“A private European aerospace company scrubbed its attempt on Monday to launch the first test flight of its orbital launch vehicle from Norway. Unfavorable winds meant that the Spectrum rocket couldn’t be launched from the island of Andøya in northern Norway, Munich-based Isar Aerospace said. The launch is subject to various factors, including weather and safety. The company said it could also conduct the test flight later in the week. Another date hasn’t yet been set. The 28-meter (91-foot) Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle designed for small and medium-sized satellites. The company has largely ruled out the possibility of the rocket reaching orbit on its first complete flight, saying that it would consider a 30-second flight a success. Isar Aerospace aims to collect as much data and experience as possible on the first integrated test of all the systems on its in-house-developed launch vehicle.” (03/24/25)
“The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a Texas death row inmate whose bid for a new trial drew the support of the prosecutor’s office that originally put him on death row. The justices left in place a Texas appeals court ruling that upheld the murder conviction and death sentence for Areli Escobar …. Escobar was convicted and sentenced to death in the May 2009 fatal stabbing and sexual assault of Bianca Maldonado, a 17-year-old high school student in Austin. They lived in the same apartment complex. The focus of the prosecution case against Escobar was evidence from the Austin Police Department’s DNA lab. But a later audit turned up problems at the lab that led Judge David Wahlberg of the Travis County District Court to conclude that Escobar’s trial was unfair.” 903/24/25)
“A high court in South Korea has upheld the conviction of a 24-year-old man for a series of sexual crimes, including rape — after the attack was reflected on a washing machine door and caught on security footage, say reports. The CCTV video submitted by the victim did not appear to show the crime — until investigators spotted the attack in the door’s reflection. The man had already been indicted for other offenses, including the suspected rape of a former girlfriend and sex with a minor, reports say. He was originally convicted and sentenced to eight years in jail in November but appealed the decision. The high court then sentenced him to seven years, saying that it took into account the settlement that he had reached with one of the victims.” (03/24/25)
“A Russian missile attack on an industrial facility in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy on Monday damaged a residential area and a hospital, and injured at least 28 people, a local official said. At least four children were among the injured, acting Sumy mayor Artem Kobzar said on the Telegram messenger app. He did not identify the industrial facility. … Sumy, about 30 km (18.6 miles) from the Russian border, as well as the surrounding region, is subject to constant drone and missile strikes by Russia.” (03/24/25)
“Although young plaintiffs and their supporters were disappointed by the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ending their constitutional climate lawsuit on Monday, they also emphasized the positive and far-reaching impacts of Juliana v. United States over the past decade. First filed by 21 youth plaintiffs in 2015, Juliana aimed to hold the federal government accountable for its contributions to the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency. Over the years, the effort garnered support from more than 100 members of Congress, over 400 groups, and hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. In September, plaintiffs asked the justices to reverse an appellate court’s dismissal of the case—but the country’s highest court on Monday denied a petition for certiorari. ‘The Supreme Court’s decision today is not the end of the road and the impact of Juliana cannot be measured by the finality of this case alone,’ Julia Olson, chief legal counsel of Our Children’s Trust, which represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement.” (03/24/25)
“The United Nations said Monday it will ‘reduce its footprint’ in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli tank strike hit one of its compounds last week, killing one staffer and wounding five others. Israel has denied it was behind the March 19 explosion at the U.N. guesthouse in central Gaza. In a statement Monday, U.N. Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that ‘based on the information currently available,’ the strikes on the site ‘were caused by an Israeli tank’. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. Dujarric said the U.N. ‘has made taken the difficult decision to reduce the Organization’s footprint in Gaza, even as humanitarian needs soar.’ He said the world body was cutting back about a third of its approximately 100 international staffers in Gaza, but ‘the U.N. is not leaving Gaza.'” (03/24/25)
“Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Monday faced a no-confidence motion in parliament as the opposition alleged she was being unduly influenced by her father, a former prime minister, and is mismanaging the country. Paetongtarn, who took office last year, is expected to survive her first no-confidence vote on Wednesday with the backing of her ruling coalition that makes up the majority of the House of Representatives. The head of the opposition in parliament, Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, said Paetongtarn had failed to address many of the country’s chronic problems including the slumping economy, air pollution, crimes and corruption. He said her administration was serving the interests of her family and her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a popular but highly controversial political figure.” (03/24/25)
“Detained Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil hid his ties to the controversial United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees on his visa application, the feds have alleged. Lawyers for the Department of Justice lodged new accusations against the anti-Israel campus protest leader in court papers over the weekend, arguing that they should be grounds for his deportation. Khalil — a green-card holder who was nabbed by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in New York on March 8 — allegedly fraudulently applied to change his immigration status without disclosing his ‘membership in certain organizations,’ the feds said. Among those organizations was the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, known as UNRWA …. Khalil was a political affairs officer with UNRWA from June through November 2023.” (03/24/25)
“The White House plans to spare specific sectors from wide-ranging tariffs expected early next month, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Stocks jumped in early trading after reports that suggested the much-hyped ‘Liberation Day’ might not be as harsh or broad as previously expected. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration will likely impose reciprocal tariffs on about 15% of nations with ongoing trade imbalances [sic] with the U.S. He did not specify the nations or the tariff rates they could face, as the Wall Street Journal notes.” (03/24/25)
“South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday the claim that white people are being persecuted in his country is a ‘completely false narrative.’ It was his latest attempt to push back against allegations made by U.S. President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and some white minority groups in South Africa. South African-born Musk, who has regularly accused South Africa’s [b]lack-led government of being anti-white, repeated a claim this weekend in a social media post that some of the country’s political figures are ‘actively promoting white genocide.’ Ramaphosa said in his weekly message to the nation that South Africans ‘should not allow events beyond our shores to divide us or turn us against each other. In particular, we should challenge the completely false narrative that our country is a place in which people of a certain race or culture are being targeted for persecution.'” (03/24/25)
