Iran Protests, Artemis II, and the Year of Analog

 Need To Know 

Iranian Death Toll

At least 5,000 people have been killed in protests across Iran, including roughly 500 security personnel, an Iranian official said yesterday (human rights groups say they have verified over 3,900 people dead with potentially thousands more believed to be killed). The unrest is believed to be the deadliest since the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The announcement comes as President Donald Trump appears to have backed down from threats to strike Tehran, though he reiterated calls for regime change Saturday. Trump cited Iran’s alleged decision to refrain from 800 planned executions in his decision to back down. However, the US last week dispatched an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, toward the region; it could take days before the strike group arrives in the Middle East. US officials say another decision could come within weeks. 

Iran is 12 days into a nationwide internet blackout, although some users have reported access to WhatsApp and texting. Iran’s crackdown has meanwhile reportedly quelled the protests. See video footage here.

NASA's Lunar Launcher

The massive rocket system that will ferry NASA astronauts on the Artemis II mission was moved to its launch pad Saturday (w/video), the latest step in the agency’s effort to return humans to the moon. Officials said the mission could launch as soon as Feb. 6. 

Established during the first Trump administration, the Artemis program is meant to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972 (and set the groundwork for an eventual lunar base). Blasting off on NASA’s Space Launch System, Artemis I made an uncrewed trip around the moon in 2022; the upcoming flight will follow a similar trajectory (see infographic), but with astronauts aboard. Artemis III, tentatively scheduled for summer 2027, will land humans on the moon's surface. 

Aside from space exploration, the program has taken on a geopolitical element, with China and Russia collaborating on a nuclear-powered lunar base near the moon’s south pole.

EU-Mercosur Deal

The European Union and four South American countries—the so-called Mercosur bloc—signed their long-delayed free trade agreement Saturday. The agreement came despite protests from some European farmers. 

The Mercosur deal was 25 years in the making and covers roughly one-quarter of global gross domestic product—$128.8B in trade as of 2024. More than 90% of tariffs will be dropped between the EU’s 27 member countries and Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Some cuts will be phased in over the next 10 to 15 years. European exports including cars, wine, and cheese are expected to benefit from reduced tariffs, in exchange for the EU lowering tariffs on South American imports including beef and soybeans. See previous write-up here.

Today, the European Parliament will take steps to ratify the deal despite opposition from Austria, France, Hungary, Ireland, and Poland. South American legislatures must also ratify the agreement before it can go into effect.

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> NFL conference championship games set for Sunday, Jan. 25 with Denver Broncos hosting the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks hosting the Los Angeles Rams (More) | No. 1 Indiana faces No. 10 Miami in college football championship game tonight at 7:30 pm ET on ESPN (More)

> Venus Williams becomes the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open singles main draw at age 45 (More) 

> "Sentimental Value" sweeps top awards at the European Film Awards, including best film, best director (More) 

Science & Technology

> Researchers create high-resolution map of Antarctica's features buried underneath its ice; results reveal hidden valleys, mountains, and more (More)

> Astronomers discover bar-shaped cloud of iron atoms inside the famous Ring Nebula; origin of metal cloud unknown, nebula was first observed in 1779 (More) 

> Physicists develop new method to cool ions trapped for quantum computing applications to 10 times below the limit of current laser-based approaches (More) | The best resources we've found to explain quantum computing (1440 Topics)

Business & Markets

> US stock markets fall slightly Friday (S&P 500 -0.1%, Dow -0.2%, Nasdaq -0.1%) amid speculation on who will replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell (More) | Chipmaker TSMC posts record fourth quarter earnings, with revenue up 25% year-over-year (More)

> President Donald Trump threatens eight European countries with 10% tariffs starting in February for opposing US control of Greenland (More) | What we learned researching tariffs (1440 Topics)

> Elon Musk reportedly seeking as much as $134B from OpenAI and Microsoft in damages, alleging they committed fraud by departing from their nonprofit mission; Musk helped launch OpenAI in 2015 with $38M in seed funding (More) 

Politics & World Affairs

> Army puts 1,500 soldiers on standby for possible deployment to Minnesota (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> Wildfires in Chile kill at least 18 people as of this writing, force at least 20,000 to evacuate (More) | Portugal elections head to rare runoff (More)

> Syrian government signs ceasefire deal with Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group backed by the US, after seizing control of Kurdish territory (More) 

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