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Month: February 2026

SpaceX fleet-leading booster makes record 33rd trip to space

SpaceX fleet-leading booster makes record 33rd trip to space

SpaceX padded the record for its most flown rocket booster late Saturday with its 33rd trip to space.

A Falcon 9 flying 28 Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:47 p.m.

The first-stage booster first launched in June 2021 and has been the pace setter for SpaceX’s reusability efforts as it attempts to get it to 40 flights.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 using a booster for the 33rd time launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Courtesy/SpaceX)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 using a booster for the 33rd time launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Courtesy/SpaceX)

That would surpass the most flown orbiter of the Space Shuttle Program. Space Shuttle Discovery retired after completing 39 missions.

This particular SpaceX booster has notably flown two crewed missions to space, Crew-3 and Crew-4, along with a pair of cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station, the Galileo satellite for the European Commission, several commercial satellite missions and now 21 Starlink missions.

It made a successful landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic.

While turnaround on boosters can be as quick as nine days, SpaceX officials have said it takes much longer to refurbish one flown so many times to ensure it will be successful. This booster last flew about 2 1/2 months ago. read more

Department of Homeland Security suspends Global Entry as the partial government shutdown drags on

Department of Homeland Security suspends Global Entry as the partial government shutdown drags on

By JAMIE STENGLE and ALI SWENSON

DALLAS (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security said Sunday that the Global Entry program would be shut down as long as the partial government shutdown remains in effect.

The announcement comes after the department said Saturday night that it planned to shut down both Global Entry and the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program as well, but DHS cancelled the PreCheck closure.

As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case-by-case basis and adjust operations accordingly,” the agency said.

The turmoil at security and customs lanes is tied to a partial government shutdown that began Feb. 14 after Democrats and the White House were unable to reach a deal on legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats have been demanding changes to immigration operations that are core to President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign.

The security disruptions come at a time where a major winter storm will hit the East Coast from Sunday into Monday. Nine out of 10 flights going out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Boston Logan Airport have been canceled for Monday. read more

Ruling against Trump’s tariffs creates new uncertainty in US trade relations with China

Ruling against Trump’s tariffs creates new uncertainty in US trade relations with China

By DIDI TANG

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court decision striking down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs has added a wrinkle to already complicated U.S.-China relations, with both countries navigating shifting ground to avoid an all-out trade war that would disrupt the global economy while still jostling for a position of strength in negotiations.

Friday’s court ruling would seem to strengthen China’s hand, but analysts predict that Beijing will be cautious in exploiting the advantage, knowing that Trump has other ways of levying taxes. Both sides also want to maintain a fragile trade truce and stabilize ties ahead of Trump’s highly anticipated trip to Beijing.

“It will give China a moral boost in their negotiations with Trump’s team ahead of the summit, but they are prepared for the scenario that nothing actually changes in reality,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank.

Furious about the defeat, Trump said first he was imposing a temporary 10% global tariff before raising it to 15% as well as pursuing alternative paths for import duties. He made the case for tariffs by pointing to China, which poses the biggest challenge to U.S. economic, technological and military dominance. read more

Grok and other ‘nudification’ apps offered by Google and Apple put Silicon Valley at center of global outrage

Grok and other ‘nudification’ apps offered by Google and Apple put Silicon Valley at center of global outrage

Cutting-edge AI technology allowing boys and men to digitally undress girls and women without consent has put male-dominated Silicon Valley, long criticized as inhospitable to women, in a harsh new spotlight, after xAI’s Grok chatbot sparked worldwide outrage, and Google and Apple allowed dozens of “nudification” apps in their app stores.

Grok, a standalone app as well as a feature on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, generated 3 million sexualized images in the 11 days after its image-editing feature was released in December, the UK-based Center for Countering Digital Hate reported. Users digitally stripped real women in images — and more than 20,000 apparent children — manipulating many into sexual poses. Musk responded dismissively, reposting an AI-generated image of a toaster in a bikini, saying he “couldn’t stop laughing” about it.

California authorities weren’t laughing.

“This material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet,” Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said in a news release last month announcing an investigation into whether Grok’s generation of the imagery broke any laws. The investigation is still underway, and Bonta is “committed to moving on this issue quickly,” his office said Wednesday. read more

4 smart moves to cut your 2025 tax bill under new rules

4 smart moves to cut your 2025 tax bill under new rules

Sheryl Rowling of Morningstar

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made some long-awaited permanent changes to the tax code. It also introduced short-term tax breaks that come with strict limits and phaseouts, and many of them are only available through 2028 or 2029. Here are four ways to get the most out of the OBBBA’s temporary provisions as you file your 2025 taxes and plan ahead.

1. Don’t dismiss itemizing your deductions

The OBBBA temporarily boosts the state and local tax deduction cap, or SALT, from $10,000 to $40,000 (for married couples filing jointly and single filers). This higher cap applies from 2025 through 2029.

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