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Sunday, December 8, 2019

Restoring the theme park abandoned for 20 years

Restoring the theme park abandoned for 20 years
When it is re-opened Spreepark will have a focus on art, culture and nature.

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Max Q: SpaceX and Rocket Lab launch rockets and X-Wings take flight

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This week saw a ton of activity in the space industry, with multiple launches, key preparations for commercial crew missions, robots and much more.

Besides all the real space news, there’s also some extreme fan service for Star Wars lovers, courtesy of Disney and Boeing. Now I’m one day closer to my lifelong dream of becoming a real X-Wing starfighter pilot.

Rocket Lab completes key step towards reusable rockets

Launch startup Rocket Lab has been successfully delivering payloads to orbit for a while now, but earlier this year they announced they’d be moving to a launch system in which the booster they use to propel their spacecraft to orbit is reusable.

An Electron rocket launching during a previous test.

During their 10th mission with their Electron rocket, they took a crucial first step – testing the re-entry systems to bring the booster back to Earth’s atmosphere. Rocket Lab says the test went better than expected, which bodes well from moving to an actual test of properly recovering and refurbishing the thing.

SpaceX launches 19th Space Station resupply mission

The other big launch this week was SpaceX’s CRS-19 launch, which delivered 5,200 lbs of experiments and supplies to the ISS. This launch used a brand new Falcon 9, which SpaceX recovered with a landing at sea, and it also employed a Dragon cargo capsule that the company has flown twice before. On board, there’s a load of amazing new equipment for the ISS, like a ‘robot hotel.’

Emotionally intelligent IBM-powered assistant robot is heading to space

You may not have heard, but there’s an advanced Alexa for astronauts called CIMON, and after a successful first test, it’s headed back to the ISS aboard the above SpaceX launch with improvements. One of its key improvements is a new ability to detect and respond to human emotions, which is, you know, HAL territory.

SpaceX completes 7th parachute test

SpaceX is getting closer to a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to its ability to launch astronauts on its commercial crew spacecraft. The company needs to do at least 10 parachute tests in a row to get ship-shape for its crew launch, and it’s now pretty close to getting that done before year’s end.

Boeing completes dress rehearsal of crew launch

Boeing is also getting closer to its own commercial crew launch, and in fact completed an entire rehearsal of how the mission will go on on launch day when it does its uncrewed launch. This rehearsal including fully feeling the rocket, and next time that happens, it’ll be taking off.

Real X-Wings fly for real (really)

X-Wing starfighters ascended through the night sky over Orlando, Florida this week as Disney celebrated the opening of its new ‘Rise of the Resistance’ attraction at Disney World. The X-Wings (2 of them!) were modified versions of a large cargo drone that Boeing has been developing, but both companies are keeping mum on any further details right now.

Here’s what’s up in the world of space startups and investing

What’s going on with space tech, and why is it having a moment? What’s coming next, and where is the smart money going? The answers to those questions and more lie in Starburst founder and aerospace investor François Chopard’s informative deck about space and defense, available exclusively to Extra Crunch subscribers.

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Haley: Killer 'hijacked' Confederate flag meaning for some

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said in an interview that a man who gunned down nine worshipers at an African American church in 2015 “hijacked” the ideals many connected to the Confederate battle flag. Haley told conservative political commentator and Blaze TV host Glenn Beck that the flag had meant “service, and sacrifice and heritage” to some. An interview excerpt on social media Friday drew criticism from many who said the flag represents treason and racial hatred.

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Pearl Harbor veteran interred on sunken ship

With speeches and salutes, veterans and officials on Saturday commemorated the 78th anniversary of the 1941 sneak attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor, which brought a previously reluctant United States into World War II. A ceremony in Hawaii honoring survivors was attended by US Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Washington's ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris. It was held within sight of the sunken USS Arizona, which was bombed in the opening moments of the attack that killed more than 2,400 Americans.

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‘We’ve seen enough’: LA Times board announces backing for Trump impeachment

One of the largest newspapers in the US has come out in favour of the impeachment of Donald Trump for his “flagrant abuse of power”.The LA Times said that the inquiry hearings had produced “overwhelming” evidence that the president had “perverted US foreign policy for his own political gain”.

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Screams and goodbyes as scores die in devastating India factory fire

At least 43 people were killed Sunday in a devastating fire that ripped through a bag factory in the congested old quarter of the Indian capital New Delhi, with survivors describing the screams of workers trapped inside. The blaze was the worst in Delhi since 59 movie-goers died in a cinema in 1997. The cause of the blaze is not yet known, but the city's poor planning and lax enforcement of building and safety codes have often been blamed for such deadly incidents.

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Impeachment inquiry: Nadler may add Mueller counts against Trump

* Judiciary chair cites ‘real and present danger to … next election’ * Committee to hold critical hearing on Monday * Warren: Trump has destroyed US leadership – I’ll restore itThe Democratic chairman of the House judiciary committee, Jerry Nadler, has not ruled out including evidence from the Mueller report in articles of impeachment against Donald Trump that could be published as early as next week.On Sunday, Nadler told CNN’s State of the Union evidence showed the president’s conduct in the Ukraine scandal was part of “a pattern”, indicating “that the president put himself above this country several times”.On Monday Nadler’s committee will hold a critical hearing. Democratic and Republican lawyers from the House intelligence committee will testify following a months-long investigation of the president’s attempts to have Ukraine investigate a political rival for his own political gain.Nadler said on Sunday Democrats had presented “a very rock solid case” that Trump abused his power, and would get “a guilty verdict in three minutes flat” if the case was presented to a jury.He has suggested that after the hearing concludes his committee will work quickly to publish impeachment articles, which could be voted on before Christmas.The scope of these articles has been the centre of significant debate in the Democratic party, with a number of centrists elected in swing districts keen to keep the focus on Ukraine rather than broader evidence included in the Mueller report into Russian election meddling in 2016, which documented evidence of attempted obstruction of justice by the president.While Nadler made no commitment to including evidence from Mueller, he argued on CNN that Trump “sought foreign interference in our election several times both in 2016 and in 2020. That he sought to cover it up all the time. And that he continually violated his oath of office.“And that all this presents a pattern that poses a real and present danger to the integrity of the next election.”Other senior Democrats, including the House intelligence committee chairman, Adam Schiff, appeared to urge their colleagues to keep the impeachment articles focused on Ukraine.Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, Schiff, a former US government prosecutor, said it had been his “guiding philosophy” to “charge those that is the strongest and most overwhelming evidence and not try to charge everything even though you could charge other things”.For impeachment to pass the Democrat-controlled House and move to a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate, two votes are required. First, the House judiciary committee must vote with a simple majority to confirm a resolution that the full House should vote on the articles of impeachment. Then the full House most vote on the articles of impeachment, with a simple majority required to impeach the president.Nadler’s committee released a report on Saturday laying out the constitutional grounds for impeachment, an update to reports published in 1974 and 1998 during impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.Shortly after the report’s publication, Trump once again branded the inquiry “a witch-hunt” and “a total hoax”.Over the weekend, Trump told reporters that his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, would provide Congress and the attorney general, William Barr, with “a report” containing “a lot of good information” about his recent trip to Ukraine.Giuliani, who holds no official title in the White House, is at the centre of the Ukraine scandal for his role in an unofficial diplomatic back channel tasked with pushing the Ukranian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, into investigating the former vice-president Joe Biden as well as an unfounded conspiracy theory suggesting Ukraine was involved in election meddling during 2016.Giuliani’s trip to Ukraine, reported this week, drew criticism after he met with a number of former officials central to the impeachment inquiry.On Sunday, Republicans loyal to Trump defended the president from all allegations of impeachable behaviour and, in the case of the Texas senator Ted Cruz on NBC’s Meet the Press, continued to push the line that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.But they also criticised Giuliani’s travel to Ukraine. The Florida congressman Matt Gaetz described the decision as “weird” and suggested that Trump had confirmed Giuliani would appear before Congress, despite the White House blocking most involved in the scandal from testifying.Cruz captured the tenor of Republican defences of Trump – and pointed to his likely survival in office – when he told NBC: “This is a kangaroo court. In the House, they’re going to impeach, not because they have the evidence but because they hate the president [and] want to [undo] the election.“But it’s going to go to the Senate, it’s going to go nowhere, and I think the American people know this is a waste of time and this is Democrats putting on a circus.”From the White House, Trump tweeted a complaint about procedure in the House, writing: “When you can’t win the game, change the rules!”

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Unrelenting transport chaos as French strike bites

French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and senior cabinet ministers met late Sunday to discuss the government's proposed pensions reforms as public transport in France was crippled for a fourth day running in protest. The country's powerful labour unions, who claim the reforms will force many to work longer for a smaller retirement payout, began their protest on Thursday with the mass strike stranding commuters, closing schools and hitting tourism. On the first day, some 800,000 people took to the streets in protest at the plan to introduce a single, points-based pension scheme for workers in all economic sectors.

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TV reporter smacked on bottom during live broadcast: ‘You violated, objectified and embarrassed me’

A TV reporter said she was left “violated” and “embarrassed” after being smacked on the bottom during a live broadcast.Alex Bozarjian, of WSAV News, was reporting roadside from a 10km race in Savannah, Georgia, when a male participant ran up behind and struck her.

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Saturday, December 7, 2019

Russia doping: Athletes wait in fear of fresh world ban

Russia doping: Athletes wait in fear of fresh world ban
Russia faces another sport ban over a doping scandal, but one man has spoken out to demand change.

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Mike Bloomberg apologizes for calling Cory Booker "well spoken"

"I probably shouldn't have used the word, but I could just tell you he is a friend of mine," Bloomberg said.

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White House won't participate in next impeachment hearing

The White House will not participate in the House Judiciary Committee's next impeachment hearing, a senior Trump administration official said Friday in another sign the president has accepted that he is likely to be impeached by the House. The decision came in a letter from White House counsel Pat Cipollone ahead of a Friday evening deadline set by the Democratic chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York. The two-paragraph letter did not expressly state the White House's refusal to participate.

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New Jersey journalist re-arrested in Nigeria after brief glimpse of freedom

Omoyele Sowore, imprisoned in his home country of Nigeria since August, has been freed from government custody, but still has to stand trial.

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Joe Biden slams the media for saying Democrats have moved 'extremely to the left' since 2016 and says the party's not with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Biden said the media falsely reported that the Democratic Party "moved extremely to the left" following Hillary Clinton's 2016 loss.

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UPDATE 1-Rocket hits Iraqi cleric's home following deadly Baghdad attack

The drone attack, which caused little damage and left no casualties, followed a deadly attack by armed men near Baghdad's main protest site on Friday night, which left at least 23 dead, police and medical sources said. Nearly 130 others were wounded by gunfire and stabbings targeting anti-government protesters at the Sinak bridge near Tahrir Square, the sources said. Thousands of Iraqis have occupied the central square and three nearby bridges which lead to the city's Green Zone, Iraq's political centre, for more than two months, calling for a complete uprooting of the political system.

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3 Guard members killed in Minnesota Black Hawk crash identified

Killed were Chief Warrant Officer 2 James A. Rogers Jr., age 28; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Charles P. Nord, 30; and Sgt. Kort M. Plantenberg, 28.

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Carjackers’ Plan Foiled Because They Can't Drive Stick

In case you needed another reason to buy a car with a manual transmission.

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AOC blasts Trump policy, says her family used food stamps

Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., slammed the Trump administration on Thursday over new changes to the food stamps program that will cause nearly 700,000 people to lose access to benefits.