NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

January 18, 2026

Jupiter from the Webb Space Telescope

This infrared view of Jupiter by Webb is illuminating. High-resolution infrared images of Jupiter from the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) reveal, for example, differences between high-floating bright clouds including the Great Red Spot and low-lying dark clouds. Also clearly visible in the featured Webb image are Jupiter's dust ring, bright auroras at the poles, and Jupiter's moons Amalthea and Adrastea. The footprint of large volcanic moon Io's magnetic funneling of charged particles onto Jupiter is also visible in the southern aurora. Some objects are so bright that light noticeably diffracts around Webb's optics creating streaks. Webb, which orbits the Sun near the Earth, has a mirror over six meters across making it the largest astronomical telescope ever launched – with over six times more light-collecting area than Hubble.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpqoycvUEEQ

>>24139075

Pole Shift is Accelerating, Solar Watch | S0 News and frens

Jan.18.2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i6vzt6n6u8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51eR-tr2JcM (Stefan Burns: Drastic Schumann Resonance Amplification Suggests a Giant Earthquake May Be About To Happen 💥)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMm_KOVN4k0 (SETI: When Galaxies Collide: Euclid Reveals What Triggers Active Black Holes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7MMLBTXwaw (Global Crisis: CLIMATE SUMMARY OF 2025 | Unprecedented Records and Lost Time. PART 1)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2026/01/17/northern-lights-forecast-15states-may-see-aurora-sunday-night/

https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo/status/2012656992255459663

https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo/status/2012898307467628943

https://x.com/MrMBB333/status/2012755851346661444

https://x.com/CrazySwedeX/status/2012272114091380746

https://x.com/SchumannBotDE/status/2012842658998227424

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov

https://spaceweather.com/

>>24139126

Stefan Burns

@StefanBurnsGeo

The strange anomalies in the #schumannresonance, 16 hours in duration thus far, are now beginning to decrease in frequency by about 1 Hz.

These signals are HIGHLY ANOMALOUS and could be indicating a big "Earth Event" like a high-magnitude earthquake is imminent. IYKYK

2:43 PM · Jan 17, 2026

https://x.com/StefanBurnsGeo/status/2012656992255459663

https://avi-loeb.medium.com/what-if-3i-atlas-is-ai-atlas-e51cfbc94181

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mysterious-3i-atlas-develops-strange-mini-jets-sunward-anti-tail-nasa-reveals-1771729

https://usaherald.com/newly-processed-hubble-image-reveals-baffling-jet-pattern-around-3i-atlas-avi-loeb-calls-it-weird-jet-geometry-as-rare-alignment-approaches-on-jan-22/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmMhMbU9wRQ (Planet Tyrus: Avi Loeb: The Objects in Space We Can’t Explain)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohlr2G9AUdU (Ray's Astrophotography: Comet 3I ATLAS — LIVE Telescope Views — I Took a PICTURE ☄️)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV7A3jZyajM (Ray's Astrophotography: Comet 3I ATLAS - This is NOT NORMAL - SUNLIT View Has Multiple Jets - I Took a PICTURE)

https://x.com/3IATLASEXPOSED/status/2012853366427099513

https://x.com/CrazySwedeX/status/2012797066737508756

https://x.com/harmonicLattice/status/2012767481254097371

https://x.com/chimura_/status/2012747208194699635

https://x.com/Hermonhammer/status/2012691996947743151

https://x.com/randallwcarlson/status/2012660386021924938

https://x.com/Zombieshoot/status/2012696387905822740

What If 3I/ATLAS Is AI/ATLAS?

January 18. 2026

Today, THE SUNDAY TIMES reported here that a former analyst of the UK central bank, Helen McCaw, urges the Bank of England to plan for a financial crisis that might be triggered by an official announcement confirming the existence of alien intelligence.

Such an announcement could destabilize the financial markets and cause civil unrest. McCaw, who worked for the Bank of England for a decade starting in 2002, insists that politicians and bankers can no longer afford to ignore alien intelligence.

She emailed me a few months after I started studying the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, and included a copy of a comprehensive paper she wrote, which was partly posted here.

Her email was triggered by a White Paper that I submitted to the United Nations about the potential risk from interstellar objects that carry alien technologies (posted here and here, with co-authors Omer Eldadi and Gershon Tenebaum).

The risk assessment can be based on the Loeb Classification Scale, as formulated here, here and here.

As soon as the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS was discovered to follow a trajectory which is nearly aligned with the orbital plane of the planets around the Sun, I urged policymakers to make contingency plans for a “black swan event”.

Even if the a priori probability of 3I/ATLAS being an alien spacecraft is small, the societal implications from it carrying technology could be huge.

It therefore makes sense to collect as much data as possible about it in order to assess the potential risk from anomalies that deviate from the familiar characteristics of natural comets.

Ignoring such risk is common among scientists who focus on the most-likely scenario to protect their reputation, but is unwise for policymakers who worry about the devastating implications of low-probability catastrophes to society.

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>>24139174

On December 31, 2025, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) replied to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) inquiry by John Greenewald Jr., with the statement that it can “neither deny nor confirm the existence or nonexistence of records” related to 3I/ATLAS (as posted here).

Why would the CIA treat 3I/ATLAS as a sensitive matter? The simplest interpretation is that some government officials wished to make sure that 3I/ATLAS is not a black swan event.

It makes sense to hide related records from public view in order to avoid panic, societal unrest or instability of financial markets.

Such discussions were not limited to the US. Russian president Vladimir Putin was asked by a reporter about 3I/ATLAS during his annual televised news conference on December 19, 2025, accessible here, . Here is the transcript of this public exchange:

“Journalist: I have a question about the unusual object 3I/ATLAS which is currently approaching us. If the predictions are to be believed today, December 19th, either a spacecraft with an engine or just a comet will approach Earth.

My question is this, what do intelligence services report to you? Are there really signs of artificial origin? As funny as it may sound, there are indeed many theories and speculations.

We, at Tyumen — the oil capital of Russia, are ready to welcome any guests but if they are from space we would like to prepare. Secondly is the date of our meeting today related to this forecast since it’s the first time that we are summing up the year on a Friday.

Putin: Is your name Christina? I’ll tell you, but it must remain exclusively between us. This is classified information. It’s our secret weapon, but we will only use it in the most extreme case because we are against deploying weapons in space.

Seriously though, it’s a comet. Our scientists are aware of what is happening. Moreover, this is a comet from another place, so it behaves differently from comets of our galactic origin.

It has a different shell and as it approaches closer to the Sun, slightly different processes occur on its surface, including in the field tail of this rocket. Things look different there, but it’s quite large.

I think somewhere between 2 to 6 kilometers. Look, the moon is 400,000 kilometers away from us. And the object you are talking about is hundreds of millions of kilometers away.

I don’t think it poses any threat to us. We’ll let it go to Jupiter. And at the beginning of next year, the comet will leave the Solar system.”

For now, the official statement is that 3I/ATLAS is a natural comet.

But those of us who continue monitoring 3I/ATLAS, are noticing new anomalies, including a weird geometry of three symmetric jets around its nucleus — as revealed by new images from the Hubble Space Telescope on January 14, 2026.

The time is therefore ripe to update the list of anomalies of 3I/ATLAS. Some of these oddities are likely to have a natural explanation but others make 3I/ATLAS surprisingly rare among the known population of natural comets.

Once the NSF-DOE Rubin will discover dozens of new interstellar objects over the coming decade, we will be able to understand just how unlikely 1I/`Oumuamua and 3I/ATLAS were.

This is for the same reason that having many blind dates allows a dater to realize how exceptional is any one of these dating partners. At the very least, the anomalies listed below should intrigue astronomers to study them further:

Geometric Coincidences:

1. The retrograde trajectory of 3I/ATLAS is aligned to within 5 degrees with the orbital plane of the planets around the Sun, with a probability of 0.2% (as discussed here).

The Milky-Way disk is misaligned with the ecliptic plane by about 60 degrees. This suggests that the trajectory of 3I/ATLAS may have been planned.

1. The arrival time of 3I/ATLAS was fine-tuned to bring it to minimum distances of 29 and 54 million kilometers from Mars and Jupiter, respectively, and be unobservable from Earth at perihelion (as discussed here).

2. The forecasted perijove distance of 3I/ATLAS during its encounter with Jupiter on March 16, 2026 is 53.6 million kilometers, is very close to Jupiter’s Hill radius, 53.5 million kilometers (as discussed here). The rare coincidence might mean that 3I/ATLAS intends to release technological devices as satellites near Jupiter’s Lagrange points — where fuel requirements are minimal.

2/3

>>24139176

1. Analysis of the Hubble Space Telescope image of 3I/ATLAS from July 21, 2025 (as discussed here) suggests that the anti-tail before perihelion must have been in the form of a collimated jet towards the Sun that is about ten times longer than it is wide.

This is similar to the collimation observed in post-perihelion images out to several hundred thousand kilometers. No known comet exhibited a physical sunward jet of this length that is not a perspective effect.

For a technological object, a beam of particles might be used to block the solar wind from impacting the nucleus surface at a relative speed of order 500 kilometers per second. In addition, the veil of dust around 3I/ATLAS is just of the right column needed to block sunlight from hitting the nucleus surface (as discussed here).

1. At large distances, the initial rotation axis of 3I/ATLAS was aligned to within 8 degrees with the sunward direction when it entered the solar system (as reported here). The probability for that is 0.5%.

2. The observed wobble of the pre-perihelion jet in the direction of the Sun (as reported here during July and August 2025) requires the base of the jet to be within 8 degrees from the sun-facing pole, with probability of 0.5%.

3. The existence of a prominent jet towards the Sun on the way of 3I/ATLAS out of the solar system requires a similar coincidence near the opposite pole of the rotation axis. The fact that a collimated jet appears as the sunward anti-tail both before and after perihelion (while reversing direction at perihelion relative to the direction of motion), has a tiny probability of occurring at random, equal to the square of 0.5% or 0.000025.

4. Processing of the Hubble Space Telescope Images from January 14, 2026 by the Larson-Sekanina filter — which removes the circularly-symmetric glow round the nucleus, reveals a system of three mini-jets which are symmetrically separated by 120 degrees from each other (as discussed here).

5. The launch base of the post-perihelion anti-tail jet resided on the nightside of 3I/ATLAS before perihelion and the base of the pre-perihelion anti-tail jet is now on the nightside of 3I/ATLAS after perihelion. For these bases to be active only when facing the Sun, they must be well insulated on the nightside for a period longer than several months. Heat naturally flows by conduction throughout the body of a natural comet, making this insulation requirement difficult to satisfy.

6. The gravitational deflection of 3I/ATLAS by 16 degrees at perihelion (as discussed here), is exactly twice the opening angle of the anti-tail before perihelion. This coincidence allows the wobbling jet around the rotation axis to generate an anti-tail in the direction of the Sun before perihelion and a counter jet on the opposite pole after perihelion, with a jet opening angle of 8 degrees on both poles.

7. On January 22, 2026, 3I/ATLAS will align with the Sun-Earth axis to within an extraordinarily small angle of 0.69 degrees (as discussed here). At that time its anti-tail will be pointing at Earth.

8. 3I/ATLAS arrived from a direction coincident with the radio “Wow! Signal” to within 9 degrees, with a probability of 0.6% (as discussed here).

3/4

>>24139180

Composition Anomalies of the Gas Shed by 3I/ATLAS:

1. The gas plume surrounding 3I/ATLAS contains much more nickel than iron, as found in industrially-produced nickel alloys, and a nickel to cyanide ratio that is orders of magnitude larger than for thousands of known comets, including 2I/Borisov (as reported here). This might indicate a technological origin for these abundances.

2. The anti-tail is capable of penetrating hundreds of thousands of kilometers through the solar wind and the solar radiation. In order not to be stopped, the dust particles must be much larger than common sub-micron particles of interstellar dust (as discussed here). However, if the particles are bigger than a millimeter, then they must carry an untenable amount of mass in order to account for 99% of the scattered sunlight around 3I/ATLAS, as observed in the Hubble images.

3. Data from the SPHEREx space observatory indicated the existence of icy fragments around 3I/ATLAS before perihelion (as reported here in August 2025). However, the spectral signature of ice disappeared in the SPHEREx data after perihelion, taken during December 2025 (as reported here), when abundant organic molecules in gas phase, such as CH3OH, H2CO, CH4, and C2H6, were discovered, along with an enhancement by a factor of ~20 in the water production rate. To survive cosmic-ray bombardment along an interstellar journey that lasted billions of years, these organic molecules must have been buried under a thick layer of material, at least 10-meters in depth.

Unusual Physical Properties:

1. The nucleus of 3I/ATLAS is more massive than 1I/`Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, while moving faster than both (as discussed here and here). This suggests that 3I/ATLAS might have targeted the inner solar system rather than being drawn at random from the reservoir of interstellar icebergs.

2. 3I/ATLAS shows extreme negative polarization, unprecedented for all known comets, including 2I/Borisov (as discussed here and here). This unusual polarization may be related to its unusual anti-tail.

3. Near perihelion, 3I/ATLAS brightened faster than any known comet and was bluer than the Sun (as discussed here).

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at 3I/ATLAS.”

4/4

>>24139174

>>24139176

>>24139180

>>24139182

>Today, THE SUNDAY TIMES reported here that a former analyst of the UK central bank, Helen McCaw, urges the Bank of England to plan for a financial crisis that might be triggered by an official announcement confirming the existence of alien intelligence.

>Such an announcement could destabilize the financial markets and cause civil unrest. McCaw, who worked for the Bank of England for a decade starting in 2002, insists that politicians and bankers can no longer afford to ignore alien intelligence.

==Bank of England must plan for a financial crisis triggered by Aliens, says former policy expert–

Sunday 18 January 2026 13:52 GMT

The UK must plan for a financial crisis that would be triggered if the US government announces that aliens exist, a former Bank of England expert has said.

Helen McCaw, who served as a senior analyst in financial security at the UK’s central bank, has written to Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England’s governor, urging him to make contingencies in case the White House ever confirms the existence of Alien life, according to The Times.

Ms McCaw worked for the Bank of England for ten years until 2012, said politicians and bankers can no longer afford to dismiss talk of alien life, and warned a declaration of this nature could trigger bank collapses.

She reportedly said: “The United States government appears to be partway through a multi-year process to declassify and disclose information on the existence of a technologically advanced non-human intelligence responsible for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs).”

“If the UAP proves to be of non-human origin, we may have to acknowledge the existence of a power or intelligence greater than any government and with potentially unknown intentions.”

Her warning comes as senior American officials have recently indicated their belief in the possibility of alien life.

In a recent UFO documentary, The Age of Disclosure, 34 U.S. government insiders, including those from the military and intelligence community officials, were spoken to about an "80-year global cover-up of non-human intelligent life and a secret war among major nations to reverse-engineer advanced technology of non-human origin,” according to the film’s description.

The director, Dan Farah, spoke with sources, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, to discuss the government’s work with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs — the formal term for UFOs.

Marco Rubio told the documentary maker: “We’ve had repeated instances of something operating in the airspace over restricted nuclear facilities, and it’s not ours.”

Ms McCaw said: “UAP disclosure is likely to induce ontological shock and provoke psychological responses with material consequences…

There might be extreme price volatility in financial markets due to catastrophising or euphoria, and a collapse in confidence if market participants feel uncertain on how to price assets using any of the familiar methods.”

The former Bank of England worker explained there might be a rush towards assets such as gold or other precious metals, and government bonds, which are perceived as “safe.”

Alternatively, she said precious metals might lose their status as perceived safe assets if people speculate that new space-faring technologies will soon increase the supply of precious metals.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/aliens-financial-crisis-bank-england-helen-mccaw-b2902690.html

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/bank-of-england-must-prepare-for-ufo-announcement-f3mh8l9vh

NASA’s Moonbound Artemis II Rocket Reaches Launch Pad

January 17, 2026

At 6:42 p.m. EST on Saturday, Jan. 17, NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft reached Launch Pad 39B after a nearly 12-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Hours earlier, NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 began its 4-mile trek with the integrated SLS and Orion stacked on top. Moving at a maximum speed of just 0.82 mph, the crawler carried the towering Moon rocket and spacecraft slowly but surely toward the pad.

Once outside the VAB’s high-bay doors, the rocket made a planned pause allowing teams to reposition the crew access arm – a bridge that provides astronauts and a closeout crew access to Orion on launch day.

In the coming days, engineers and technicians will prepare the Artemis II rocket for the wet dress rehearsal, a test of fueling operations and countdown procedures.

Targeted for no later than Feb. 2, the team will load the rocket with cryogenic, or super-cold, propellants, run through the countdown, and practice safely draining the propellants from the rocket – all essential steps before the first crewed Artemis mission.

Additional wet dress rehearsals may be required to ensure the vehicle is completely checked out and ready for flight. If needed, NASA may rollback SLS and Orion to the Vehicle Assembly Building for additional work ahead of launch after the wet dress rehearsal.

The Artemis II test flight will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on an approximately 10-day journey around the Moon and back.

It is another step toward new U.S.-crewed missions to the Moon’s surface, leading to a sustained presence on the Moon that will help the agency prepare to send the first astronauts – Americans – to Mars.

https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/01/17/nasas-moonbound-artemis-ii-rocket-reaches-launch-pad/

https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2012600663579013243

https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2012600105354838487

>>24139252

Artemis II: Sending Humans Back to the Moon

January 18, 2026

For the first time since 1972, NASA is sending humans back on a path toward the Moon with the Artemis II mission.

Launching aboard a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, will set off to orbit the Moon on a 10-day mission.

This will be the first crewed flight of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon. Their goal is to verify modern human capabilities in deep space and pave the way for long-term exploration and science on the lunar surface.

Get up close to Artemis II from right here at Kennedy Space Center. Launch viewing opportunities and events surrounding the mission will be announced soon, but in the meantime, do not miss seeing Artemis II on the launch pad! Explore experiences below.

For All Humanity

https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/landing-pages/artemis-ii/

1 month until a 'ring of fire' annular solar eclipse puts on a show — mostly for penguins

January 18, 2026

Heads up, skywatchers! There's just one month to go until the annular solar eclipse of 2026.

At 4:56 a.m. EST (0956 GMT) on Feb. 17, the moon will begin to turn the sun into an impressive "ring of fire" during an annular solar eclipse.

Maximum eclipse, whereby the largest proportion of the sun is covered, will occur at 7:12 a.m. EST (1212 GMT)

The striking phenomenon will be visible only to those watching from within the path of annularity, a 2,661-mile-long and 383-mile-wide (4,282 by 616 kilometers) route where the moon will cover about 96% of the sun's disk.

Few will witness this eclipse, as the annular stage will only be visible from a remote region of Antarctica.

Viewers across the rest of Antarctica, along with parts of southern Africa and the southernmost regions of South America, will be treated to a partial solar eclipse.

The rest of us will be able to follow the event online: official livestream details have not yet been released, but we'll share them as soon as they become available. You can also track the event as it happens via our solar eclipse live blog.

Solar eclipses happen at new moon, when the moon lines up perfectly between Earth and the sun, casting its shadow onto our planet.

In a total solar eclipse, the moon is close enough to Earth that it appears the same size as — or slightly larger than — the sun, allowing it to fully cover the sun's disk and briefly turn day into night.

An annular eclipse, by contrast, occurs when the moon is farther from Earth in its slightly elliptical orbit and looks a little smaller than the sun. Instead of blocking the sun completely, it leaves a bright ring of sunlight encircling the moon — the striking "ring of fire" effect.

Where and when can I see the Feb. 17, 2026 annular solar eclipse?

Here are the very limited places the ring of fire may be seen during the annular solar eclipse on Feb. 17, 2026:

Location: Concordia Research Station (French-Italian)

Annularity duration: 2 minutes, 1 second

Time: 11:46 GMT

Sun height: 5 degrees above 241 degrees azimuth

Location: Mirny Station, Queen Mary Land, Antarctica (Russia)

Annularity duration: 1 minute, 52 seconds

Time: 12:07 GMT

Sun height: 10 degrees above west 264 degrees azimuth

https://www.space.com/stargazing/solar-eclipses/1-month-until-a-ring-of-fire-annular-solar-eclipse-2026-puts-on-a-show-mostly-for-penguins

Hubble Snaps Stellar Baby Pictures

Jan 17, 2026

Newly developing stars shrouded in thick dust get their first baby pictures in these images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble took these infant star snapshots in an effort to learn how massive stars form.

Protostars are shrouded in thick dust that blocks light, but Hubble can detect the near-infrared emission that shines through holes formed by the protostar’s jets of gas and dust.

The radiating energy can provide information about these “outflow cavities,” like their structure, radiation fields, and dust content.

Researchers look for connections between the properties of these young stars – like outflows, environment, mass, brightness – and their evolutionary stage to test massive star formation theories.

These images were taken as part of the SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Survey, which investigates how stars form, especially massive stars with more than eight times the mass of our Sun.

The high-mass star-forming region Cepheus A hosts a collection of baby stars, including one large and luminous protostar, which accounts for about half of the region’s brightness.

While much of the region is shrouded in opaque dust, light from hidden stars breaks through outflow cavities to illuminate and energize areas of gas and dust, creating pink and white nebulae.

The pink area is an HII region, where the intense ultraviolet radiation of the nearby stars has converted the surrounding clouds of gas into glowing, ionized hydrogen.

Cepheus A lies about 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus.

Glittering much closer to home, this Hubble image depicts the star-forming region G033.91+0.11 in our Milky Way galaxy. The light patch in the center of the image is a reflection nebula, in which light from a hidden protostar bounces off gas and dust.

This Hubble image showcases the star-forming region GAL-305.20+00.21. The bright spot in the center-right of the image is an emission nebula, glowing gas that is ionized by a protostar buried within the larger complex of gas and dust clouds.

Shrouded in gas and dust, the massive protostar IRAS 20126+4104 lies within a high-mass star-forming region about 5,300 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus.

This actively forming star is a B-type protostar, characterized by its high luminosity, bluish-white color, and very high temperature.

The bright region of ionized hydrogen at the center of the image is energized by jets emerging from the poles of the protostar, which ground-based observatories previously observed.

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-snaps-stellar-baby-pictures/

Russia to launch rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink – space chief

18 Jan, 2026 09:30

Russia will launch its own satellite internet network analogous to Starlink operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company by 2027, Dmitry Bakanov, the head of Roscosmos, has said.

Starlink provides high-speed internet via the world’s largest network of satellites, with over 9,000 in low-Earth orbit.

The service began rolling out in 2020 and, according to the company, has grown to over 9 million users in more than 150 countries and territories. However, it is not officially available in Russia.

On Friday, Bakanov showed Channel One journalists a Russian-designed terminal for satellite broadband internet access, saying that it would allow users anywhere around the globe to stay connected.

The head of the country’s space agency added that the serial production of the hardware will begin before the end of this year.

An orbital constellation of more than 300 satellites will assure that the Russian system, ‘Rassvet’ (dawn), is fully deployed and operational by next year, the Roscosmos CEO said.

“It is very important to provide connectivity to all territories that are not covered by terrestrial communication networks,” Bakanov stressed.

In November, the head of the Russian parliament’s information policy committee, Sergey Boyarsky, told Tass that the low-Earth orbit satellite constellation would become Moscow’s response to America’s Starlink system.

The project, developed by the Moscow-based aerospace company Bureau 1440, would allow for a “qualitative leap” in providing communications to Russia’s remote regions, Boyarsky said.

The Russian authorities also plan to provide access to Rassvet to allied countries, he added.

Starlink has played a key role for the Ukrainian forces in the conflict with Russia, enabling them to coordinate operations, conduct surveillance and operate drone systems.

Ukraine has received over 50,000 Starlink terminals since 2022, according to the Kiev authorities. Last year, Musk called his satellite internet “the backbone of the Ukrainian army,” claiming that “their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off.”

Officials in Moscow have repeatedly expressed concern about the weaponization the technology, while the Russian military has developed effective electronic warfare means to jam the Starlink signal.

https://www.rt.com/russia/631099-bakanov-satellite-spacex-musk/

I cannot ‘promise’ the US will remain in NATO – Stoltenberg

17 Jan, 2026 15:33

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said he cannot promise that the US will remain in the bloc in a recent interview with Der Spiegel. He added that European countries must take Washington seriously when it says it wants to take over Greenland.

US President Donald Trump has recently renewed his push to annex the mineral-rich Arctic island, and has refused to rule out withdrawing the US from NATO if the bloc opposes his ambitions, escalating tensions with European allies and calling into question the future unity of the organization.

Stoltenberg welcomed the European response, pointing to joint statements from the Nordic countries, Germany, and other European states backing Copenhagen and reaffirming that Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

He added that respecting the sovereignty of NATO allies is essential. ”We must engage with the United States, which also means speaking up when we disagree,” the former NATO chief said.

Denmark insists the island is not for sale and that its future must be decided by its residents, who voted in 2008 to retain their autonomy within the Danish realm, which includes the right to regulate mining.

Trump claims that only US sovereignty can protect the island from being taken over by China or Russia – an allegation dismissed by both countries.

He warned on Friday that he could impose tariffs on US trading partners that refuse to support his push to acquire Greenland.

After meetings in Washington last week, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen acknowledged a “fundamental disagreement” but said he hoped a newly established bilateral working group would help resolve the issue.

France has warned Washington that any attempt to seize Greenland would be ‘crossing the line’ and threaten economic ties with the EU, the Financial Times reported this week.

Denmark has teamed up with France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and the UK to send small contingents of troops to the island ahead of the bloc’s Arctic Endurance exercises later next week.

https://www.rt.com/news/631084-stoltenberg-us-nato-membership-doubts/

Iran has defeated the US – Khamenei

18 Jan, 2026 13:58

Iran has prevailed over the US by curbing the violent protests that gripped the country, the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said.

Demonstrations erupted throughout Iran in late December over high inflation and other economic troubles, but soon evolved into broader anti-government protests with clashes that left hundreds dead among both the security forces and the rioters.

Earlier this week, however, the authorities in Tehran announced that they had brought the situation under control, with calm returning to the country’s major cities.

In a series of posts on X on Saturday, Khamenei accused the US and Israel of masterminding the unrest, while singling out Washington as the main culprit.

“The US had made extensive preparations to orchestrate this sedition. This sedition was a prelude to even bigger schemes. The Iranian nation defeated the US,” he wrote.

Donald Trump “himself was involved in the sedition,” the supreme leader insisted, referring to the US president’s promise to the protestors that “help is on its way” and the deployment of American warships to the Middle East.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that a US strike on Iran was “imminent.” However, the attack ultimately did not take place, with Trump saying later that he had decided to call it off after learning that Tehran had reversed its plans to execute the more violent rioters detained during the unrest.

“Yes, we extinguished the fire of the sedition, but that isn’t enough. The US must be held accountable,” Khamenei insisted.

The authorities in Tehran “do not intend to lead the country toward war. However, we will not just let go of the criminals” both inside and outside Iran, he added.

In another report, Reuters claimed that a senior Iranian official told the agency that Tehran had warned its neighbors that it could target US bases in the Middle East if Washington fulfilled its threat to strike the Islamic Republic.

According to the supreme leader, “agents” of the US and Israel “murdered several thousand people” during the riots. They “vandalized” 250 mosques and more than 250 educational institutions, while also damaging the power grid and healthcare facilities, he said.

https://www.rt.com/news/631110-iran-khamenei-us-israel/

>>24139406

US issues aviation warnings for eastern Pacific over ‘military activities’

17 Jan, 2026 21:03

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued multiple warnings over “military activities,” covering vast territories to the south of the country and in the eastern Pacific.

The Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) began emerging on Friday, with the authority warning that “potential risks exist for aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight and the arrival and departure phases of flight.” The FAA notices are set to stay in effect for 60 days.

The series of warnings covers Mexico, Central American countries, Columbia, and Ecuador, as well as specific areas of airspace above the eastern Pacific.

The NOTAMs come after more than four months of US strikes on boats allegedly involved in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean. At least 35 vessels have been destroyed in the strikes, with more than 100 people reportedly killed by US attacks.

Earlier this month, the US launched a surprise attack on Venezuela, subjecting the country to heavy airstrikes and conducting a daring raid to kidnap President Nicolas Maduro.

The Venezuelan leader has been transferred to New York and charged with assorted crimes, including drug trafficking. Maduro has strongly denied all the charges, describing himself as a “prisoner of war.”

The attack on Venezuela was followed by a flurry of threats from US President Donald Trump and other top officials against other nations in the region that condemned Washington’s actions, including Cuba and Columbia.

Trump also threatened strikes on Mexico, claiming the country is run by cartels. The US leader claimed that his attacks on boats have “knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water” and it was time to “start now hitting land with regard to the cartels.”

https://www.rt.com/news/631089-us-faa-aviation-warnings/

Taiwan says Chinese drone violated airspace over remote island it controls

January 17, 2026

Taiwan's defense ministry says a Chinese reconnaissance drone violated airspace over an island in the South China Sea that it effectively controls.

The ministry says a Chinese military drone entered airspace over the Pratas Island at 5:44 a.m. on Saturday.

The drone was flying at an altitude outside the range of the Taiwan military's anti-aircraft weapons. After Taiwan issued a warning, it left four minutes after its airspace violation.

The ministry says such highly provocative and irresponsible actions seriously undermine regional peace and stability. It says Taiwan will continue to patrol and monitor the situation.

China's People's Liberation Army's Southern Theater Command, whose jurisdiction includes the South China Sea, has defended the action. It argued it was normal flight training that is valid and legal.

China is increasing pressure on Taiwan by flying military jets and sending government ships around the island, where Taiwan's coast guard and military are stationed.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20260118_03/

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3340297/pla-sends-drone-airspace-near-taiwan-held-pratas-island-south-china-sea

>>24139169

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-energy-zelenskyy-talks-8e945e499bc5cf8ded99e389f9fd81d9

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-russia-war-live-trump-zelensky-putin-ceasefire-b2902649.html

other Russia and Ukraine

https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/russia-launches-over-200-drones-overnight-1768724402.html

https://voennoedelo.com/en/posts/id12281-russian-strikes-hit-ukraine-energy-transport-drone-plants

https://wsau.com/2026/01/18/two-killed-dozens-wounded-in-mass-russian-drone-attack-on-ukraine-zelenskiy/

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/dozens-injured-russian-drone-strikes-kill-two-in-ukraine-power-outages-spread-amid-winter-freeze/articleshow/126642692.cms

https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/ukrainian-drones-strike-russian-training-1768670560.html

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/68274

https://intent.press/en/news/war/2026/drone-terror-in-kherson-region-destruction-and-human-losses/

Ukrainian drone strikes cut power to hundreds of thousands in Russia-occupied southern Ukraine

Updated 7:30 AM PST, January 18, 2026

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian drone strikes damaged energy networks in Russia-occupied parts of southern Ukraine, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power on Sunday, according to Kremlin-installed authorities there.

Meanwhile, Moscow has kept up its hammering of Ukraine’s energy grid in overnight attacks that killed at least two people, according to Ukrainian officials.

More than 200,000 households in the Russia-held part of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region had no electricity on Sunday, according to the Kremlin-installed local governor.

In a Telegram post, Yevgeny Balitsky said that nearly 400 settlements have had their supply cut, because of damage to power networks from Ukrainian drone strikes.

Russia has hammered Ukraine’s power grid, especially in winter, throughout the nearly four-year war. The strikes aim to weaken Ukrainians’ will to resist in a strategy that Kyiv officials call “weaponizing winter.”

Russia targeted energy infrastructure in Odesa region overnight on Sunday, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service. A fire broke out and was promptly extinguished.

At least six people were wounded in the Dnipropetrovsk region from Russian attacks, the emergency service said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that repairing the country’s energy system remains challenging, “but we are doing everything we can to restore everything as quickly as possible.”

He said that two people were killed in overnight attacks across the country that struck Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa.

In total, more than 1,300 attack drones, 1,050 guided aerial bombs and 29 missiles of various types were used by Russia to strike Ukraine this week, Zelenskyy said.

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>>24139515

U.S. talks

“If Russia deliberately delays the diplomatic process, the world’s response should be decisive: more help for Ukraine and more pressure on the aggressor,” Zelenskyy said.

He spoke the day after a Ukrainian delegation arrived in the United States for talks on a U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the war.

On Friday, Zelenskyy said that the delegation would try to finalize with U.S. officials documents for a proposed peace settlement that relate to postwar security guarantees and economic recovery.

If American officials approve the proposals, the U.S. and Ukraine could sign the documents next week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskyy said at a Kyiv news conference with Czech President Petr Pavel.

Trump plans to be in Davos, according to organizers. Russia would still need to be consulted on the proposals.

Drones strike Russian Caucasus

Separately, in Russia’s Caucasus mountains, two children and an adult were wounded overnight as debris from a Ukrainian drone fell on a five-story residential building in North Ossetia, according to the regional governor.

Seventy people had to be evacuated from the building, in the town of Beslan, and there was damage to its roof and windows, Gov. Sergei Menyaylo said in a Telegram post on Sunday morning.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its forces shot down or suppressed 63 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

One person was hospitalized in Russia’s Krasnodar region east of Crimea following a drone strike, local authorities said.

Nuclear plant repairs

Ukrainian crews have started repair works on the backup power line connecting the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to the power grid, under a ceasefire brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based U.N. organization said in an X post on Sunday.

The fate of the plant, occupied by Russia and the largest in Europe, is a central issue in ongoing U.S.-brokered peace talks.

“Crucial repair works on the essential back up Ferosplavna-1 330 kV power line connecting Ukraine’s ZNPP to the grid have begun under another IAEA-brokered ceasefire,” the agency said in the post.

The 330-kilovolt power line, which was damaged and disconnected because of fighting, is crucial to supplying the plant with electricity.

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The IDF announced the conclusion of a two-month operation in southern Lebanon aimed at curbing Hezbollah’s presence

latest revision January 18, 2026 at 06:13 AM

January 18, 2026

06:13 AM

Prime Minister Netanyahu to convene security cabinet with senior defense officials Sunday evening

05:53 AM

Netanyahu meets Honduran President-Elect Aspore, pledges to “reshape” bilateral relations

https://x.com/i/web/status/2012886058518610272

05:46 AM

The Syrian army takes control of the country's largest dam and oil field

The Syrian army has recaptured the northern city of Tabqa and its adjacent dam, the country's largest, from Kurdish fighters, the official Syrian news agency reported.

The army has also taken control of the country's largest oil field, "Omar," and the Conoco gas field, Reuters reported , citing three security sources.

05:45 AM

The death toll from the protests in Iran has risen to over 16,500 (British media)

The death toll from the crackdown on protests in Iran has risen above 16,500, reports the British newspaper Sunday Times , citing a report by Iranian doctors.

05:45 AM

IDF completes 2-month mission against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces announced the conclusion of a two-month operation in southern Lebanon aimed at curbing Hezbollah’s presence.

Under the 91st Division, the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Unit conducted intelligence gathering, directed airstrikes, and helped neutralize terrorist infrastructure, releasing footage showcasing the mission’s impact on Hezbollah’s military capabilities.

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/defense/artc-idf-completes-mission-against-hezbollah-in-southern-lebanon-live-blog

other Israel

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bkjtem5hwg

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-883657

https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/idf-press-releases-israel-at-war/january-26-pr/underground-tunnel-route-dismantled-and-rockets-located-as-troops-of-the-16th-brigade-complete-their-sixth-combat-rotation-and-mission-in-northern-gaza/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-operative-behind-1995-terror-attack-among-those-killed-in-gaza-strikes-says-idf/

https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-idf-continues-to-thwart-hezbollah-rebuilding-efforts/

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-883731

7 killed in RSF drone strike on market in Sudan’s Kordofan: Medics

January 18, 2026 at 10:25 am

Seven people were killed in a drone strike by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that targeted a popular market in South Kordofan, a doctors’ group said Saturday, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Sudan Doctors Network said the death toll from Thursday’s attack on the market in Dilling rose to seven, with 32 wounded.

Three children and two women were among those killed, the group said, adding that most of the wounded are women and children and many injuries are critical.

It condemned the “massacre,” calling the attack a serious violation of international humanitarian law and a systematic crime against unarmed civilians.

The group said targeting residential neighborhoods, markets and civilian gatherings marks a dangerous escalation that deepens civilian suffering and undermines efforts to protect civilians.

The network held RSF commanders responsible for the attack and civilian casualties, saying the strike deliberately targeted civilian facilities.

It urged the international community, the UN and human rights groups to intervene to protect civilians, push for an end to attacks on populated areas and lift the siege on Dilling.

The group warned that Dilling is entering the third phase of hunger after basic food supplies were cut off due to the siege.

The RSF did not immediately comment.

On Friday, media reports cited sources that said five people were killed and 25 wounded in an RSF drone strike on the Dilling market.

Authorities have repeatedly acused the RSF of carrying out drone attacks on civilian facilities, including power stations and infrastructure in northern and eastern cities.

The cities of Kadugli and Dilling have been under siege by the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) since the early months of the war more than two years ago, facing repeated artillery and drone attacks.

In recent weeks, Sudan’s three Kordofan states — North, West and South — have witnessed intense clashes between the army and the RSF, triggering the displacement of tens of thousands of civilians.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five in the Darfur region in the west, excluding some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control.

The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east and center, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has killed thousands and displaced millions.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260118-7-killed-in-rsf-drone-strike-on-market-in-sudans-kordofan-medics/

>>24139200

that, and a whale's tail