In today’s Bulldog wrapup of science and technology news:

  • WikiLeaks says Internet access for its founder has been cut by a “state actor”
  • Tesla says it hopes to work with Panasonic on solar energy
  • China launches manned mission to experimental space station
  • Plus: Video of the launch
  • Top German court rejects lawmakers’ request for NSA targets

The details:

  • WikiLeaks says Internet access for its founder has been cut by a “state actor”

WikiLeaks says that founder Julian Assange’s internet access has been cut by an unidentified state actor. Few other details were immediately available.

Assange has been up holed up at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for more than four years after skipping bail to avoid being extradited over sex crimes allegations.

The cramped quarters haven’t prevented the Australian transparency activist from working and WikiLeaks continues to deliver scoops, including revelations that have rattled Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president as the U.S. election enters its final stretch.

Calls, texts and emails left with WikiLeaks weren’t immediately returned Monday. A woman who picked up the phone at the embassy said: “I cannot disclose any information.” An email to Ecuador’s ambassador wasn’t immediately answered. London’s Metropolitan Police declined comment.

  • Tesla says it hopes to work with Panasonic on solar energy

U.S. electric car maker Tesla says it plans to start working with Japanese electronics company Panasonic Corp. on solar energy.

Tesla’s said on its corporate blog Monday that the companies have signed a non-binding letter of intent to begin collaborating on Panasonic’s production of photovoltaic cells and modules at a facility under construction by San Mateo, California-based solar-panel company SolarCity Corp. in Buffalo, New York.

The deal requires shareholders’ approval of Tesla’s planned acquisition of SolarCity.

Panasonic confirmed it was studying a collaboration with Tesla to make solar products at SolarCity’s Buffalo facility, but declined to give details.

Palo Alto, California-based Tesla said the cells and modules would be used with itsenergy storage products. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says SolarCity’s installation network andTesla’s global energy storage could provide customers a one-stop shop for sustainableenergy and transportation. Shareholders are due to vote on the acquisition on Nov. 17.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with Panasonic as we move toward a combined Tesla and SolarCity. By working together on solar, we will be able to accelerate production of high-efficiency, extremely reliable solar cells and modules at the best cost,” said JB Straubel, chief technical officer at Tesla.

  • China launches manned mission to experimental space station

China launched a pair of astronauts into space Monday on a mission to dock with an experimental space station and remain aboard for 30 days in preparation for the start of operations by a full-bore facility six years from now.

The Shenzhou 11 mission took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northern China at 7:30 a.m. (2330 GMT) aboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket.

  • VIDEO: Watch a replay of the launch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jhx4J2j_kw

It will dock with the Tiangong 2 space station precursor facility within two days, conduct experiments in medicine and various space-related technologies, and test systems and processes in preparation for the launching of the station’s core module in 2018.

Space program commander-in-chief Gen. Zhang Youxia declared the launch a success at 7:46 a.m. (2346 GMT). Defense Minister Fan Changlong then read a congratulatory message from President Xi Jinping calling for China’s astronauts to explore space “more deeply and more broadly.”

Premier Li Keqiang and propaganda chief Liu Yunshan visited the Beijing control center to congratulate staff. It is the sixth time China has launched astronauts into space and the duration will be the longest by far.

Following the attachment of two experiment modules, the completed station is set to begin full operations in 2022 and will run for at least a decade.

An earlier Tiangong 1 experimental space station launched in 2011 went out of service in March after docking with three visiting spacecraft and extending its mission for two years. The Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace,” stations are considered stepping stones to a mission to Mars by the end of the decade.

  • Top German court rejects lawmakers’ request for NSA targets

Germany’s top court has rejected German lawmakers’ demands for access to a secret list of U.S. eavesdropping targets.

Parliament’s intelligence oversight panel, known as the G 10 committee, had asked the Constitutional Court to force the German government to hand over the list. It contains “selectors” — such as phone numbers and email addresses — that the U.S. National Security Agency wants allies to monitor.

Following ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s leaks in 2013, German media reported that the targets included officials and companies in Germany and other European countries.

The court on Friday ruled against the committee for technical reasons, arguing that it didn’t have the necessary constitutional authority to demand access to the list.

A separate case brought by two left-wing opposition parties is still pending.