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BELTON, TEXASA man in small-town Texas is facing life in prison for allegedly killing a police officer. But the trialwhich commenced Monday after a nearly decade-long waitis a confluence of police use of force, the war on drugs, and the right to self-defense. Its outcome will in part answer the following question: How far does a self-defense claim go when it’s exercised against the state?

At around 5:45 a.m. on May 9, 2014, a SWAT team in Killeen, Texasconsisting of about two dozen officersdescended on Marvin Guy’s modest apartment on Circle M Drive. They were there to execute a no-knock drug raid, a controversial approach that allows law enforcement to forcibly enter a residence, usually with a fabulous display of force, without first announcing themselves. An informant had reportedly told police that Guy was dealing cocaine.

The raid did not go as planned.

Officers smashed Guy’s bedroom window and attempted to breach the door with a battering ram. But something appeared to be lodged behind the door, preventing police from immediately gaining entry and leaving them clogged outside the residence. In the rapidly unfolding mayhem, Guy fired several shots outside of his broken window, allegedly hitting four officers. Police quickly fired over 40 rounds in return. One officer, Detective Charles Dinwiddie, died.

Guy was arrested and ultimately charged with one count of capital murder and three counts of attempted capital murder. But he says he believed the police to be intruders when he was awoken and disoriented early that morning. Witnesses for the prosecution yesterday described the neighborhood as one that was known for its high crime rate. Less than a week before the raid, someone broke into Guy’s neighbor’s residence across the street in similar fashion, forcing entry via a first-floor window and choking a female resident nearly to death.

A series of protracted delaysstemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Guy’s declining health, disputes over the district attorney’s office releasing all the evidence, and a slew of defense attorneys either quitting or being firedhave lengthened Guy’s stay at the county jail, where he has been held for almost a decade on $4 million bond. For years, the state sought the death penalty, which also slowed trial preparations, as proceedings with the ultimate punishment on the table take more time. Prosecutors withdrew that last year, instead opting to pursue life in prison, to speed the process.

The case is not the first to pit self-defense against no-knock raids. The tactic has come under intense scrutiny in recent years. In 2020, Breonna Taylor was killed by police during a similar raid after her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, grabbed a firearm he legally owned and fired one shot at police, believing them to be intruders. (Police claim they announced themselves before breaking down Walker’s door; Walker says he didn’t hear them.) Charges against him were ultimately dismissed. In 2021, a Florida man went to trial facing three counts of first-degree attempted murder of a law enforcement officer after he shot at deputies during a 2017 drug raid targeting his father. The government also charged the defendant, Andrew Coffee IV, with murdering his girlfriend, Alteria Woods, who was shot and killed by police, as prosecutors posited that Woods died as a result of Coffee’s actions. A jury acquitted him of those charges.

The topic is particularly relevant in Guy’s case, as Texas has the Castle Doctrine, a legal principle grounded in the eponymous idea that someone’s home is their castle. As such, they have no duty to retreat when they believe they’re facing a deadly threat. An exception: It does not apply when the person in question is engaged in illegal activity. The Killeen Police Department (KPD) allegedly found traces of white powder in Guy’s car, on the floor of his apartment, and in the trash, amounting to 1 gram of “suspected cocaine.” He was not charged with a drug crime.

But even if the jury decides Guy is not entitled to protection via the Castle Doctrine, they could still find he acted in self-defense. The state, however, has a radically different theory: At trial yesterday, Bell County Assistant District Attorney Fred Burns laid the groundwork for the notion that the problems cascading from the raid weren’t a result of Guy not having enough information. On the contraryit’s because he knew too much, Burns said.

That theory began to take shape during the testimony of David Daniels, a retired SWAT officer with KPD who was hit by a bullet during the raid. In this telling, Guy had barricaded the door to his apartment not because he was afraid of intruders but because he knew SWAT was coming and plotted to kill the police when they arrived. “We were ambushed,” Daniels said. It was not yet clear how the state would prove Guy’s clairvoyance about the department’s plans.

The subject of no-knock raids has been a fraught one for KPD. The city recently reached a settlement with the family of a man who was killed during a 2019 raid. In 2021, the local council voted to ban the tactic. Unfortunately, that came too late here.

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Science

NASA’s Hubble and Webb Discover Bursting Star Formation in Small Magellanic Cloud

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NASA’s Hubble and Webb Discover Bursting Star Formation in Small Magellanic Cloud

Scientists from NASA observed the bursting expansion of gas, stars, and dust from the glittering territory of the dual star clusters using Hubble and Webb space telescopes. NGC 460 and NGC 456 stay in the Small Magellanic Cloud, which are open clusters, with dwarf galaxies and orbit the Milky Way. These clusters are part of the extensive star complex clusters and nebulae that are most likely to be linked to each other. Stars are born upon the collapse of clouds.

Hubble and Webb Reveal Explosive Star Births in Small Magellanic Cloud

As per a report from NASA, the open clusters are from anywhere from a few dozen to many young stars, which are loosely bound by gravity. The images captured by Hubble capture the glowing and ionised gas, which comes from stellar radiation and blows bubbles in the form of gas and dust, which is blue in colour. The infrared of Webb shows the clumps and delicate filament-like structures and dust, which is red in colour.

NGC 460 and NGC 456: A Window into Early Universe Star Formation

Hubble shows the images of dust in the form of a silhouette against the blocking light; however, in the images of Webb, the dust is warmed by starlight and glows with infrared waves. The blend of gas and dust between the stars of the universe is called the interstellar medium. The region holding these clusters is known as the N83-84-85 complex and is home to multiple, rare O-type stars. These are hot and extremely massive stars that burn hydrogen like the Sun.

Such a state mimics the condition in the early universe; therefore, the Small Magellanic Cloud gives a nearby lab to find out the theories regarding star formation and the interstellar medium of the cosmos’s early stage.

With these observations, the researchers tend to study the gas flow from convergence to divergence, which helps in refining the difference between the Small Magellanic Cloud and its dwarf galaxy, and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Further, it helps in knowing the interstellar medium and gravitational interactions between the galaxies.

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance co-founder CZ has dismissed a Bloomberg report linking him to the Trump-backed USD1 stablecoin, threatening legal action over alleged defamation.

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Science

New Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Could Reveal Secrets of Distant Worlds

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New Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Could Reveal Secrets of Distant Worlds

The entry of a third known object into our solar system has been confirmed on July 1, 2025 by the astronomers. This object is named 3I/ATLAS, where 3I stands for “Third Interstellar”, having a highly hyperbolic (eccentricity ≈ 6.2) orbit, confirming it is not bound to the Sun but is a true interstellar visitor. Only two such visitors, 1I/ʻOumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019), had been seen before. Notably, 3I/ATLAS appears to be the largest and brightest interstellar wanderer yet discovered.

Comparison with previous interstellars

According to NASA, astronomers from the ATLAS survey first spotted the object on July 1, 2025, using a telescope in Chile. It immediately drew attention for its unusual motion. Shortly after discovery, observers saw a faint coma and tail, leading to its classification as comet C/2025 N1 (ATLAS).

This comet-like appearance is shared with 2I/Borisov, the second interstellar visitor. Global observatories now track 3I/ATLAS. It poses no threat but offers a rare opportunity to study alien material. Since 1I/ʻOumuamua was observed only as it was leaving the solar system, it was difficult for astronomers to get enough data on it to confirm its exact nature — hence the crazy theories about it being an alien spaceship — though it’s almost certainly an asteroid or a comet.

Size and Significance

3I/ATLAS is much larger and brighter than earlier interstellar visitors. It is about 15 kilometers (km) [9 miles] in diameter, with huge uncertainty, compared to 100m for 1I/’Oumuamua and less than 1km for 2I/Borisov. This brightness and size makes it a a better target for study. Astronomers are planning to analyze its light for chemical signatures from its home system to get clues about the formation of distant planetary systems.

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WhatsApp Rolls Out AI-Powered Chat Wallpaper Feature; Threaded Message Replies Spotted in Development



Apple Maps in iOS 26 Beta Version Come With An Upgraded Search Feature: Report

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