CHICAGO (Reuters) – A U.S. government agency moved a step closer on Saturday to blowing up a Mississippi River levee to control flooding after a court decision cleared the way for it to proceed.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials said they dispatched barges to the Birds Point levee near Cairo, Illinois, carrying a slurry mix that could be used to detonate the levee. The barges are set to arrive at Cairo from Hickman, Kentucky, late on Saturday.

“That is one of the many decisions that we make before and if we ever get to the decision (to detonate),” Major General Michael Walsh of the Army Corps told reporters.

“After that, the next decision is to take the barges and preposition them. The next one is to charge the pipes and the next one is to operate (detonate),” he added.

He provided no timetable for the decisions and said the Corps was closely watching river levels, expected to crest by Tuesday.

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LONDON (AFP) – When Kate returns to north Wales with Prince William next week, she will begin married life with the knowledge that she only has one real responsibility from now on — producing an heir.

“If Kate is not pregnant in the next nine months, she will be defying 200 years of royal tradition,” said Andrew Morton, a biographer of William’s late mother Diana who has just written a new book about the newlyweds.

After years of waiting for her prince to propose, the 29-year-old will be expected to move quickly to produce an heir for the second-in-line to the throne, to ensure there is no break in the line of succession.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California Governor Jerry Brown had surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his nose, his office said on Saturday.

The growth was removed under local anesthetic on Friday, after tests revealed the presence of basal cell carcinoma, Brown’s office said in a statement.

All the cancerous cells were removed, but some reconstructive surgery to Brown’s nose was required due to the procedure, it said.

Brown, a 73-year-old Democrat, is at home and conducting state business.

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