Thursday, April 27, 2017
Trump says he won’t pull US out of NAFTA
President Donald Trump has told the leaders of Mexico and Canada that he will not pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The White House made the surprise announcement in a read-out of calls Wednesday between the world leaders.
The White House says the president “agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time.”
Instead, Mexican President Enrique Peqa Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable the renegotiation” of the trade deal to “the benefit of all three countries.”
Trump has blamed NAFTA for American job losses.
Spacecraft flies between Saturn and rings in historic 1st
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has ventured into the never-before-explored region between Saturn and its rings.
But flight controllers won’t know how everything went until today when they are back in touch with the craft.
Cassini was out of radio contact with Earth early Wednesday as it became the first spacecraft to enter the gap between Saturn and its rings. That’s because its big dish antenna was maneuvered face forward to protect science instruments from potentially damaging ring particles.
If Cassini survives this first round, it will make 21 more crossings before its demise in September.
Launched in 1997, Cassini has been orbiting Saturn since 2004.
High numbers of whales dying off Atlantic coast
PORT MAHON, Delaware
Federal officials say humpback whales have been dying in unusually large numbers along the Atlantic Coast.
The News Journal reports that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Fisheries declared it an “unusual mortality event,” which is called when higher-than-normal numbers of marine mammals die for unknown reasons. An agency spokeswoman says details will be provided today.
Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute Executive Director Suzanne Thurman says a decomposing whale washed into shallow water in the Delaware Bay recently, but weather is hampering efforts to study it. Thurman says it apparently was a juvenile humpback. If confirmed, it would be the fourth stranded in Delaware waters in a year, an unusually high number.
Jury gives death penalty to killer of trooper in ambush
MILFORD, Pa.
A jury has given the death penalty to a gunman who targeted Pennsylvania state troopers at their barracks, killing one and leaving a second with devastating injuries.
Eric Frein was sentenced Wednesday, a week after his conviction on charges including murder of a law- enforcement officer and terrorism.
Prosecutors say Frein was trying to spark a revolution when he killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and wounded Trooper Alex Douglass in a late-night ambush with a rifle.
Frein, 33, was convicted last week of murder of a law-enforcement officer, attempted murder, terrorism and other offenses.
Associated Press