International nonprofit wants to protect moon sites from space tourism
For the first time ever, the World Monuments Fund, whose mission is to preserve cultural heritage sites around the globe, is now setting its sights beyond Earth. The organization, founded in 1996, announced on Wednesday, Jan. 15, that the moon is among 25 at-risk sites, with the expectation that trips to the lunar surface will become the norm in the not-so-distant future.
The WMF warns that moon tourism could someday threaten more than 90 lunar landing and impact sites, including Tranquility Base, where U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon.
WMF officials said they fear the lunar landscape may be victim to looters looking for souvenirs and private lunar exploration, potentially destroying iconic footprints and tracks that are part of human history if something isn’t done to protect them now.
The organization is urging international collaboration to preserve the moon, but currently no such organization exists, and no one country can lay claim to the Earth’s only natural satellite.
The WMF creates the at-risk list to raise awareness and spur action to preserve important artifacts and sites around the world, and now space.
House Republicans block release of Matt Gaetz ethics report
Republicans block efforts by their Democratic colleagues to release the House Ethics Committee’s report on its investigation into former Congressman Matt Gaetz. And the manhunt continues for the gunman in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Dec. 6, 2024.
House Republicans block release of Matt Gaetz ethics report
The House Ethics Committee’s report on its investigation into former Congressman Matt Gaetz will not be made public — at least for now. Thursday, Dec. 5, House Republicans blocked two separate Democratic resolutions to release the report, voting to refer the matter back to the committee.
Lawmakers voted along almost entirely party lines to table an effort from Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) to force the report’s immediate release, saying the former Florida congressman is no longer under the House’s jurisdiction because he resigned.
Gaetz left Congress last month after President-elect Donald Trump announced he was nominating the Republican lawmaker to become the nation’s next attorney general. That all happened just days before the ethics report was supposed to be released.
Gaetz later withdrew from consideration for the job after it became clear he would not get the Senate support needed to win confirmation, amid allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor and illicit drug use. He’s also denied those allegations.
Another effort by Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee was also blocked.
Casten blasted the House’s decision in a statement after the vote, saying, “Today, the majority of the House of Representatives took the easy way out. They could have ensured a vote on whether or not former members should be held accountable when they face serious and credible allegations of sexual misconduct — including having sex with minors. Instead, the House voted to sweep these allegations under the rug and set an unfortunate precedent that, if you are ever facing scrutiny, resigning from Congress can make your problems go away.”
Casten added he will continue to try to get the report released.
Tonight the House of Representatives voted to sweep credible allegations of sexual misconduct under the rug.
I retain options to pursue the release of the Gaetz Report.
Congressman Michael Guest (R-MS), the committee chairman, said there no longer is the same urgency to release the report because Gaetz has left Congress and stepped aside as Trump’s choice to head the Justice Department.
Elon Musk spent more than $250 million getting Trump re-elected
Billionaire Elon Musk spent almost a quarter of a billion dollars in supporting Donald Trump’s reelection, according to Federal Election Commission filings released late Thursday, Dec. 5. While that accounts for just a fraction of Musk’s wealth as the richest man in the world, it’s a massive amount to come from just one single donor.
Musk donated most of that money to his America PAC, making three donations of $25 million each in the final weeks of the race. Over the course of the campaign, he gave America PAC a total of $239 million in cash and in-kind contributions.
Musk also spent more than $40 million on checks to voters in swing states who signed a petition in support of the Constitution.
According to the filings, Musk also put $20 million into a PAC named after the late liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That PAC was behind political ads claiming Trump does not support a federal abortion ban and he and Ginsburg had that in common.
New images released as manhunt continues in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing
Police have released new information about the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as the manhunt continues for the gunman. Investigators released new images Thursday of a hooded man who they say is “a person of interest” wanted for questioning in the slaying of the health insurance executive.
Police sources confirmed to multiple news outlets the images were taken from a surveillance camera inside a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Officials said the man used a fake New Jersey ID to check into the hostel.
The sources said the suspect is believed to have traveled from Atlanta to New York City on a Greyhound bus the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, then later checked in to the hostel. Greyhound is reportedly cooperating with the investigation.
The gunman shot Thompson multiple times at point-blank range as he was walking into a New York City Hilton hotel. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities said the shooting was “premeditated” and a “brazen, targeted attack.”
According to multiple reports, the bullet casings located at the scene had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on them. The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered.
Police are still searching for a motive in the deadly shooting.
Aftershocks rock California after magnitude 7 earthquake
Dozens of aftershocks have been reported in California after a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake rattled a large part of the west coast Thursday. The epicenter of the earthquake was around 50 miles southwest of the northern port city Eureka in the Pacific Ocean.
A tsunami warning briefly went into effect from Oregon down to central California, but that has since been canceled. Evacuation orders have also been lifted.
California’s governor signed a state of emergency and said damage assessments are underway. So far, only minor damage and no injuries have been reported.
NASA delays next two manned moon missions
We’ve waited decades to see an astronaut walk on the moon again, and now, we’ll have to wait a little longer.
NASA announced Thursday it is delaying its next two Artemis moon missions to address an issue with the Orion crew capsule that will be housing the astronauts and its heat shield. The agency said the Artemis II mission that will fly a crew around the moon has been pushed from September of this year to no earlier than April of 2026.
The Artemis III mission, which will see the first moon landing in more than 50 years, set for 2026 will now happen no earlier than mid-2027.
Taylor Swift’s recording-breaking Eras tour ends this weekend
The tour kicked off in March of last year with Swift putting on the 3.5-hour concert more than 150 times in front of sold-out crowds across five continents.
NASA delays Artemis missions until 2026 and 2027 after heat shield problem
NASA’s efforts to put astronauts back on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years are being pushed back. The space agency announced on Thursday, Dec. 5, it found problems with the heat shield on the Orion spacecraft, which will eventually take humans back to the moon as part of its Artemis program.
A NASA investigation revealed the heat shield’s outer layer cracked and charred, with material coming loose. It was apparently caused by an issue with ventilation, causing gas to build up during Orion’s uncrewed mission.
NASA officials say they know what needs to be done to fix the issue, but it will require a change in the trajectory of the spacecraft to safely reenter Earth’s atmosphere, and that means the agency will need more time.
Now, NASA says the Artemis II mission, which involves the crew orbiting the moon but not landing on the lunar surface won’t happen until April 2026 at the earliest, and Artemis III, which will see humans on the moon for the first time since 1972, won’t launch until 2027.
The announcement is another bump in the road for an effort that saw its first uncrewed Artemis mission scheduled for 2016 delayed until 2022. However, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says the delays are all in the name of safety.
Nelson posted on X, “We are committed to ensuring that when we go, we go safely. That’s what today’s decision is about—that’s how Artemis succeeds.”
US winning in one category when it comes to space race with China
The United States and China have ambitious plans for space exploration in the future. In order to achieve these goals, both nations will need to lean heavily on international support, and as reported on Wednesday, Oct. 30, the U.S. has taken the lead over Beijing.
The two adversaries are getting as many nations on board with their plans to explore space as they can. The American-led effort known as NASA’s Artemis program aims to send astronauts back to the moon by 2026. However the ultimate goal is building a lunar space station and launching missions to Mars and beyond.
However, the United States is currently notching more wins with Chile, the Dominican Republic, Estonia and Cyprus recently joining its coalition. The U.S. now has 47 nations working together on the mission.
Beijing is behind the U.S. in that respect, touting 13 nations as members of its international agreement with Senegal the latest to join in September. However, experts note, there are still many countries up for grabs to join each country’s respective partnerships.
NASA’s Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said despite setbacks with the Artemis program, like being overbudget, the diplomatic efforts will continue. The agency sees diplomacy and international cooperation as the key to the future of space exploration.
Does Jupiter’s moon Europa support life? NASA mission aims to find out
NASA is just weeks away from its first mission designed to explore Jupiter’s massive moon Europa. Ahead of the historic launch, the agency started releasing videos on Monday, Sept. 23, offering a behind-the-scenes look at what’s going into the Europa Clipper Mission.
NASA is highlighting the efforts of five engineers each week leading up to the launch window of mission, which is starts on Oct. 10. The engineers are working on the giant spacecraft that will explore Jupiter’s moon in search of a “global saltwater ocean beneath its icy shell.”
The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter, and it will collect data with nine instruments and conduct an experiment using telecommunications to gather gravity data on the unforgiving radiation environment of Jupiter.
The length of a basketball court, the Europe Probe is the largest spacecraft ever to be developed for a planetary mission. If NASA finds that Europa is a habitable world, a second Europa mission will return, this time landing there to further study signs of life.
“At the time of launch, I will have been working on the Europa Clipper for a dozen years,” said Dipak Srinivasan, the lead communications systems engineer. “You know, seeing it from its infancy, literal napkin designs of what this spacecraft could look like, to actual realized hardware, to get it on its journey to Europa. It’s just going to be a wonderful feeling.”
NASA cancels moon rover mission after spending $450 million on development
After spending $450 million to build a water-seeking moon rover, NASA announced on Wednesday, July 17, it is scrapping the mission because of increased costs and launch delays. The agency said that the move will save it an estimated $84 million in developmental costs.
NASA said that the decision to cancel the mission was purely budget-based and that all tests to this point had been successful. At the time of the cancellation announcement, the rover, called the VIPER, was reportedly undergoing environmental testing and the vehicle was completely assembled.
The VIPER remains completely assembled and NASA said that its parts may be used for future missions to the moon. However, the agency said that it will first determine if industry partners are interested in the rover “as-is.”
The VIPER rover had aimed to explore the moon’s south pole in search of ice deposits, spending a total of 100 days on the lunar surface.
Originally scheduled to launch last year, the liftoff date had been rescheduled until 2025 aboard the Astrobotic Griffin Lander.
The announcement came just days before the 55th anniversary of the first humans ever landing on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to land and walk on the moon.
Meanwhile, the lander is still scheduled to launch without the rover by the end of 2025. The company that owns the lander had its first launch end in failure as the rocket became engulfed in flames and plunged into the South Pacific.
Trump appears at Republican National Convention; Vance nominated as VP
Days after surviving an assassination attempt, former President Donald Trump made an appearance at the Republican National Convention (RNC) and named J.D. Vance his vice president pick. And the Secret Service director answers questions as the agency is under fire following the deadly shooting. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Tuesday, July 16, 2024.
Trump appears at Republican National Convention; Vance nominated as VP
The Republican National Convention kicked off Monday, July 15, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just two days after former President Donald Trump survived the assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Day one saw Trump officially secure the GOP’s nominee for president with Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance becoming the party’s nominee for vice president.
While Trump’s presence on the first day was not a guarantee when the event began, all questions were answered just after 9 p.m. central time, when the former president made his entrance. He was wearing a bandage over his ear and met with cheers from the emotional convention crowd along with chants of “we want Trump!” and “fight!”
Trump joined his running mate in the stands. During the Roll Call of the States earlier in the day, Trump received the delegates needed to become the GOP’s nominee, with his son Eric making it official.
“On behalf of our entire family and on behalf of the 125 delegates in the unbelievable state of Florida, we hereby nominate every single one of them for the greatest president that’s ever lived,” Eric Trump said. “And that’s Donald J. Trump, hereby declaring him the Republican nominee for President of the United States of America.”
Speculation surrounding Trump’s VP pick came to an end not long after, with Vance officially joining the ticket.
Secret Service director, President Biden answer questions on security
As the investigation continues into the assassination attempt against former President Trump that left one spectator dead, the Secret Service is facing tough questions on its protocols and how the gunman was able to get so close to the former president. In her first network interview since the July 13, shooting, Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle spoke to ABC News, saying this was an incident that should have never happened.
“What I would say is the Secret Service is responsible for the protection of the former president,” Cheatle said. “The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service. It was unacceptable and it’s something that shouldn’t happen again.”
.@PierreTABC has an exclusive interview with Kim Cheatle, the Director of the Secret Service, with Cheatle saying, "The buck stops with me." The interview comes as new video shows the alleged gunman climbing onto the roof moments before he fired. https://t.co/mwmiaP88Tbpic.twitter.com/7rZokWLCh4
President Biden has ordered an “independent review” of the agency’s protocol, though Cheatle said she already plans to make immediate changes.
In an interview with NBC News on Monday, July 15, Biden was asked his thoughts on the Secret Service.
“Do you have confidence in the Secret Service,” Nightly News anchor Lester Holt asked. “Do you feel safe?”
“I feel safe with the Secret Service,” Biden assured him. “But look, you saw the — what we did see was the Secret Service who responded risked their lives responding. They were ready to give their lives for the president. The question is: Should they have anticipated what happened? Should they have done what they needed to do to prevent this from happening? That’s the question that’s — that’s an open question.”
In the interview, the president was also pressed on the calls from members of his party for him to step aside as the Democratic nominee. Biden said he’s holding to his decision to remain in the race, reiterating his performance at the June 27 debate was just a bad night.
Elon Musk to donate $45 million a month to new pro-Trump super PAC
Billionaire Elon Musk says he’s planning on donating $45 million a month to a pro-Trump super PAC, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The group, called America PAC, launched in June and is backing former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Records show Musk did not donate to it in June, and it’s unclear if he’s donated yet in July. Other backers of the PAC include former U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft and crypto billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
In March, Musk said he would not contribute to either former President Trump’s or President Biden’s campaigns. However, on Saturday, July 13, following the assassination attempt, Musk posted to X that he fully endorsed Trump.
Trump-appointed judge drops classified docs case, special counsel to appeal
Special Counsel Jack Smith said he’ll appeal a federal judge’s decision to dismiss former President Trump’s classified documents case. Florida Judge Aileen Cannon — who was appointed to her seat by Trump — dropped the case Monday.
Cannon ruled Smith’s appointment as prosecutor for the case violated the appointments clause of the Constitution because he was given the job by Attorney General Merrick Garland. In her ruling, Cannon said the Constitution’s appointments clause requires “officers of the United States” be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Trump was accused of illegally retaining hundreds of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving the White House in January 2021. He had denied any wrongdoing.
Hacker group claims it leaked Disney’s Slack, internal info
Data from Disney’s internal Slack communications program has been leaked online by an activist hacking group, including discussions about ad campaigns and studio technology.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the hackers say they also published data that contains information about unreleased projects, interview candidates, some logins and images of employees’ dogs. The leak totaled roughly 1.2 terabytes of information dating back to 2019.
A spokesperson for the group, called NullBulge, said it targeted Disney for how it “handles artists’ contracts, its approach to AI and its blatant disregard for the consumer.”
The cave was found not far from where astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed 55 years ago.
In a paper published in “Nature Astronomy,” an Italian-led team said it found evidence of a sizable cave accessible from the deepest known pit on the moon. The pit is called the Sea of Tranquility, found about 250 miles from Apollo 11’s landing site.
So far, they’ve only gotten a look at the initial part of the cave, but scientists estimate it’s at least 130 feet wide and tens of yards long.
China’s Chang’e 6 brings back samples from far side of the moon
After 53 days, China’s Chang’e 6 became the first mission to successfully bring samples from the far side of the moon back to Earth. The return capsule landed in China just after 2 p.m. local time Monday, June 24.
The capsule is expected to contain around two kilograms of moon dust and rocks to be analyzed by Chinese researchers and then by international scientists.
“The Chang’e-6 lunar exploration mission has been a complete success,” Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration, said.
China’s successful mission is the latest achievement in the modern space race. The U.S. is set to send to astronauts back on the moon as early as 2026, while China plans on doing the same by 2030.
Julian Assange agrees to plea deal with US government
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge as part of a plea deal with the Justice Department. And a historic space mission by China brings back samples from the far side of the moon. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Tuesday, June 25, 2024.
Julian Assange agrees to plea deal with U.S. government
A legal case that spanned nearly 15 years is scheduled to be resolved Tuesday, June 25, when WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange pleads guilty to violating U.S. espionage law. Assange left a British prison Monday, June 24, where he has spent the last five years, and boarded a plane headed for the Northern Marina Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific. The plane made a stop in Bangkok to refuel.
According to court documents, Assange has agreed to a plea deal with the U.S. government, where he will plead guilty to a single charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disclose classified national defense documents. Charges against him stem from the release of classified information more than a decade ago, including reports on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Assange is expected to be sentenced to the five years already served, sparing him from additional prison time. He is then expected to return to his home country of Australia to be joined by his wife, Stella, and two children.
"Journalism should be more like science. As far as possible, facts should be verifiable.
If journalists want long-term credibility for their profession, they have to go in that direction. Have more respect for readers." – Julian Assange #LetHimGoJoepic.twitter.com/c0JdgYlzIE
Assange’s wife told Reuters the couple will be seeking a pardon.
“Of course, I mean, I think that the correct course of action from the U.S. government should have been to drop the case entirely,” Stella Assange said. “We will be seeking a pardon obviously, but the fact that there is a guilty plea under the Espionage Act in relation to obtaining and disclosing national defense information is obviously a very serious concern for journalists and national security journalists in general.”
Prosecutors said the Northern Marina Islands was chosen for the location of the hearing because of its proximity to Australia and that Julian Assange had opposed to traveling to the U.S. mainland.
The hearing is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 26, local time, which is 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 25 EDT.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys request new trial
Hunter Biden is seeking a new trial. Less than two weeks after his conviction on federal gun charges, attorneys for the president’s son have requested a new trial, saying his convictions should be vacated because the trial started before a circuit court had formally denied his appeal.
They argue that means the Delaware court that tried him did not have jurisdiction.
Hunter Biden was found guilty earlier this month on three federal charges related to buying a gun while being a drug user.
In a separate filing Monday, Hunter Biden’s lawyers argue the Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold a federal ban on firearms for people under domestic violence restraining orders supports their motion for an acquittal or “at a minimum” a new trial.
His attorneys said because Hunter Biden never acted violently toward anyone or misused the gun, the charges against him are unconstitutional.
Bankruptcy trustee plans to shut down Alex Jones’ ‘Inforwars’
A federal bankruptcy court trustee is planning to shut down Alex Jones’ media company “Infowars.” The plan is to sell it off to pay for Jones’ $1.5 billion settlement he owes to families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Massacre.
The move comes weeks after a federal judge in Texas ruled to liquidate Jones’ personal assets but did not determine the fate of “Infowars.” Jones used the platform to say the 2012 shooting that left 20 children and six educators dead “was all a hoax.”
The trustee also asked a judge to put an immediate hold on the efforts by some of the Sandy Hook families to collect the massive amount Jones owes them. The trustee said that would interfere with his plans to close “Infowars’” parent company, Free Speech Systems, and sell off its assets — with much of the proceeds going to the families.
Parents sue over Louisiana’s Ten Commandments in schools law
Parents in Louisiana are suing their state’s education department and local school boards over the new law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public schools. They said it’s unconstitutional.
In court filings, the nine families — backed by civil liberties groups — argue the law “substantially interferes with and burdens” their First Amendment right to raise their kids in whichever religion they want.
Louisiana governor defends 10 Commandments in schools mandate: 'The US is founded on Judeo-Christian values' https://t.co/3z2aKPOeIi
Under the new law, signed by Gov. Jeff Landry, R, on June 19, a poster-sized version of the Ten Commandments would have to be displayed in all public K-12 classrooms and state-funded universities in Louisiana.
The families are seeking an order to stop that from happening.
2 federal judges block key parts of Biden student debt forgiveness plan
Two federal judges in Kansas and Missouri have blocked key aspects of President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan that lowers payments. The Monday June 24 rulings will stop the Biden administration from any further implementation of its SAVE program.
The plan — which ties how much someone pays each month to what their income is — has been in place for almost a year.
New: Today, two judges in two different suits halted Biden's SAVE plan—the student debt repayment plan that would cancel some debt + cut some borrowers' payments in half—effective in July.
This means the second phase of the plan, which would’ve reduced monthly payments from 10% of a borrower’s discretionary income to 5%, is on pause. So is any further cancellation of debt for people who took out smaller initial loan payments and have been paying for 10-plus years.
However, the 8 million people who are already enrolled can keep using the SAVE plan until the cases are fully litigated.
China’s Chang’e 6 brings back samples from far side of the moon
After 53-days, China’s Chang’e 6 became the first mission to successfully bring samples from the far side of the moon back to Earth. The return capsule landed in China just after 2 p.m. local time Monday.
China’s Chang’e 6 moon probe has landed back on Earth after a 53-day journey, bringing with it the first-ever samples from the far side of the moon. pic.twitter.com/GndMDlVBbJ
The capsule is expected to contain around two kilograms of moon dust and rocks to be analyzed by Chinese researchers and then by international scientists.
China’s successful mission is the latest achievement in the modern space race. The U.S. is set to send to astronauts back on the moon as early as 2026, while China plans on doing the same by 2030.
Panthers win first Stanley Cup, defeat Oilers 2-1 in Game 7
They say there’s nothing like a Game 7 in sports — and hockey fans got to experience a memorable one Monday night. The Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.
The Panthers were able to stop the momentum of the Edmonton Oilers, who fought back after being down three games to none to force a Game 7.
After losing the last three games, the Panthers rebounded, defeating the Oilers 2-1.
Despite being on the losing team, the Oilers’ Connor McDavid was named the postseason’s MVP. But it was the Panthers who got to hoist the Stanley Cup trophy over their heads in front of their home fans.