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MANILA, Philippines — A flotilla of about 100 mostly small fishing boats led by Filipino activists sailed Wednesday to a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s coast guard and suspected militia ships have used powerful water cannons to ward off what they regard as intruders. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The Philippine coast guard and navy deployed one patrol ship each to keep watch from a distance on the activists and fishermen, who set off on wooden boats with bamboo outriggers to assert Manila’s sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal.

(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) — The sun produced its biggest flare in nearly a decade Tuesday, just days after severe solar storms pummeled Earth and created dazzling northern lights in unaccustomed places. “Not done yet!” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in an update. It’s the biggest flare of this 11-year solar cycle, which is approaching its peak, according to NOAA.

Wildfires burning in Canada started sending smoke across the border on Sunday and into the week, prompting U. S. officials to issue air quality warnings in several northern states—and experts say people should be prepared to experience more air quality alerts this summer. Parts of Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin suffered from poor air quality on Sunday and Monday because of smoke from wildfires continuing to burn in British Columbia and Alberta.

mdash; The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than $1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, two congressional aides said Tuesday. It’s the first arms shipment to Israel to be announced by the administration since it put another arms transfer — consisting of 3,500 bombs — on hold earlier in the month.

(WASHINGTON) — Boeing has violated a settlement that allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution after two deadly crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft, the Justice Department told a federal judge on Tuesday. It is now up to the Justice Department to decide whether to file charges against the aircraft maker amid increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes.

The Gobi Desert, once revered by Mongolian poet Dulduityn Danzanravjaa as hiding a cosmic portal to the heavenly kingdom of Shambala, was transformed in the 20th century from spiritual energy center to fossil-fuel hub. Wild rabbits and donkeys share the windswept dunes with rusting oil pumps, while an endless caravan of soot-stained trucks haul coal south to the border with China.