The moon and sun share top billing in 2026. Kicking off the year’s cosmic wonders is the moon, drawing the first astronauts to visit in more than 50 years as well as a caravan of robotic lunar landers including Jeff Bezos’ new supersized Blue Moon. A supermoon looms on Jan. 3 and an astronomical blue moon is on the books for May.

In the US last year there were 23 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, adding up to a total of $115 billion in damages. The database that tracks these costs used to be maintained by the federal government. It is now published by the climate research nonprofit Climate Central.

Environmental experts are warning that the U.S. push to revamp and boost Venezuela’s vast oil reserves could worsen decades of ecological damage and increase planet-warming pollution in a country already struggling with the legacy of a long-declining petroleum industry. The warnings come as Washington has intensified pressure on Venezuela following the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro last weekend. Since then, the United States has moved to assert control over Venezuelan oil exports,