Israel’s first lunar lander launched into space

Cape canaveral: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Thursday night carrying Israel’s first lunar lander on a mission that if successful will make the Jewish state only the fourth nation to achieve a controlled touchdown on the moon’s surface. The unmanned robotic lander dubbed Beresheet soared into space from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station about 8.45 pm atop the 23-storey rocket. Beresheet, about the size of a dish-washing machine, was one of three sets of cargo carried aloft by the Falcon 9, part of the private rocket fleet of entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX.  reuters

Chinese-Australian billionaire wins defamation suit 

Canberra: Chinese-Australian billionaire Chau Chak Wing was awarded S2,00,000 in damages on Friday by an Australian judge who ruled he was defamed by a media report that insinuated he bribed a former UNGA president. The businessman sued Fairfax Media and scribe John Garnaut over an online story “Are Chau Chak Wing’s circles of influence in Australia-China ties built on hot air?” published in 2015. The report led to Parliament passing laws last year forbidding covert foreign interference in domestic politics and making industrial espionage for a foreign power a crime. AP