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SpaceX gets ready to launch first all-civilian crew to orbit

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(Last Updated On: September 12, 2021)

Yet another billionaire entrepreneur is set to ride into space this week, strapped inside the capsule of a SpaceX rocketship, as part of an Astro-tourist team, poised to make history as the first all-civilian crew launched into Earth orbit.

Jared Isaacman, the American founder and chief executive of e-commerce firm Shift4 Payments, will lead three fellow spaceflight novices on a trip expected to last three days from blastoff at Cape Canaveral, Florida, to splashdown in the Atlantic.

The 38-year-old tech mogul has plunked down an unspecified but presumably exorbitant sum to fellow billionaire and SpaceX owner Elon Musk to fly Isaacman and three specially selected travel mates into orbit aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

The crew vehicle is set for blastoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center atop one of Musk’s reusable Falcon 9 rockets, with a 24-hour targeted launch window that opens at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT) on Wednesday. That window will be narrowed or possibly altered a few days before, depending on the weather.

Dubbed Inspiration4, the orbital outing was conceived by Isaacman primarily to raise awareness and support for one of his favorite causes, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a leading pediatric cancer center. He has pledged $100 million personally to the institute.

But a successful mission would also help usher in a new era of commercial space tourism, with several companies vying for wealthy customers willing to pay a small fortune to experience the exhilaration of supersonic flight, weightlessness and the visual spectacle of space.

Setting acceptable levels of consumer risk in the inherently dangerous endeavor of rocket travel is also key and raises a pointed question.

“Do you have to be both rich and brave to get on these flights right now?” said Sridhar Tayur, a professor of operations management and new business models at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, in an interview with Reuters on Friday (September 10).

Inspiration4 officials stress that the mission is more than a joyride. Once in orbit, the crew will perform medical experiments with “potential applications for human health on Earth and during future spaceflights,” the group said in its press materials.

“There is a certain amount of frivolousness and ego in it. But I also believe that we have moved in our understanding of science and our capability and technologies because people have taken these kinds of extraordinary risks. I mean, that is the human endeavor to push the limits,” Tayur said.

The SpaceX flight is designed to carry its four passengers where no all-civilian crew has gone before – into Earth orbit.

There, they will circle the globe once every 90 minutes at more than 17,000 miles per hour, or roughly 22 times the speed of sound. The target altitude is 575 kilometers, or nearly 360 miles high, beyond the orbits of the International Space Station or even the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Inspiration4 crew will have no part to play in operating their spacecraft, despite some largely honorary titles, though two members – Isaacman and geoscientist Sian Proctor – are licensed pilots.

Rounding out the crew are “chief medical officer” Hayley Arceneaux, 29, a bone cancer survivor turned St. Jude physicians’ assistant, and mission “specialist” Chris Sembroski, 42, a U.S. Air Force veteran and aerospace data engineer.

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645 families across seven Afghan provinces affected by rains, floods: OCHA

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2023)

Heavy rains and flash flooding have affected some 645 families across seven provinces in Afghanistan, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday.

OCHA said on Twitter that aid agencies are assessing the impact and providing aid where needed, but limited funding is constraining their ability to scale up assistance.

Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday its team continues to provide shelter assistance to people affected by natural disasters.

The UN agency said that in Khulm, Sholgara and Mazar-e-Sharif in Balkh, they provided cash for transnational shelter construction to 223 families, and cash for shelter repair to 272 families.

Some of the victims in Sholgara district of Balkh province expressed concern that the level of aid is not enough.

“If aid is not provided seriously in the district, it will have bad consequences for the people in the future,” said Sultan Ali, a resident of Sholgara district.

“The flood filled our wells with dirt. We don’t have clean water at all,” said Qadir Khan, another resident of the district.

The State Ministry for Disaster Management said that they have provided some aid to flood victims in different provinces, but more aid is needed.

According to the ministry, 10 people have died, 76 people have been injured, 1,779 homes have been damaged and 22,000 acres of agricultural land have been destroyed in 23 provinces of the country since the start of spring due to floods and earthquakes.

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UNSC condemns continued ‘terrorist attacks’ against civilians in Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2023)

The members of the Security Council have condemned in the strongest terms the continued “heinous terrorist attacks” targeting civilians in Afghanistan, including the attack near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan on 27 March, which was claimed by IS-K (Daesh) and resulted in at least six people killed and several wounded.

The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, and they wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.

The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to peace and security in Afghanistan, as well as in the world.

The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice. They urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard.

The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.

They reaffirmed the need for all States to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

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Stanikzai urges US to reopen its embassy in Kabul

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(Last Updated On: March 29, 2023)

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, deputy foreign minister for political affairs, has called on the United States to reopen its embassy in Kabul.

“Let us fulfill our responsibilities. Come and open your embassy. We take care of your security. When you come, other countries will do the same. Now, many countries are saying in private meetings with us that if America restores its relations with you, we will come immediately,” Stanikzai said while visiting the Afghan Consulate in Dubai.

While the Islamic Emirate seeks to create positive interaction with the world in light of Islamic Sharia and national interests, the US says that no country is going to recognize the Islamic Emirate.

US charge d’affaires said in a virtual meeting with a number of Afghan women journalists that although some diplomatic missions of Afghanistan have been handed over to the Islamic Emirate, no country has any plans to recognize the Islamic Emirate.

Karen Decker said that if the Islamic Emirate wants good relations with other countries, they should have good relations with men and women in their country.

Deputy Spokesperson of US State Department, Vedant Patel, also said that to the extent that the IEA is looking for more normal relations with countries around the world, “that will not happen in a long time, so [long] as they continue to advance these repressive edicts against women and girls.”

At the same time, the US Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that the continuation of restrictions on women will prevent the establishment of normal relations between the Islamic Emirate and countries around the world for a long time.

“We hope that they understand the implications of some of these disastrous decisions, like banning women from schools and things of that sort,” Patel said.

The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly stated that the policy of pressure in Afghanistan does not work and that countries should engage with Afghanistan as Kabul wants to establish relations with all countries, including the United States.

“Political issues or external issues of the country should not be dependent on Afghanistan’s internal issues. Afghanistan’s internal issues are related to the people of Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan make independent decisions about the country’s internal issues,” said Bilal Karimi, IEA’s deputy spokesperson.

In recent months, the Afghan embassy in Tehran, the Afghan consulate in Dubai, and the Afghan consulate in Istanbul have been handed over to the Islamic Emirate.

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