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Iraqis Celebrate after Soleimani Death

AP file photo of Qassem Soleimani
AP file photo of Qassem Soleimani
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Iraqis Celebrate after Soleimani Death

AP file photo of Qassem Soleimani
AP file photo of Qassem Soleimani

Iraqis celebrated on Friday the killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a US airstrike in Baghdad. 
A video showed Iraqis dancing in the street. 

"Iraqis — Iraqis — dancing in the street for freedom; thankful that General Soleimani is no more," Pompeo wrote, alongside footage of scores of people running along a road and waving what appeared to be Iraqi flags and other banners.
 

President Donald Trump ordered the killing of the Iran Revolutionary Guards commander, who died Friday "in a decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad," the Pentagon said.

 

"General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region," the Department of Defense said in a statement.

 

"General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more." 

 

The strike at Baghdad's international airport also killed the deputy chief of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

 

A pro-Iran mob this week laid siege to the US embassy following deadly American air strikes on Kataib Hezbollah.

 

The US had called the strikes in response to a rocket attack days earlier that killed an American contractor working in Iraq.  
The Pentagon said Soleimani had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the past months, including on December 27, the day the contractor was killed.

 

"General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the US Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week," it said.

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Spacex Set for Starship's Next Flight, Trump Expected to Attend

NASA's SpaceX Europa mission on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, 14 October 2024. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
NASA's SpaceX Europa mission on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, 14 October 2024. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
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Spacex Set for Starship's Next Flight, Trump Expected to Attend

NASA's SpaceX Europa mission on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, 14 October 2024. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
NASA's SpaceX Europa mission on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, 14 October 2024. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH

SpaceX is poised for its next Starship megarocket test flight on Tuesday, with US President-elect Donald Trump expected to witness the second ever attempt to catch its descending booster stage in the launch tower's "chopstick" arms.
It comes just over a month after the company first pulled off the technical tour de force that underscored its position as the world leader in reusable rocketry, AFP said.
"It was a beautiful thing to see," Trump declared in his election night victory speech, dramatically recounting the feat.
US media outlets have reported on Trump's plans to attend -- further backed by Federal Aviation Administration orders showing flight restrictions for VIP movement have been imposed around the area during the launch window, which opens at 4:00 pm (2200 GMT) from the company's Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.
Meanwhile, the usual air traffic restrictions over Trump's Florida residence will be lifted at the same time.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been a constant presence at Trump's side since the Republican's election victory, joining him at meetings with Argentina's President Javier Milei and even at a UFC fight. Trump's decision to travel to Musk's home turf is the latest sign of the burgeoning bond between the billionaire duo.
SpaceX will be looking to prove the first catch wasn't a fluke, after Musk revealed -- indirectly, through audio shared on X of a discussion with engineers days later -- that the Super Heavy booster had come perilously close to crashing.
The world's richest man shared a three-minute video flaunting his hack-and-slash skills in the "Diablo IV" video game, during which sharp-eared viewers caught an employee briefing him that "we were one second away" from a system failure that could have ended in catastrophe.
Tuesday's launch will mark the fastest turnaround between test flights for the world's most powerful rocket, a gleaming, stainless steel colossus central to Musk's vision of colonizing Mars and making humanity a multiplanetary species.
NASA is also counting on a specialized version of Starship to ferry astronauts to the lunar surface later this decade under its Artemis program.
Daylight splashdown
Flight six will revisit many of the goals from flight five, with some updates.
If all goes as planned, the returning booster will decelerate from supersonic speeds, creating sonic booms as it nears the launch tower. There, a pair of massive mechanical arms will reach out to catch it and bring it to a halt, around eight to ten minutes after liftoff.
Starship's upper stage will make a partial orbit of Earth, reenter the atmosphere and splash down in the Indian Ocean a little over an hour later, but this time in the daylight, providing better conditions for visual analysis.
Technical goals include reigniting Starship's Raptor engines for the first time in space, and carrying out new heat shield experiments in what will be the final flight for the current generation of Starship prototypes.
The next bloc will feature redesigned forward flaps, larger propellant tanks, and new-generation tiles and thermal protection layers as the company strives towards a fully reusable heat shield.
Musk riding high
The flight comes as Musk is riding high on Trump's November 5 White House win, having campaigned extensively for the returning Republican leader, as well as donating tens of millions of dollars from his own fortune to the cause.
He has been appointed to co-lead a new "Department of Government Efficiency" -- whose acronym DOGE is a reference to an internet meme and a cryptocurrency that Musk heavily promotes.