Latest News
Northern lights dazzle skygazers as ‘extreme’ solar storm hits Earth
The most powerful solar storm in more than 20 years has struck Earth’s atmosphere, triggering warnings over the potential disruption to power grids and satellite communications while also producing spectacular celestial light shows in some parts of the world.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which issued a rare solar storm warning, said the solar outburst reached Earth at about 16:00 GMT on Friday, hours sooner than anticipated.
The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs), described as the expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun, was later upgraded by the NOAA to an “extreme” geomagnetic storm.
It was the first solar storm occurrence since the Halloween storms of October 2003, which caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa.
More solar expulsions are expected in the coming days, and possibly into next week, according to the NOAA.
The United States agency alerted operators of power plants and spacecraft in orbit to take precautions.
Fluctuating magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic storms induce currents in long wires, including power lines, which can potentially cause blackouts. Long pipelines can also become electrified, leading to engineering problems.
Spacecraft are at risk from high doses of radiation, although the atmosphere prevents this from reaching Earth.
Following one particularly strong peak, the NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said users of high-frequency radio signals “may experience temporary degradation or complete loss of signal on much of the sunlit side of Earth”.
Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in about eight minutes, CMEs travel at a steadier pace, with officials putting the current average at 800km (500 miles) per second.
They said that the CMEs emanated from a massive sunspot cluster that is 17 times wider than Earth.
Even pigeons and other species that have internal biological compasses could be affected. Pigeon handlers have noted a reduction in birds coming home during geomagnetic storms, according to US space agency NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The most powerful geomagnetic storm in recorded history, known as the Carrington Event after British astronomer Richard Carrington, occurred in September 1859.
Social media lit up with people posting pictures of auroras from northern Europe and Australasia.
“We’ve just woken the kids to go watch the northern lights in the back garden! Clearly visible with the naked eye,” Iain Mansfield in Hertford, England, told the AFP news agency.
That sense of wonder was shared in Australia’s island state of Tasmania.
“Absolutely biblical skies in Tasmania at 4am this morning,” photographer Sean O’Riordan posted on X alongside a photo.
The storm could also produce northern lights as far south in the United States as Alabama and across northern California, according to the NOAA
But it was hard to predict and experts stressed it would not be the dramatic curtains of colour normally associated with the Northern Lights, but more like splashes of greenish hues.
“That’s really the gift from space weather – the aurora,” Rob Steenburgh, a scientist with the Space Weather Prediction Center, told The Associated Press news agency.
(Aljazeera)
A suicide car bomb attack on a train carrying soldiers in Quetta, the capital of the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan, has killed at least 24 people and wounded more than 50 others.
The Balochistan Liberation Army, a separatist group, has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack.
Reporting from the scene, Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder said several houses and buildings adjacent to the railway line were severely damaged. The blast caused some train carriages to overturn and catch fire.
According to local media reports, a state of emergency was declared at public hospitals in Quetta, with doctors and other medical staff ordered to remain on duty.
Footage shared online showed charred vehicles and train carriages lying on their sides, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky.
Hyder said Pakistan has experienced several attacks by separatist groups in recent months. The attacks have increased in ferocity and have also targeted Chinese workers due to opposition to Beijing’s infrastructure projects in Balochistan, he added. Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, China’s Xinjiang region has been connected to Pakistan’s Gwadar port.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has condemned the attack in a post on X.
“Such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the resolve of the people of Pakistan. We remain steadfast in our determination to eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said.
[Aljazeera]
Latest News
Landslide Early Warnings issued to the Districts of Colombo,Gampaha, Kalutara, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura
The National Building Research Organisation [NBRO] has issued landslide early warnings to the Districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura effective from 1700 hrs today [24th May 2026] to 1700 hrs on Monday [25th May 2026].
Accordingly,
LEVEL II [AMBER] landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Dehiowita, Deraniyagala, Ruwanwella and Yatiyanthota in the Kegalle district and Kuruwita, Ratnapura, Ayagama and Eheliyagoda in the Ratnapura district.
LEVEL I [YELLOW] landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Seethawaka and Padukka in the Colombo district, Attanagalla in the Gampaha district, Palindanuwara, Mathugama, Bulathsinhala, Agalawatta, Ingiriya and Horana in the Kalutara district, Bulathkohupitiya in the Kegalle district, Ambagamuwa in the Nuwara Eliya district and Kiriella, Pelmadulla, Nivithigala, Elapatha and Kalawana in the Ratnapura district.
A person has been shot and killed after they opened fire outside the White House, the US Secret Service has confirmed.
Here is their statement in full:
Shortly after 6 p.m Saturday an individual in the area on 17th street and Pennsylvania Avenue pulled a weapon from his bag and began firing.
Secret Service police returned fire striking the suspect who was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced deceased. During the shooting one bystander was also struck by gunfire.
No injuries were sustained by officers. The President was in the White House during the incident, however no protectees or operations were impacted.
This incident remains under investigation and additional information will be released as it becomes available.
Suspect identified, had previous ‘run-in’ with Secret Service – CBSpublished at 07:45
The deceased suspect in the shooting outside the White House has been identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best, a person familiar with the investigation has told BBC’s US media partner CBS.
The source said that the suspect had already been arrested by the US Secret Service in July 2025 after he tried to gain entry to the White House, and he was sent to a psychiatric ward for mental health issues in the aftermath.
(BBC)
Suicide car bomb attack on train in Pakistan kills at least 24
Landslide Early Warnings issued to the Districts of Colombo,Gampaha, Kalutara, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura
PM concludes official visit to UK
Suspect killed after shooting at Secret Service agents, officials confirm
Trump says Iran deal ‘largely negotiated’ including reopening Strait of Hormuz
Showers expected in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
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