Senior Russian general, his aide killed in Moscow blast

Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor #Kirillov and his aide were killed in a blast in southeastern Moscow on Tuesday morning.

The #blast was caused by an explosive device that had been planted in an electric scooter, Spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko said. "On the morning of December 17, an explosive device planted in a scooter went off near a residential building entrance on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow, the investigation showed. Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his aide were killed in the explosion," she said.

According to Petrenko, the Committee’s Moscow department has launched a criminal probe into the attack. Circumstances behind the crime are currently being investigated.

#Radiation Spikes in #NY & #NJ Metro Detected Amid 'Mysterious' #Drone Sightings

"Authorities are urged to investigate the source of these elevated readings and assess potential risks to the population in these areas."

Solar storm reaches Earth earlier than planned, report scientists

A solar storm reached the Earth earlier than was planned and is now gaining intensity, the space weather monitoring center of the Institute of Applied Geophysics has reported

According to the center’s monitoring data, the geomagnetic storm was estimated to be at the G2 (Moderate) level on a five-point scale when it reached the Earth on Thursday, but intensified to the G3 category (Strong) in the early hours of Friday.

Powerful solar flares were registered on April 30 and May 1.

Solar flares are divided into five classes according to their X-ray strength: the smallest ones are A-class, followed by B, C, M and X. A0.0 class is equal to the radiation energy found in the Earth’s orbit, 10 nanowatts per square meter. Each letter stands for a 10-fold increase in energy output. As a rule, the flares, known as giant explosions on the sun, send solar plasma into space, and the clouds of these charged particles can bring about geomagnetic storms when reaching the Earth.