The Daily Populous

Friday January 24th, 2025 morning edition

image for Putin has no right to veto any country's NATO accession, NATO Secretary General says

NATO Chief Mark Rutte said on Jan. 23 that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no authority to influence NATO's future membership decisions.

“We must clearly understand that Vladimir Putin has no veto power and no say over who will join NATO in the future.

Unless, of course, he himself wants to join NATO, but I don't think he wants that,” Rutte said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

He emphasized that Ukraine's full NATO membership is the best guarantee for lasting peace.

Rutte also highlighted the need to avoid repeating the failures of the Minsk agreements and stressed the importance of ensuring Ukraine is in the strongest possible position before any future negotiations with Russia.

Earlier in the day, Rutte called on the United States to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine, pledging that Europe will shoulder the financial burden.

Nearly 3,000 representatives from over 130 countries, including 60 heads of state and government, 900 CEOs of the world’s leading companies, and forum partners, are expected to attend the forum in 2025. »

Solar overtakes coal in the EU, and gas declines for 5th year running

Authored by electrek.co

EU gas generation declined for the fifth year in a row, and total fossil generation fell to a historic low.

Solar generation (11%) overtook coal (10%) for the first time in 2024, as wind (17%) generated more electricity than gas (16%) for the second year in a row.

Strong solar growth, combined with a recovery of hydropower, pushed the share of renewables to nearly half of EU power generation (47%). »

An asteroid got deleted because it was actually Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster

Authored by astronomy.com

To be precise, it was Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster mounted to a Falcon Heavy upper stage, which boosted into orbit around the Sun on Feb. 6, 2018.

If left unchecked, astronomers say the growing number of untracked objects could hinder efforts to protect Earth from potentially hazardous asteroids.

For the Falcon Heavy’s first test flight, the upper stage launched Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster onto a Sun-orbiting trajectory that takes it past Mars. »