Mysterious Missile Launch Off Calif. Coast Sparks Investigation (space.com)

NEW YORK — Inspired by an 18th century Scottish philosopher and the modern scourge of misinformation, Suzanne Collins is returning to the ravaged, post-apocalyptic land of Panem for a new The Hunger Games novel. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Scholastic announced Thursday that “Sunrise on the Reaping,” the fifth volume of Collins’ blockbuster dystopian series, will be published March 18, 2025.

St. Petersburg, Fla. — At first, fossil-hunting diver Alex Lundberg thought the lengthy object on the sea floor off Florida’s Gulf Coast was a piece of wood. It turned out to be something far rarer, Lundberg said: a large section of tusk from a long-extinct mastodon. Lundberg and his diver companion had found fossils in the same place before, including mammoth teeth, bones of an ancient jaguar and parts of a dire wolf.

Washington — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, according to a person familiar with the matter. Congressional leaders last week formally invited Netanyahu to come speak, delivering the most recent show of wartime support for the longtime ally despite mounting political divisions over Israel’s military assault on Hamas in Gaza.

Washington — The Supreme Court sided with Native American tribes Thursday in a dispute with the federal government over the cost of health care when tribes run programs in their own communities. The 5-4 decision means the government will cover millions in overhead costs that two tribes faced when they took over running their health care programs under a law meant to give Native Americans more local control. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Covering those costs is “necessary to prevent a funding gap,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion, joined by the three liberal justices and fellow conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch.

A new sexually transmitted fungal infection has been detected for the first time in the U. S., health experts announced Wednesday. A study, published in the journal JAMA Dermatology on Wednesday, reported that the first known U. S. case of this new form of ringworm was discovered in a man from New York City in his 30s.

Three Florida parents sued Florida’s Board of Education on Thursday because they allege the board violates their rights by not having a process to object to the removal of books from school libraries and classrooms. In the lawsuit, which was filed in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, the plaintiffs say that Florida law H.