Astronauts' Exit Plan, CEO Arrest, and Pet Insurance

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Extended Space-cation 

Two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station will return aboard a SpaceX vehicle in February, NASA officials announced yesterday. The pair—Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore—arrived aboard a Boeing Starliner in June for an eight-day mission but experienced a helium leak and malfunctioning thrusters endangering their return trip. The Starliner capsule will attempt an uncrewed return in September via autopilot. 

The ISS is roughly the size of a five-bedroom house and can accommodate six crew plus visitors (nine are currently aboard the facility). See an overview here. 

Both SpaceX and Boeing were awarded funding under a 2014 NASA award aimed at developing private transportation to the ISS. SpaceX has flown nine crewed NASA flights to the ISS since 2020, while Boeing has yet to complete a successful mission despite reportedly going $1.5B over budget.

Want to learn more? Watch our overviews on both SpaceX and NASA. 

Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Israel and Lebanese-based Hezbollah exchanged fire early yesterday in an escalated set of strikes following Israel's assassination of Hezbollah's senior commander, Fuad Shukr, last month.

Hezbollah says it launched 320 rockets, hitting 11 Israeli military targets in what it called the first phase of its retaliation for the death of Shukr. Shortly before the rockets began firing, Israel said 100 of its fighter jets carried out preemptive strikes to prevent a larger-scale attack, saying it destroyed thousands of rocket barrels at over 40 sites. Lebanon reported three fatalities; none were reported in Israel. 

The strikes come as the Biden administration continues to pursue a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas amid tensions with Iran, which funds both Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran has promised to retaliate against Israel over the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh but suggested it could hold off in the event of a cease-fire deal.

See updates here.

Telegram, Intercepted

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested Saturday at France’s Bourget airport in Paris. The 39-year-old Russian-born billionaire was reportedly detained over the company’s lack of content moderation. 

Telegram is among the world’s most popular social media apps, after Meta apps Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as YouTube, TikTok, and WeChat. The app’s nearly 1 billion users can send encrypted messages in groups of up to 200,000 people. The app is popular among journalists, activists, and dissidents, but has also been used by extremist groups and people involved in drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images.

Telegram markets itself as a haven for free speech and boasts fewer than 100 employees—significantly below the thousands of people employed at Meta, YouTube, and TikTok. The arrest comes as the European Union has begun implementing its Digital Services Act, imposing stricter rules on content moderation.

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