Celebrities freak out over rocket launch

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises skyward, as seen from Santa Monica, California, the United States on Friday. Hundreds of Americans, including some celebrities, called authorities on Friday night when Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the rocket. The Los Angeles Fire Department sought to quell any fears among Southern California residents with a statement saying that a “mysterious light in the sky is reported to be as a result of Vandenburg Air Force Base launching [a] rocket to put satellite into space” in Lompoc, California. SD-Agencies1.

1st astronaut to fly untethered in space dies

NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless, the first person to fly freely and untethered* in space, has died. He was 80.

He was famously photographed in 1984 flying with a hefty* spacewalker’s jetpack*, alone in the cosmic* blackness above a blue Earth. He traveled more than 300 feet (91.4 meters) away from the space shuttle Challenger during the spacewalk.

“The iconic photo of Bruce soaring effortlessly in space has inspired generations of Americans to believe that there is no limit to the human potential,” Sen. John McCain said.

2. Fire in Philippine shopping mall kills 37

Fire swept through a shopping mall in the Philippines killing at least 37 people, most of them workers at a call center, city government officials said on Sunday.

The vice mayor of the southern city of Davao, Paolo Duterte, said the chance of survival for any of the 37 people missing at the NCC Mall was “zero.”

“Let us pray for them,” said Duterte, the eldest son of President Rodrigo Duterte. The fire broke out on Saturday at a furniture store on the mall’s third level and quickly engulfed an outsourcing business on the upper floor, said a spokeswoman for the city government.

3. Peru president pardons ex-leader Fujimori

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski pardoned former authoritarian* leader Alberto Fujimori on late Sunday, triggering Christmas Eve street clashes as protesters denounced the decision as part of a crude political deal.

At least two ministers in Kuczynski’s Cabinet who objected to the pardon told him they wanted to resign, and Kuczynski might reshuffle the Cabinet as early as this week, a government source said.

4. New Austrian coalition government sworn in

With a heavy police presence keeping protesters at bay*, Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO) was sworn in last week as part of the new government, rounding off* a triumphant year for Europe’s nationalists.

The coalition between the conservative People’s Party (OVP) and the FPO has pledged to stop illegal immigration, cut taxes and resist EU centralization, and will be led by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the OVP, who at 31 is the world’s youngest leader.

5. Guatemala to move Israel embassy to Jerusalem

Guatemala’s president announced on Christmas Eve that the Central American country will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, becoming the first nation to follow the lead of U.S. President Donald Trump in ordering the change.

Trump didn’t set any timetable for moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and neither did Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales.(SD-Agencies)