DALLAS — Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson’s offseason surgery

SpaceX aims to notch another milestone in spaceflight reusability Wednesday night when it will not only launch its a flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket booster for the 350th time in program history, but also attempt the 300th successful booster landing. The Starlink 9-14 mission is targeting a liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 7:05 p.m. PST (10:05 p.m. EST, 0305 UTC). However, in announcing the mission on its website though, SpaceX just broadly said, “The four-hour launch window opens at 4:06 p.m. PT.” For the third time in as many launches from California, SpaceX left the public in the dark as to whether or not the launch will be viewable via livestream. When it published details of the launch on its website Wednesday afternoon, it didn’t include a link to a webcast, nor did it mention the mission on social media. By contrast, SpaceX simultaneously published a launch page for the planned launch of SiriusXM’s SXM-9 satellite, which will lift off on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center late Thursday morning. Not only did SpaceX include a link to the livestream for the SXM-9 mission, but it also posted to its X account announcing the launch. The Starlink 6-70 mission which launched from Cape Canaveral earlier Wednesday also had a webcast of liftoff that was announced in advance. SpaceX did end up live streaming the two previous ascents from Vanenberg Space Force Base, NROL-126 and Starlink 9-13. However, in both cases, a live stream popped up well after the rockets had left the launch pad. The Falcon 9 first stage booster for the Starlink 9-14 mission, with the tailnumber B1081, is launching for a 12th time. It previously supported the launches of two missions to the International Space Station (Crew-7 and CRS-29), two climate-monitoring spacecraft (PACE and EarthCARE) and five previous Starlink missions. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1081 will aim to complete the 300th successful droneship landing when it touches down on ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean. This will be the 379th overall booster landing for SpaceX, if successful. Onboard the mission are 20 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, including 13 that feature Direct to Cell capabilities. With this mission, SpaceX will have launched 349 DTC Starlink satellites since the first such launch on January 2. In late November, SpaceX received approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to begin rolling out cellular service alongside its domestic telecom partner, T-Mobile. Thank you to @NASA , @NTIAgov , @NSF , for their coordination work with us, and all of our telco partners, especially @TMobile ! We hope to activate employee beta service in the US soon. — Ben Longmier (@longmier) November 26, 2024 The FCC allowed SpaceX to use its previously authorized up to 7,500 second generation Starlink satellites using the V-band frequency from 340 km to 360 km. “SpaceX is authorized to communicate with these satellites in the previously authorized Ku-, Ka-, E-, and V-band frequencies, in conformance with the technical specifications SpaceX has provided to the Commission, the conditions previously placed on its authorizations, and the conditions we adopt today,” the FCC wrote in a Nov. 26 filing. “Authorization to permit SpaceX to operate up to 7,500 Gen2 satellites in lower altitude shells will enable SpaceX to begin providing lower-latency satellite service to support growing demand in rural and remote areas that lack terrestrial wireless service options.16 This partial grant also strikes the right balance between allowing SpaceX’s operations at lower altitudes to provide low-latency satellite service and permitting the Commission to continue to monitor SpaceX’s constellation and evaluate issues previously raised on the record.”None

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has tasked President Bola Tinubu’s government to compensate families of those who lost their loved ones in the stampedes that occurred in different parts of the country. Falana said that the Nigeria Police should be held responsible for the stampedes that led to the loss of lives in Oyo, Anambra State and Abuja. Speaking on Friday at a public lecture to mark one year demise of former governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, in Akure, the legal practitioner accused Nigeria police of sheer incompetence. He noted that the stampedes that occurred during the distribution of food items and other palliatives in the country were a national tragedy. He emphasised that the security agents are saddled with the rights under the constitution to protect the citizens of the country at all public gatherings. Falana said: “The blame should also go to the Nigeria Police Force because of their sheer incompetence to protect those who lost their lives in those stampedes. “The blame should also go to the Nigeria Police Force because of their sheer incompetence to protect those who lost their lives in those stampedes. READ MORE: Govt Failures Responsible For Avoidable Stampede Deaths — Kukah “If there is any noise that disturbed the neighbours, the police would come. If a few people gathered on the street in a tumultuous manner, the police would come. “Under Section 83, subsection 4 of the Police Establishment Act, 2020, if there is a rally, public meeting, or state rally, the police shall provide adequate security for the people. “It was failure that led to the loss of lives in those stampedes. In traditional political meetings and protests, the law states that the police shall provide security so that hoodlums would not break into protests and cause mayhem. “It is the management of protest and public meetings in our country that is the problem in our country. I therefore suggest that because we operate a capitalist system, somebody must bear responsibility for any damage. “The federal government must pay compensation to the families of those who lost their lives in the stampedes because of the failure and negligence of the Nigeria Police Force.”

Wall Street got back to climbing after the latest update on inflation appeared to clear the way for more help for the economy from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 gained 0.8% Wednesday to break a two-day losing streak and finished just short of its all-time high. Big Tech stocks led the way, which drove the Nasdaq composite up 1.8% to top the 20,000 level for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged with a dip of 0.2%. Stocks got a boost as expectations built that the Fed will deliver another cut to interest rates at its meeting next week. On Wednesday: The S&P 500 rose 49.28 points, or 0.8%, to 6,084.19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 99.27 points, or 0.2%, to 44,148.56. The Nasdaq composite rose 347.65 points, or 1.8%, to 20,034.89. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.38 points, or 0.5%, to 2,394.16. For the week: The S&P 500 is down 6.08 points, or 0.1%. The Dow is down 493.96 points, or 1.1%. The Nasdaq is up 175.12 points, or 0.9%. The Russell 2000 is down 14.84 points, or 0.6%. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 1,314.36 points, or 27.6%. The Dow is up 6,459.02 points, or 17.1%. The Nasdaq is up 5,023.54 points, or 33.5%. The Russell 2000 is up 367.09 points, or 18.1%.