PARIS (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. decision to pull out of UNESCO (all times local): 3:30 p.m. The director of UNESCO is expressing “profound regret” at the U.S. government’s decision to pull out of the U.N. cultural agency because of what’s seen as longstanding anti-Israel bias. Director-general Irina Bokova said in a statement … Continue reading
Explosions that rocked a Texas chemical plant after it was inundated by Harvey’s floodwaters are raising questions about the adequacy of industry preparations for the monster storm and stoking fears of more accidents in the days ahead. The owners of the plant in Crosby, Texas, warned Thursday that further explosions could come as the unstable … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump Administration budget released Tuesday slashes funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by nearly one-third, laying off thousands of employees while imposing dramatic cuts to clean air and water programs. The White House’s proposed spending plan for the EPA amounts to $5.6 billion, a 31 percent cut from the current budget … Continue reading
by Barry X. Campbell In 2014, there were more than 99,000 engineering graduates from American colleges. Among them, only 3,500 were African American. African Americans are a rarity in the tech space and it’s calling for a change. This low statistic of involvement has even prompted the government to involve themselves. Why are blacks not … Continue reading
SOUTH ARI ATOLL, Maldives (AP) — There were startling colors here just a year ago, a dazzling array of life beneath the waves. Now this Maldivian reef is dead, killed by the stress of rising ocean temperatures. What’s left is a haunting expanse of gray, a scene repeated in reefs across the globe in what … Continue reading
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska wildlife officials warned people Tuesday, March 14, 2017 to keep their distance from grumpy moose after two close calls this past weekend. One of the animals walked up behind a woman tending chickens in the city of Homer on Sunday and started eating chicken food from a bucket she carried. … Continue reading
February 17, 2017 To the University Community: Please join me in wishing Dr. Sandra J. DeLoatch well as she retires from Norfolk State University. Over her more than 40 years of dedicated service, she has distinguished herself among her professional peers in the STEM field, at Norfolk State and throughout the community. Dr. DeLoatch has … Continue reading
BOSTON (AP) — In a Mexican cave system so beautiful and hot that it is called both Fairyland and hell, scientists have discovered life trapped in crystals that could be 50,000 years old. The bizarre and ancient microbes were found dormant in caves in Naica, Mexico, and were able to exist by living on minerals … Continue reading
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A SpaceX rocket soared from NASA’s long-idled moonshot pad Sunday, Feb 19, 2017, sending up space station supplies from the exact spot where astronauts embarked on the lunar landings nearly a half-century ago. It was the first flight from NASA’s legendary Launch Complex 39A since the shuttle program ended almost six … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of Republican senior statesmen are pushing for a carbon tax to combat the effects of climate change, and hoping to sell their plan to the White House. Former Secretary of State Jim Baker is leading the effort, which also includes former Secretary of State George Shultz. In an opinion piece … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — On the night Judge Neil Gorsuch was nominated to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, he was thinking about history. “The towering judges that have served in this particular seat on the Supreme Court, including Antonin Scalia and Robert Jackson, are much in my mind at this moment,” … Continue reading
CAMP TAJI, Iraq (AP) — Forces fighting the Islamic State group should be able to retake the IS-held cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria within the next six months, according to the top U.S. commander in Iraq. On a tour north of Baghdad Wednesday, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said “within … Continue reading
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The University of Michigan sees value in urine. And it wants to know if others do, too. The Ann Arbor school announced Tuesday that it has installed a toilet and urinal in a campus engineering building that take aim at converting human urine into fertilizers. The split-bowl toilet is designed … Continue reading
GLOUCERSTER POINT, Va. (AP) — Archaeologists nearing the end of a prolonged Gloucester Point dig were rewarded for their doggedness this past week when they unearthed one of the most noteworthy caches of Revolutionary War artifacts to be found in the region in years. Slowed at first by stubbornly compacted soil — then by a … Continue reading
BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — It was an unusual and unfortunate confluence of events: A larger-than-normal number of geese was making a later-than-normal migration over Montana when a snowstorm blew in at the wrong time and sent them soaring to the wrong place. The throngs of white birds splashed down in a 50 billion-gallon toxic stew … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 