China, in a report filed to the United Nations earlier this month, accused SpaceX of endangering the country's new space station and taikonauts on board through close encounters with at least two of the company's Starlink internet satellites.
Why it matters: China also accused the U.S. of failing to meet its obligations under the Outer Space Treaty and said it isn't doing enough to ensure that the California-based company complies.
California's ski resorts are digging out from under 5 to 9 feet of snow that has fallen over the last several days from a series of storms. And more snow is on the way.
The big picture: A large dip, or trough, in the jet stream across the West is allowing frigid conditions and a relentless series of storms to bring record-breaking snowfall into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The snow has closed major interstates and even forced the shut down of several ski resorts.
Heavy snows and frigid temperatures were plaguing the West Monday, forcing several highways in Northern California and Nevada to close, with travel warnings issued in the snow-lashed Sierra Nevada.
Threat level: The National Weather Service said significant snowfall hit West Coast mountain ranges and the Intermountain West, with record cold weather in the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, the U.S. South was experiencing "unusually warm temperatures," with dozens of cities in the lower 48 states on track for their warmest December on record.
Heavy rains and flooding in northeastern Brazil have killed at least 18 people, wounded 286 others and displaced some 35,000 residents, AFP reported Sunday.
The big picture: The Brazilian state of Bahia has been pummeled by heavy rains since early November, causing two dams to burst over the weekend as more deaths from the extreme weather were confirmed, Reuters notes.
