Associated Press

Kosmos 482 re-enters the atmosphere more than a half century since launch on failed mission to Venus

A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half century after its failed launch to Venus.

The European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking agency confirmed its uncontrolled re-entry, based on analysis and the disappearance of the spacecraft from tracking on subsequent orbits. The European Space Agency’s space debris office also indicated it had re-entered the atmosphere after it failed to appear over a German radar station.

Defense attorneys push for removal of district attorney, Nathan Hochman, who opposes the brothers’ resentencing

Attorneys for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were convicted of killing their parents in 1989, will make their case to a judge Friday that Los Angeles prosecutors should be removed from the brothers’ resentencing case.

The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for fatally shooting their entertainment executive father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez. The brothers were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings. Defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, while prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.

Souter was a New Hampshire Republican who became a darling of liberals during his nearly 20 years on the bench

Retired supreme court Justice David H Souter, the ascetic bachelor and New Hampshire Republican who became a darling of liberals during his nearly 20 years on the bench, has died. He was 85.

Souter died Thursday at his home in New Hampshire, the court said in a statement Friday.

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US agency will no longer update major weather database in latest showing of Trump’s influence on climate resources

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) will no longer track the cost of climate crisis-fueled weather disasters, including floods, heatwaves, wildfires and more. It is the latest example of changes to the agency and the Trump administration limiting federal government resources on climate change.

Noaa falls under the US Department of Commerce and is tasked with daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring. It is also parent to the National Weather Service.

Lawyers say they’re ‘still in dark’ about government’s efforts to free the man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador

The Trump administration is invoking the “state secrets privilege ” in an apparent attempt to avoid answering a judge’s questions about its erroneous deportation of Kilmar Ábrego García to El Salvador.

US district judge Paula Xinis disclosed the government’s position in a two-page order on Wednesday. She set a Monday deadline for attorneys to file briefs on the issue and how it could affect Ábrego García’s case. Xinis also scheduled a 16 May hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland, to address the matter.

• Bird named managing director of US women’s team
• Five-time Olympic champion to serve four-year term

Sue Bird is giving another assist to USA Basketball, becoming the managing director of the women’s national team.

The five-time Olympic champion was named to the newly created position Thursday and it marks a major change in the way the organization creates its roster and coaching staff.

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Mohsen Mahdawi was detained after leading protests at Columbia against Israel’s war in Gaza and later freed

A Palestinian student arrested during an interview about finalizing his US citizenship is helping launch an initiative to assist other immigrants facing deportation in Vermont on Thursday, a week after a federal judge freed him from custody.

Mohsen Mahdawi, 34, who led protests against Israel’s war in Gaza at Columbia University, spent 16 days in a state prison before a judge ordered him released on 30 April. The Trump administration has said Mahdawi should be deported because his activism threatens its foreign policy goals, but the judge ruled that he has raised a “substantial claim” that the government arrested him to stifle speech with which it disagrees.

President taps wellness influencer after withdrawing initial pick, former Fox News contributor Janette Nesheiwat

Donald Trump has tapped Dr Casey Means, a wellness influencer with close ties to Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, as nominee for surgeon general after withdrawing his initial pick for the influential health post.

The US president said in a social media post on Wednesday that Means has “impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials” – referring to the “make America healthy again” slogan – and that she will work to eradicate chronic disease and improve the health and wellbeing of Americans.

Exposure to small particulate matter from fires contributes to thousands of annual deaths in US, according to study

Wildfires driven by the climate crisis contribute to as many as thousands of annual deaths and billions of dollars in economic costs from wildfire smoke in the United States, according to a new study.

The paper, published on Friday in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment, found that from 2006 to 2020, the climate crisis contributed to about 15,000 deaths from exposure to small particulate matter from wildfires and cost about $160bn. The annual range of deaths was 130 to 5,100, the study showed, with the highest in states such as Oregon and California.

Exposure to small particulate matter from fires contributes to thousands of annual deaths in US, according to study

Wildfires driven by the climate crisis contribute to as many as thousands of annual deaths and billions of dollars in economic costs from wildfire smoke in the United States, according to a new study.

The paper, published on Friday in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment, found that from 2006 to 2020, the climate crisis contributed to about 15,000 deaths from exposure to small particulate matter from wildfires and cost about $160bn. The annual range of deaths was 130 to 5,100, the study showed, with the highest in states such as Oregon and California.