RAF Tornado Jets Bomb IS Oilfield In Syria

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   Gallery: RAF Launches Strikes Over Syria
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    Gallery: RAF Launches Strikes Over Syria

A Ministry Of Defence spokesman confirmed RAF Tornados had returned from their "first offensive 

Earlier, four Tornado GR4s - armed with Paveway IV guided bombs and precision-guided Brimstone missiles - took off from Akrotiri base in Cyprus.

Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall said the first missions were launched "barely an hour" after MPs backed airstrikes by a majority of 174.

"The target was an oilfield held by Islamic State in the east of Syria," he said. "This is a show of intent from the Government.

"Clearly they had some pre-planned targets ready to go if the vote was a yes ... they did not want to hang around."

The Tornados are a small but significant addition to the coalition strike force in Syria and more aircraft will soon be joining them from the UK.

Six typhoon jets from RAF Lossiemouth are expected to head to Cyprus along with more Tornados from RAF Marham in Norfolk.

Their British-designed Brimstone missiles are a vital asset, with the ability to hit targets with remarkable accuracy and limit collateral damage.

US President Barack Obama welcomed the UK's vote agreeing to expand military action against IS - saying it demonstrated the coalition's "unity and resolve".

On Wednesday night, MPs voted by 397 to 223 in favour of extending British action against IS - also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh - from Iraq into its Syrian stronghold.

The margin of victory was larger than most had predicted.

Apple Puts iOS 9 Adoption At 70% Based On App Store Usage Numbers

It’s been two and half months since Apple released iOS 9, and the company just shared some adoption numbers on its website. According to Apple, 70 percent of iOS devices accessing the App Store are running iOS 9. This adoption rate is higher than last year’s adoption rate.

22 percent of iOS devices are running iOS 8, and 8 percent are currently using iOS 7 or earlier. Together, 92 percent of active iOS users are running iOS 8 or iOS 9. This is a key metric as it lets developers drop support for iOS 7 in their apps for instance. In particular, it lets developers use newer APIs and clean up their code base.

So how does this year’s number stack up to previous years? Last year, 60 percent of iOS users had installed iOS 8 on November 21. Two years ago, 74 percent of people were using iOS 7 by early December.

It looks like this year’s number is on par with iOS 7 adoption rate and slightly above iOS 8 adoption rate. As a reminder, many delayed updating to iOS 8 last year because Apple required a lot of free storage. This year, Apple released a slimmer update in order to make it easier to update.

Similarly, if your device runs iOS 8, you can update it to iOS 9. Apple didn’t drop support for any older device with this year’s major update. On October 16, 55 percent of iOS users had updated to iOS 9.

Comparatively, when it comes to Android, around 26 percent of users were using Lollipop or Marshmallow on November 2, 2015. Google’s latest mobile operating system was released in early October, so that’s why Marshmallow’s adoption rate is so low.

But even if you add Lollipop it doesn’t even come close to iOS 9 adoption rate. Google released Lollipop in November 2014. Apple’s fast adoption cycle is a key advantage when it comes to pushing out new features to end users. Many Android users have to buy a new phone to get a newer version of Android.

VIA APPLE INSIDER

What the rest of the world wonders about America, according to Google

What kind of questions does the rest of the world wonder about Americans? Following the news of another deadly mass shooting, this time in San Bernardino, Calif., you can probably guess the answer to this question.

The autocorrect suggestions below, from different Google country pages around the world, show the most popular questions that people have about Americans. Google says its Autocomplete suggestions are generated by algorithms that reflect what other people are searching for, the content of web pages, and recent searches you have done in the past. They're not in real time, so it doesn't reflect necessarily what people are Googling this second, but it gives a good hint.

Google search records in English-speaking countries all suggest that the rest of the world is focused on America's fascination with guns. For whatever reason, the non-English results are more diverse.

ISIL video purportedly shows killing of Russian spy

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Wednesday released a video purportedly showing the beheading of a man the armed group alleges was a Russian spy that its fighters captured last year, the SITE monitoring group reported.

The video shows the man sitting in an orange jumpsuit and giving details of his apparent recruitment by Russian intelligence services.

Then, in a different outdoor location, an ISIL fighter, who in Russian threatens Moscow with attacks, appears to cut the man's throat and sever his head.

The video appears to be the group’s first claim to be holding a Russian hostage. Moscow has not reported that any of its citizens are held by ISIL.

Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video.

SITE said the video was from Raqqa province, ISIL's main stronghold in northern Syria.

Russia's security service, the FSB, declined to comment. There was no immediate comment from Russia's foreign ministry.

ISIL has beheaded an unknown number of hostages in numerous videos, both Western prisoners and people from the Middle East, including soldiers fighting against it and Muslims who reject its hardline version of Islam.

British Tornados Launch Airstrikes Over Syria

A spokesman for the Ministry Of Defence confirmed RAF tornados have just returned from their "first offensive operation over Syria and have conducted strikes".

Earlier Four Tornado GR4s took off from the Akrotiri base in Cyprus.

Sky correspondent Jonathan Samuels, reporting from the base, said two had returned "missing three Paveway bombs each".

Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall said the first missions were launched "barely an hour" after Parliament voted in favour of airstrikes.

"This is a show of intent from the Government," he said.

"Clearly they had some pre-planned targets ready to go if the vote was a yes ... they did not want to hang around."

The tornados will be a small but significant addition to the coalition strike force in Syria and more aircraft will soon be joining them from the UK.

Six typhoon jets from RAF Lossiemouth are expected to head to Cyprus along with more Tornados from RAF Marham in Norfolk.

Their British designed Brimstone missiles are a vital asset with their ability to hit targets with remarkable accuracy and limit collateral damage.

Barack Obama has welcomed the vote agreeing to expand military action against IS.

The US President said it demonstrated the coalition's "unity and resolve".

San Bernardino Shooting Is Deadliest Since 2012

A shooting in San Bernardino, California Wednesday is already the deadliest shooting in the United States since 2012.

Police say at least 14 people are dead and another 17 are injured after gunmen opened fire at a center for people with developmental disabilities. That death toll is the most since 20 children and 6 adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut in December 2012.

The deadliest shooting in American history occurred in 2007 when a student at Virginia Tech killed 33 people, including himself. The San Bernardino shooting comes just days after 3 people were killed in a shooting at a Colorado Planned Parenthood last Friday.

What to Know About the Center Where the San Bernardino Shooting Occurred

The San Bernardino, Calif. center that was the scene of a deadly shooting on Wednesday has long been a source of help for developmentally disabled people, providing services to thousands of clients.

Inland Regional Center serves about 30,000 developmentally disabled people, including children, each year, according to Nancy Lungren, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Developmental Services, which runs the facility.
About 640 employees work out of the building in San Bernardino, she told TIME.

As more than 100 police officers flooded the scene of the shooting on Wednesday, workers locked themselves in their offices to stay safe until police told them it was safe to leave.

The attack came on the heels of Inland Regional Center’s holiday party on Tuesday.

According to the enter’s Facebook page, staff members provide services to people living in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, from babies to senior citizens. “Inland Regional Center coordinates with generic services to normalize the lives of people with developmental disabilities and their families by working to include them in the everyday routines and life rhythms of the community and by facilitating needed supports for them,” the organization says. The center opened in 1971.

According to the organization’s website, it was holding a Holiday Boutique on Wednesday morning and afternoon, and had plans to host a Winter Dance on Friday.