Thursday☕️

30 Jan 2025 — 5 min read

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Last night, on January 29, 2025, an American Airlines regional jet collided mid-air with a military Sikorsky H-60 helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. The jet, a Bombardier CRJ700 operated by PSA Airlines, was arriving from Wichita, Kansas, with 60 passengers and four crew members when it struck the helicopter while approaching the runway.
Video of collision:

After the collision, the jet crashed into the Potomac River, triggering a large emergency response, including fireboats searching for survivors. All flights at the airport were suspended, leading to major travel disruptions. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, while the White House has been briefed on the situation. Authorities are still working to confirm casualties and understand what led to the collision.

Economics & Markets:

Geopolitics & Military Activity:

Yesterday, January 29, 2025, a group of 280 Romanian mercenaries surrendered to Rwandan forces after fleeing Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that was recently taken over by the M23 rebel group. These mercenaries had been hired by the Congolese government to help fight against M23. However, as the rebels advanced and took control of Goma, the mercenaries and retreating Congolese soldiers were pushed toward the Rwandan border. With no way out, they crossed into Rwanda and surrendered to Rwandan forces, who later handed them over to the United Nations.

The mercenaries were part of an effort by the DRC to strengthen its struggling military by bringing in foreign fighters skilled in modern military technology, including drones. However, they were unable to stop M23, which had strong equipment and tactical advantages. Rwandas air defenses also limited their ability to operate effectively. As the rebels took over Goma, the situation worsened, and the mercenaries had no choice but to flee and surrender. Their surrender highlights the worsening conflict in eastern Congo and the challenges the Congolese government faces in trying to stop M23’s advance.

Environment & Weather:

As of Yesterday, January 29, 2025, Malaysia is facing severe flooding due to the ongoing Northeast Monsoon, which brings heavy rain from November to March. The worst-hit areas are in the states of Sarawak and Sabah, where thousands of people have been forced to evacuate. In Sarawak, nearly 3,000 people from over 800 families have taken shelter in temporary relief centers, with the highest number in Serian. Other affected areas include Kuching, Miri, and Bintulu. In Sabah, over 1,000 people have been displaced, with districts like Kota Marudu, Beaufort, and Sandakan opening evacuation centers to help those in need.

The floods are mainly caused by the prolonged heavy rain, but human activities like urban development have made the situation worse by reducing the lands ability to absorb water. This has led to water overflowing into streets and homes, damaging property and infrastructure. The government and relief agencies are working to provide aid and manage the situation, but with more rain expected, challenges remain in controlling the flooding and assisting affected communities.

Space:

Yesterday, January 29, 2025, at 8:34 p.m. EST, SpaceX launched the SpainSat NG I satellite from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This satellite, built for the Spanish government and operated by Hisdesat, will provide secure military communications for Spain, its allies, and organizations. The launch placed it into an orbit where it will eventually stay in a fixed position above Earth, ensuring constant and reliable coverage. This mission is an important step for Spain’s space and defense industries, improving their ability to manage secure and encrypted communications worldwide.

To reach its final position, the satellite was first placed in a geostationary transfer orbit, which is a temporary elliptical orbit that takes it far from Earth before gradually moving into its final position. The satellite will then use its onboard propulsion to adjust into geostationary orbit, a circular orbit 35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles) above the equator. In this final orbit, the satellite will move at the same speed as Earth’s rotation, allowing it to stay fixed over one location and provide constant coverage to the same area on the ground.

Science & Technology:

On January 24th, 2025, the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL) and its partners released HERMES, a new open-source system for improving self-driving cars. HERMES helps vehicles both understand their surroundings and predict future changes in the environment. It does this by combining a Birds-Eye View (BEV) representation, which gives a clear top-down view of the scene, with world queries, which add extra context from a large AI model. This approach allows self-driving systems to make smarter decisions by not just reacting to the present but also anticipating what will happen next.
HERMES was released as open-source software on GitHub, meaning anyone can use, modify, and improve the code. This aligns with the growing trend of open-source AI research, where sharing technology leads to faster improvements and wider adoption. Developers and researchers can integrate HERMES into their own self-driving projects or build on its features to create more advanced systems. By making HERMES freely available, the Shanghai AI Lab hopes to speed up progress in autonomous driving technology, showing how open-source collaboration is shaping the future of smart transportation.

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