TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
August 25, 2025
The Meteor and the Star Cluster
Sometimes even the sky surprises you. To see more stars and faint nebulosity in the Pleiades star cluster (M45), long exposures are made. Many times, less interesting items appear on the exposures that were not intended – but later edited out. These include stuck pixels, cosmic ray hits, frames with bright clouds or Earth's Moon, airplane trails, lens flares, faint satellite trails, and even insect trails. Sometimes, though, something really interesting is caught by chance. That was just the case a few weeks ago in al-Ula, Saudi Arabia when a bright meteor streaked across during an hour-long exposure of the Pleiades. Along with the famous bright blue stars, less famous and less bright blue stars, and blue-reflecting dust surrounding the star cluster, the fast rock fragment created a distinctive green glow, likely due to vaporized metals.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
NASA TOMEX+ Sounding Rocket Mission Targeting Aug. 25 Launch Attempt
August 25, 2025
The TOMEX+ sounding rocket mission is targeting Monday, Aug. 25, for the first launch attempt. The window will open 10 p.m.-3 a.m. EDT.
Follow live updates on Wallops Facebook and X, with a livestream beginning five minutes before launch.
Those in the mid-Atlantic region may catch a glimpse of the rockets, weather permitting.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/wallops/2025/08/21/tomex-launch-update-aug-21/
SpaceX Dragon Docks to Station Delivering New Science, Supplies
August 25, 2025
At 7:05 a.m. EDT, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the forward port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module.
The spacecraft carried over 5,000 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory on SpaceX’s 33rd commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
The mission launched at 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 24 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Research conducted aboard the space station advances future space exploration – including Artemis missions to the Moon and astronaut missions Mars – and provides multiple benefits to humanity.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/08/25/spacex-dragon-docks-to-station-delivering-new-science-supplies/
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/08/25/spacex-dragon-cargo-spacecraft-approaching-station-now/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nXqUGNF4QY
There used to be a QPop meme, haven't seen it in a long time
NASA confirms fireball over Japan as largest in decades
August 25, 2025 at 18:13 JST
A fireball meteor, left, is captured on Aug. 19 by a fixed camera at Fukuoka Airport. (Provided by Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting Co.)
A fireball meteor spotted over southwestern Japan on Aug. 19 was the most powerful recorded in the region since data collection began in 1988, according to NASA.
The fireball occurred over the Pacific Ocean, about 80 kilometers southeast of the Osumi Peninsula in Kagoshima Prefecture, according to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies.
The meteor is estimated to have released enough energy to equal 1.6 kilotons of TNT—about one-tenth the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
The energy released was much less than the 441 kilotons from the 17-meter asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013.
Still, Japan’s recent meteorological event marks a significant milestone in regional records.
The meteor entered Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 75,600 kph, according to Daichi Fujii, curator at the Hiratsuka City Museum in Kanagawa Prefecture.
Witnesses across the main island of Kyushu reported seeing a bright flash and those in Kagoshima heard a sonic boom.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15984495
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/what-do-we-know-so-far-about-3i-atlas-1e862233836c
What Do We Know So Far About 3I/ATLAS?
August 25, 2025
About a month from now, the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS will be on the far side of the Sun, making it unobservable from Earth.
On October 3, 2025, it will pass within 29 million kilometers from Mars and the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be able to image it with a pixel resolution of 30 kilometers.
The time is ripe to summarize what we know so far about 3I/ATLAS.
First, 3I/ATLAS does not feature a distinct cometary tail based on the highest resolution image taken by Hubble Space Telescope on July 21, 2025 (reported here).
The image shows a fuzzy glow of scattered sunlight that does not extend to the far tail side of the object — away from the Sun, any more than it extends on the side perpendicular to that direction. In fact, the only elongation of the glow is towards the Sun in the anti-tail direction.
If the scattering of sunlight had been off dust particles, then these particles would have been pushed by solar radiation pressure from the Sun-facing direction to the opposite side and would have displayed a generic cometary tail stretched over a few arcseconds behind the object, easily detectable by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The fact that this tail is not observed suggests that 3I/ATLAS does not shed much dust particles with a size comparable to the wavelength of sunlight, of order 0.5 micrometer.
The spectrum of 3I/ATLAS shows substantial reddening. In the absence of sub-micrometer dust, the reddening must originate from the solid surface of 3I/ATLAS.
This is not unexpected since similar reddening is observed from the surfaces of Kuiper belt objects, like Arrokoth, which are similarly exposed to interstellar cosmic-rays.
To produce this reddening without shedding sub-micron dust particles, most of the sunlight reflected from 3I/ATLAS must originate at its surface.
It then follows that the brightness of 3I/ATLAS implies a surface diameter of 20 kilometers for an albedo of 5% that characterizes Kuiper belt objects.
The flux detected by the SPHEREx space observatory at a wavelength of 1 micrometer from 3I/ATLAS on August 8–12, 2025 suggests an even larger nucleus with a diameter of 46 kilometers (as reported here).
This implies that the mass of 3I/ATLAS is a million times larger than that of the previous interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. This huge gap in mass is surprising since we should have discovered numerous objects of the size of 2I/Borisov before discovering a 46-kilometer interstellar object.
Moreover, as I noted in my first paper on 3I/ATLAS (accessible here), the amount of rocky material per unit volume in interstellar space is smaller by a factor of ten thousand than the value needed to deliver into the inner Solar system one giant rock of this size over the decade-long survey conducted by the ATLAS telescope.
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The SPHEREx images show 3I/ATLAS as a point source with no dust coma or tail. The observations reveal a cloud of carbon dioxide (CO2) around 3I/ATLAS out to distances of at least 348,000 kilometers, corresponding to a mass loss rate of about 70 kilograms per second.
No water (H2O) cloud was detected by SPHEREx, setting an upper limit of 4.5 kilograms per second on the water mass loss rate. This is an order of magnitude below the previous claims of water detection which reported a mass loss rate of order 40 kilograms per second.
Apparently, these early claims are not real as I argued in a previous essay (accessible here). The SPHEREx report notes that “The lack of a bright water gas coma is puzzling as 3I/ATLAS was not too far outside the Solar system’s “water ice line” at 2.5 AU during the observations.”
The glow around 3I/ATLAS in the Hubble Space Telescope image could originate from the reflection of sunlight by fragments of CO2 ice that 3I/ATLAS sheds rather than dust.
These icy fragments evaporate in the sunlight and create the spherically symmetric CO2 cloud around 3I/ATLAS, as observed by SPHEREx.
The modest level of CO2 mass loss amounts to the ablation of a millimeter thick layer from the surface of a 46-kilometer object over a period of 10 years.
In other words, a relatively thin outer layer is sufficient to maintain the observed cloud of CO2 gas around 3I/ATLAS. What lies under this outer skin remains unknown.
A way to resolve the discrepancy between the mass reservoir of rocky material in interstellar space and the unexpected discovery of a large object that measures tens of kilometers in diameter, is that 3I/ATLAS was not drawn from a population of rocks on a random trajectory but instead — its trajectory was designed to target the inner Solar system.
This possibility is consistent with the alignment of this trajectory with the orbital plane of the planets around the Sun, a coincidence of a part in 500 for a random occurrence (as discussed here).
Given the puzzling characteristics of 3I/ATLAS, we should use all telescopes at our disposal on Earth and in space to observe it (as discussed here).
As the Sun turns on the heat on 3I/ATLAS in the coming months, it could reveal its true nature. Ecclesiastes was not aware of interstellar objects when he argued that “there is nothing new under the sun.”
Life is a learning experience and we should not exclude surprises. Paraphrasing Forrest Gump, “science is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”
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SpaceX calls off critical Starship Flight 10 test launch due to 'issue with ground systems'
August 24, 2025
We'll have to wait a little longer to see the 10th test flight of SpaceX's Starship megarocket.
SpaceX planned to launch Starship Flight 10 from its Starbase site in South Texas this evening (Aug. 24), during an hourlong stretch that began at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT). But just 17 minutes before that window opened, the company called things off.
"Standing down from today's tenth flight of Starship to allow time to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems," SpaceX announced at 7:13 p.m. EDT (2313 GMT) on Sunday in a post on X, the social media site owned by SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.
The company is now targeting Monday (Aug. 25), during the same launch window.
Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, standing more than 400 feet (122 meters) tall when fully stacked.
It consists of two elements, both of which are designed to be fully and rapidly reusable — a booster known as Super Heavy and an upper-stage spacecraft called Starship, or Ship for short.
SpaceX is developing Starship to help humanity return to the moon and settle Mars, among other tasks.
NASA has tapped the vehicle to be the first crewed lunar lander for its Artemis program, and plans to use Starship to land astronauts on Earth's nearest neighbor as early as 2027.
But Starship has a ways to go before it can fly such a mission. The giant rocket has performed nine test missions to date, all of which launched from Starbase. Three of those flights lifted off this year — in January, March and May, respectively.
On all three liftoffs, Ship experienced serious problems; it exploded less than 10 minutes after launch on Flight 7 and Flight 8 and broke apart upon reentry to Earth's atmosphere on Flight 9.
Flight 10's goals will be similar to those of Flight 9. SpaceX plans to bring Super Heavy down in the Gulf of Mexico about 6.5 minutes after launch and guide Ship to a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Western Australia, about an hour after that.
Ship is also supposed to deploy eight dummy versions of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites during its trip and perform an engine-relight test in space.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-delays-critical-starship-flight-10-test-launch-due-ground-systems-issue
https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-10
Me three
Ukrainian field camp wiped out – MOD
25 Aug, 2025 07:34
Russian forces have struck Ukrainian troop positions near Kramatorsk, a key city in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), according to a video released Monday by the Defense Ministry in Moscow.
The targets were located in an industrial site in the village of Shablinka, northwest of Kramatorsk, as well as in a nearby forest.
The ministry said the strike involved Iskander ballistic missiles, aerial bombs and kamikaze drones.
Footage released by the ministry showed multiple explosions and widespread destruction at the site.
Russian officials have estimated that Ukrainian forces sustained more than 600 casualties and lost three tanks, four multiple-launch rocket systems and dozens of other pieces of heavy equipment.
A Telegram channel known for pre-empting official MOD releases last week claimed the strike had devastated Ukraine’s 156th Mechanized Brigade, eliminating two battalion tactical groups.
Kramatorsk, together with the cities of Slavyansk and Konstantinovka, forms a heavily urbanized stronghold in the western part of the DPR that has long been under Ukrainian control.
Last month, Kiev-appointed regional head Vadim Filashkin urged civilians to evacuate, estimating that about 53,000 residents remained in Kramatorsk.
Ukraine has downplayed battlefield setbacks over recent months, insisting they are temporary and will not alter the overall course of the conflict.
On the country’s Independence Day on Sunday, Vladimir Zelensky claimed Kiev’s Western backers assert that “Ukraine has not yet won, but is certainly not losing.”
He added that compromising with Russia would be dishonorable and unacceptable. Moscow has accused Zelensky of prolonging the conflict in order to further his personal political goals instead of pursuing a negotiated settlement.
https://www.rt.com/russia/623488-kramatorsk-iskander-strikes-video/
NATO to send Kiev another $50bn in military aid – official
25 Aug, 2025 11:44
NATO intends to spend another $50 billion on military aid for Ukraine and match its contributions from last year, a senior official has told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper.
The bloc’s Military Committee Chairman Giuseppe Cavo Dragone stated that NATO has already provided more than $33 billion since January and plans to raise the total to $50 billion by the end of the year.
Asked about the alliance’s stance as Washington and Moscow pursue peace efforts, Dragone said NATO would “continue military assistance and even increase it,” accusing Russia of “stalling” dialogue.
He also expressed hope that Western sanctions, which he described as aimed at “increasing internal tensions” against Russian President Vladimir Putin, would be tightened.
At the same time, Dragone dismissed speculation that NATO could deploy troops to Ukraine, an idea floated by members such as France and the UK.
He stressed that “we have not spoken about this at all in NATO, we have not even mentioned it,” adding that such proposals were “at least premature” and remained “in their infancy.”
His remarks come after a summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which was followed within days by talks between Trump and Vladimir Zelensky as well as other European leaders at the White House.
Trump hailed the meetings as productive, and the White House said there was “light at the end of the tunnel.” Moscow has indicated it is open to negotiations and has welcomed Trump’s efforts to resolve the conflict by addressing its root causes.
Russia has repeatedly condemned NATO arms deliveries, arguing they only prolong the conflict.
Officials in Moscow have questioned whether Kiev and its European backers are genuinely committed to peace, pointing out that Zelensky has rejected most of Trump’s proposals and continues to insist on reclaiming Crimea and other former Ukrainian territories.
Moscow has also criticized European NATO members for trying to sideline Russia in the negotiations while focusing instead on security guarantees for Kiev, which Russia has branded an illegitimate and “openly neo-Nazi” regime.
https://www.rt.com/russia/623502-nato-ukraine-military-aid/
Kiev tried to use scam victim as suicide bomber – FSB
25 Aug, 2025 10:53
Ukrainian operatives allegedly tricked a Russian woman into debt before attempting to use her in a suicide bomb plot, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday.
The woman, a 54-year-old resident of Volgograd Region, was reportedly targeted by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), which initially posed as the Russian FSB.
According to investigators, she was told that a person with power of attorney over her affairs had taken out a loan in her name and donated part of the funds to the Ukrainian military, exposing her to possible treason charges.
The woman was then given instructions on how to avoid consequences, involving taking out more loans and transferring the money to accounts controlled by Kiev-linked scammers, leaving her about $37,000 in debt.
Later, she agreed to act as a courier for people she believed were FSB officers, authorities said.
She traveled to Crimea, where she was handed a Christian icon with a hidden explosive device inside its frame.
Investigators said she was told to bring it to an FSB office in Sevastopol. In an interview with Russian authorities, she said her handler had stayed in contact with her by video during the delivery.
The plot was apparently foiled by security measures that blocked the woman from sending an encrypted message, which investigators said would have triggered an explosion and likely killed her along with people at the checkpoint.
Russian officials have accused Ukrainian special services of using unwitting suicide bombers in several previous high-profile incidents, including the October 2022 Crimean Bridge attack that killed the hired driver of a truck rigged with explosives, the February assassination of businessman Armen Sarkisyan in Moscow, and the May killing of city official Zaur Gurtsiev in Stavropol.
According to Moscow, Ukraine is increasingly resorting to terrorist tactics as its forces struggle on the battlefield.
https://www.rt.com/russia/623498-fsb-ukraine-suicide-bomber/
Clinton asked Putin to help hunt Bin Laden – declassified files
24 Aug, 2025 17:34
Former US President Bill Clinton proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin a joint US-Russian effort against international terrorism, according to recently declassified records of their first summit.
The transcript for the exchange, which took place at the Kremlin on June 4, 2000, was released on Thursday following a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed by the National Security Archive, an independent research institute at George Washington University.
According to the minutes, Clinton asked Putin, “What about anti-terrorism cooperation between our countries, particularly against Usama bin Laden?”
He then proposed a “coordinated strategy” between Washington and Moscow.
“We ought to get our people together to develop a comprehensive approach to dealing with [then-Al-Qaeda leader] bin Laden,” Clinton is quoted as stating.
At the time, newly elected President Putin was confronting an Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus. He reportedly said a “common front is necessary” to counter what he called a “Terrorist International.”
The leaders also discussed the prospect of Russia joining NATO, with Clinton acknowledging that the military bloc’s eastward expansion was perceived as a “problem” by many in Moscow.
There should be full-scale relations between Russia and NATO,” Putin is quoted as saying.
After the 9/11 attacks, Washington and Moscow began close cooperation against radical Islamists, establishing several joint task forces.
However, as the US shifted toward unilateral military interventions, Russia grew increasingly wary.
Moscow condemned the 2003 US-led Iraq invasion, viewing it as a violation of international law and a troubling precedent of fabricated pretexts for the use of force.
Earlier this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s willingness to collaborate “with all countries that do not apply double standards” in the fight against terrorism.
In recent years, the US reduced cooperation with Russia to a bare minimum as relations deteriorated, especially after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Since President Donald Trump assumed office in January, however, Washington and Moscow have started discussions on ways to revive bilateral relations.
In several phone calls and at the summit in Alaska earlier this month, Trump and Putin discussed areas for potential economic and energy cooperation.
https://www.rt.com/news/623474-declassified-minutes-clinton-putin-joint-fight-terrorism/
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/58899
https://united24media.com/latest-news/drone-strikes-halt-gasoline-sales-across-entire-russian-region-11059
Ukrainian Drones Smash and Torch Russia’s Main Natural Gas Export Facility
Aug. 25, 2025, 3:16 pm
Ukraine’s campaign to cripple Kremlin oil and gas production with relentless drone strikes chalked up another processing plant set ablaze on Sunday, with long-range robot aircraft scoring hits and touching off fiery explosions on the premises of a major condensate gas processing site near the Baltic Sea port city St. Petersburg.
Flying wing drones tipped with explosive warheads swooped down on the Ust-Luga facility, Russia’s main processing site for natural gas piped from the Arctic and West Siberia, during the morning work shift.
Eyewitnesses reported at least two massive fires following the daylight attack.
The Gazprom-owned processing center facility is one of the largest natural gas processing plants in Europe and the main outlet for Russian natural gas exports by the Baltic Sea.
According to Russian news reports, the local plant operator is an energy company called Novatek.
Video recorded by plant workers and placed on the internet shows precise hits on the site’s cryogenic gas condensate/gas unit and orange fireball explosions. Russian media reported the unit suffered substantial damage.
According to open sources, the Ust-Luga complex at full capacity can process up to 45 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually and from that produce 13 million tons of liquified natural gas (LNG), practically all of it for export.
The site’s annual capacity also includes 3.6 million tons of ethane, 1.8 million tons of propane-butane, as well as naphtha, jet fuel, fuel oil, and gas oil for export. Repairs could take weeks to months, industry reports say.
The Ukrainian aircraft visibly concentrated on the site’s gas-processing equipment and no storage reservoirs were hit.
Ukraine’s Army General Staff on Sunday evening took credit for the attack and called it successful. The official statement did not identify the exact type of aircraft used.
St. Petersburg’s main airport, Pulkovo was shut down most of Sunday with 39 flights canceled and 60 flights delayed, St. Petersburg media reported.
Regional governor Aleksandr Drozdenko in a mid-morning statement said that “falling debris” from 10 Ukrainian drones destroyed by Russian army air defense units deployed around the plant sparked a minor blaze that firefighters quickly brought under control.
Video of the strikes showed the Ukrainian drones flying low and slow and seemingly unimpeded by small arms fire from the ground, and at least two aircraft detonating after impacting on or near the base of the plant’s main gas processing tower.
Ukraine’s military in May announced it was fielding a new, flying-wing drone called a Batyar which in shape and size is similar to the silhouettes of attack aircraft recorded in the plant worker videos.
The Batyar has a reported maximum 800-kilometer (500-mile) range and is rated to carry an 18-kilogram (40-pound) warhead. Ust-Luga is 700-750 kilometers (435-466 miles) from probable Ukrainian drone launch sites.
The Ukrainian military geolocation group Cyber Broshono in a Sunday evaluation of the Ust-Luga strike rated the scale of damage caused by the drone strikes and fires as “critical” and called the facility the “heart” of Russian natural gas processing for export.
“This… is a significant blow not only to Russia’s energy infrastructure, but also to its export potential and ambitions in the petrochemical sector,” that evaluation said in part.
Ukrainian energy market researcher Evhen Instrebin in Sunday X comments estimated each day the Ust-Luga plant is not operational the facility loses $12 million/day or almost $0.4 billion per month.
The cost to Gazprom and Novotek to repair the damage was still unassessed, he said.
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Ukraine in mid-2023 launched a campaign to degrade Russian economic capacity and energy exports earnings with long-range strikes targeting energy production, power grids and transportation infrastructure.
In 2025 Kyiv’s bombardment effort intensified with more frequent attacks, increased numbers of drones used, and more effective penetration of Russian air defenses.
Beginning in late July, strikes have taken place almost nightly with Russian oil and gas processing facilities the clear top priority target.
In an attack directly targeting Russian oil export earnings, Ukrainian drones on Thursday struck and set afire the Unecha crude oil pumping station on the Druzhba pipeline, the main land route by which Russian crude oil reaches European markets.
This followed a strike on Monday, and a strike preceding that on Aug. 13. European Pleiades satellite imagery from Sunday showed major damage.
In the wake of the Unecha attacks Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – both leaders of downstream countries with no other source of crude oil but the Druzhba pipeline – accused Ukraine of waging economic warfare against their countries.
Both Orbán and Fico have aligned themselves with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russo-Ukrainian War and have suggested Ukraine should surrender to Russia in order to end the fighting.
Both Slovakian and Hungarian representatives have vetoed Ukrainian support measures and sanctions on Russia proposed in the EU. Neither Fico nor Orbán support military assistance from their countries to Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha in a Sunday X comment said Kyiv regrets Hungary’s energy problem but noted that Budapest has had three years to diversify its economy away from Russian energy “like the rest of Europe.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Sunday comments to Kyiv media said that Ukraine considers Hungary “a friend” and said that Hungarian national energy policy was the sovereign responsibility of the Orbán regime.
Prior to Sunday, likely the single most damaging recent Ukrainian attack on Russian domestic fossil fuel processing capacity took place on Thursday, Aug. 21, in a strike hitting and setting ablaze the biggest oil refinery in the Russian Federation, near the Azov Sea port city Rostov. Fires were finally extinguished on Sunday afternoon.
It is not clear when the site will be able to come back on line.
Russia’s petroleum troubles
Since early August Ukrainian drones have hit and forced partial or total shut downs of at least 10 major oil refineries in west and central Russia.
Industry estimates of oil processing capacity taken off-line by the Ukrainian strikes range between 10-25 percent of all capacity in the Russian Federation.
The Kremlin has attempted to protect the domestic economy from price shocks drastically limiting wholesale fuel export volumes, and by imposing price ceilings for most grades of processed fuels like gasoline, diesel, and propane.
Hoarding, retail consumer concerns, reduced capacity, and damaged fuel transportation networks have conspired to undermine Kremlin attempts to keep fuel markets stable.
Shortages, long queues at fuel stations and even total absence of fuel have been reported in some regional markets.
Worst hit per Russian news reports have been the occupied Crimea and Luhansk regions, the Siberian territory Buryatia, and Russia’s Pacific Ocean coast.
A Friday fuel market report published by Instrebin found that actual retail prices for gasoline in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorskiy Krai region, are about 26 percent higher than “official maximum” prices allowed by the government.
Russian News reports from the Kuril region, a Russian-occupied island chain off the north coast of Japan, said that 92-octane gasoline had disappeared completely, because of supply chain bottlenecks.
A statement by local officials said that a ship with more gasoline would reach the island chain soon.
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Photos Show US Reaper Attack Drone On North Korea's Doorstep
Aug 25, 2025 at 10:55 AM EDT
The United States recently deployed at least one Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle—capable of conducting strikes and reconnaissance—in Northeast Asia amid aggression from North Korea.
In a post on Facebook on Saturday, the 163d Attack Wing of the California Air National Guard wrote that the deployment marked the first time the drone unit had operated with South Korea's Air Force at Gwangju Air Base.
Newsweek has contacted North Korea's Embassy in Beijing for comment via email.
Why It Matters
North Korea has pushed ahead with its weapons development and military buildup while turning away from long-term efforts to secure peace on the divided peninsula with its southern neighbor.
Under a mutual defense treaty signed in 1953 following the cessation of hostilities in the Korean War, South Korea is protected by the U.S. to deter and defend against North Korea's aggression. More than 28,500 U.S. military personnel are stationed on the Korean Peninsula.
In addition to the forward-deployed U.S. Forces Korea and its extended nuclear deterrence, the Pentagon has regularly dispatched units—including aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines, and supersonic bombers—to South Korea for drills and rotational deployments.
What To Know
Citing images released by the U.S. military, Yonhap News Agency reported on Friday that an MQ-9A Reaper drone—operated from a ground control station—was deployed on a rotational basis to Gwangju Air Base in South Korea's southwestern region last month.
The images—released last week—show a Reaper drone conducting an "aviation delivered ground refueling" from a U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J aircraft on July 22 and taking off from the air base on July 24, when it was also loaded onto a U.S. Marine Corps MC-130 aircraft.
"The arrival of the MQ-9 marks the first time the Republic of Korea hosted the aircraft for an extended period," one of the photo captions read, using the official name of South Korea.
In its Saturday Facebook post, the 163d Attack Wing described the deployment as a training event that sharpened skills in unmanned operations, safe flight integration, and operating in South Korea's airspace, advancing mission readiness "now and in the future."
According to the U.S. Air Force, the Reaper drone and its associated control system can be transported in a C-130 or larger aircraft. It remains unclear whether the drone has completed its deployment at the air base, located 167 miles south of Seoul.
The drone, operated by a two-man team on the ground, is equipped with visual sensors for targeting and can be armed with air-to-ground missiles and laser-guided bombs against "high-value, fleeting, and time-sensitive" targets. It has a stated flight range of 1,150 miles.
What People Are Saying
The 163d Attack Wing of the California Air National Guard wrote in a Facebook post: "History was made as the 163d Attack Wing joined the Republic of Korea Air Force for the first time at [Gwangju] Air Base—showcasing true interoperability in the Indo-Pacific."
The U.S. Air Force said in a fact sheet of the MQ-9A Reaper drone: "Given its significant loiter time, wide-range sensors, multi-mode communications suite, and precision weapons, it provides a unique capability to perform strike, coordination, and reconnaissance against high-value, fleeting, and time-sensitive targets."
What Happens Next?
The disclosure of the American drone deployment in South Korea comes as North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, oversaw his country test two new types of air defense missiles.
https://www.newsweek.com/photos-show-us-reaper-attack-drone-north-korea-doorstep-2118724
Poland vows full transparency in Russian drone crash probes
August 25, 2025, 03:03 AM
No information will be classified in the investigation of the Aug. 20 Russian drone crash and explosion in the Polish village of Osiny, the country’s Deputy Internal Minister Czesław Mroczek told RMF FM on Aug. 25.
“The prosecutor's office is investigating this case. The prosecutor is communicating well with the public. Nothing will be kept secret in this case,” he said, adding that it will take time to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Initial reports suggested that the drone may have deviated from its course during a Russian attack on Ukraine, crashing in the Lublin Voivodeship, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Ukrainian border and roughly 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Warsaw.
The drone was likely a military decoy without a warhead containing a small amount of explosives.
Earlier, on Aug. 20, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski publicly acknowledged that Poland’s airspace had been violated “from the east.” He promised to lodge a formal protest against the responsible party, without naming a country.
Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the drone was Russian and accused Moscow of “provoking NATO members again” at a time when peace talks are underway.
According to the report, the drone was launched from the Russian air base in Shatalovo, Smolensk Oblast, at about 9 p.m. EET on Aug. 19.
It is unclear whether its deviation into Polish airspace was deliberate or the result of a systems malfunction.
https://english.nv.ua/nation/polish-officials-no-secrets-in-probe-of-russian-drone-crash-near-osiny-village-50539768.html
Veterans Bring Mission Mindset to the Drone Industry
August 25, 2025
Across the country, a quiet revolution is taking flight. Veterans — forged by structure, pressure, and purpose — are now commanding America’s airspace in a new way.
We’ve swapped cargo planes and convoys for quadcopters and cloud processing, but the mission mindset hasn’t changed.
After 20 years in the U.S. Air Force — leading logistics and operations across five countries — I authored a book on systems thinking, resilience, and redefining purpose.
Then I launched HiFly Aerial Drone Services in Salt Lake City, Utah. What began with a single DJI drone has evolved into a full-service UAV company delivering thermal inspections, 3D mapping, and construction monitoring across the Intermountain West.
But this isn’t just my story. It’s part of a larger movement: veterans redefining the future of flight. We’re not just flying drones — we’re building companies, setting new standards, and bringing battlefield precision into commercial airspace.
Why Veterans Make Exceptional Drone Operators
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Mission Planning is in Our DNA
Veterans are trained to think in layers — strategy, safety, execution. That mindset is tailor-made for FAA Part 107 compliance, airspace coordination, and risk management.
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Tech-Forward and Fearless
From satellite systems to secure comms, military professionals are no strangers to cutting-edge tech. Adapting to UAV platforms, sensors, AI, and GIS tools like DroneDeploy? We’re built for it.
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Regulatory Fluency
Checklists. SOPs. Chain of command. Veterans step into regulated environments with confidence — and often exceed what’s required, especially in areas like BVLOS operations and infrastructure inspections.
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Leadership Under Pressure
Every drone flight is a mission. Veterans bring calm under pressure, clarity in chaos, and a client-ready professionalism that builds trust and delivers results.
More Than a Job: Drones as a Pathway to Purpose
For many veterans, drone entrepreneurship isn’t just a job — it’s a form of post-service reintegration.
It’s tactical. It’s mobile. It’s purpose-driven. And with VA programs like Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment (VR&E), more veterans are entering this field with access to gear, training, and startup support.
At HiFly, we’re developing:
• STEM-focused drone camps
• Veteran-led UAV training programs
• P.H.O.E.N.I.X., a portable client dashboard for high-impact data delivery
All built with the same attention to detail we learned in uniform.
The Future Is in the Air — And Veterans Are Leading It
Veteran-owned UAV companies are pioneering the future of:
• Disaster response & search-and-rescue
• Wildfire risk mitigation & environmental mapping
• AI-powered inspections for solar, wind, and infrastructure
• 3D construction progress modeling
• Drone light shows & sustainable event tech
With the FAA evolving standards for BVLOS, Remote ID, and UTM, there’s never been a better moment for veterans to carve out space in the aerial economy.
Final Approach
In the Air Force, we flew with purpose. In the drone world, that hasn’t changed.
What veterans bring — discipline, situational awareness, and operational excellence — is exactly what this industry needs to scale safely and smartly.
To the drone industry:
Hire veteran pilots. Partner with veteran-owned UAV firms. Sponsor their training programs. You’ll gain far more than flight time — you’ll gain mission-ready professionals.
To my fellow veterans:
The skies are open. The tools are accessible. The mission is yours to define. Whether you’re flying for clients, communities, or causes — your next chapter could be airborne.
Rahman “Ray” Richardson is a U.S. Air Force veteran, FAA Part 107 drone pilot, and the founder of HiFly Aerial Drone Services — a Salt Lake City–based UAV company specializing in inspections, 3D mapping, and sustainable drone solutions.
He is also a published author and educator focused on resilience, systems thinking, and veteran empowerment.
https://dronelife.com/2025/08/25/veterans-bring-mission-mindset-to-the-drone-industry/
https://www.hiflyaerialdroneservice.com/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/strike-on-south-gaza-hospital-said-to-kill-20-including-rescuers-and-journalists/
https://x.com/TreyYingst/status/1959902978153882014
https://x.com/khaleddrareni/status/1959897867247554865
IDF strike on south Gaza hospital said to kill 20, including rescuers and journalists
August 25, 2025 4:46 pm
Strikes carried out by the military on Nasser Hospital in the Khan Younis area of the southern Gaza Strip on Monday morning killed at least 20 people, including five journalists, according to media reports and the Hamas-run health ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces, some three hours after the reports of the attack emerged, confirmed that troops had carried out a strike in the area.
Footage showed rescue workers, who had arrived at the site of an initial attack, engulfed in smoke and debris when a second strike hit. Witnesses said journalists and other people had also rushed to the site of the first strike.
A military official told The Times of Israel that the attack was not conducted by the Israeli Air Force, indicating it was likely carried out by ground forces.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir ordered an immediate inquiry into the strike, the military said, without providing further details.
“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved [civilians] and in no way directs strikes at journalists,” the IDF said, adding that it works to “minimize harm to them while safeguarding the security of our forces.”
Military officials told Hebrew-language media outlets that an Israeli army tank team shelled a camera stationed at the hospital, believing the device was being used to track troops.
Two shells were fired by the tank, with the first targeting the camera and the second hitting rescuers who were operating at the scene.
According to the Foreign Press Association, the strikes “hit the exterior staircase of the hospital where journalists frequently stationed themselves with their cameras.”
Reuters said its journalist, Hussam al-Masri, had been operating a live video feed from the hospital, which suddenly shut down at the moment of the initial strike.
Reuters and other news providers often deliver live video feeds to media outlets worldwide during major news events to show the scene from the ground in real time.
Reuters had frequently broadcast a feed from Nasser hospital during the Gaza conflict, and for the past several weeks had been delivering daily feeds from the Nasser hospital position that was hit.
A review of Masri’s live feed from before the strike did not appear to show any soldiers. The IDF has not confirmed the details of the reports.
Previously, the military has said that striking sensitive sites in Gaza, such as hospitals, requires the approval of senior officers, including the chief of the Southern Command and the IDF chief of staff.
According to the Foreign Press Association, the strikes “hit the exterior staircase of the hospital where journalists frequently stationed themselves with their cameras. The strikes came with no warning.”
“We demand an immediate explanation from the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. We call on Israel once and for all to halt its abhorrent practice of targeting journalists,” the group said, leveling an accusation that Israel strenuously denies.
“This has gone on far too long. Too many journalists in Gaza have been killed by Israel without justification,” the statement continued, noting that “Israel continues to block international journalists from independent access to Gaza.
“This must be a watershed moment. We appeal to international leaders: do everything you can to protect our colleagues. We cannot do it ourselves,” the association concluded.
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Journalists affiliated with Reuters, AP, and Al Jazeera killed
Cameraman Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters contractor, was killed in the first strike, according to Palestinian officials. Photographer Hatem Khaled, who was also a Reuters contractor, was wounded in a second strike on the hospital, they said.
“We are devastated to learn of the death of Reuters contractor Hussam al-Masri and injuries to another of our contractors, Hatem Khaled, in Israeli strikes on the Nasser hospital in Gaza today,” a Reuters spokesperson said in a statement.
Masri operated a Reuters live video feed from the hospital, which suddenly shut down at the moment of the initial strike, Reuters reported.
The news agency said it had frequently broadcast a feed from Nasser Hospital during the Gaza conflict, and for the past several weeks had been delivering daily feeds from the position that was hit.
“We are urgently seeking more information and have asked authorities in Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for Hatem,” the Reuters spokesperson said.
The Associated Press said it was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the death of Mariam Dagga, 33, a visual journalist who freelanced for the agency since the start of the war.
Health officials in Gaza named the other two journalists as Mohammed Salama, who Qatar-based Al Jazeera said worked for the broadcaster, and Moaz Abu Taha.
A rescue worker was also among those killed, the health officials added.
Palestinian journalists group says 240 killed since war’s start
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned Israel for the strikes, saying it represented “an open war against free media, with the aim of terrorizing journalists and preventing them from fulfilling their professional duty of exposing its crimes to the world.”
According to the group, more than 240 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the war started on October 7, 2023 with the Hamas terror group’s invasion, massacre, and hostage-taking in southern Israel.
Israel, which says it has no policy of targeting journalists, has asserted that some of the journalists killed throughout the war were in fact combatants. In some cases, the military has provided documentation seized from terror groups in Gaza that list the journalists as fighters.
Hospitals have been frequent sites of fighting in the Gaza war.
Top Hamas official Ismail Barhoum was killed in a strike at Nasser Hospital in March. In May, a prominent Palestinian journalist, accused of being a Hamas operative, was killed in a strike at the Khan Younis medical center.
Hamas has in the past held hostages at Nasser Hospital, according to the IDF. Shifa Hospital, in the north of the Strip, was also used by Hamas to hold some hostages and as a command-and-control center early in the war, and was the site of fierce battles between Hamas fighters and IDF troops.
COGAT publishes graphic footage of Hamas hurting Gazans
Also Monday, the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) published graphic footage it said depicts Hamas gunmen “beating, abusing, and shooting at Gaza residents across the Strip.”
According to COGAT, the footage has circulated on social media in recent days. COGAT did not provide any further details on the videos.
“Hamas embodies the essence of evil.
The shocking footage illustrates how the terrorist organization Hamas oppresses the population, abuses civilians, and uses unrestrained violence against people in order to maintain its bloody rule and consolidate its power,” said COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian in a post on X.
“Hamas once again proves that it does not represent the residents of Gaza — it rules over them with force, fear, and cruelty,” he added.
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IDF chief orders immediate inquiry into Nasser Hospital strikes, ‘regrets harm’ to civilians
August 25, 2025, 1:49 pm
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has ordered an immediate inquiry into this morning’s strike against Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the military says.
The IDF confirms that troops carried out a strike in the area, which, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, killed 20. Four journalists are said to be among the dead.
“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved [civilians] and in no way directs strikes at journalists,” the military says, adding that it works to “minimize harm to them while safeguarding the security of our forces.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-chief-orders-immediate-inquiry-into-nasser-hospital-strikes-regrets-harm-to-civilians/
COGAT releases shocking footage of Hamas brutality against Gazans
Updated: AUGUST 25, 2025 18:51
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) on Monday publicized a series of videos of what it said were “Hamas operatives abusing, assaulting, and shooting at Gaza residents.”
COGAT published the videos as Israel and Hamas compete over the global narrative on Gaza. The terrorist organization is trying to emphasize food-insecurity issues, convincing the UN to label them as “famine.”
Jerusalem is trying to remind the world that many Gazans view themselves as prisoners under the authoritarian rule of Hamas.
Calling Hamas “the embodiment of evil and unrestrained cruelty – to preserve its bloody rule,” the videos released by COGAT mostly show extensive beatings of tied-up men lying on the ground, some with their eyes blindfolded, crying out in pain from being struck with hard objects or from being kicked.
The grainy videos also show some gunshots aimed at the people being taped.
COGAT Commander Maj.-Gen. Ghassan Alian, addressing the international community on COGAT’s English X/Twitter page, wrote: “Hamas embodies the essence of evil.
The shocking footage illustrates how the terrorist organization Hamas oppresses the population, abuses civilians, and uses unrestrained violence against people in order to maintain its bloody rule and consolidate its power.
“Hamas once again proves that it does not represent the residents of Gaza – it rules over them with force, fear, and cruelty.”
Hamas's brutality against Gazan civilians
Hamas does not deny that it beats and kills Gazans, creating many of these kinds of videos and disseminating them to spread fear among the population – especially fear of cooperating with Israel and any authority that is not Hamas.
Over the years, Hamas has frequently beaten and killed Gazans affiliated with the Palestinian Authority’s Fatah movement, Hamas’s rival, which governs the West Bank and governed Gaza until Hamas carried out a coup in 2007.
Hamas usually tries to portray those being beaten or killed as collaborators or traitors with Israel in an effort to avoid drawing attention to its own focus on simply maintaining power.
Hamas is defined by most Western countries as a terrorist group, especially after the October 7 massacre.
The sympathy of Western countries with Gazans’ food-insecurity issues, which are partly caused by Hamas, has shifted far greater attention lately to criticizing Israel’s policies regarding managing the flow of humanitarian aid and trying to cut Hamas’s control of food aid.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-865226
Netanyahu: Israel ready to support Lebanon's disarmament of Hezbollah with phased IDF pullback
Updated: AUGUST 25, 2025 15:21
In a potentially game-changing development, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday laid out the possibility of an IDF phased withdrawal from Lebanon as well as rolling back air force strikes there, should Hezbollah agree to the Lebanese government's order to disarm.
IDF troops invaded southern Lebanon on September 30, 2024, and mostly withdrew in February of this year, but remained in five outposts a few hundred meters into the country, including a complement of several hundred or more soldiers.
Since the start of the war, the IDF has carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah, and while those airstrikes slowed and became more selective after the November 2024 ceasefire, the air force never stopped the strikes, and often still carries out a few per week.
Uri Gordin, who just recently exited as IDF Northern Command chief, told The Jerusalem Post during a recent embedded visit to one of the IDF outposts in Lebanon that he would rather risk another war with Hezbollah than stop striking it – at least until it agrees to disarm.
Recently, under heavy American and Saudi pressure, the Lebanese government passed a decision to disarm Hezbollah.
To date, Hezbollah has refused to disarm, or some say it has engaged in games of "revolving door" disarming in which it provides its weapons to the Lebanese army, but later receives them back quietly.
Netanyahu said on Monday, "Israel acknowledges the significant step taken by the Lebanese government, under the leadership of President Aoun and Prime Minister Salam.
The recent decision by the Council of Ministers to work towards the disarmament of Hezbollah by the end of 2025 was a momentous decision.
It marks a crucial opportunity for Lebanon to reclaim its sovereignty and restore the authority of its state institutions, military, and governance – free from the influence of non-state actors."
He continued, "In light of this important development, Israel stands ready to support Lebanon in its efforts to disarm Hezbollah and to work together toward a more secure and stable future for both nations.
If the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) take the necessary steps to implement the disarmament of Hezbollah, Israel will engage in reciprocal measures, including a phased reduction of IDF presence in coordination with the US-led security mechanism."
"Now is the time for both Israel and Lebanon to move forward in a spirit of cooperation, focusing on the shared objective of disarming Hezbollah and promoting the stability and prosperity of both nations," he concluded.
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https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-865243
US envoys Barrack, Ortagus meet with Netanyahu in Israel to discuss Lebanon, Syria
Top US envoy Thomas Barrack and Deputy Special Envoy Morgan Ortagus arrived in Israel on Sunday and met with Netanyahu to discuss issues concerning Lebanon and Syria, a source familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post.
The envoys spoke to the prime minister regarding America’s request that Israel restrain its strikes in Lebanon, as well as negotiations with Syria.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee joined the two envoys in their meetings with Netanyahu.
Barrack also reportedly met with Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The two were set to travel to Lebanon on Monday following the conclusion of their visit to Jerusalem. Senior Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham will join the envoys in Beirut, the Post exclusively revealed.
The US officials asked Israel to work with them to advance the possibility of Lebanon’s government dismantling Hezbollah.
Senior Israeli officials were told that if concrete results were achieved on the ground – specifically, if the Lebanese army would truly start disarming Hezbollah – Israel would be expected to “step back” and allow the Lebanese authorities to take the lead.
The emphasis, however, was that such Israeli restraint would only be warranted if genuine steps toward disarmament were underway.
The Lebanese government and army are expected to finalize, by next week, an implementation plan for its decision to disarm Hezbollah.
The visit of the American envoys underscores Washington’s intent to ensure that the plan is not merely symbolic but actually implemented.
The view in Washington is that the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had taken a courageous step, but Washington stressed that the real test would be on the ground.
The two envoys will be joined by senior Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, whose participation is meant to signal to the Lebanese government that if it acts to dismantle Hezbollah’s arsenal, it will receive economic assistance – including measures to strengthen the Lebanese army.
Gulf states have also made it clear to Beirut that they will not assist in rebuilding Lebanon’s devastated south – heavily damaged after two years of conflict – unless decisive measures are taken to disarm Hezbollah.
Their concern is that any reconstruction carried out while Hezbollah remains active would primarily benefit the terrorist organization.
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