moving day trips
TYB
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Shaping_the_Future/A_leap_forward_for_Lumio_Phase_C_officially_launched
extra
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/03/The_ART_of_robotics_training
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Getting_to_the_core_of_a_medicane
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Meteorological_missions/meteosat_third_generation/Next_MTG_satellite_passes_final_environmental_tests
https://www.esa.int/Education/Teachers_Corner/Join_the_ESA_Teach_with_Space_Online_Conference_2026
A leap forward for Lumio: Phase C officially launched + extra ESA
27/03/2026
In brief
Phase C has officially begun for Lunar Meteoroid Impacts Observer (Lumio), ESA’s pioneering CubeSat technology demonstration mission dedicated to monitoring meteoroid flashes on the far side of the Moon.
Led by Politecnico di Milano and supported by a European industrial consortium, Lumio is entering the detailed design and implementation phase that will advance the mission toward flight readiness and a potential launch in 2028.
In-depth
The mission will operate in a halo orbit around the Earth–Moon L2 point (second Lagrange point) - a location 40,000 to 80,000 kilometres behind the Moon and opposite Earth, where gravitational forces and centrifugal forces balance – providing continuous visibility of the lunar far side that is otherwise invisible from Earth, thus allowing observations of meteoroid impacts when the far side is in partial or full darkness and hence improving our understanding of the meteoroid environment between Earth and the Moon.
It will play a contributing role in improving hazard assessments for future lunar infrastructure and exploration.
Lumio's leap forward
The Lumio mission reached a major milestone this month as ESA and Politecnico di Milano, the mission’s prime contractor, kicked off Phase C, marking the start of detailed implementation.
Lumio is part of ESA’s General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) Fly Element and is primarily funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), with support from UKSA (United Kingdom), NOSA (Norway) and SNSA (Sweden).
With the successful completion of earlier development milestones, the mission now moves into the phase where the spacecraft’s subsystems, payload, propulsion, navigation and ground-segment elements will be engineered to full detail ahead of the Critical Design Review scheduled for 2027.
What will LUMIO do?
Every day, meteoroids strike the Earth–Moon system. While Earth is protected by its atmosphere, the Moon’s surface directly records these impacts, generating light flashes, seismic waves and new craters.
Observations of these events are essential to understanding the flow of natural space debris in the volume of space between Earth and the Moon that must be well characterised as humanity prepares for long-term lunar presence.
Lumio is designed to fill a crucial observational gap. Whilst Earth-based systems can monitor only the near side of the Moon, Lumio will continuously observe the far side, which is permanently hidden from view of Earth.
The mission’s 12U CubeSat, weighing about 30 kilograms, will be injected into a halo orbit around the Earth–Moon L2, a quasi-stable vantage point ideal for uninterrupted monitoring of the lunar surface.
Using its high-sensitivity optical payload, Lumio will detect the brief flashes created when meteoroids strike the darkened lunar far side during the Moon’s 14-day-night.
These measurements will be combined with Earth-based observations to improve models of the meteoroid environment and support risk modelling for future spacecraft, surface habitats and lunar infrastructure.
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What’s next in Phase C?
Phase C focuses on transforming design concepts into integrated, tested hardware and software. During this stage:
The CubeSat’s platform and avionics detailed design will be finalised, and flatsat test bench will be integrated to verify functionality and electrical/software interfaces.
The LumioCam payload detailed design will be finalised, and an engineering model will be built to perform functional & performance verification.
Flight dynamics and autonomous navigation algorithms will be matured.
The propulsion system, supporting deep-space manoeuvres, will have its detailed design finalised and an engineering model will be built, integrated and tested.
A s model representation of the complete spacecraft will be built, assembled and tested to qualify the structural and thermal subsystems.
Ground-segment design and operational concepts will be consolidated.
These activities lead to the Critical Design Review (CDR), the major decision point before manufacturing the spacecraft’s flight model.
What’s on board?
Lumio’s success relies on a suite of advanced European miniaturised technologies developed across academia and industry. The mission’s consortium includes:
Politecnico di Milano (Italy) – Mission lead, DART Lab, autonomous navigation
Argotec (Italy) – CubeSat platform design, integration and testing
Leonardo (Italy) – Developer of LumioCam, a visible–nearinfrared optical instrument designed to capture highframerate impact flashes
IMT (Italy) – X-band deep-space transponder and deployable solar arrays
Nautilus – Flight dynamics support
S&T Norway – Onboard payload data processing and implementation of scientific algorithms
Lift Me Off (UK) – Miniaturised chemical propulsion and reaction control system
ECAPS (Sweden) – Dedicated high-performance main thruster
Leveraging these capabilities, Lumio will perform significant deep-space operations to transfer from launch insertion to the Earth-Moon L2 halo orbit, autonomous navigation around L2, and high-efficiency data handling, all within the constraints of a 12U CubeSat.
Why LUMIO matters
By extending meteoroid monitoring to the lunar far side, Lumio will enhance our ability to model impact frequency, size distribution and temporal variations. This improved understanding is essential to:
protecting future lunar surface infrastructure
assessing the risk for cislunar spacecraft
informing hazard mitigation strategies for long-duration exploration
enabling long-term human presence in deep space
Beyond scientific contribution, the mission also represents a step forward in Europe’s capability to deploy small, intelligent, autonomous spacecraft for lunar and deep-space missions at low cost, thereby demonstrating technologies that will help shape future exploration architectures.
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Most powerful energy crisis in human history is looming – Putin envoy
26 Mar, 2026 18:28
The world is heading toward the most severe energy crisis in history and Europe is unprepared, Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said. The warning comes as the escalating conflict in the Middle East has driven volatility in global energy markets.
Speaking on Thursday, Dmitriev – who heads the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and is President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation – said he earlier predicted that oil would exceed $100 a barrel if a conflict like this broke out.
“Back then, no one believed,” he said, adding that some market participants are now discussing the possibility of prices rising to $150 or even $200.
“We see that the most severe energy crisis in the history of mankind is approaching. Neither the EU nor the UK is at all prepared for it,” Dmitriev said on the sidelines of the RDIF congress.
Brussels and London “shot themselves in the foot” by rejecting Russian oil and gas, and the consequences of this are only beginning to emerge, he added.
Dmitriev warned that the EU faces deindustrialization, and that “big problems” await the UK, arguing that this the result of choices made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other “Russophobic politicians.”
Western governments will eventually be forced to seek renewed access to Russian energy, he said.
Oil and gas prices have spiked since the escalation of the Middle East conflict, triggered by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent Iranian retaliatory attacks across the region, which have led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz to Western shipping.
The strait normally carries around a fifth of the world’s daily oil supply, and the IEA has warned that disruptions could last months or years.
European gas prices have risen by around 70% since March 1; Brent crude has topped $110 per barrel, prompting Washington to ease the sanctions on Russian oil.
The EU was already grappling with the fallout from its decision to cut energy ties with Russia following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, as well as the costs of its green transition policies.
The European Commission has said there will be no return to Russian energy, and it will continue to pursue a full phase-out of Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
This week, however, it put plans for a complete ban on Russian oil on hold, due to what some officials reportedly called “current geopolitical developments.”
https://www.rt.com/news/636290-eu-uk-energy-crisis/
Trump shares article on Ukrainian plot to fund Biden reelection
Updated 27 Mar, 2026 05:21
US President Donald Trump has posted a link to a news story claiming that the Ukrainian government was involved in a plot aimed at financing Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign.
The scheme would have relied on diverting US taxpayer money allocated for a USAID project in Ukraine, the media outlet Just the News reported on Thursday, citing a recently declassified intelligence report it obtained.
The plot dating back to late 2022 could have involved “hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to the report. US intelligence reportedly discovered the plot by intercepting Ukrainian government communications, the outlet said.
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard reportedly learned about the intercepts only recently and ordered a summary of all the information on the case, which was partially obtained by Just the News.
“The Ukrainian Government and unspecified US Government personnel, through USAID in Kiev, reportedly developed a plan that would provide hundreds of millions of US taxpayer dollars to fund an infrastructure project for Ukraine that would be used as a cover to send approximately 90% of funds allocated to the DNC to fund Joe Biden’s re-election campaign,” the document received by the news outlet states.
The plotters expected the project to eventually be “disapproved as unnecessary,” but not before they would collect the necessary sum that would be “would be difficult to track” and “impossible to return,” the report reportedly says.
According to Just the News, it is unclear whether Kiev moved forward with the plan. Neither the DNI office nor Gabbard herself made any comments on the issue. Trump also did not comment on the link he posted.
Earlier in March, a US government auditor sharply criticized the lack of oversight in the USAID-managed Ukraine aid program worth $26 billion.
A March report by the auditor found that Washington sometimes reimbursed duplicate payments to Ukrainian citizens living in other nations who were ineligible.
Trump dismantled USAID in 2025 after accusing it of wasteful spending. The State Department took over its responsibilities.
https://www.rt.com/news/636329-trump-kiev-fund-biden-election/
https://justthenews.com/government/security/nsa-intercepted-ukraine-government-messages-discussing-effort-route-money-2024
Ukraine and Saudi Arabia forge air defense pact to counter drone threats
GCC 27-03-2026 | 11:46
Ukraine and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement in the field of air security, enabling Riyadh to benefit from Kyiv's expertise in countering drones, during President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the kingdom, according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to AFP on Friday.
The source stated that “the purpose of the agreement is for Ukraine to contribute to the development of all necessary components for air defense” to counter “Shahed drones (Iranian-made) and others.”
Another official confirmed that the agreement was signed on Thursday, following Zelensky’s unannounced arrival in the kingdom amid the Middle East conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine and Saudi Arabia have signed a defense cooperation agreement, laying the foundation for future contracts, technological collaboration, and investments.
Zelensky, who is currently visiting the kingdom, noted that the agreement was signed before his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Zelensky added via Telegram, "We are ready to provide our expertise and systems to Saudi Arabia and work together to enhance the protection of lives."
https://www.annahar.com/en/region/gcc/292910/ukraine-and-saudi-arabia-forge-air-defense-pact-to-counter-drone-threats
other Russia and Ukraine
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/03/27/8027389/
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Russias-Baltic-Ports-Burning-Again-as-Ukraine-Drone-Campaign-Enters-Third-Day.html
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/72738
https://english.nv.ua/nation/second-drone-wave-hits-kryvyi-rih-50595437.html
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/03/27/1-killed-in-ukrainian-drone-strike-on-belgorod-region-3-a92360
https://militarnyi.com/en/news/drones-attack-metallurgical-plant-russia/
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4106135-russian-forces-attack-childrens-hospital-in-kherson-with-molniya-drone.html
https://english.nv.ua/russian-war/russian-drone-strike-cuts-gas-to-5-040-homes-50595378.html
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/72702
Israel strikes Iranian nuclear development facilities, Tehran vows retaliation
Updated: MARCH 27, 2026 21:05
Israel attacked Iran’s Khandab heavy water reactor in Arak, as well as the uranium enrichment facility at Ardakan, on Friday, the IDF confirmed.
Earlier Iranian state media reports noted that the enrichment facility produced yellowcake, a concentrated uranium powder used in the early stages of nuclear fuel production.
A government official told the Islamic Republic’s semi-official Fars News Agency, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), that no casualties occured in the reported attack on the heavy water reactor, and that there is no danger to the local population. Fars reported that the facility was struck twice.
"Heavy water is a unique material used to operate nuclear reactors, such as the inactive Arak reactor, which was originally designed to have weapons-grade plutonium production capabilities," the IDF said.
"These materials can also be used as a neutron source for nuclear weapons."
The military added that the facility, which was hit during the June 2025 war between Israel and Iran, was also a "significant economic asset" for the Iranian regime and generated tens of millions of dollars for the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization.
According to the military, Iran worked to rebuild the facility after it was struck nine months ago. It added that the Islamic Republic deliberately avoided a mandate to convert the reactor so that it would not be capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.
Attacks follow call for evacuation
The attack comes after the IDF called for residents of the northwestern Iranian city of Arak to evacuate ahead of imminent strikes on nearby regime military infrastructure.
The heavy water reactor is located a short distance northwest of the municipality of Arak.
The call for evacuation was posted on the IDF's Persian-language X/Twitter account, and included graphics illustrating the targeted areas and evacuation routes.
The post further called for those in the nearby Khairabad industrial zone to evacuate.
Soon thereafter, the IDF announced that it had begun simultaneous attacks on regime infrastructure in three areas of Iran. It did not specify further on the targets of the attacks.
Iranian media claims strikes on Ardakan yellowcake production facility
Shortly after the strikes on the heavy water research reactor, Iranian state media outlets reported attacks on the yellowcake production facility in Ardakan. The IDF later confirmed it struck the site.
Ardakan is a city in Iran's Yazd province, which the IDF had struck previously on Friday, targeting a central site for producing missiles and sea mines.
Iranian state media stated that no radioactive materials had been released in the incident.
"This plant is the only one of its kind in Iran, where raw materials mined from the earth undergo mechanical and chemical processing so that they can later be used as raw materials for uranium enrichment," the IDF said after the attack, adding "The strikes targeted the main infrastructure used for the unique production processes."
IDF strikes chemical weapons research facility
Separately, the military said on Friday that the IDF had earlier hit an Iranian chemical weapons research facility.
The IDF did not clarify if this meant that Iran possessed chemical weapons or whether the Islamic Republic was still at the research stage.
Iran's IRGC vows retaliation
Following the attacks, which Iran asserted were on "industrial centers," the IRGC vowed retaliation on industrial companies in the Middle East that had American shareholders or were aligned with Israel.
It also stated that residents near such companies should evacuate.
"Our fighters are carrying out retaliatory attacks, so we warn all employees of industrial companies in the region that have American shareholders, as well as heavy industries allied with the Zionist regime in the region, to leave their workplaces immediately so that your lives are not endangered," the IRGC stated in a message carried by Fars.
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-891437
other Israel
https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-over-80-terrorists-arrested-dozens-of-weapons-confiscated-during-idf-raid/
https://nypost.com/2026/03/27/world-news/idf-strikes-major-iranian-missile-and-naval-mine-production-site/
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/2026-03-26/live-updates-891228
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-on-alert-in-gaza-as-weakened-hamas-thought-to-be-trying-to-rearm-amid-iran-war/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-it-found-hezbollah-tunnel-build-beneath-south-lebanon-church/
https://caliber.az/en/post/idf-discovers-hundreds-of-weapons-in-school-in-southern-lebanon
https://www.jpost.com/judaism/jewish-holidays/article-891264
Iran-linked hackers breach FBI director’s personal email, publish photos and documents
March 27, 2026
Handala, an Iran-linked hacker group, has followed through on a threat to attack the US domestic intelligence service, the FBI, hacking director Kash Patel's personal email.
Handala had said on Thursday it would carry out such a cyber attack, warning on Telegram that an FBI breach would be "coming soon."
"Soon you will realise that the FBI's security was nothing more than a joke," the group wrote.
On Friday, it posted several apparent photos of Mr Patel and an old CV that seemed to be his.
In a statement, the FBI said it was aware of malicious entities looking to breach Mr Patel's digital assets.
"We have taken all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this activity," the statement read in part.
"The information in question is historical in nature and involves no government information," the FBI said, adding that the State Department is offering up to a $10 million reward for information leading to the identification of the Handala hackers.
The US Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment but an official told Reuters the hacked material appeared to be genuine.
The Telegram account was deactivated or removed shortly after those posts, but a new account later emerged with another message.
Handala shared various photographs of Mr Patel, including some of him smoking a cigar.
The hack comes days after Handala claimed that US aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin had been compromised.
"The manufacturer of the F-35, F-22, Thaad missile defence system and advanced electronic warfare systems could not even protect its own identity," the group said on Wednesday.
In a statement to The National, a Lockheed Martin representative did not confirm that its systems had been compromised.
"Lockheed Martin continues to carry out its mission-critical work in support of American and allied warfighters around the world," the statement read.
"We are aware of the reports and have policies and procedures in place to mitigate cyber threats to our business." It said that Lockheed Martin remained confident in its "multi-layered information systems".
Last week, the US Justice Department and FBI announced the seizure of several websites associated with Handala.
The filings related to the seizures also confirm that Handala was responsible for a recent cyber attack against Michigan-based medical technology company Stryker, which has more than 50,000 employees around the world.
The US alleges that Handala might also be responsible for cyber attacks on hospitals and medical services in Maryland.
“We took down four of their operation's pillars and we're not done,” said FBI director Kash Patel after the Justice Department announced the seizure of several Handala internet properties, adding that the US would “hunt down every actor behind these cowardly death threats and cyber attacks”.
Yet the seizures by the US government seem to have had little impact on the group. “The seizure of our domains, propaganda bombardment, threats of assassination, and even the looming shadow of aerial bombardment are nothing more than the latest desperate attempts by the United States and its allies to silence the voice of Handala,” a recent post by the group on Telegram read.
Ever since US and Israeli air strikes on Iran started on February 28, cyber-security analysts have warned of an increase in potential cyber attacks from Tehran and groups seeking to take advantage of the situation.
Several months before the US and Israeli strikes, Microsoft's security division warned that Iran shows no sign of slowing its cyber attacks.
Meanwhile, according to internet monitor NetBlocks, as of Thursday Iran entered the 27th day of its self-imposed internet blackout that is affecting 99 per cent of the country.
"Rights monitors, independent media and the public are sidelined as access is granted only to those on a state-approved white list," NetBlocks said.
In August, FBI assistant director Brett Leatherman said a cyber attack from Iran affecting US technology systems, data and infrastructure would likely be considered an act of war.
Meanwhile, the war in Iran has left the ruling regime with little to lose, so cyber attacks against America and other countries may well increase.
“History has shown that neither bullets, nor bombs, nor assassinations have ever been able to stand against the will of nations and the voice of truth,” Handala's message on its Telegram channel read several weeks ago.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/future/2026/03/27/iran-hack-fbi-kash-patel-handala/
https://wanaen.com/confidential-information-on-the-maker-of-the-f-35-and-thaad-to-be-released/
https://wanaen.com/handala-hacker-group-gives-lockheed-employees-48-hours-to-leave-israel/
Exclusive: US deploys uncrewed drone boats in conflict with Iran
March 26, 20269:00 PM UTC
Summary
US confirms use of uncrewed drones against Iran
Pentagon's GARC drones log over 450 hours in Operation Epic Fury
US Navy faces setbacks with autonomous drone fleet development
NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters) - The United States has deployed uncrewed drone speedboats for patrols as part of its operations against Iran, the Pentagon said, the first time Washington has confirmed using such vessels in an active conflict.
The deployment of the vessels which can be used for surveillance or kamikaze strikes has not been previously reported. It comes despite a series of setbacks in the U.S. Navy’s years‑long effort to field a fleet of uncrewed surface vessels, Reuters reported last year.
Uncrewed vessels have risen to prominence in recent years after Ukraine used explosive‑laden speedboats to inflict significant damage on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
Iran has used sea drones to attack oil tankers in the Gulf at least twice since the U.S. and Israel began strikes nearly a month ago. There was no indication the U.S. had used uncrewed vessels for offensive strikes.
In response to Reuters’ questions, Tim Hawkins, a Pentagon spokesperson for Central Command, said unmanned vessels built by Maryland-based BlackSea, known as the Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft, or GARC, had been used for patrols as part of the U.S. campaign against Iran, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury.”
“U.S. forces continue to employ unmanned systems in the Middle East region, including surface drone assets like the GARC.
This platform, in particular, has successfully logged over 450 underway hours and more than 2,200 nautical miles during maritime patrols in support of Operation Epic Fury,” Hawkins said in a statement.
Hawkins declined to name any of the other unmanned systems being deployed. BlackSea declined to comment for this story.
NAVY STRUGGLES WITH DRONE BOATS
The U.S. has for years been trying to build a fleet of autonomous uncrewed surface and underwater vessels, as a cheaper and faster alternative to manned ships and submarines, particularly to counter China’s growing naval power in the Pacific.
The effort, however, has fallen behind schedule and been dogged by technical problems, cost concerns and a series of testing setbacks.
Last year, Reuters reported the GARC, an angular speedboat about five meters long, was involved in multiple performance and safety issues, including one where it collided with another boat at speed during a military test.
In recent weeks, during another failed test in the Middle East, one GARC boat became inoperable, according to a source who was briefed on the matter.
Hawkins declined to comment on the testing setbacks.
“The GARC is an emerging capability and part of a fleet of surface drones operated by U.S. 5th Fleet to enhance awareness of what’s happening in regional waters,” he said.
ttps://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-deploys-uncrewed-drone-boats-conflict-with-iran-2026-03-26/
https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2026-03-27/iran-navy-drones-patrol-middle-east-21197987.html
Eastern Congo war intensifies as drone strikes and heavy firepower surge – UN reveals
7:12am March 27, 2026
Eastern Congo’s conflict is intensifying and spreading into new areas, with the United Nations warning that the growing use of heavy weapons and attack drones is putting civilians at greater risk.
Briefing members on Thursday, the United Nations’ acting top envoy for Congo, Vivian van de Perre, said fighting in the country’s east is not only intensifying but spreading.
She pointed to a worrying shift toward heavier weaponry and the growing use of offensive drones in populated areas.
Her assessment comes weeks after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and allied fighters pulled out of the town of Uvira in January under international pressure.
That withdrawal has not translated into calm. Instead, clashes have picked up pace across North Kivu and South Kivu, where M23 forces continue to face off against Congolese troops and their aligned groups.
“The situation in South Kivu remains tense and the renewed hostilities have expanded and shifted the front lines, including toward Burundi’s border, increasing the risk of a regional conflagration,” she warned.
The violence is the latest chapter in a long-running crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where government forces have battled more than 100 armed groups over the years.
Among them, the M23 remains the most formidable, having pushed aggressively through the region early last year and taken control of Goma along with other strategic areas.
Van de Perre, who leads the U.N.’s nearly 9,000-strong peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, said conditions in Ituri province are equally troubling.
She reported mounting casualties linked to one armed faction, while another has targeted mining operations, further destabilizing the area.
She flagged two developments as particularly alarming. The conflict is no longer confined to North and South Kivu, now edging into Tshopo province.
At the same time, the deployment of heavy weapons and drones in urban centers is exposing civilians and key infrastructure to greater danger, citing “recent incidents affecting sites such as Bangoka Airport in Kisangani and in Goma town.”
In territories under its control, M23 is also entrenching its grip beyond the battlefield. According to the envoy, the group is setting up parallel administrative systems in places like Goma, a move she said is eroding state authority and complicating humanitarian operations.
Diplomatic efforts are underway but remain fragile. Officials from Congo, Rwanda and the United States met in Washington last week, agreeing on coordinated measures aimed at easing tensions in the east.
Speaking to reporters after the council session, van de Perre described the situation as “extremely volatile,” stressing that previously signed agreements must move from paper to practice.
A ceasefire, she said, should come first, followed by reopening airports and restoring unrestricted movement for peacekeepers.
The message found support from Massad Boulos, who chaired the meeting. He stressed the continued importance of the U.N. mission, saying “MONUSCO remains indispensable to the success of the peace process.”
Boulos added that resolving the conflict is high on the agenda of Donald Trump, urging all sides to honor their commitments, including adherence to a ceasefire.
https://face2faceafrica.com/article/eastern-congo-war-intensifies-as-drone-strikes-and-heavy-firepower-surge-un-reveals
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2026/03/28/2003854600
China bases old jet drones near Strait
Sat, Mar 28, 2026
China has stationed obsolete supersonic fighters converted to attack drones at six air bases close to the Taiwan Strait, a report published this month by the Arlington, Virginia-based Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies said.
Satellite imagery of the airfields from the institute’s “China Airpower Tracker” shows what appear to be lines of stubby, swept-winged aircraft matching the shape of J-6 fighters that first flew with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force in the 1960s. Since their conversion to drones, the aircraft have been identified at five bases in China’s Fujian Province and one in Guangdong Province, the report said.
J. Michael Dahm, a senior fellow at the Mitchell Institute, said that the PLA has deployed an estimated 200 or more obsolete fighters converted to drones to airfields near the Taiwan Strait.
The jets-turned-drones would fly into targets in the opening phase of an assault on Taiwan, said Dahm, a former US naval intelligence officer.
They would be used more like cruise missiles than autonomous or remote-controlled uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV), he said.
“They will attack Taiwan, US or allied targets in large numbers, effectively overwhelming air defenses,” he said.
He compiled the data for the report from open-source intelligence and commercial satellite imagery.
China dominates the global commercial drone market. It is also investing heavily in military drone technologies.
The converted drones identified in the Mitchell Institute report are part of Beijing’s expanding mix of airpower weapons, including bombers with stand-off missiles, modern fighters, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and swarms of modern UAVs, experts on air warfare said.
This month, the US intelligence community said that its assessment is that China is not currently planning to invade Taiwan in 2027.
That contrasted with the Pentagon’s annual report on China’s military power late last year that said China “expects to be able to fight and win a war on Taiwan by the end of 2027.”
The key purpose of the converted drones is “to exhaust Taiwan’s air defense systems in the first wave of an attack,” a senior Taiwanese security official said.
To prevent China from “striking high-value targets, we will inevitably face the cost-efficiency issue of using expensive missiles to intercept them at a distance,” the official said.
In a report to the legislature this week, the Ministry of National Defense outlined plans to rapidly acquire a new generation of counterdrone systems.
The ministry referred to a 2022 report by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, which said that the drones were “a form of asymmetric warfare that cannot be ignored.”
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense and Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to questions for this story.
The Pentagon also did not respond to a request for comment.
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In a Taiwan conflict, China could launch a “large attack wave” of strike aircraft, missiles flying on different trajectories, and fast and slow drones, said Peter Layton, a visiting fellow at Griffith University in Australia and a retired Royal Australian Air Force group captain who has worked at the Pentagon.
“There would be a lot of diverse things all coming at the same time,” Layton said. “It would be an air defense nightmare.”
The drones do not rank among China’s most threatening, advanced UAVs, but they would be costly to combat, he said.
The small, high-speed interceptor drones that Ukraine has been fielding in its war with Russia would be ineffective in shooting them down, he said.
“Those J-6s would need a proper expensive missile,” he added.
The protracted conflict in Ukraine and the US-Israeli war with Iran have demonstrated that drones are a crucial element of modern warfare.
Some can be built in large numbers, deployed in mass formations and quickly replaced after battlefield losses.
China is developing new UAVs, including a stealth attack drone that experts said would operate from an aircraft carrier.
Military attaches and security analysts said that China is already testing the use of drones in deception operations in potential rehearsals of a Taiwan invasion.
The twin-engine J-6 was derived from the 1950s-era Soviet Mig-19 fighter.
This jet and other Soviet-derived aircraft formed the core of China’s fighter fleet until the mid-1990s, the US Air Force’s Air University said.
Dahm estimated that more than 500 of the aircraft have been converted to drones.
The drone version of the J-6 is designated the J-6W.
The PLA Air Force in September last year exhibited one of the converted fighters at the Changchun Air Show in northeast China.
On an information board displayed next to the drone, it was described as a J-6 UAV, a photograph from the air show published by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense showed.
“This aircraft is a modified version of the J-6 fighter jet,” the information board said.
The fighter’s cannons and other equipment were removed, and it was fitted with an automatic flight control system and terrain matching navigation technology, it said.
The UAV made its first successful flight in 1995 and could be used as attack aircraft, or a training target for fighter pilots, anti-aircraft guns, surface-to-air missiles or radar operators, the board said.
The Chinese airfields closest to the Taiwan Strait where J-6 drones are based would be vulnerable to counterattack from Taiwan and its allies in a conflict, Dahm said.
“The idea is to launch all the drones in the first hours of a PLA operation,” he said.
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https://indiandefencereview.com/drone-reveals-dmanisis-gora-mega-fortress-in-georgia/
Drone Mapping Reveals 3,000-Year-Old Mega Fortress with Walls 40 Times Bigger than Archaeologists Expected
March 27, 2026 at 6:30 am
On a promontory in southern Georgia, between two deep gorges carved by ancient rivers, stone walls have stood for more than three millennia.
The site, known as Dmanisis Gora, first drew the attention of archaeologists in 2018 when test excavations began on a fortified inner core.
From the ground, the fortress appeared impressive but unremarkable by regional standards, a defensible position with a double wall, perhaps the seat of a local Bronze Age chieftain.
When the knee-high summer vegetation died back, researchers from Cranfield University and the Georgian National Museum noticed something unexpected.
Beyond the known fortress walls, scattered across a vast plateau, lay the remains of additional fortifications and stone structures.
The site was far larger than anyone had realized. From ground level, the full extent remained impossible to grasp. That limitation led to an unusual solution: a drone carrying a positioning system accurate to less than two centimeters.
A Fortress Hidden in Plain Sight
The unmanned aerial vehicle flew systematic passes over 115 hectares of rugged terrain, capturing nearly 11,000 high-resolution photographs.
Back in the lab, researchers stitched those images together into orthophotos—composite pictures where every point appears as if viewed straight down—and digital elevation models that revealed subtle topographic features invisible to the naked eye.
The results, published in the journal Antiquity, upended decades of assumptions about the site. Dmanisis Gora was not a 1.5-hectare fortress with a small outer enclosure.
It was a mega fortress covering approximately 80 hectares, with an outer settlement defended by a 1-kilometer-long fortification wall running from gorge edge to gorge edge.
Dr. Nathaniel Erb-Satullo, senior lecturer in architectural science at Cranfield Forensic Institute and the study’s lead author, said the drone survey showed the site was more than 40 times larger than originally thought.
“The use of drones has allowed us to understand the significance of the site and document it in a way that simply wouldn’t be possible on the ground.”
What the Stones Reveal
To confirm that the features spotted from the air were truly ancient, the team compared their drone images with 50-year-old photographs taken by a Cold War-era spy satellite declassified in 2013.
That comparison helped distinguish recent agricultural features from Bronze Age structures and showed which parts of the settlement had been damaged by modern farming.
What emerged was a complex landscape. The inner fortress, roughly 1.5 hectares, featured two substantial defensive walls with a third wall running between them, an unusual configuration suggesting layered defenses.
Excavations there have yielded more than 30,000 pottery sherds from the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, along with animal bones and evidence of metalworking.
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But the outer settlement proved the greater surprise. Within the 1-kilometer wall, researchers mapped hundreds of rectilinear and curvilinear stone structures, many of them compounds 15 to 40 meters across.
Some may have served as animal pens or unroofed courtyards. Others appear to be dwellings. Stone cromlechs, burial structures typical of the second and first millennia BC, were scattered throughout the settlement rather than confined to a separate cemetery.
The settlement’s total defended area, about 56 hectares, approaches or exceeds the walled areas of major medieval cities in the region, including the nearby medieval town of Dmanisi itself.
A Seasonally Expanding City?
Yet for all the stone construction, something about the outer settlement puzzles archaeologists. Sediment layers there are thin. Surface ceramics are almost entirely absent.
The combination suggests low-intensity or intermittent occupation, people who built substantial walls and structures but did not leave behind the deep deposits of debris typical of year-round settlements.
Erb-Satullo and his colleagues propose a hypothesis. Dmanisis Gora sits in a transitional zone between lowland agricultural areas and highland pastures, on routes still used today by seasonal herders.
The mega fortress may have served as a staging ground for mobile pastoral groups who gathered at the site during spring and autumn migrations.
“We hypothesize that Dmanisis Gora expanded because of its interactions with mobile pastoral groups, and its large outer settlement may have expanded and contracted seasonally,” Erb-Satullo said.
If correct, the pattern would align with archaeological theories suggesting that mobile pastoralism remained central to Late Bronze and Early Iron Age societies in the Caucasus, even as fortified settlements appeared across the landscape.
The inner fortress, with its year-round occupation evidenced by deep stratification and pig remains, may have housed a permanent population while the outer settlement swelled and shrank with the seasons.
A New Kind of Ancient Urbanism
The South Caucasus saw the emergence of fortress settlements between roughly 1500 and 500 BC, a period when societies across the Near East and Eastern Mediterranean experienced collapse and reorganization.
Unlike many of those regions, the Caucasus showed remarkable continuity across the Bronze Age–Iron Age transition.
Dmanisis Gora now offers one of the clearest examples of how those societies organized themselves on a large scale.
The site’s structure, a small, heavily fortified core surrounded by a vast, lower-density outer settlement, has few documented parallels in the region.
The mismatch between the scale of stone construction and the apparent thinness of occupation suggests a form of settlement where population density remained low even as the built environment grew.
That pattern adds a new dimension to global debates about ancient urbanism. Large settlements do not always fit traditional models of cities with dense populations and hierarchical organization.
Some, like Dmanisis Gora, may have functioned as communal gathering places where permanent residents and mobile groups intersected, their populations fluctuating with the seasons and the movement of livestock.
With the site now extensively mapped, the research team is conducting further excavations.
Tens of thousands of pottery sherds, animal bones, and other artifacts recovered since the aerial survey will help clarify questions of population density, livestock movements, and agricultural practices.
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Mystery Drones Take ‘Evasive Action’ Over Major Louisiana Air Force Base
updated Mar 27, 2026 at 11:03 AM EDT
Lawmakers in Louisiana are set to receive classified briefings on "multiple waves" of unauthorized drones buzzing above a critical Air Force base.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy expects to be debriefed Friday on the recent incursions at Barksdale Air Force Base, where multiple drones stormed above during the week of March 9, ABC News reported last week.
"I’m told—but it’s not confirmed—that the drones [took] evasive action," Cassidy told KTBS on Wednesday. "It's not just somebody out there with a drone and he happens to go over a fence. Rather, it’s people who don’t want to be recognized."
The recent unauthorized drone activity is "concerning," Cassidy said.
"We're going to create some tools to address that," he told the station.
Senator John Kennedy, also a Louisiana Republican, said he expects to learn more about the recent sightings during a classified briefing next week, KEEL reported on Wednesday.
Kennedy said he's still awaiting more details and didn't have any additional information than the public, adding that he hadn't seen the drones as he's been in Washington.
Cassidy's press secretary, Matt Fisher, confirmed the lawmaker had requested a classified briefing on the sightings, but did not provide additional details early Friday. Kennedy's office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
A Barksdale Air Force Base spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement on Friday: “Barksdale Air Force Base detected multiple unauthorized drones operating in our airspace during the week of March 9th.
Flying a drone over a military installation is not only a safety issue, it is a criminal offense under federal law. We are working closely with federal and local law enforcement agencies to investigate these incursions.
The security of our installation and the safety of our people are top priorities, and we will continue to vigilantly monitor our airspace.”
A confidential internal briefing document obtained by ABC News revealed that what had been believed to be a single unauthorized drone above Barksdale Air Force Base was actually multiple incursions.
Base officials issued a shelter-in-place order on March 9 following a report of an "unmanned aerial system operating over the installation," ABC News reported on March 20.
The sighting sparked immediate concerns because the base houses long-range B-52 bombers and plays a critical role in the Air Force's nuclear defense capabilities.
The order was lifted later that day, but the unauthorized drone flights continued for nearly a week, Air Force officials confirmed to ABC News.
"Barksdale Air Force Base detected multiple unauthorized drones operating in our airspace during the week of March 9th," Captain Hunter Rininger of the 2nd Bomb Wing told the outlet in a statement.
The unauthorized drones buzzed above the base in waves and seemingly tried to "avoid the operator(s) being located" and lights on the devices indicated users "may be testing security responses" at the base, according to the March 15 confidential briefing document.
"Between March 9-15, 2026, BAFB Security Forces observed multiple waves of 12-15 drones operating over sensitive areas of the installation, including the flight line, with aircraft displaying non-commercial signal characteristics, long-range control links and resistance to jamming," the document reads.
"After reaching multiple points across the installation, the drones dispersed across sensitive locations on the base."
No drone activity was detected on March 13 and 14, and it's unclear if the flights, which lasted multiple hours, have occurred since earlier this month, according to confidential briefing document.
https://www.newsweek.com/mystery-drones-take-evasive-action-over-major-louisiana-air-force-base-11747030
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-investigating-unauthorized-drones-detected-early-march-over-base-hosting-b-52-bombers/3882151
The blonde hippie chick with dreads is now claiming to be a channeler for the Galactic Federation
"These are codes from a Lyran Queen who is a part of the Galatic Federation Council. She’s been communicating with me for over 10 years now.
I have always been so afraid to share this side of myself it took a lot for me to record this, but have felt so affirmed by the amount of people who also believe and confirm everything I’ve been told.
The truth is coming out faster and faster every day about our world and our history we have been separated from our galactic family for far too long and we are finally reaching a frequency to be able to see/feel/uncover the truth that has been kept hidden from us & remember who we are.
I had the most incredible moment with light language a few days ago, where my dear friend and I who have been working with translating stones and working with the magic of light language came to a moment where we realized we can actually activate others light language by speaking light language over them and speaking to their guides to help unlock this for them and wlwhat we experienced was so incredibly beautiful. We watched our other dear friends light language awaken inside of her!
It was straight out of a dream and we were both being shown how when one person activates, it lights up thousands around them and I’m realizing more and more that people are opening up to this realm that I have felt so tapped into for most of my life that made me feel crazy but in reality all I’m seeing is more people tapping into the same realm and I have personally experienced so many miracles from using light language ranging from healing myself to witnessing other people heal people to healing my family members and shifting matter.
I’m feeling more than ever so grateful and excited to share the deeper side of myself that I kept off social media I mean, obviously I’ve always been weird, but I’m even more weird than you guys even know ha ha ha ha ha ha so it’s about to get weirder, but the people who get it get it and the people who don’t will eventually get it but for now I’m here to help awaken the masses. "
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Shanin Blake
6:17 PM · Mar 26, 2026
https://www.facebook.com/shanin.blake/videos/789199600521149/
https://x.com/RedPandaKoala/status/2037338220195922087
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox5R7IdSNpM
Nevada Senator Harry Reid’s hidden interest in aliens and UFOs
Updated: Mar 27, 2026 / 10:25 AM PDT
Back in 2007, the late Nevada Sen. Harry Reid and fellow Senators Daniel Inouye and Ted Stevens quietly started a secretive study of UFOs and related mysteries, though they had no idea where it might lead.
They commissioned the Defense Intelligence Agency to host the secret program called the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program, or AAWSAP. The contract for this was awarded to Nevada aerospace tycoon Robert Bigelow.
At its peak, the study had nearly fifty scientists working at the facility in Nevada, with the project costing a total of $22 million.
And it didn’t just study aliens. The program would record and analyze phenomena such as the mysteries at Skinwalker Ranch and other unexplained events.
The project only lasted a few years, but spoke to a deep interest in UFOs and aliens from the former Senate Majority Leader, one that began early in his political career.
In fact, it dates back to the 1980’s when George Knapp first had conversations with him on the topic.
The senator maintained throughout his career that no one can say for sure where mysterious craft such as those encountered in Area 51 originate, which is why he initiated a study in the first place.
https://www.8newsnow.com/mystery-wire/nevada-senator-harry-reids-hidden-interest-in-aliens-and-ufos/
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxRUH0MJ-MdQ_g88L-1Cq16XuhtZklB9-
https://x.com/g_knapp
Watch: Strange UFO Filmed Over Argentine City
March 26, 2026
A bewildered witness in Argentina captured footage of a strange UFO hovering over a city.
According to a local media report, the sighting occurred last Tuesday evening in the city of Salta, when the unnamed man looked up and spotted the inordinately bright object moving in an unusual fashion overhead.
"I just saw a UFO in the sky. I recorded it and everything," he later marveled to an Argentine website that received his footage of the scene.
In the man's video (seen below), he can be heard expressing his astonishment at the wondrous illumination which, when he zooms in on it, appears to be a set of lights rather than one singular object.
Since being posted online, the footage has generated an array of theories from viewers on Argentine social media. Some have, of course, suggested that the UFO was otherworldly.
However, more skeptical individuals argue that the anomalous illumination was merely something prosaic, such as a drone or balloon.
https://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/watch-strange-ufo-filmed-over-argentine-city/
https://www.quepasasalta.com.ar/salta/ovni-capturado-en-video-salta/
random x findings
Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives
@dom_lucre
🔥🚨DEVELOPING: UFO researcher Chris Bledsoe claimed in 2012, he wrote down a vision and handed it to the Pentago that said: “During an Iran-Israel missile exchange in April 2026 thousands of orbs will rise from the oceans.”
12:55 AM · Mar 27, 2026
https://x.com/dom_lucre/status/2037438410994983157
https://x.com/chrisbledsoeufo
https://x.com/RyanDBledsoe/status/2037606794004922427
extra findings
https://x.com/ibepolycarp027/status/2037278525577642022
https://x.com/uapsauce/status/2037360068111278221
https://x.com/CrazySwedeX/status/2037223151768125496
https://x.com/pavelibarrameda/status/2037362674980536720
https://x.com/UAPWatchers/status/2037220721651224827
This is Hormuz Island in Iran (In the Strait of Hormuz)……Blood on the Water Fire From the Sky
Mar 27, 2026
The Strait of Hormuz is Biological and Hormuz Island is bleeding as is Iran in General.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYbSiIWK6vE
extra disclosure dejour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxLP1FZxHz4 (John Michael Godier: UFO/UAP The Mysterious Palomar Transits Update for March 26, 2026)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXrJekS-KFQ (Cristina Gomez: HANDLING the UFO Truth)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3TFsjXMFCc (Jeff Nuccetelli on testifying in Congress & speaking to Varginha UFO witnesses - Psicoactivo #936)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpapl4IheIQ (Doomer Friday: Area 51 Time Traveler arrest & Chris Bledsoe's Easter is here - Psicoactivo Live #10)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdfBAp2cQiU (Area52: Breaking Down The Alien Agenda - David Icke | DEBRIEFED ep. 81)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fszqQaODIcs (Matt Beall Podcast: Filippo Biondi | BREAKING NEWS: Second SPHINX found under Giza Plateau)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEr7V1AN8Ko (The Derp With Kurp | 35 | Jamie Dlux Joins the Derp)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B04PiUj07Pg (The Dr. Steven Greer Podcast - Episode 18)
https://x.com/DrStevenGreer/status/2037198739597631753