hRocket breaks apart after liftoff

hRocket breaks apart after liftoff

An unmanned SpaceX rocket carrying supplies and a first-of-its-kind docking port to the International Space Station broke apart Sunday shortly after liftoff. It was a severe blow to NASA, still reeling from previous failed shipments.

The accident happened about 21/2 minutes into the flight from Cape Canaveral, Fla. A billowing white cloud emerged in the sky, growing bigger and bigger, then fiery plumes shot out of where the rocket was supposed to be, and pieces could be seen falling into the Atlantic. More than 5,200 pounds of space station cargo were on board, including the first docking port designed for future commercial crew capsules.

“We appear to have had a launch vehicle failure,” announced NASA commentator George Diller. Data stopped flowing from the Falcon 9 rocket about 2 minutes and 19 seconds, he said. No astronauts were on board.

Banks to remain closed in Greece

ATHENS, Greece

Greece’s five-year financial crisis took its most dramatic turn to date Sunday, with the cabinet deciding, after an eight-hour session, that Greek banks would remain shut for six working days and restrictions would be imposed on cash withdrawals.

The Athens Stock Exchange also would not open today, financial sector officials confirmed.

A decree published in the official Government Gazette stipulates banks will not open this morning and will remain closed through next Monday. The finance minister could decide to short or extend that period.

Withdrawals from ATM with credit or cash cards will be capped at 60 euros daily.

Baltimore officer shoots man after observing robbery

BALTIMORE

Baltimore police said an officer shot and wounded a man after observing an armed robbery in progress at a 7-Eleven store.

The shooting occurred Sunday afternoon in southwest Baltimore.

Police said the officer was on patrol when he happened upon the armed robbery at the 7-Eleven. Police said the officer “challenged the suspect” but did not immediately provide additional details about what led to the shooting.

Police said the man was taken to a hospital in critical but stable condition.

Tunisia launches manhunt for people who aided attack

SOUSSE, Tunisia

The student who massacred people on a Tunisian beach and at a swank resort hotel acted alone during the attack but had accomplices who supported him beforehand, an Interior Ministry official said Sunday.

Police were searching nationwide for more suspects after the slaughter of at least 38 people in Sousse on Friday, in Tunisia’s deadliest such attack. The attacker’s father and three roommates were detained and being questioned in the capital, Tunis, Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui told The Associated Press.

The attacker has been identified as Seifeddine Rezgui, a 24-year-old graduate of Tunisia’s Kairouan University where he had been living with the other students. The attack was claimed by the radical Islamic State group.

Associated Press