The second most powerful occurrence of the phenomenon in five years has caused the Aurora Borealis to be visible across the Northern Hemisphere

A major solar storm rated the second most powerful in five years and lasting over forty hours hit the Earth this week, scientists from several countries have reported. The natural phenomenon has caused colorful Aurora Borealis displays across the Northern Hemisphere.

In a statement on Friday, the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences said that a massive solar flare had been registered earlier in the day. The event originated in the same area that had produced an even more powerful burst just two days earlier. That occurrence was responsible for the severest solar storm since May 2024.

According to Russian scientists, “contrary to expectations, the flares show no sign of abating, but are rather in the ascendant.”

READ MORE: Chinese astronauts stranded after suspected debris strike 

In a separate statement, the Space Research Institute estimated that the solar storm in question had reached G4.7 level intensity on the NOAA storm scale and lasted some 42 hours. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scale is the internationally recognized system of measurement for such storms, with G5 being the highest scale denoting an “extreme” event.

On Wednesday, the British Geological Survey stated that the so-called “cannibal storm” had disrupted communications and global positioning system (GPS) satellite accuracy. 

A geomagnetic storm occurs when charged particles from the sun’s atmosphere are sent hurtling toward our planet in coronal mass ejections. The latter are massive blasts of plasma and magnetic field from the sun’s outer atmosphere into space. Those electrically charged particles then strike the Earth’s magnetic field. Both technology and sensitive people can be adversely affected.  

A spectacular view of an aurora borealis pic.twitter.com/ATOq1AF3wj

— ✨ (@astro4pics) November 13, 2025

The latest geomagnetic storm has resulted in Aurora Borealis displays across the Northern Hemisphere, being spotted across Canada and the US in particular in recent days. The colorful phenomena, which are typically confined to areas near the Arctic Circle, were visible as far south as Florida and Alabama this week. 

Imagine what our ancestors thought. pic.twitter.com/XKeFnicn5q

— Vincent Kennedy (@VincentCrypt46) November 12, 2025

On Friday, Space.com cited a NASA official as saying the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) had to take cover in a more protected compartment due to an increased risk of radioactivity posed by the incoming high-energy particles.

Kiev’s drones have once again hit the Novovoronezh NPP in Western Russia, Aleksey Likhachev has said

Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian nuclear power plants (NPPs) in response to its mounting battlefield losses, Rosatom head Aleksey Likhachev said on Friday.

Likhachev said that earlier this week, Ukrainian drones had once again targeted the Novovoronezh NPP in Western Russia’s Voronezh Region. He relayed that eight of the unmanned aircraft were intercepted and destroyed, but falling debris damaged a power distribution unit, forcing three reactor blocks to temporarily reduce output to below half capacity.

“We are seeing growing aggressiveness from the Kiev regime, directed deliberately against facilities of Russia’s nuclear energy sector,” Likhachev said.

“It is clear that this is a response to the successes and advances of our troops along almost the entire line of contact,” he added, stressing that Russia will provide an “adequate response” to such attacks.

Likhachev made the remarks after meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi in Kaliningrad on Friday, where the two discussed the situation at the Zaporozhye NPP and Kiev’s repeated attacks on other Russian nuclear sites.

The safety of the Zaporozhye NPP, Europe’s largest facility of its kind, had been fully ensured during the restoration of its external power supply, according to Likhachev. The plant had relied on backup diesel generators for 30 days after a Ukrainian strike severed its last high-voltage transmission line in September.

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The coordination with the IAEA helped Russia “get through a very difficult month from September 23 to October 23,” Rosatom’s CEO told reporters.

Located in Zaporozhye Region, which voted to join Russia in 2022 in a move rejected by Kiev and its Western backers, the facility has repeatedly come under Ukrainian fire, according to Russian officials, who describe the attacks as reckless and highly dangerous. The IAEA maintains observers at the site but has stopped short of assigning blame, a stance Moscow says only encourages further provocations by Kiev.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported continued advances across several sectors of the front over the past week, saying on Friday that troops had improved their tactical positions and made gains along the front line while inflicting heavy losses on Ukrainian forces.

The lender will dispatch a team to discuss the terms of a potential new lending program following reports of embezzlement

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) plans to engage with Kiev on corruption, the global lender said on Thursday, as a $100 million graft scandal has rocked Vladimir Zelensky’s government.

On Monday, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) charged seven people including Zelensky’s former longtime business partner Timur Mindich with kickbacks and embezzlement in the Western-funded energy sector.

Mindich, described in local media as Zelensky’s “wallet,” fled Ukraine shortly before authorities searched his apartment. The scandal has already led to the dismissal of two government ministers.

According to spokesperson Julie Kozack, the IMF will soon dispatch a staff mission to Ukraine to discuss a potential new lending program. “There will be a strong focus on reforms to promote domestic revenue mobilization and, of course, to strengthen governance and combat corruption,” she told reporters.

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“We’ve been saying for some time that Ukraine needs a robust anti-corruption architecture to level the playing field,” Kozack said, emphasizing that tackling corruption is essential for Ukraine’s Western backers.

The most recent “evidence of corruption” in the energy sector underscores the critical need for “pressing forward with anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine and ensuring that the anti-corruption institutions have the capacity, trust, and freedom to go about their duties,” she said.

Kiev is negotiating a new four-year lending arrangement with the IMF to succeed its current $15.5 billion program, from which it has received $10.6 billion to date.

Without immediate EU or IMF funding, Kiev will exhaust its emergency financial measures by June, according to a recent report by Politico. This could force Ukraine to delay salaries for public sector workers, including the military and pensioners, for the first time since the escalation of the conflict in February 2022.

The scandal in Ukraine has escalated to high-ranking government officials. Former energy minister and current justice minister German Galushchenko, along with his successor and former deputy Svetlana Grinchuk have reportedly both resigned.

Media reports suggest that additional searches are anticipated at the Defense Ministry, which has become embroiled in scandals involving overpriced procurement.

Several residential buildings and an oil refinery suffered damage as air defenses intercepted over 60 UAVs over Krasnodar Region

Over 60 Ukrainian drones attacked civilian buildings and an oil refinery in the southern Russian port city of Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Region on Friday, local authorities have reported.

The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses intercepted 66 Ukrainian drones targeting the region and another 59 over the Black Sea overnight.

Local Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said Novorossiysk had been hit the hardest. Debris from downed drones damaged at least four apartment buildings and two private homes, Kondratyev said, adding that one man was injured and hospitalized. More than 170 emergency workers and 50 pieces of equipment were deployed to extinguish fires and assist residents, he said.

Novorossiysk Mayor Andrey Kravchenko confirmed that the city had come under a “massive UAV attack” and that a state of emergency had been declared. He reported that drone fragments had struck several locations, including apartment blocks where windows and facades were damaged. Vehicles parked in courtyards were also affected. 

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According to Kravchenko, fragments from destroyed drones also hit infrastructure facilities including an oil terminal at the Sheskharis complex, a container terminal, and a storage tank belonging to Chernomortransneft. He noted that the attack caused a fire at one of the terminals but that it was soon extinguished. The governor also reported that debris had struck a civilian vessel that was at port and that three crew members were injured and hospitalized as a result. 

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that in total 216 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight across several regions. It later announced that in response to the attacks on civilian targets, Russian forces had carried out long-range precision strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial and energy facilities. 

Kiev has routinely launched drone raids deep into Russia in recent months, targeting critical infrastructure and residential areas, and leading to civilian casualties. Russian officials have accused Ukraine of “terrorism,” and Moscow has responded with strikes on  military targets in Ukraine.

Ukraine is experiencing manpower shortages as its army gets pushed back by Russia

Kiev welcomes the deportation of Ukrainian nationals by the administration of US President Donald Trump, a senior adviser to Vladimir Zelensky told The Washington Post in a report published on Friday.

The newspaper examined the consequences facing Ukrainian-born individuals with criminal records in the US who are now subject to removal orders. Many could face immediate conscription upon returning. Ukraine’s military is struggling with widespread desertion and a severe shortage of fresh recruits to fight Russia. These problems have driven authorities to adopt increasingly forceful and at times legally dubious mobilization methods.

“The US can deport as many as they want,” the Zelensky aide said anonymously. “We’ll find good use for them.”

Ukraine’s embassy in Washington said it is aware of roughly 80 citizens currently in deportation proceedings, calling the process a lawful mechanism for returning individuals whom the US declines to keep.

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Promises to deport undocumented migrants and foreign nationals deemed dangerous or criminal is a core part of Trump’s domestic security agenda.

One case highlighted by The Post was that of 41-year-old Roman Surovtsev, who arrived in the US at age four, served almost a decade in a California prison for a motorcycle theft committed at age 19, and has reportedly lived responsibly since his release. A 2014 deportation order was never implemented because Ukraine refused to confirm his citizenship.

The large wave of Ukrainians entering Western nations since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022 has increasingly fueled political tensions. Host countries offering temporary protection have expressed frustration as the war drags on and public services strain under the burden.

Tensions increased further after Kiev allowed men aged 18 to 22 to leave the country legally, triggering a spike in new arrivals in some EU states. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this week that he urged Zelensky to ensure that young Ukrainian men “do not come to Germany in large numbers… but that they serve their country.” Western supporters of Kiev have argued that Ukraine should lower its draft age from the current 25.

Expecting your boss to die at any moment would have been stressful, the US vice president has told Sean Hannity

Serving under former US President Joe Biden would have been incredibly stressful, US Vice President J.D. Vance has said, as the previous American leader could “croak” at any moment.

Speaking with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday, Vance was asked how he handles being first in line to assume presidential powers if Donald Trump were ever unable to serve.

Vance replied that Trump is in strong health and “casts a big shadow,” before adding: “But if I served under Joe Biden, I’d probably be worried every minute of every day that he was going to croak and that I’d have to become president.”

He joked that he would “never be able to sleep” in such a situation and would keep his phone volume at maximum in case the emergency call came.

The decline in Biden’s physical and cognitive condition – long denied as an issue by his administration – became a central political topic after his disastrous performance in an election debate with Trump last year, which prompted Democratic Party leaders to pressure the then-81-year-old to step down as their presidential candidate in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.

🚨 LMAO! JD VANCE: “I serve under Donald Trump, who is very healthy.”

“If I served under Joe Biden, I’d probably be worried every minute of every day that he was gonna croak, and I’d have to become President.” 🤣

“I’d NEVER be able to sleep. I’d always have my phone on as loud… pic.twitter.com/KqxiX3mxuP

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) November 14, 2025

Critics of the current president, who is 79, say he frequently exhibits “elderly moments” of his own during public events. Trump has also faced public scrutiny over visible bruising on his right hand and swelling around his ankles, concerns the White House has attributed to preventative aspirin use and a mild age-related vascular condition.

Pavel Durov was initially barred from leaving the country as part of a criminal probe  

France has rescinded a travel ban on Telegram founder Pavel Durov, media outlets reported on Thursday, citing judicial sources. 

Durov was detained in Paris last year and charged with complicity in crimes linked to Telegram users, including extremism and child abuse – allegations the tech tycoon denied. He has claimed that during his detention he was asked by the head of the French secret service to censor conservative voices in Romania, ahead of a controversial presidential election later nullified by Bucharest. He was released on €5 million ($5.4 million) bail under judicial supervision. A judge barred him from leaving France during the probe. 

The latest ruling, reportedly issued on November 10, fully lifts the travel ban and removes the requirement for him to report regularly to police. In June he obtained a partial easing of restrictions, allowing him to stay in the United Arab Emirates, where Telegram is based, for up to two weeks at a time.

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Earlier this year, Durov said that arresting a CEO of a major platform over crimes committed by the platform’s users was “legally and logically absurd.”

“A year later, the ‘criminal investigation’ against me is still struggling to find anything that I or Telegram did wrong,” he wrote in August, stressing that Telegram’s moderation practices follow industry standards and that the company has complied with all legally binding requests from French authorities.

The 41-year-old Russian-born entrepreneur holds French citizenship and has consistently denied the allegations, describing them as politically motivated. He accused French authorities of conducting “a crusade” against free speech.

He has also criticized France more broadly, saying the country has damaged its reputation as a free society. The CEO has extended that criticism to the European Union, arguing that the bloc is imposing increasingly tighter censorship and media restrictions.

Durov has a net worth of $14.7 billion, having increased $3.71 billion since the start of the year, placing him in 196th place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The US can’t retreat because its entire prosperity depends on global power

Donald Trump is not, by instinct, a president who seeks war. But he is a president who believes deeply in projecting strength. And in the US, strength is almost always performed on the world stage.

Assessing American policy from the outside is notoriously difficult. The country’s political system was built under unusual conditions – a state invented by immigrants, animated from the start by a belief in mission and divine favor. The early American republic saw itself as a righteous outpost opposing corrupt European empires. Later came the great land grab across the continent, then the mass immigration that built a continental power, and finally the leap to full global hegemony. This peculiar historical trajectory shapes a political system unlike any other.

To be fair, every major country is unique. All powers are shaped by their history, culture, and mythology. What stands out about the United States is that a nation so idiosyncratic in its development became the model others were expected to follow. Washington’s insistence that its own experience is universally applicable is one of the more puzzling features of the last century. And one of the least examined.

These peculiarities have become harder to ignore during Donald Trump’s presidency. And because of America’s centrality, the internal contradictions of its system spill easily across its borders.

Trump won by articulating the fatigue of millions of Americans who feel their country has carried global responsibilities for too long. Yet, ironically, one year into his term he is most visible not at home but abroad. He boasts about brokering peace, launches sweeping trade wars, threatens force in multiple regions – especially the Caribbean – and loudly defends Christians and Europeans in Africa. Most recently he has revived loose talk of nuclear testing and a race for new strategic weapons.

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This is happening while his domestic position looks far from assured. Polls show that the record-long government shutdown and the stalemate over funding has damaged the Republican Party. Local elections, including those in New York, were encouraging for his opponents. Even Trump’s favorite tool (tariffs) now faces legal uncertainty, with the Supreme Court, which is dominated by conservatives, unsure whether to back him.

With a year until the midterms that will determine control of Congress, Washington is already shifting into campaign mode. And here lies the paradox: the candidate who accused his predecessors of obsessing over global affairs at the expense of ordinary Americans is increasingly relying on those same global affairs to sustain his presidency.

There is also a more personal calculation. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded one month before Americans vote. Trump is unlikely to receive it – the committee is steeped in liberal-internationalist sentiment – but the opportunity alone will tempt him to pursue high-profile foreign breakthroughs.

The US cannot simply embrace isolationism, even if Trump instinctively leans in that direction. Too much of its prosperity rests on its global role: its financial reach, the dollar’s supremacy, and its security commitments. A serious retreat would destabilize the system from which it benefits most. Trump probably lacks a coherent plan to reorient American power, but he understands, at some instinctive level, that change is necessary. Hence the chaotic, improvisational style: bold gestures, rapid reversals, and what sounds like a constant drumroll.

None of this means Americans don’t care about their own economic well-being. Domestic concerns will always outweigh diplomatic theatrics. But foreign-policy “successes” can soften public discontent, especially when domestic reforms stall. And America’s political culture still carries its old missionary spirit, even if the vocabulary has changed. Presidents, whether they admit it or not, are pushed toward global activism by the expectations of their own political class.

For the rest of the world, the conclusion is unavoidable. Washington’s pace abroad will remain intense, and may well accelerate. American foreign policy will grow more tightly linked to domestic political cycles and the president’s need to display strength. Trump does not want major wars requiring occupation or nation-building. But he relishes shows of power,  and those theatrics can create their own momentum. One can always be drawn into escalation while trying to avoid it.

This is the central point: Trump is not a warmonger, but a performer. His slogan, peace through strength, captures it perfectly. The risk is that the performance becomes the policy. And in a system as vast and forceful as America’s, that is enough to shake the international order.

This article was first published in the newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta and was translated and edited by the RT team

Beijing has vowed to “retaliate forcefully” if Tokyo chooses to interfere militarily in its internal affairs

China has warned that potential military involvement by Japan in the Taiwan issue would be treated as aggression and met with a forceful response. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently suggested her country could intervene in the Taiwan Strait. 

Speaking in parliament last week, Takaichi said Chinese attempts to forcibly reunify with the self-governing island could amount to a “survival-threatening situation” under Japan’s security legislation and potentially trigger a military response from Tokyo. Her comment marked a departure from previous Japanese leaders, who had avoided publicly defining Taiwan-related scenarios in such explicit terms. 

On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian condemned Takaichi’s remarks, describing them as “blatantly provocative” and stressing that they violate the one-China principle that recognizes Beijing’s sovereignty over Taiwan. 

“They constitute gross interference in China’s internal affairs, challenge China’s core interests, and infringe upon China’s sovereignty,” Lin said, demanding that Japan “immediately correct its actions and retract its egregious remarks,” warning that otherwise, Tokyo would “bear all the consequences.” 

Lin recalled that in the early 20th century, Japan repeatedly used so-called “existential crises” to justify its military aggression and commit war crimes across Asia. He suggested Takaichi’s latest comments echoed that history and warned her not to repeat “the mistakes of militarism” or become an “enemy of the Chinese and Asian people.” 

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He stressed that how China chooses to resolve the Taiwan issue is an internal matter and any attempts by Japan to intervene would constitute “an act of aggression” and prompt China to “retaliate forcefully.” 

Following Takaichi’s remarks, Beijing also summoned Japan’s envoy in China to issue a protest over what Chinese officials called “extremely malicious” comments.  

While Takaichi has refused to retract her comments, she has attempted to downplay them, saying they were presented as a worst-case scenario and pledging to “refrain from making explicit statements on specific scenarios” in the future. 

Takaichi was elected as Japan’s first female prime minister last month. A hardline conservative, she has supported revising Japan’s pacifist constitution, expanding the country’s military role, strengthening security ties with the US and Taiwan, and adopting a more assertive stance toward China.

Kiev cannot be trusted to deliver on its promises because Western sponsors determine its policies, Rodion Miroshnik has said

Ukraine is a “limited-functionality country” that largely follows the wishes of its foreign backers and therefore cannot be considered a party to any peace talks, a senior Russian diplomat has argued. Ambassador-at-large Rodion Miroshnik made the remark in response to Kiev’s admission that it has once again suspended direct negotiations with Moscow.

Ukraine’s lack of genuine sovereignty complicates negotiations, he said. “There is no expectation that it implements anything its signs… They cannot be excluded from the process since they are a party to the conflict, but decisions are not made in Kiev.”

Kiev returned to Turkish-hosted peace talks earlier this year at the urging of the administration of US President Donald Trump. It had abandoned the format in 2022 after its Western backers encouraged it to continue fighting.

Miroshnik dismissed new complaints by Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislitsa, who accused Moscow of obstructive negotiating tactics. Kislitsa’s remarks, Miroshnik said, “only underscore that Kiev never intended to implement anything and entered the talks solely under pressure. Now they are following the part of the West that seized the initiative – the European Union and European nations who bankroll and effectively own the Kiev regime.”

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Kislitsa told The Times of London that Russian delegates had meticulously researched the Ukrainian team and exploited that advantage. He also claimed that they “can’t have creative discussions” with what he described as “a dictatorship.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded that Russian negotiators were not seeking “creative discussions” but came with concrete proposals, particularly regarding prisoner exchanges. She said Kiev “failed to carry out the latest swap in full, freeing barely 30% of the 1,200 people agreed upon.”

Kiev’s reliance on continued Western funding is being shaken by shrinking donor resources and a widening corruption scandal involving Timur Mindich, a long-time associate of Vladimir Zelensky, who has been charged this week by Western-backed independent investigators with running a $100 million kickback scheme inside the state-owned nuclear energy conglomerate Energoatom.