(July 19, 2024)
The current solar cycle, named Cycle 25 because it is the 25th since 1755 when extensive recording of solar sunspot activity began, started in 2019.
It is not expected to end for another six years but the first signs that the next solar cycle is beginning have been spotted by researchers from the University of Birmingham and presented at the Royal Astronomical Society‘s National Astronomy Meeting in Hull.
(July 23, 2024)
Solar max affects activity on the sun’s surface. Sunspots, flares and coronal mass ejections are all more rampant at solar maximum. This leads to a surge in electromagnetic energy hurtling toward Earth, making auroras visible more often and at lower altitudes.
The current solar cycle – Cycle 25 – started in 2019. It has the name Cycle 25 because it’s the 25th since 1755, when extensive recording of solar sunspot activity began.
It is not expected to end for another six years, but researchers have spotted the first signs that the next solar cycle is beginning. Researchers from the University of Birmingham presented their findings at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting in Hull on July 18, 2024.
(July 24, 2013)
The Sun is acting weird. It typically puts on a pageant of magnetic activity every 11 years for aurora watchers and sungazers alike, but this time it overslept. When it finally woke up (a year late), it gave the weakest performance in 100 years.
What’s even weirder is that scientists, who aren’t usually shy about tossing hypotheses about, are at a loss for a good explanation.
(December 2009)
Abstract. The heliosphere is the space within which the solar wind dominates and the solar interplanetary magnetic field prevails. Its boundary is determined by the balance between stellar and solar winds. Owing to the present reduction in the solar wind pressure, one would expect that the stellar wind would push the heliosphere inward leading to its shrinkage. In this paper we calculate the extent of the heliosphere at different solar wind status. Backward estimation of the extent of the heliosphere since 1890 is done. It is found that the heliosphere oscillated between 75 and 125 AU between 1890 – 2010. Most important is the forecast of the shrinkage and oscillations of the heliosphere and their implications on the earth. The shrinkage of the heliosphere would allow more invasions of cosmic rays to the earth and planets, increased cloud cover and a cooler Earth.
(…)
1.4 Prediction of the State of solar Activity During The Next Few Decades
Weak solar cycles occur at the bottom of Wolf-Gleissberg cycles. They tend to occur in series of 3-4 cycles. A single weak cycle also occurs in between the two maximums of Wolf-Gleissberg cycle. Since the last weak solar cycles occurred around 1900 while the previous ones occurred around 1800 then the newly started cycle 24 should be a weak solar cycle. However, owing to the 200-years de Verie cycle of the sun, it is more likely that the status of the coming solar activity would be something like those weak cycles around 1800 as shown in Fig 1. Svalgaard (2005) also predicted that cycle 24 would be the lowest so far in the past 100 years with the maximum sunspot number around 75.
Early voting has ended in New York City, and the initial numbers show the highest early voting turnout for a non-presidential election in the city.
The New York City Board of Elections reported 735,317 early voting check-ins over the past nine days. That‘s more than four times the total from the 2021 mayoral race, which reported only 169,879 early voting check-ins for the general election.
A whopping 732,866 voters cast ballots over the nine days of early voting in the New York City mayor’s race this year, according to an amNewYork analysis of early voter data from the city Board of Elections.
The general election’s early voting turnout this year marked the highest number of votes cast before Election Day in a non-presidential election year since the city implemented early voting in 2019.
(January 3, 2025)
In her first three full years in office, she axed an average of roughly one in seven bills that went to her desk, a higher rate than her recent predecessors. And she has continued to negotiate so-called chapter amendments to dozens of other bills, signing less legislation as the legislature passed it than any governor since at least George Pataki — a Republican who presided over a divided legislature for his entire tenure. (Hochul, by contrast, has only ever worked with a legislature led by her fellow Democrats.)
This year, she vetoed 124 standalone bills as well as 15 line items in the state budget.
Governor’s Powers
The governor of New York holds broad authority under the state constitution and Executive Law, serving as the chief executive responsible for enforcing state laws. Article IV, Section 3 grants the governor the power to propose legislation, approve or veto bills, and convene special legislative sessions. The veto power includes a line-item veto for budget appropriations, allowing the governor to eliminate specific expenditures without rejecting an entire bill. Overriding a veto requires a two-thirds majority in both legislative chambers, making gubernatorial decisions difficult to overturn without strong legislative opposition.
The governor also controls the state’s budgetary process under Article VII, submitting an annual executive budget that outlines expenditures and revenue sources. The Court of Appeals, in Silver v. Pataki (2004), upheld the governor’s dominant role in budget negotiations, reinforcing executive influence over financial policy. This control extends to discretionary funds allocated for economic development, infrastructure, and other initiatives without legislative approval.
(October 28, 2025)
According to The Associated Press, Israel notified the Trump administration before conducting Tuesday’s strikes — presenting the question of whether the U.S. would hold Netanyahu accountable for the latest round of ceasefire violations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he had ordered the military to „carry out powerful attacks“ in Gaza after accusing the militant group Hamas of violating a ceasefire agreement in the Palestinian territory.
A statement by Netanyahu‘s office did not specify the reason for the planned attacks. However an Israeli military official said Hamas violated the ceasefire by carrying out an attack against Israeli forces in an area under Israeli control.
But some experts say Israel fears Barghouti for another reason: An advocate of a two-state solution even as he backed armed resistance to occupation, Barghouti could be a powerful rallying figure for Palestinians. Some Palestinians view him as their own Nelson Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid activist who became his country’s first Black president.
However, Israeli officials made changes to the list of Palestinian prisoners set to be released, with 1,718 Palestinian prisoners to be freed now, instead of the previously agreed-upon 1,722.
Al Jazeera quoted Hamas as saying that Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat are off the list of prisoners to be released.
Israeli media have also reported that „the government has approved the creation of a reserve list of five prisoners from Gaza, who will be released if changes are made.“
Watch the full conversation above or on YouTube to also hear David discuss his treatment as a Jewish activist receiving “special interrogation by Ben-Gvir” and the US’s lack of response to his illegal detention.
People were taken individually out of their cells and regularly beaten, handcuffed, ankle-cuffed, and left in solitary confinement. This happened many times over many days. We were denied the most basic things, like critical access to insulin for diabetic detainees that were part of the flotilla. In short, we were treated as terrorists, just as national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had promised.
From the first moment that we stepped onto that tarmac after interception, we were violently forced onto our knees into positions of submission. The two Jews of the flotilla were taken by the rear and ripped from the group for a photo op with Ben-Gvir — staring at the flag of the State of Israel and taunted by his goons. Thus began a five-day nightmare of serial and systematic violation of our most basic rights. Reports varied from the different cellblocks. But one report that is consistent is that we were all denied food and water. At all times, we were denied access to medicine based on the whims of individual officers working shifts.
(…)
Of course, all of this pales in comparison to the treatment that Palestinians endure every single day. Eleven thousand of them are in indefinite detention at the moment, including in the same internment camp where we were held as terrorists by Israel.
Senior Egyptian officials told their US counterparts that they want the International Stabilization Force outlined in Trump’s 20-point peace plan to be modeled on the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) that deployed to Sinai after the peninsula was returned to Egypt from Israel in 1982.
The US has led the MFO since its inception, supplying hundreds of troops as a buffer and reassurance force.
Eight Arab and Muslim nations released a statement on Monday backing US President Donald Trump‘s plan to end Israel‘s genocide in Gaza and establish an international peace keeping force there.
The countries are: Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan.
(search results)
Days before, a source for one of Salama’s major investigations for MEE told him that they had been briefly detained at an aid distribution centre by US security contractors guarding the site.
There, the source said, they had been interrogated about the identity of the reporter behind the story. Salama worked on the story anonymously for security reasons.
“The source would not have been in contact with me unless they thought something was deeply wrong,” Salama told colleagues at the time.
When asked if he felt safe knowing he was being pursued for his work, Salama replied: “We journalists are never safe in Gaza.”
Middle East Eye asked Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions, the two US security firms working at the aid distribution sites, whether they were involved in the source’s interrogation.
MEE also asked if their employees were passing intelligence to Israel on the identity of Palestinian journalists such as Salama.
They had not replied by the time of publication.
(August 29, 2025)
Recent attacks have been particularly devastating in the Az Zaytoun neighbourhood, where airstrikes, artillery shelling and gunfire are continuous and intense, causing a high number of civilian casualties and the large-scale destruction of residential buildings and public facilities, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a statement.
Since 8 August, the office has recorded 54 attacks on residential buildings and entire blocks in Gaza City, killing 87 Palestinians, including at least 25 children and entire families.
It also recorded attacks on shelters for internally displaced people, including tents and schools, killing at least 14.
These casualty figures “indicate that the systematic destruction of Gaza City is already underway,” the statement said.
However, OHCHR stressed that these devastating figures are only a portion of the actual toll due to underreporting in such dire circumstances.
The petition was put forth in January, when Odeh said he was “happy for the release of hostages and prisoners” as part of the Gaza truce that was signed that month. The petition clinched the required number of signatures after Odeh said at an anti-war protest in Haifa in May that “Gaza has won and Gaza will win.”
Both United Torah Judaism and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White—National Unity party boycott the vote, while Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and most of his Yesh Atid party’s MKs are absent as well.
The measure is supported by the coalition and by opposition party Yisrael Beytenu. The Democrats vote against it.
(16 hours ago)
“We strongly condemn the effort to expel MK Ayman Odeh from the Israeli Knesset,” the US senators said. “If Israel is going to call itself a democracy, it must tolerate peaceful dissent.” The senators linked the expulsion effort to Odeh’s calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, and a political solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
“For over a decade, MK Odeh has been a leading advocate for peace, justice, and Jewish-Arab partnership,” they said. “The current expulsion effort is a direct response to MK Odeh’s outspoken and brave calls.” The lawmakers described the move as sending “a chilling message to millions of Palestinian citizens of Israel: that their representation is conditional and their rights revocable.” “We stand in solidarity with MK Odeh and with the right of all lawmakers, Arab and Jewish, to speak freely and without fear of political retribution,” they said.
On Monday, the Knesset House Committee voted to impeach Palestinian parliamentarian Ayman Odeh, head of the predominantly Arab Hadash-Ta’al list. His crime? In January, as the two-month Gaza ceasefire came into effect, Odeh tweeted: “I am happy about the release of the [Israeli] hostages and [Palestinian] prisoners. From here, both peoples must be freed from the yoke of the occupation. We were all born free.”
As I watched the committee’s hearing, I felt like my eyes were bleeding. It was physically unbearable. Knesset members from across the political spectrum — who aren’t worthy of the dust on Odeh’s shoes when it comes to humanism, morality, and democratic integrity — competed to see who could spew the vilest rhetoric against him.
No one paid attention to the Knesset’s legal adviser — who, after the obligatory lip service condemning Odeh’s “disgusting statements,” concluded that there was no legal basis for his impeachment. And it goes without saying that no one listened to Odeh’s attorney, Dr. Hassan Jabareen, who explained why the proposal was procedurally flawed, legally unsound, and morally bankrupt.
From the first sentence to the last, the hearing was a farce.
The impeachment was not just a response to specific statements but directed against “Odeh as a person and everything he represents,” Boaron said in his closing argument. At the end of the hearing, committee chairman Ofir Katz (Likud) said Odeh was a “bitter enemy” of Israel, and in a “normal country,” he would “rot in jail.”
Only Ra’am MK Waleed Taha and Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi voted against his impeachment.
The motion will now move to the Knesset’s plenary session for a majority vote of 90 members out of 120 to complete Odeh’s impeachment.
Even if his impeachment is approved, the Arab MK will still be able to file a petition against the decision with the Supreme Court.
Palestinians of 1948 (Arabs inside Israel) constitute 21% of Israel’s nearly 10 million population.
While a similar effort to oust Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif failed in the Knesset plenum in February 2024 due to insufficient support from the opposition, opposition representatives on the committee were very much in favor of the motion this time around, with both Yesh Atid MK Simon Davidson and National Unity lawmaker Pnina Tamano-Shata voting in favor of impeachment.
The Knesset Home Committee held an impeachment hearing against Hadash-Ta’al chair MK Ayman Odeh on Tuesday morning, June 24, after far-right Likud MK Avihai Boaron in recent weeks collected 70 signatures from MKs in favor of launching the procedure who received the support of opposition MKs from three Zionist parties – Yisrael Beytenu, National Unity, and Yesh Atid.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, has warned that Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, calling it a threat to international security.
„Frankreich hat das laufende iranische Programm mehrfach verurteilt und alle diplomatischen Maßnahmen in diesem Sinne ergriffen“, sagte Macron. „In diesem Zusammenhang bekräftigt Frankreich das Recht Israels, sich selbst zu schützen und seine Sicherheit zu gewährleisten.“
Writing in a post on social media platform X, Macron says France has “repeatedly condemned Iran’s ongoing nuclear program and has taken all appropriate diplomatic measures in response.”
“France reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself and ensure its security,” he writes.
In recent weeks, the Israeli army has been launching airstrikes on residential neighborhoods in Gaza that they treat as evacuated, despite knowing that many of the houses bombed were filled with civilians who could not or did not want to leave, according to two intelligence sources who spoke to +972 Magazine and Local Call.
The army’s designation of a particular neighborhood as “green,” or cleared of residents, is based on a crude algorithmic analysis of phone usage patterns over a wide area — not on a detailed, house-by-house assessment before bombing, as previously revealed by +972 Magazine, Local Call and The New York Times.
Despite a crisis that makes an early election seem more likely, Likud members remain confident that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu see things unfold differently. The speculation includes scenarios ranging from a partial hostage deal to a significant security event.
At least five Palestinians killed, 50 wounded by an Israeli attack that targeted people gathering around a truck carrying flour in southern Gaza.
Witnesses to Israel’s bombing of a family home in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp that left some 50 people dead or missing told Al Jazeera that “the Israeli military is killing civilians for fun”.
The Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate up to 1 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya, five people with knowledge of the effort told NBC News.
The plan is under serious enough consideration that the administration has discussed it with Libya’s leadership, two people with direct knowledge of the plans and a former U.S. official said.
In exchange for the resettling of Palestinians, the administration would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars of funds that the U.S. froze more than a decade ago, those three people said.