18,300 apply for U.S. astronaut spots
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space travel never looked so good.
NASA announced Friday it received a record number of applicants – some 18,300 – for its next astronaut class. That’s more than double the previous record of 8,000 for the first space shuttle astronaut class in 1978. This time, NASA hit social media hard to promote the openings.
The odds of getting picked are small; only eight to 14 Americans will be chosen. NASA expects it will take 1½ years to whittle down the list.
Like the eight-member class of 2013, the future astronauts will train to fly to the International Space Station on capsules under development by SpaceX and Boeing, as well as on NASA’s Orion spacecraft intended for deep-space exploration.
‘Affluenza’ case to be heard in adult court
FORT WORTH, Texas – A judge on Friday sent the Texas teenager who used an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck to adult court, raising the possibility that he could get jail time for the 2013 crash that killed four people.
Ethan Couch was 16 at the time of the crash. During his juvenile trial, a defense expert invoked the term “affluenza” while arguing that Couch’s wealthy parents had coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility.
Friday’s ruling means the now 18-year-old Couch could face up to 120 days in jail, then finish his 10-year probation. But if he violates his probation during that time, he could get up to 10 years in prison for each of the four people killed in the accident.
Walesa denies spying for communist police
WARSAW, Poland – Former Polish President Lech Walesa on Friday denied claims that he collaborated with communist-era secret police for money in the 1970s.
The allegations against Walesa, who led the Solidarity movement that paved the way for the ouster of communism and rise of democracy in Poland in the 1980s and 1990s, are not new, but they’re being resurrected by the ruling Law and Justice party.
Walesa, 72, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, went online Friday to deny allegations leveled by the head of a state historical institute based on documents that recently surfaced.
Cameron to urge Britain remain in EU
BRUSSELS – British Prime Minister David Cameron said he reached a new agreement with European Union partners that gives Britain enough reassurances about its sovereignty that he will recommend that his country stay in the 28-nation bloc.
Cameron says he will recommend that his Conservative Party campaign in favor of staying inside the EU in a national referendum expected later this year.
Speaking to reporters Friday night in Brussels, Cameron said the painstakingly negotiated document means “Britain will be permanently out of ever-closer union – never part of a European super-state.”
Associated Press
