The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is planning to launch a rocket to the moon. UPDATE: 2:28: The launch "has been called off for today," the ISRO posted on Twitter. But when the re-schedule launch happens, you can watch it live on two YouTube channels, on Twitter, Facebook, or webcast on the ISRO's web site. TechCrunch has also embedded a livestreaming video in their report: Chandrayaan-2 will carry lunar lander Vikram, which will deliver ISRO rover Pragyan to the surface at the pole, with a target landing zone of a plain that covers the ground between two of the Moon's craters, Simpelius N and Manzinus C. The rocket used for the launch is the GSLV Mk-III, India's most powerful launch vehicle ever, and the orbiter used for this mission will relay back information from the lander and rover to Earth via the Indian Deep Space Network, as well as make its own observations during its planned one-year mission lifespan. The mission will seek to take a number of measurements of the lunar surface, including topographic, mineral makeup, seismographic, chemical analytics and more, with an eye to shedding more light on the Moon's origins. If all goes to plan, the lunar orbiter will make its way to to Moon over the next couple of months and aim to soft land the Vikram at the South Pole target site on September 6, 2019. This is a historic mission for a few reasons, including being the first ever soft-landing attempt at the Moon's South Pole region, as well as being the first Indian mission to attempt a soft landing using all home-grown lander and rover technology. If successful, India will be only the fourth country ever to have soft-landed a vehicle on the lunar surface.

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The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is launching a rocket to the moon within the next hour. You can watch the launch live on two YouTube channels, on Twitter, Facebook, or webcast on the ISRO's web site. TechCrunch has also embedded a livestreaming video in their report: Chandrayaan-2 will carry lunar lander Vikram, which will deliver ISRO rover Pragyan to the surface at the pole, with a target landing zone of a plain that covers the ground between two of the Moon's craters, Simpelius N and Manzinus C. The rocket used for the launch is the GSLV Mk-III, India's most powerful launch vehicle ever, and the orbiter used for this mission will relay back information from the lander and rover to Earth via the Indian Deep Space Network, as well as make its own observations during its planned one-year mission lifespan. The mission will seek to take a number of measurements of the lunar surface, including topographic, mineral makeup, seismographic, chemical analytics and more, with an eye to shedding more light on the Moon's origins. If all goes to plan, the lunar orbiter will make its way to to Moon over the next couple of months and aim to soft land the Vikram at the South Pole target site on September 6, 2019. This is a historic mission for a few reasons, including being the first ever soft-landing attempt at the Moon's South Pole region, as well as being the first Indian mission to attempt a soft landing using all home-grown lander and rover technology. If successful, India will be only the fourth country ever to have soft-landed a vehicle on the lunar surface.

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US president's tweets aimed at congresswomen drew sharp rebukes from the Democrats.

What's Google working on after shuttering Google+ ? An anonymous reader quotes The Verge: Google's in-house incubator, Area 120, is working on a new social networking app called Shoelace which is aimed at organizing local events and activities. You use it by listing your interests in the app, allowing it to recommend a series of "hand-picked" local activities which it calls "Loops." You can also organize your own events, and there's a map interface to view and RSVP to other people's Loops. Shoelace's soft-launch comes just months after Google shut down Google+, its most prominent attempt at building a social media platform. However, rather than trying to create a new all-encompassing social network to rival the likes of Facebook, Shoelace seems to have much more modest ambitions that take aim at Facebook's ubiquitous Events functionality... [I]t's also only available in New York City at the moment; the team says it's hoping to expand to more cities across the US soon.

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The Serb saved two championship points to retain his title in a tense and tight match that lasted nearly five hours.

Iranian leader Rouhani says Tehran open for dialogue if sanctions are lifted and US returns to nuclear deal.

The summer of discontent looks set to continue as grievances widen.

America's FBI "wants to gather more information from social media," reports Engadget. Friday, it issued a call for contracts for a new social media monitoring tool. According to a request-for-proposals (RFP), it's looking for an "early alerting tool" that would help it monitor terrorist groups, domestic threats, criminal activity and the like. The tool would provide the FBI with access to the full social media profiles of persons-of-interest. That could include information like user IDs, emails, IP addresses and telephone numbers. The tool would also allow the FBI to track people based on location, enable persistent keyword monitoring and provide access to personal social media history. According to the RFP, "The mission-critical exploitation of social media will enable the Bureau to detect, disrupt, and investigate an ever growing diverse range of threats to U.S. National interests." But a tool of this nature is likely to raise a few red flags, despite the FBI's call for "ensuring all privacy and civil liberties compliance requirements are met." Back in 2011 a video by The Onion jokingly described Facebook as "the massive online surveillance program run by the CIA." Looks like they had the right idea -- but the wrong government agency. On Twitter the ACLU's senior staff attorney highlighted some key phrases from the FBI's request for proposals -- including "constant monitoring of social media platforms." He added that "They're not beating around the bush in terms of how pervasively they're monitoring social media content:"

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Hosts win their first World Cup title after edging past New Zealand at Lord's.

At least 170 local or state government systems in America have been hit with ransomware, and the French Interior Ministry received reports of 560 incidents just in 2018, according to Phys.org. (Though the French ministry also notes that most incidents aren't reported.) But when a government system is hit by ransomware, do they have a responsibility to pay the ransomware to restore their data -- or to not pay it? "You have to do what's right for your organization," said Gregory Falco, a researcher at Stanford University specializing in municipal network security. "It's not the FBI's call. You might have criminal justice information, you could have decades of evidence. You have to weigh this for yourself." Josh Zelonis at Forrester Research offered a similar view, saying in a blog post that victims need to consider paying the ransom as a valid option, alongside other recovery efforts. But Randy Marchany, chief information security officer for Virginia Tech University, said the best answer is to take a hardline "don't pay" attitude. "I don't agree with any organization or city paying the ransom," Marchany said. "The victims will have to rebuild their infrastructure from scratch anyway. If you pay the ransom, the hackers give you the decryption key but you have no assurance the ransomware has been removed from all of your systems. So, you have to rebuild them anyway." Victims often fail to take preventive measures such as software updates and data backups that would limit the impact of ransomware. But victims may not always be aware of potential remedies that don't involve paying up, said Brett Callow of Emsisoft, one of several security firms that offer free decryption tools. "If the encryption in ransomware is implemented properly, there is a zero chance of recovery unless you pay the ransom," Callow said. "Often it isn't implemented properly, and we find weaknesses in the encryption and undo it." Callow also points to coordinated efforts of security firms including the No More Ransom Project, which partners with Europol, and ID Ransomware, which can identify some malware and sometimes unlock data.

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"Light-to-moderate" alcohol consumption can help reduce your risk of Alzheimer's disease. An anonymous reader quotes the Washington Post: A study presented Sunday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Los Angeles found that combining five lifestyle habits -- including eating healthier, exercising regularly and refraining from smoking -- can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's by 60 percent. A separate study showed that lifestyle choices can lower risk even for those who are genetically prelifestyle disposed to the disease... Over the last decade, studies have increasingly pointed to controllable lifestyle factors as critical compenents to reducing the risk of cognitive decline. Researchers say that, as with heart disease, combating dementia will probably require a "cocktail" approach combining drugs and lifestyle changes. And as recent efforts to develop a cure or more effective drug treatments for dementia have proven disappointing, the fact that people can exert some control in preventing the disease through their own choices is encouraging news, they say. While the new study's authors expected to see that leading a healther life decreases the chance of dementia, they were floored by the "magnitude of the effect," said Klodian Dhana, a Rush University professor and co-author. "This demonstrates the potential of lifestyle behaviors to reduce risk as we age," said Heather Snyder, senior director of medical and scientific operations at the Alzheimer's Association. "The fact that four or five lifestyle habits put together can have that kind of benefit for your brain is incredibly powerful." The fifth lifestyle habit is "engaging in mentally stimulating activities like reading the newspaper, visiting the library or playing games such as chess and checkers." Time reports that even following just two or three of the healthy lifestyle factors reduced the risk of developing Alzheimer's dementia in the study by at least 39%.

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If successful, India will be the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to perform a 'soft' landing on moon.

Magnitude 7.3 earthquake damages homes southeast of Ternate in North Maluku province, prompting residents to flee.

The Minecraft team has released "a handy video to illustrate exactly what to expect from the Minecraft Earth beta" on the Minecraft blog. "We've even included actual moving images from said beta (with an impossibly upbeat, yet beautifully pedagogical voice-over by Stephen Scott of the Minecraft Earth Design Team, as a fun bonus!)" The closed beta will launch for iOS in the next two weeks, with the Android version following soon thereafter. As with most closed betas, the number of participants will be limited in numbers and locations. This is to make sure our servers are able to keep up with all the exploration, creation and, hopefully, surviving that is going on around the world... As is also common with beta versions, your progress will occasionally be reset as we test and develop various features of the game. If you are selected to participate in the closed beta (congratulations!), you will receive an invitation email to the email address you have associated with the Microsoft Account or Xbox Live account you submitted in your registration. If you are selected (congrats again!), you will need to play at least once every 7 days. If you don't, we'll give your spot to someone else, as space in the beta is very limited. You have to be 18 years or older to participate.

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Witnesses say incident happened in El-Souk after residents rallied to demand paramilitary force to leave their town.