Too Bright and Not a Star: How Huge Satellite Spoils Space Observations

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is concerned about the level of light pollution coming from AST SpaceMobile's new artificial satellite BlueWalker 3. Light pollution is the illumination of the night sky by artificial sources that interfere with astronomical observations.

The space researchers, in a collective appeal, stated that the 64m2 phased array orbiter has "unprecedented brightness" and noted their concern over AST SpaceMobile planning to launch several dozen more BlueWalker-type satellites in the future

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🗣 "[Ukrainian soldiers] forced captured Russian soldiers to walk and crawl with bullet holes in their knees" – a Russian serviceman describes the abuse in Ukrainian captivity

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📹 Russia's MoD has published footage showing Russian aviation crews performing combat actions during the special military operation

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Japan, US Mull Hypersonic Missile Defense Research Amid Chinese, North Korean Advances

China has become the second country in the world to deploy a hypersonic weapons system with its DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle. Now Japan and the United States are trying ways to unite for joint research on technologies related to the interception of hypersonic glide weapons.

Check out: Will this cooperation be successful?

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👉 Follow our LIVE UPDATES on the Ukrainian crisis

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💸 Germany plans to buy 35 F-35A Lightning II fighters for $10.5Bln, American media has reported citing a government document. The money for the acquisition of the single-engine stealth multirole combat aircraft and other items will come from a special fund of ($105.4Bln) which the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced earlier this year

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🐤 An outbreak of bird flu in Japan led to 310,000 chickens to be culled in the Aichi Prefecture in the Chubu district of Honshu. This is the first such outbreak in 11 years, according to local authorities. There have been several outbreaks of bird flu in recent weeks in Japan and about 3.3 million chickens have been culled in the country since the first outbreak on 28 October

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The Iranian government supports the bid of Belarus to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Iran's Ambassador to Minsk, Saeed Yari, said.

In an interview with a Belarussian TV channel, Saeed noted that Belarus wants to become a member of this "important player in the economy" in which countries such as China, India, Russia, Iran and Pakistan "can resist the West in all directions".

🗣 "We know that Belarus has begun the process of joining this organization, and we, of course, support this. We are friendly countries and should use these opportunities to confront Europe and America," Yari added

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📈 The economic crisis has beset the UK for several months now. Annual inflation in the country reached 11.1 percent in October.

On Monday, the Confederation of British Industry forecast that the UK economy will fall by 0.4 percent in 2023 as inflation remains high and businesses suspend investment.

🗣 "Britain is in stagflation - with rocketing inflation, negative growth, falling productivity and business investment. Firms see potential growth opportunities but ... headwinds are causing them to pause investing in 2023," CBI Director-General Tony Danker said

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⚡️Chinese Foreign Ministry on price cap on Russian oil: all parties must make constructive efforts for security of global oil supplies

🐵🐯 The rule that opposites attract is by no means confined to humans - all species in the animal kingdom can fall for the allure of the unfamiliar.

One such example has recently been spotted online where footage of a baby monkey and a tiger cub playing and cuddling has enchanted netizens.

💬 ''So sweet.. he's trying to groom the cub,'' one comment says.

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⚡️Attempts of Western countries to impose their own rules through sanctions are doomed to failure, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said

❗️Latest statements by Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin:

▪️Russia and China are ready to resist the growing external pressure together, countries are interested in each other's prosperity;

▪️Russia is ready to ensure the fulfillment of all contractual obligations to China in the energy sector, to work on new initiatives;

▪️The trade turnover between Russia and China has approached $150 Bln, in the future it will reach $200 Bln

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How to give Pentagon war planners a headache?

Tell them how powerful Russia's nuclear submarine fleet is.

Approximately 576 warheads, or about one-third of the total deployed Russian arsenal of 1,588 strategic nuclear warheads, are stationed aboard the country's ballistic missile submarine fleet.

Read more about the naval element of Russia’s nuclear triad in our article

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'Willing to Help Me Die, But Won't Help Me Live': Canadian Paralympian 'Offered Assisted Dying'

Rather than help a Canadian Army veteran and former Paralympian finally have a wheelchair lift installed in her home, a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) staff member offered the woman... medical assistance in dying (MAID), local media reported.

Retired Army Corporal Christine Gauthier, who sustained severe injuries during a training accident in 1989, has been trying to get the ramp fitted for five years, but to no avail. When the “shocked and in despair" Gauthier offered a detailed account of her worsening condition to a VAC case worker, the person reportedly said, “Well, you know that we can assist you with assisted dying now if you'd like”

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The US is increasingly hard pressed to restore its severely depleted stockpiles of Javelin and Stinger missiles as it pushes ahead with its weapons bonanza for the Kiev authorities.

Washington has sent 5,500 Javelins and 1,400 Stingers to Ukraine as of May, and stocks are so badly diminished that it will take years to replace them, the chief executive of Raytheon Technologies, Greg Hayes, was cited by media as saying. The drive to maintain a supply of weaponry to prop up the Kiev regime has “burned through existing weapons stocks,” Hayes said

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Macron Says Europe-US Relations Face 'De-Synchronization' Over High Energy Prices

French President Emmanuel Macron said that relations between Europe and the United States are de-synchronizing. "I think this administration and President Biden personally is very much attached to Europe. But when you look at the situation today, there is indeed a de-synchronization. Why? Energy. Europe is a gas and oil buyer. The US is a producer," Macron told US media. He emphasized that Europe and the US have engaged in the Ukraine conflict "for the same principles", but the cost of involvement is different on each side of the Atlantic. As the French president said, Europe is paying six times what Americans pay for gas

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❗️Latest statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️The West's oil price cap will not affect Russia’s special operation, the Russian economy has potential to meet the needs of the operation;

▪️Russia is preparing a response to West's introduction of oil price cap, but one thing is obvious – Moscow will not recognize this decision;

▪️Peskov on Scholz's remarks about the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia: this can be argued, as experts see a process of adapting to these conditions;

▪️Sanctions against Russia are harming Europeans, including the German economy, this is obvious;

▪️Peskov on the situation around the ZNPP: Russia continues contacts with the IAEA, the main thing is to stop Ukrainian shelling, as it could lead to huge risks;

▪️The Russian oil price after the introduction of a cap by the West will change, this was a step towards destabilizing world energy markets;

▪️The Kremlin does not consider Macron's remarks about the need to take into account Russia's security concerns a change in Paris' approach

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