenure came in 2022. The Mariners won the playoff series, dispatching the Blue Jays in the wild-card series. before getting swept by the Astros in the ALDS.

Although it was a bittersweet ending, the playoff appearance ended a 21-year postseason drought, the longest in North American professional sports at the time. But the Mariners missed the playoffs in 2023, and despite a promising start to the season, are now in danger of doing so again in 2024.

Wilson, Servais’ replacement, represents a connection to the franchise’s glory days. Wilson played for the Mariners from 1994 to 2005, spending that time as Randy Johnson’s batterymate. Wilson, 55, has never been on a major league coaching staff or managed at any level, but he remains a familiar face around the current team. He served as the club’s special operations coordinator in spring training According to the Seattle TimesHe developed a close relationship with starting catcher Cal Raleigh. He also filled in as a broadcaster for the team’s Root Sports affiliate and was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2012.

“I appreciate the confidence Jerry, Justin and the Mariners organization have placed in me,” Wilson said in a statement. “And I’m excited to get to work. I believe this team is capable of playing great baseball this season and I look forward to working with these players and coaches.

Wilson leads a club 64-64, five games out of a playoff spot and on a three-game losing streak. The move will bring additional scrutiny to Jerry Dipoto, who took over as general manager in September 2015. The Mariners begin their next series in Seattle on Friday against the San Francisco Giants.

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(Photo by Scott Service: Brandon Slaughter/Getty Images)