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Falcon 9 Stage 1 successful landing

e_armadillo writes:

I just watched the live stream at http://www.spacex.com/, and they did it! Elon is the man!

SpaceX Succeeds in Landing Booster

J053 writes:

SpaceX has successfully launched their upgraded Falcon-9 rocket, returned and successfully landed the booster stage (on land!), and deployed a constellation of 11 Orbcomm satellites.

SpaceX Just Landed a Rocket for the First Time

martyb writes:

Wired is reporting that SpaceX Just Landed a Rocket for the First Time:

They stuck the landing! For the first time ever, SpaceX has landed a booster after sending its payload into orbit—on the ground.

Over the past year, SpaceX has tried and failed to land the first-stage booster of its Falcon 9 rocket twice on a drone barge in the ocean. (And on its third try, the rocket blew up on launch, which, yeah.) This time, SpaceX managed to land its rocket on a landing pad on Cape Canaveral, Florida. Being able to reuse the booster could help cut launch costs in the future.

Also, SpaceX's YouTube channel posted a 56-minute video: "ORBCOMM-2 Full Launch Webcast by SpaceX".

SpaceX Stage 1 Booster Landed Successfully

el_oscuro writes:

Elon Musk's SpaceX not only blasted 11 satellites to orbit on Monday, but also brought its towering first-stage booster back down, with a historic landing at a pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

It was the company's first launch since its rocket carrying cargo to the International Space Station exploded on June 28.

The full video is available http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-spacex-return-to-flight-20151221-story.html

The launch is at about 32 minutes in, and the booster lands at about 42 minutes.

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cmn32480 writes:

This evening, December 20, 2015, SpaceX will be launching the upgraded Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral with 11 Orbcomm communications satellites.

SpaceX's live webcast begins at 8:05 p.m. EST (0105 GMT), less than a half-hour before the Falcon 9's scheduled launch time of 8:29 p.m. EST (0129 GMT) with 11 communications satellites for Orbcomm.

Live updates, and the stream of the launch are available at SpaceflightNow.com

From the SpaceflightNow article (separate from the live stream):

SpaceX says Sunday is the target launch date for the first launch of a remodeled version of its Falcon 9 rocket, and the launcher's first mission since a June failure, after completing a practice countdown and engine ignition test Friday.

The mission's firsts, including a possible landing attempt for the Falcon 9's first stage, make it a critical launch for SpaceX as the company simultaneously resumes flying its fully-booked manifest, debuts a new generation Falcon booster, and continues a lengthy research and development initiative into rocket reusability.

Sunday's launch attempt is timed for 8:29 p.m. EST (0129 GMT Monday) from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad.

Sources said only an instantaneous launch opportunity is available Sunday due to restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration, which may be hesitant to re-route holiday week air traffic around the Cape Canaveral launch base for several hours in case of launch delays.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

On Tuesday morning, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, a governmental agency which operates hundreds of schools in Los Angeles and nearby areas, sent all its students home. The agency did not make its buses available, but instead asked parents to pick up their children from outside the schools. Superintendent Ramon Cortines ordered all the schools in the district closed because of a threatening message regarding "many schools" which was received by a member of the school board. Cortines called the closure a "precaution based on what has happened recently." Police and the district's "plant managers" are searching the campuses.

Sources:

• Los Angeles Times
• Reuters
• KTLA-TV
• New York Times

From Reuters:

The unprecedented move left some 643,000 students of the Los Angeles Unified School District and their families scrambling to make alternate arrangements and drew criticism as officials in New York said they received the same threat and deemed it not to be credible.

A law enforcement source told Reuters that Los Angeles authorities ordered the closure to allow a full search of about 900 public school facilities without consulting with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which takes the lead on any potential terrorism investigation.

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"exec" writes:

Police are attending a shooting in California, with reports of 20 victims, say officials.

From the BBC:

Fire officials in San Bernardino said it was responding to a "20 victim shooting incident" and it was working to clear the scene.

ABC News reports that there are 12 people dead but police have not confirmed that number.

It is still a "very active scene" and police are trying to secure the building, said a police spokeswoman.

There may be up to three gunmen, she said, and they were heavily armed and possibly wearing body armour.

-- submitted from IRC

Update 1: BBC Live stream updates

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AndyTheAbsurd writes:

My local news station

AP story BBC story

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takyon writes:

CNN reports on the downing of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 fighter-bomber jet that reportedly violated Turkish airspace:

One of the world's most volatile regions was roiled further Tuesday when a Russian warplane was shot down near the Turkish-Syria border. Turkey said it shot down a plane after the aircraft repeatedly violated its airspace and ignored several warnings.

Turkey's semi-official Anadolu news agency quoted Turkish presidential sources in reporting that the Russian SU-24 was "hit within the framework of engagement rules" in Syria's Bayirbucak area, near the border with Turkey.

But Russia's state-run Sputnik news agency said that "According to preliminary reports, the plane was gunned down from the ground."

Russian officials denied that the plane had violated Turkish airspace. Both pilots ejected from the plane, but their fate is unknown, Sputnik said.

NYT, Reuters. Also BBC Live Reporting and The Guardian live updates:

Turkey has released flight radar images appearing to show that the Russian jet briefly flew over southern Turkey before it as shot down, CNN Turk reports.

[...] Graphic video purporting to show a dead Russian pilot is being widely circulated, but we cannot verify its authenticity. BrookingsDoha analyst Charles Lister says the video shows the dead pilot wearing Russian uniform and equipment. He says the dead pilot is now reported to be in the hands of anti-Assad rebels from the Alwiya Al-'Ashar group.

Update #1

Reuters reports:

A video sent to Reuters by a Syrian rebel group on Tuesday appeared to show a Russian pilot immobile and badly wounded on the ground, and an official from the group said he was dead.

"A Russian pilot," a voice is heard saying as a group of men gather around him. "God is great," a voice is heard saying.

The video was sent to Reuters by a rebel group operating in the northwestern area of Syria, where groups including Free Syrian Army are operating but Islamic State has no known presence.

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takyon writes:

Various Dell laptops and desktops are shipping with a pre-installed root certificate:

The US IT titan installs a powerful root CA certificate, including its private key, on its Windows notebooks and desktops. These can be abused by eavesdropping miscreants to silently decrypt encrypted web browser traffic without victims noticing.

If you try to remove the dodgy certificate, the file is automatically reinstalled during or after the next boot up. The root CA cert appears to have been created in early April this year, and expires in the year 2039.

How can this certificate be abused? Well, an attacker could, for example, set up a malicious Wi-Fi hotspot in a cafe or hospital, intercept connections from Dell machines, and then automatically strip away the encryption – a classic man-in-the-middle attack, all enabled by Dell's security blunder. The decrypted traffic will include usernames, passwords, session cookies, and other sensitive information. The root CA certificate – eDellRoot – can even be used to sign programs, allowing scumbags to dress up malware as legit apps.

The problem was spotted by Joe Nord (Reddit). Reaching this page without a privacy error means your machine is affected, and this page includes a test for the certificate. Mozilla Firefox ignores (does not trust) the Dell certificate, and thus should be safe to use. To remove:

According to an analysis [PDF] by Duo Security, a bundled plugin reinstalls the root CA file if it is removed. First, you must delete Dell.Foundation.Agent.Plugins.eDell.dll from your system (search for it) and then remove the eDellRoot root CA certificate.

Dell has admitted the mistake and will provide its own guide to fixing it soon (the above information):

The recent situation raised is related to an on-the-box support certificate intended to provide a better, faster and easier customer support experience. Unfortunately, the certificate introduced an unintended security vulnerability.

How about a little comedy courtesy of Reuters?

Dell said it would provide customers with instructions to permanently remove the certificate by email and on its support website, a process that will likely be highly technical.

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takyon writes:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/20/456758931/radisson-hotel-in-mali-attacked-gunmen-take-170-hostages

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34877069

Malian special forces have entered the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako, to end a siege by gunmen who had been holding 170 people hostage. The gunmen stormed the US-owned hotel, which is popular with foreign businesses and airline crews, shooting and shouting "God is great!" in Arabic. Malian state TV is reporting that 80 people have now been freed. At least three people are reported to have been killed in the siege that started around 07:00 GMT. Six staff from Turkish Airlines were at the hotel when it was attacked, and a Chinese guest told China's state news agency Xinhua he was among about seven Chinese tourists trapped there. A French presidential source said French citizens were also at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Reuters news agency reports.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali
Official languages: French

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An Anonymous Coward writes:

France has declared a national state of emergency and has closed its borders after at least 40 people were killed in multiple shootings in Paris.

At least 15 people were killed near the Bataclan arts centre, where up to 60 people are being held hostage. Explosions and gunfire are reported.

Three people were killed in an attack near the Stade de France, with some reports suggesting a suicide blast.

Paris authorities have urged people to stay indoors.

Military personnel are being deployed across Paris.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/13/455943961/violence-reported-in-paris
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/13/world/paris-shooting/index.html

Update #1 [BBC updates]:

Scores of people have been killed in multiple gun and bomb attacks in Paris

At least 100 people are reported to have died inside the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris

Others died in attacks near the Stade de France, where France were playing Germany, and at restaurants

France has declared a national state of emergency and has closed its borders

Paris residents have been asked to stay indoors and military personnel are being deployed across the city

[...] Reuters. quoting an un-named official at Paris City Hall, says the current death toll in Paris is around 140.

Update #2:

According to the Paris prosecutor, of the four assailants who died during the sidge at the Bataclan, three committed suicide by detonating explosive vests. The prosecutor has warned that some of their accomplices may "still be on the loose".

[...] Here is what French president François Hollande told reporters outside the Bataclan concert hall just now: "To all those who have seen these awful things, I want to say we are going to lead a war which will be pitiless. Because when terrorists are capable of committing such atrocities they must be certain that they are facing a determined France, a united France, a France that is together and does not let itself be moved, even if today we express infinite sorrow."

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frojack writes:

The story is being carried by USA Today and just about every major news outlet. There were some economic takes on the election as well.

takyon: Results at CBC and BBC. DeSmog Canada has an analysis focusing on potential shifts in environmental and science policies:

The Liberal party has taken a strong stance on the war on science in Canada, promising to free scientists to speak publicly about their work. Trudeau has also promised to instate a Parliamentary Science Officer to ensure transparency, expertise and independence of federal scientists. This position will mirror that of the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

In addition to unmuzzling scientists, the party also wants to work collaboratively with the provinces, First Nations and other stakeholders when it comes to ocean management. This is significant in light of the Conservative government's de-funding of numerous marine science programs, including the only research being conducted into the effects of industrial pollutants on marine mammals. The Liberal party has promised to reinstate $40 million of funding for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

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