| Christmas across the globe: Tradition and tensions amid turbulent times Posted: 25 Dec 2018 11:23 AM PST  At the Vatican, the pope called for unity. In the U.S., a federal government shutdown cast a pall. So dawned Christmas Day 2018.
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| Deaths of 2 children raise doubts about US border agency Posted: 26 Dec 2018 04:11 PM PST  HOUSTON (AP) — The deaths of two migrant children in just over two weeks raised strong new doubts Wednesday about the ability of U.S. border authorities to care for the thousands of minors arriving as part of a surge of families trying to enter the country.
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| U.S. stocks and oil rebound after pre-holiday thumping Posted: 26 Dec 2018 09:43 AM PST  Stocks and oil prices rebounded on Wednesday as the Trump administration attempted to shore up confidence.
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| US lawsuit blames Lion Air crash on Boeing's 'dangerous' airplane Posted: 26 Dec 2018 10:56 AM PST  A lawsuit filed in Chicago blames Boeing for the deadly Lion Air crash off the coast of Indonesia that killed all onboard, claiming the manufacturer's airplane was "unreasonably dangerous," a US law firm announced Wednesday. The suit, filed Monday in the Midwestern city where Boeing is based, alleges the two-month-old plane's safety system improperly engaged and pilots were not adequately instructed by the plane manufacturer on how to respond. Lion Air Flight 610 vanished from radar 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta on October 29, crashing into waters off the north coast of Indonesia's Java Island and killing all 189 people onboard.
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| North, South Korea Open Rail Project Despite Sanctions Barrier Posted: 25 Dec 2018 11:13 PM PST ![North, South Korea Open Rail Project Despite Sanctions Barrier]( "North, South Korea Open Rail Project Despite Sanctions Barrier") Long-stalled plans to restore rail links severed by the Korean War were revived in historic summits by North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in earlier this year. While South Korea said the Security Council granted an exemption to United Nations sanctions Tuesday to allow the ceremony to proceed, additional relief would be needed to start construction. "The result of the North and South Korean railway and road project depends on our nation's mental strength and will.
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| 5 Fitness Deals To Help You Get in Shape in 2019 Posted: 26 Dec 2018 06:53 AM PST  Hit your New Year's fitness goals with these discounted workout tools and subscriptions.
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| Russia says the mysterious hole in its Soyuz rocket may have been sabotage Posted: 25 Dec 2018 10:42 AM PST  We already knew that Russia was in the midst of an incredibly deep investigation into the origins of a strange hole that was found in a part of its Soyuz space vehicle earlier this year. The part of the ship that was damaged is no more -- it was jettisoned during reentry and burned up -- but samples taken from the damaged area are now being studied by Russian authorities as they try to explain how such a thing happened. Sergei Prokopyev, one of the cosmonauts that rode back down to Earth last week aboard the Soyuz craft, told reporters at a new conference that the investigation is still ongoing. Samples gathered during a recent spacewalk should hopefully be the final piece to whatever puzzle officials are trying to piece together. Russia's handling of the investigation has the full support of NASA, but it's worth noting that the country's messaging hasn't exactly been consistent in the days, weeks, and months following the discovery of the hole. Initially thought to be damage sustained by a tiny space rock, once the hole was determined to be manmade a whole lot of finger pointing ensued. Russia's Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin seeded the idea that the hole was created while the spacecraft was docked to the ISS, hinting that it might have been the work of someone on board. Those theories were squashed rather quickly and, in the days after the crew found the leak, word out of Russia suggested a culprit may have already been found. Those unofficial threads never materialized into anything more concrete, and we've now been waiting months for Russia to announce what it has found during the lengthy investigation. Russia's early assertion that the hole was some kind of sabotage, perhaps during the manufacturing process, is an incredibly serious allegation. It's unclear what punishment one or more individuals might face if the country determines that someone intentionally tried to harm its cosmonaut crew (not to mention NASA astronauts), but now that ship itself is back on solid ground we might learn more before long.
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| No One Wants to Spend Christmas Like Mom-to-Be Amy Schumer Did Posted: 26 Dec 2018 09:47 AM PST  Amy Schumer shared her miserable Christmas with followers on Instagram – including a video of her getting sick on the side of a road.
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| Bar employees out of jail after being charged in connection with crash that killed young mom Posted: 26 Dec 2018 03:45 AM PST  The employees are all charged with various Class A misdemeanor liquor violations.
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| Donald Trump makes Christmas calls to troops, denies collusion and defends shutdown stand Posted: 25 Dec 2018 09:29 AM PST  While wishing a Merry Christmas to troops overseas, President Donald Trump ventured into politics Tuesday.
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| Timeline shows final hours of second Guatemalan child to die in US custody Posted: 26 Dec 2018 11:16 AM PST  On 24 December, according to Customs and Border Protection's timeline, Felipe Gómez Alonzo and his father arrived at the hospital at 11.07pm, where staff were unable to revive the eight-year-old. Eight-year-old Felipe Gómez Alonzo's first week in the US ended up being the last week of his short life. With his father, he had traveled 2,000 miles from his home in Guatemala to reach the US border, where the pair were apprehended by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.
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| Photos and DNA tests as Indonesians search for lost relatives Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:51 AM PST  Grief-stricken Indonesians queued with photos or waited on DNA tests Wednesday, to find out if their missing loved ones were among bodies being held in a hospital morgue after a devastating tsunami tore families apart. "I'm scared," said Tubagus Cecep, 63, as he waited nervously at a hospital in devastated Carita for test results on a body he fears could be that of his son.
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| Steady, Not Strong as Southeast Asia Faces Growth Risks in 2019 Posted: 25 Dec 2018 01:00 PM PST  The Federal Reserve is set to keep everyone on edge as it navigates an even trickier interest-rate path in 2019, while the trade war between the U.S. and China is already hurting exports in the region. The Philippines might eke out a small gain in growth in 2019, if their bets that inflation will diminish come to fruition. "Asean growth and inflation look set to soften in 2019," said Tamara Henderson at Bloomberg Economics.
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| How Student Loan Debt is Different From Other Types of Debt Posted: 26 Dec 2018 06:00 AM PST ![How Student Loan Debt is Different From Other Types of Debt]( "How Student Loan Debt is Different From Other Types of Debt") Ignoring student loan debt does not make it go away. Student loans, like all consumer debt, are taken out with the expectation that the borrower will pay them back. All consumer debt can be broken down into two main types, either secured or unsecured.
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| 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 High Country vs. 2019 Ford F-150 Limited vs. 2019 Ram 1500 Limited Posted: 26 Dec 2018 08:15 AM PST |
| U.S. Justice Ginsburg released from hospital after cancer surgery Posted: 26 Dec 2018 08:35 AM PST  U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, has been released from the hospital after undergoing cancer surgery, a court spokeswoman said on Wednesday. "Justice Ginsburg was discharged from the hospital yesterday and is recuperating at home," spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said in a statement. The liberal justice underwent surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York on Friday to remove two cancerous nodules in her left lung.
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| Christmas movies, NBA games, Mega Millions: 5 things to know Tuesday Posted: 24 Dec 2018 09:26 PM PST  There are a few stores and restaurants open on Christmas Day, but if you're staying in, here are the NBA games and holiday movies to check out.
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| Alleged victim of Spacey sexual assault filmed part of incident Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:13 PM PST  A young man who accused Kevin Spacey of sexually assaulting him at a seaside restaurant near Boston in 2016 filmed part of the incident, according to court filings obtained by AFP. If found guilty, Spacey could face up to five years in jail. Spacey then allegedly invited him back to his place, along with some other friends.
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| Woman chases down porch pirate, gets package back Posted: 26 Dec 2018 10:20 AM PST  A Colorado woman chased down a porch pirate and got her package back.
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| 7 Bond Market Trends to Watch in 2019 Posted: 26 Dec 2018 08:10 AM PST ![7 Bond Market Trends to Watch in 2019]( "7 Bond Market Trends to Watch in 2019") With interest rates on the rise, the relative safety of bonds is getting more appealing by the day for long-term investors. LPL Financial recently released its Outlook 2019 report, which includes an entire chapter on what investors can expect from the bond market next year. LPL says U.S. interest rates will continue to rise at a moderate pace in 2019, making high-quality bonds more attractive for long-term investors.
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| Trump defends Syria pullout during surprise visit to Iraq Posted: 26 Dec 2018 12:19 PM PST  Trump made the decision on Syria abruptly last week, against the advice of top aides and commanders, including Defense Secretary James Mattis, who resigned the next day. Trump said he had told his advisers, "let's get out of Syria," but was persuaded to stay, before deciding last week to bring the 2,000 troops home. It's time for us to start using our head," the president told reporters at the Al Asad Air Base west of Baghdad where he and first lady Melania Trump spent a little more than three hours on the ground with U.S. troops.
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| NASA gets ever-closer to its encounter with a distant world 1 billion miles past Pluto Posted: 26 Dec 2018 03:00 AM PST  It's getting bigger. Last week, NASA released photos of the space exploration craft New Horizons gradually approaching an ancient, little-known object in deep space, called Ultima Thule. Ultima orbits the sun one billion miles past Pluto, and NASA expects to swoop close to the far-off object soon after midnight, on January 1, 2019. It will be humanity's farthest-ever encounter with another world. "What will Ultima reveal? No one knows," Alan Stern, the NASA planetary scientist leading the deep space mission, wrote last week. Ultima Thule getting bigger, and brighter.Image: nasaNASA suspects Ultima is a type of icy mass formed some 4.5 billion years ago, during the inception of our solar system. But since then, hovering in the profoundly cold outer reaches of the solar system, Ultima is presumed to have been preserved largely in its pristine, primeval state — allowing scientists to see the distant past. "In effect, Ultima should be a valuable window into the early stages of planet formation and what the solar system was like over 4.5 billion years ago," said Stern. Ultima is formally classified as a "Kuiper Belt Object," which is a ring of icy worlds that encircles the solar system beyond the last major planet, Neptune. It is a "region of leftovers from the solar system's early history," says NASA. SEE ALSO: The secretive lab that built 'the bomb' now scours Mars for signs of life Ultima has already proven somewhat mysterious. From previous images, scientists learned that Ultima probably has a weird, non-spherical shape. But as New Horizons travels closer, the pattern of light reflecting off off of Ultima, or its light curve, is inconsistent. With most other objects, these light patterns repeat as the objects spin. "It's really a puzzle," said Stern in a statement. Other New Horizons scientists mused that a dust cloud or moons "tumbling" around Ultima might be producing the strange light curve. But, there is one thing that's almost certain. On December 15, Stern's team concluded there were no obstructions between New Horizons — a triangular spacecraft 7 feet long and 9 feet tall — and Ultima Thule. Images of Ultima Thule from Dec. 2, 2018.Image: nasaStern told NASA that the deep space probe is now "Go" to closely approach Ultima. In the summer of 2015, New Horizons flew by Pluto. It captured unprecedented detail of the dwarf planet, its mountains, cliffs, and icy plains. The exploration craft flew 7,000 miles from Pluto's surface. But it will get much closer to Ultima Thule, swooping 2,200 miles above the little-known object. The first images are expected back early on New Years Day, about 30 minutes after the ball drops in Times Square. "The Ultima Thule flyby is going to be fast, it's going to be challenging, and it's going to yield new knowledge," said Stern. "Being the most distant exploration of anything in history, it's also going to be historic." We'll be watching. To watch the images come in during Ultima's approach, tune into a livestream from NASA TV beginning around 12:15 a.m. ET, Jan. 1, 2019. WATCH: Ever wonder how the universe might end?
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| Amazon’s Alexa suffers outages on Christmas Day as device appeared to cope with onslaught of new users Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:11 AM PST  Amazon's Alexa suffered outages on Christmas Day as the smart devices appeared to struggle with the onslaught of new users. Owners took to social media to vent frustration at their malfunctioning gadgets, reporting the unsatisfactory responses they had been getting from Alexa. These included the virtual assistant, which can play music, make calls, answer questions and control smart home devices, saying that she was "having trouble understanding" and asking users to "please try a little later". Amazon's customer services channels, which were inundated with messages from disappointed customers about the Alexa breakdown, explained yesterday morning that problems were an "ongoing issue" which could take 12-24 hours to resolve. The tech giant did not state what had led to the mass breakdown, but customers speculated that the service was struggling to cope with thousands of new users who were given either Alexa or Amazon's Echo Dot 2, the wireless smart speaker, as a Christmas present. Dan Green wrote on Twitter: "[It] seems that your servers weren't ready for the massive influx of new Echo's being registered today. "When the waiting list for new Dot's is two months you'd have thought the geek squad would have been prepared" Others joked that "everybody deserves at least one day off" over Christmas, but "perhaps today was not the day" for the virtual home assistant to pick. By 12.50pm on Christmas Day, Amazon Help, the tech giant's customer services Twitter account, said: "Hi, over the past two hours some Echo devices in Europe have had intermittent connections." It added that the issues "have now been resolved and the Alexa Service is working normally". An Amazon spokesperson said: "For a short period [on Tuesday] morning we had an issue that intermittently impacted some Alexa customers' ability to interact with the service. The Alexa service is now operating normally."
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| President Trump Said Federal Workers Support the Shutdown. Not True, Say Unions Representing Hundreds of Thousands Posted: 26 Dec 2018 01:00 PM PST  Union leaders who represent many of federal workers affected by the partial government shutdown dispute President Trump's claims that they support the move.
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| Tokyo stocks dive more than 5% on fears over US economy Posted: 24 Dec 2018 07:43 PM PST  Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged more than five percent in morning trade Tuesday amid rising doubts about the US economy and fears sparked by a US government funding crisis. At the midday break, the Nikkei index was down 5.05 percent or 1,018.74 points at 19,147.45, after dipping to as low as 19,138.88 -- the lowest level since April 2017. The dollar fetched 110.13 yen in midday Tokyo time, down from 110.43 yen in New York on Monday and 111.38 yen in Asian trade on Friday.
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| Nissan's Kelly released on bail as Tokyo court rejects prosecutors' plea Posted: 25 Dec 2018 07:07 AM PST  Kelly and Carlos Ghosn, the automaker's ousted chairman, were detained upon arrival in Japan on Nov. 19 on suspicion of understating Ghosn's income in financial statements for several years. The arrests jolted the global car industry and strained Nissan's alliance with French car maker Renault SA. Ghosn remains in custody.
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| These vehicles will be killed in 2019: Say goodbye to Chevrolet, Ford, Nissan cars Posted: 26 Dec 2018 11:39 AM PST  Automakers, including General Motors and Ford, are killing vehicle models at a steady clip - largely because consumer preferences are changing.
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| 16 Famous Authors’ Houses Worth Seeing Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:00 AM PST |
| Israeli official confirms Syria airstrikes as Russia objects Posted: 26 Dec 2018 02:40 PM PST  JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli security official on Wednesday confirmed responsibility for overnight airstrikes in Syria, saying the air force had hit a series of targets involved in Iranian arms transfers to the Hezbollah militant group.
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| Didn't get what you want for Christmas? How to return, exchange or sell unwanted holiday gifts Posted: 26 Dec 2018 08:37 AM PST  Instead of settling for a duplicate Christmas gift or ugly sweater you'll never wear, you can return, exchange or sell your unwanted holiday gifts.
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| Central US to be slammed by heavy, wind-swept snow in wake of Christmas Posted: 25 Dec 2018 01:07 PM PST  As people hit the road and take to the sky in the days following Christmas, a snowstorm is expected to take shape over part of the central United States.
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| PHOTOS: Partial government shutdown continues as Congress and president fail to reach deal Posted: 26 Dec 2018 10:13 AM PST  Christmas has come and gone, but the partial government shutdown is just getting started. Wednesday brings the first full business day after several government departments and agencies closed up over the weekend due to a budgetary stalemate between President Trump and Congress. Trump said Tuesday that the closed parts of the government will remain that way until Democrats agree to his demand for $5 billion to construct a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to deter criminal elements.
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| Christmas revived in a village devastated by Islamic State Posted: 25 Dec 2018 05:07 PM PST  Tel Nasri was one of dozens of Assyrian Christian villages in northern Syria targeted by the jihadist group when it was near the peak of its power. Kurdish forces and local fighters seized the village a few months later, in May 2015, but nobody has returned. "I was born and raised in Tel Nasri, I'm still here and I'm staying," said Sargon Slio, 51, a farmer who stayed on with only his brother and two cousins.
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| The best-selling Instant Pot cooker is discounted today in all three sizes Posted: 25 Dec 2018 06:12 AM PST ![The best-selling Instant Pot cooker is discounted today in all three sizes]( "The best-selling Instant Pot cooker is discounted today in all three sizes") If you didn't get the Instant Pot you had been hoping for as a Christmas gift this year, it's time to give yourself the gift you've been waiting for. The Instant Pot Duo is the company's best-selling model ever, and it just so happens that it's on sale today on Amazon in all three sizes. That means you can pick up a 3-quart Instant Pot Duo Mini for just $67.99, the medium-sized Instant Pot Duo 60 is on sale for $76.49, and the large 8-quart Instant Pot Duo 80 is $50 off at just $89.99. That's $10 less than what the 6-quart model typically sells for, so you know it's a great deal. This is a limited-time sale though, so grab one while you still can. Here's more info from the product page: * Duo, the number 1 selling multi-cooker, combines 7 kitchen appliances in 1, Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Saute, Yogurt Marker and Warmer, prepares dishes up to 70% faster to support your busy lifestyle * Features 14 Smart Programs - Soup, Meat/Stew, Bean/Chili, Poultry, Saute/Simmer, Rice, Multigrain, Porridge, Steam, Slow Cook, Keep Warm, Yogurt, Manual, and Pressure Cook. Now, your favorite dishes are as easy as pressing a button * Healthy, stainless steel (18/8) inner cooking pot made from food grade 304, no chemical coating, 3-ply bottom for even heat distribution, fully sealed environment traps the flavours, nutrients and aromas within the food * Built with the latest 3rd generation technology, the microprocessor monitors pressure, temperature, keeps time, and adjusts heating intensity and duration to achieve your desired results every time.Product Dimensions: 14.17 x 14.84 x 13.31 inches * UL and ULC certified with 10 safety mechanisms to provide you with added assurance, designed to eliminate many common errors.Accessories include, stainless steel steam rack with handles, rice paddle, soup spoon, measuring cup, condensation collector and recipe booklet * Power supply: 120V - 60Hz
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| White Elephant gets a wild twist at this family's holiday party Posted: 26 Dec 2018 08:11 AM PST  Also known as Yankee Swap or Dirty Santa, every player has to bring a wrapped gift. The game has players either choose a random gift to unwrap, or steal an already unwrapped gift from someone else. Since the point of White Elephant is to get rid of your junk acquired over the last year, gifts tend to be pretty impractical, and competition can get dicey.
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| 'Cowards & traitors': Vandals deface Confederate monument in North Carolina Posted: 26 Dec 2018 07:33 AM PST  A Confederate monument in North Carolina has been vandalized again.
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| IS-claimed attack on Libya foreign ministry kills at least three Posted: 25 Dec 2018 04:39 PM PST  Suicide attackers stormed the Libyan foreign ministry in the capital Tripoli on Tuesday, killing at least three people including a senior civil servant in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. A car bomb exploded near the ministry, prompting security forces to rush to the scene, said special forces spokesman Tarak al-Dawass. A suicide bomber then blew himself up on the second floor of the building while a second attacker died when a suitcase he was carrying exploded, he said.
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| How the new Honda NSX learned from Japan's original supercar Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:48 AM PST  The new hybrid enhanced Honda NSX might appear far removed from its legendary ancestor, but driving the pair back-to-back reveals a shared DNA.
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| Stocks surge, with the Dow gaining 1,000 points, on oil rally and strong holiday sales Posted: 26 Dec 2018 02:53 PM PST  Stocks roared back on Wednesday, with the Dow surging more than 1,000 points after strong holiday sales, rally in oil market.
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| Venezuela calls U.S. comments on Guyana dispute 'interventionist' Posted: 25 Dec 2018 10:05 AM PST  Venezuela's foreign ministry on Tuesday described as "interventionist and disrespectful" U.S. comments on a weekend incident in which the country's navy stopped two ships exploring for oil for Exxon Mobil off Guyana's coast. In response to the event, the U.S. State Department said Venezuela had behaved "aggressively" and called on the country to "respect international law and the rights of its neighbors." "It is evident that the U.S. government is interfering in a matter that is not at all incumbent upon it, with the goal of promoting corporate interests closely linked to the Washington ruling elite," the foreign ministry said in a statement. Socialist President Nicolas Maduro has accused the United States of plotting to invade Venezuela and overthrow his government, while Washington has placed sanctions on Venezuela's debt and members of Maduro's government over accusations of corruption, human rights violations and election-rigging.
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| Don't miss these 5 astronomy events coming in 2019 Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:03 AM PST  The new year will bring several notable astronomy events that will be visible for many across the United States, including a rare celestial alignment that won't happen again until the 2030s.
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