Memorial: Russia's Nobel Prize winning rights group facing 'extremism' ban

The emperor penguin has been declared an endangered species as climate change pushes the icon of Antarctica a step closer to extinction, the global authority on threatened wildlife announced on Thursday.

Its change of status from "near threatened" to "endangered", made by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), underscores the existential threat for ice-dependent species as global warming profoundly reshapes the frozen continent.

Emperor penguins rely on stable sea ice -- essentially platforms of frozen ocean water -- to live, hunt and breed.

Their numbers have plummeted as warming driven by greenhouse gas emissions has caused sea ice to break up earlier in the year. 

The IUCN -- a global network of scientists, governments and conservation groups -- said changes in sea ice were expected to halve the emperor penguin population by the 2080s.

They "concluded that human-induced climate change poses the most significant threat to emperor penguins", Philip Trathan, part of the IUCN expert group who worked on the Red List assessment, said in a statement.

The Red List of Threatened Species is maintained by the IUCN and is the global reference on the extinction status of plants, animals and fungi.

There are six classifications from "least concern" to "extinct". 

Emperor penguins now rank two steps below "extinction in the wild" -- a species surviving in captivity only, and not in nature.

The Antarctic fur seal -- once hunted to near extinction for their pelts -- was also moved to "endangered", their numbers having dropped more than 50 percent since 1999.

"The ongoing decline is due to climate change, as rising ocean temperatures and shrinking sea ice are pushing krill to greater ocean depths in search of colder water, reducing the availability of food for seals," the IUCN said.

- 'Icons on ice' - 

The largest and heaviest of the penguin species, boasting a brilliant golden-orange streak on the neck, emperor penguins have become symbolic of the fight to survive in Antarctica's harsh climes.

They breed on the sea ice in the dead of winter, the males keeping their eggs warm beneath their feet. 

The frozen surface also provides a habitat for their chicks during moulting season before they are waterproof.

Antarctic sea ice undergoes huge seasonal changes, expanding during winter and shrinking in summer.

But as global temperatures have reached new highs, sea ice has retreated earlier in the spring and become less stable. 

Sea ice has been at record low levels since 2016 and the impact on emperor penguins has been well documented.

Satellite imagery indicates around 20,000 adults -- some 10 percent of the population -- disappeared between 2009 and 2018 alone, the IUCN said.

"This species is closely associated with sea ice and ice packs," Christophe Barbraud, a scientist at French research institute CNRS, told AFP.

"However, since 2016-2017, there has been a significant decrease in the extent of sea ice around Antarctica, and therefore without sea ice, it will have great difficulty surviving." 

"The fate of these magnificent birds is in our hands," Rod Downie from conservation group WWF said in a statement.

"With the shocking decline in Antarctic sea ice that we are currently witnessing, these icons on ice may well be heading down the slippery slope towards extinction by the end of this century -- unless we act now."  

The IUCN also moved the southern elephant seal from "least concern" to "vulnerable" following sharp population declines caused by a deadly contagious pathogen.

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The latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Spain embassy - 

Spain will reopen its embassy in Iran, which was closed in March due to the war, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said.

- China on Lebanon - 

A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said "Lebanon's sovereignty and security should not be violated. The safety of civilian lives and property must be guaranteed" and that Beijing was urging "a cooling down of the regional situation."

- UK on Lebanon - 

British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper said "we do strongly want to see the ceasefire extended to Lebanon."

"I'm deeply troubled about the escalating attacks that we saw from Israel in Lebanon yesterday," she told Sky News.

- France on Lebanon -

France's foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, condemned Israel's continuing strikes on Lebanon, calling them "all the more unacceptable as they undermine the temporary ceasefire reached yesterday between the United States and Iran."

- Lebanon day of mourning -

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam declared Thursday a national day of mourning after Israeli strikes pummelled the country, killing at least 182 people and wounding 890, according to the health ministry.

The strikes were Israel's heaviest on neighbouring Lebanon -- including in densely packed central Beirut -- since the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah joined the war in early March.

- Hezbollah fires at Israel -

Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said it had fired rockets towards Israel in response to its "violation" of the US-Iran truce.

It came a day after the Lebanese group said it has a "right" to respond to a deadly wave of Israeli strikes across Lebanon.

- Alternative Hormuz routes -

Iran announced alternative routes for ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, citing the risk of sea mines in the main zone of the vital waterway.

The statement shared instructions for an alternative entry and exit route through the strait.

- 'Outraged' -

The Red Cross said it was "outraged by the devastating death and destruction" caused by Israeli strikes in densely populated areas across Lebanon on Wednesday.

"People across Lebanon were holding their breath for a ceasefire agreement, but a wave of deadly strikes plunged the country into panic and chaos," said Agnes Dhur, the ICRC's head of delegation in Lebanon.

- Macron on Lebanon -

French President Emmanuel Macron urged US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to include Lebanon in the ceasefire the two sides had reached.

"I expressed my hope that the ceasefire will be fully respected by each of the belligerents, across all areas of confrontation, including in Lebanon," Macron wrote on X after speaking with both leaders.

- 'Relieved' -

Some in the Iranian capital feared the ceasefire will come to naught, but others declared victory and most breathed a sigh of relief after weeks of bombardment.

"Everyone is at ease now, we are more relaxed," Sakineh Mohammadi, a 50-year-old housewife, told AFP, saying she was "proud" of her country.

- Iran demands Lebanon truce - 

Pezeshkian said a halt to Israeli attacks in Lebanon was one of the key conditions of the Islamic Republic's 10-point plan for securing an end to the Middle East war, state media reported Wednesday. 

- Vance to Islamabad -

US Vice President JD Vance will lead talks with Iran beginning Saturday in Islamabad, and will be joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the White House said.

Speaking to reporters in Hungary, Vance urged Iran not to let the truce fall apart over Lebanon, insisting that a halt to Israel's fighting there had never been a part of the agreement reached the night before.

- UN outrage - 

The UN rights chief and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) voiced outrage over Israel's attacks on Lebanon.

"The scale of the killing and destruction in Lebanon today is nothing short of horrific," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said. "Such carnage, within hours of agreeing to a ceasefire with Iran, defies belief."

The ICRC said it was "outraged by the devastating death and destruction."

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Nepal's ex-prime minister KP Sharma Oli offered a defiant message on Thursday after he was released from custody following questioning over his alleged role in a deadly 2025 crackdown on protesters.

Oli and former interior minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested on March 28, a day after Prime Minister Balendra Shah took office following the first elections since the September uprising brought down Oli's government.

Lekhak was also released from custody on Thursday, police said. Neither man has been formally charged, and both deny responsibility for the violence.

"Although the government filed a criminal case with prejudice and vindictiveness and illegally detained me... I have finally been released after not having enough grounds and evidence to prosecute," 74-year-old Oli said in a statement posted on social media.

The arrests came after an inquiry commission recommended prosecuting Oli -- a four-time prime minister -- and other officials for failing to stop security forces from opening fire on demonstrators.

The commission's report said statements given by the two men suggesting they did not know about the violence were part of a bid to shift responsibility and amounted to "criminal negligence".

Oli was taken to hospital soon after his arrest for what police described as a procedural check-up, adding that he suffers from heart and kidney problems.

"Due to my health condition, I will remain in the hospital for a few more days for treatment," Oli added.

"At this moment, I extend my heartfelt thanks to all party leaders, cadres, and well-wishers for their goodwill and support."

- 'Vengeful' -

After their arrests, their wives filed habeas corpus petitions at the Supreme Court, challenging the legality of their detentions.

"Both former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and the former home minister have been released today on the condition that they will present themselves to the police when required," Kathmandu Police spokesperson Pawan Kumar Bhattarai told AFP.

Oli's CPN-UML party has described the arrests as "a vengeful act" and called for protests.

The youth-led uprising in September began in Kathmandu and was triggered by a brief social media ban.

It spread countrywide the following day, fuelled by longstanding frustration over corruption and economic hardship.

Protesters set fire to the parliament building and offices and eventually toppled the government.

In a separate case, Nepal has issued an arrest warrant for former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for alleged corruption, officials said Thursday.

Deuba, 79, is abroad for medical treatment and said that "an investigation on money laundering has been initiated against me and my family". He rejected the accusation of corruption.

"False propaganda is being spread concerning my family's property," he said in a statement on social media.

Authorities also issued a warrant for Deuba's wife, former foreign minister Arzu Rana Deuba, court officials in Kathmandu told AFP, following a request from the Department of Money Laundering Investigation.

Deuba said he and his wife were "currently abroad for long term medical treatment", without giving further details.

Former energy minister Deepak Khadka was also arrested last month as part of a money laundering investigation.

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Buffeted by six weeks of war in the Middle East, airlines have scrambled to trim routes and costs as fuel bills explode and wary clients think twice about their travel plans, a situation that could persist even if a fragile truce holds.

Carriers have largely halted flights in the Gulf region, with Air France announcing this week that it was extending its suspensions until May 3 -- a decision a source said was made before this week's ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

With no certainty that jet fuel prices will return to pre-war lows, chief executives are having to rethink expansion plans and plane orders.

"The airline sector is being hit with two simultaneous shocks: the steep rise in fuel prices, which is the biggest or second-biggest expense for a carrier, and a demand shock, with passengers deciding to wait and see," said Paul Chiambaretto, a professor and aviation expert at the Montpellier Business School in France.

Jet fuel, which cost around $830 a ton before the war erupted, surpassed $1,800 a ton in early April, and was still at $1,786 on Wednesday.

"It's absolutely colossal," Pascal de Izaguirre, president of the French aviation federation (FNAM), told business daily La Tribune published Tuesday.

He said fuel usually represents 25 percent to 30 percent of an airline's operating costs, but at current prices it now accounts for 45 percent.

- Sticky surcharges? -

To maintain profitability, ticket prices have been hiked and some routes where planes are not routinely full have been suspended or scrapped indefinitely.

Vietnam Airlines went so far as to cancel around 20 domestic flights per week starting in April, because of a lack of jet fuel.

Many airlines have already imposed fuel surcharges that could prove sticky, especially if they do not lead to marked declines in ticket sales in the coming months.

De Izaguirre said that while fuel surcharges so far are "far too low" to offset the higher costs, "airlines are afraid of a negative impact if the increases become too excessive".

But Hong Kong aviation giant Cathay Pacific has raised its surcharges several times since February, even as it announced extra flights to Europe for what it called an "upsurge in market demand".

Industry executives are wondering if the Middle East turmoil will prompt people to change their travel plans over the longer term, possibly balancing out the impact of regional route suspensions.

Some carriers say they do not plan on resuming flights to the Middle East until October. 

And if oil prices stay high and lead to widespread inflation that crimps spending power, both businesses and individuals could decide to limit spending on airline tickets. 

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said last month that flying habits are already shifting. 

"I think the people who were originally planning to either go to the Middle East or overfly the Middle East for their Easter school holidays are switching now and coming back to Portugal, Spain, South France, Italy, Greece," he told AFP at a European airline association meeting in Brussels.

- A new normal? -

The outbreak of war also wreaks havoc on the business model of massive hubs in the Middle East, which rely on a steady stream of passengers on long-haul flights to and from the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Airports in Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi have been forced to close because of Tehran's retaliatory strikes across the region, resulting in tens of thousands of flights cancelled, affecting millions of passengers.

Before the war, Dubai was the world's second-biggest airport in terms of passengers transiting, after Atlanta, while Doha had passenger levels rivalling those of Hong Kong or Frankfurt.

Since then, European and Asian carriers that have long-distance planes available have started direct flights between the two regions, bypassing Gulf hubs altogether.

Even after reopening, the airports are unlikely to return to full capacity anytime soon, and only if fuel prices recede as hoped.

Willie Walsh, director of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), warned this week that if the ceasefire succeeds, it will still take months for jet fuel supplies and prices to normalise.

"I don't think it's going to happen in weeks," Walsh said.

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An Australian couple has moved house, literally, after realising it was placed on the wrong plot of land.

Melanie and David Moor said they set up their home to "relax" at a five-acre block two hours' drive west of Melbourne.

They put up the pre-fabricated house in March 2024, including installing the plumbing and electricity, for a new life in rural Victoria.

Five months later, they got the bad news.

"We got the call from the council to say that we had to stop works because it was on the wrong block -- and we actually owned the block next door," Melanie Moor told AFP on Thursday.

"It's just been a nightmare."

The couple said the plot's boundaries were unclear and they had relied on the local council and the real estate agent for the right advice. 

A spokesperson for the Corangamite Shire Council declined to comment.

AFP was unable to reach the real estate agent.

The couple moved their house about 100 metres (330 feet) by truck to the right plot on April 2.

They are now living in a caravan while the home is secured to the correct site.

They also need to connect the house's power, water and septic amenities -- at a heavy financial cost.

Melanie Moor has an autoimmune disease, and her husband has liver disease, the couple said.

"The idea was that I could actually relax a little bit and work from home," David Moor said.

Under an agreement with the owners of the plot where the house was originally put, the couple said they have until May 2 to restore that land to its original state.

But they are thankful their home is now in the right place.

"It was a relief seeing the truck take the house across the property," Melanie Moor said.

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Russia is expected to label the Nobel Prize-winning human rights group Memorial "extremist" on Thursday, a designation that will make it easier to prosecute the group's supporters and those who work with it.

Russia had already liquidated the group's operations in 2021, forcing it to work largely in exile.

Here's what we know about the history of Russia's most prominent rights group and its work over the past 35 years:

- What does Memorial do? -

Memorial was founded in the late 1980s to document victims of Soviet-era political repression, during which millions of people perished in the Gulag penal system.

Its first chairman was the Nobel Prize-winning Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov and the group established the largest publicly available database on Gulag victims.

A symbol of hope during Russia's chaotic transition to democracy in the early 1990s, it has since documented the country's slide into authoritarianism under Vladimir Putin.

It has compiled a list of hundreds of political prisoners in modern Russia, among them critics of Putin and opponents of the Ukraine war.

Memorial has also documented rights violations linked to Russia's brutal wars in Chechnya and Syria, the plight of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia, as well as kept a list of prisoners persecuted for their religion -- among them more than 200 Jehovah's Witnesses.

It counts more than 1,000 political prisoners held in Russian jails as of 2026 -- up from 46 in 2015, as Moscow has intensified its crackdown on dissent amid the Ukraine war.

- Banned in Russia -

As Russia's most prominent human rights group, it has repeatedly found itself in the government's crosshairs.

It was put on the government's register of "foreign agents" in 2015.

The label, akin to being an enemy of the state, requires individuals or groups to disclose sources of funding and mark all publications -- including social media posts -- with a tag.

Then in 2021, Russia's Supreme Court liquidated Memorial for failing to properly identify itself as a "foreign agent" and for justifying "terrorist and extremist" activities.

Memorial described claims it broke the law or supported "terrorist and extremist" groups as "absurd".

Formally designating the group "extremist" would harden the legal punishments that could be laid out to any Russian to cooperate with the organisation's network in exile or donate money to it.

- Nobel Peace Prize -

The group received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 -- months after Russia launched its offensive on Ukraine -- for its work, alongside jailed Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski and Ukraine's Centre for Civil Liberties.

Hours later a court in Moscow ordered Memorial's headquarters to be seized and took the premises into state ownership.

The Nobel Committee said the group, along with its co-winners, had "made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses and the abuse of power".

- Staff persecuted -

Memorial's crusading work at home has come at a huge personal cost to those involved.

Natalya Estemirova, one of the group's main employees in Chechnya, was found dead in 2009 with gunshot wounds hours after she was seen being bundled into a car outside her home.

Another Memorial employee, Yury Dmitriyev, who spent decades locating mass graves in the northwestern region of Karelia, was jailed in 2020 on a controversial child sex charge.

Supporters say the 70-year-old historian was targeted for his work.

The group's co-chair Oleg Orlov was jailed in 2024 for protesting the war in Ukraine. He was released in a prisoner exchange with the United States several months later.

- Work in exile -

The group, whose bank accounts have been frozen, has since outsourced its work to satellite offices across Europe and the world.

Russia declared the international arm of Memorial an "undesirable organisation" in February -- outlawing Russians from working with or donating to the group. 

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A week after astronaut Jeremy Hansen blasted off on the historic Artemis II mission to the Moon, his wife Catherine recalled the anxiety and thrill of witnessing the journey from afar.

The Canadian obstetrician-gynecologist told AFP that she has closely followed the mission carrying her husband among a crew of four, hanging onto every update during family phone calls and from NASA mission control.

"It's incredible to me to know that they were up close," said Catherine, wearing rocket-shaped earrings during a video call.

Lifting off from Florida, Hansen became the first non-American to journey toward the Moon as the crew reached a record-breaking distance of 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) from Earth.

Catherine and her children followed the lunar flyby from NASA mission control in Houston on Monday, and later heard Hansen share his observations in a family call.

"Jeremy was describing... the fact that it looks so three-dimensional, like this globe outside the window," recalled his wife.

"He certainly will continue to describe to us and everyone else what it felt like to be that close to that celestial body."

- 'Emotional' -

Catherine said, before liftoff, her husband gave her a pair of powerful binoculars to follow the space voyage.

"Our family would lie down and look at various places on the Moon that he would identify based on his mapping and his study guides," she said.

Some of those sites were later observed up close by the Artemis II crew.

As the astronauts flew on the far side of the Moon, they lost connection with Earth for some 40 minutes during an expected communications blackout.

That was the moment Catherine got especially anxious. "I wanted to be there for that, because as someone who has never flown in space, I wanted to make sure they actually reacquired signal."

As onlookers held their breath, she was surprised by the "energy in mission control."

"There was no stress or anxiety. Everyone just trusted that this is what's going to happen: they're going to lose signal and come back again," she said.

"It has been a very emotional week."

Catherine and their three children also recorded videos that Jeremy was able to watch near the Moon.

"When you're out in deep space by the Moon, and you are listening to a video they recorded for you before you launch. That's something," the Canadian astronaut told a press conference.

- 'Get him home safely' -

"There's been a lot of happiness and excitement, a lot of joy" but also "some anxiety and some wanting to get him home safely," Catherine said.

She is now preparing for the moment when the crew splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, expected for Friday.

The Artemis II, the first mission to carry humans around the Moon in more than 50 years, was considered a risky first spaceflight for Jeremy.

Described by NASA as a "test mission," the flight aimed to verify the reliability of the rocket and Orion capsule, which had not carried humans before.

At the moment of liftoff, Catherine was with her children and the other astronauts' families near the launch pad in Florida.

"It was absolutely incredible. And I think everyone is sort of at a loss for words," she recalled.

"I don't think anyone was quite prepared."

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A shallow 4.9-magitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia overnight, damaging dozens of homes and injuring multiple people, an official said Thursday. 

The jolt struck at a depth of 10.4 kilometres (6.46 miles), some 104 kilometres east of Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, shortly before midnight on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. 

Two villages on the small island of Adonara felt the biggest impact, with more than 100 houses damaged and at least 20 people injured, according to local official Ismail Daton Ban. 

Indonesia and neighbouring countries experience frequent earthquakes due to their location in the Pacific "Ring of Fire" -- an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

A 9.1-magnitude quake struck the westernmost Aceh province in 2004, causing a tsunami and killing more than 170,000 people in Indonesia.

Shallow quakes tend to be more damaging, with seismic waves travelling a shorter distance through the ground and reaching the surface with more energy.

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Nepal's ex-prime minister KP Sharma Oli and former interior minister Ramesh Lekhak have been released from custody after questioning for their alleged role in a deadly 2025 crackdown on protesters, police said Thursday.

Oli and Lekhak were arrested on March 28, a day after Prime Minister Balendra Shah took office following the country's first elections since the September uprising brought down Oli's government.

"Both former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and the former home minister have been released today on the condition that they will present themselves to the police when required," Kathmandu Police spokesperson Pawan Kumar Bhattarai told AFP.

Neither man has been formally charged, and both deny responsibility for the violence.

"Both of them have been handed over to their relatives," Bhattarai added.

The arrests came after an inquiry commission recommended prosecuting Oli -- a four-time prime minister -- and other officials for failing to stop security forces from opening fire on demonstrators.

The commission's report said statements given by the two men suggesting they did not know about the violence were part of a bid to shift responsibility and amounted to "criminal negligence".

Oli, 74, was taken to hospital since soon after his arrest for what police described as a procedural check-up, adding that he suffers from heart and kidney problems.

After their arrests, their wives filed habeas corpus petitions at the Supreme Court, challenging the legality of their detentions.

On Monday, Supreme Court spokesperson Arjun Prasad Koirala said that the petitions were dismissed but that the court had ordered authorities to complete the investigation without granting any additional extensions of detention.

Oli's CPN-UML party has described the arrests as "a vengeful act" and called for protests.

The youth-led uprising in September began in Kathmandu and was triggered by a brief social media ban.

It spread countrywide the following day, fueled by longstanding frustration over corruption and economic hardship.

Protesters set fire to the parliament building and offices and eventually toppled the government. 

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They took thousands of photographs and documented copious observations on their voyage around the Moon, but as they sped closer to home the Artemis astronauts said Wednesday they have barely started processing the extraordinary experience they shared.

"Human minds should not go through what these just went through," said NASA's Artemis II mission commander Reid Wiseman during a press conference from space.

"It is a true gift. And we have a lot that we just need to think about and journal and write, and then we'll get the full feeling of what we just went through."

The four astronauts -- Americans Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch as well as Canadian Jeremy Hansen -- set a record for distance from Earth during their lunar flyby.

The astronauts were speaking to news media less than two days before they are scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean at the end of their 10-day mission around the Moon.

"I haven't even begun to process what we've been through," Glover said. "We've still got two more days, and riding a fireball through the atmosphere is profound as well."

"I'm going to be thinking about and talking about all of these things for the rest of my life."

Wiseman said the solar eclipse was particularly poignant: "I'm actually in chills right now just thinking about it, my palms are sweating."

- 'Fragile planet' -

Asked what they would miss about celestial life, Koch said "camaraderie."

"I will miss being this close with this many people and having a common purpose, a common mission, getting to work on it hard every day across hundreds of thousands of miles with a team on the ground," she said. 

"This sense of teamwork is something that you don't usually get, like, as an adult," Koch added. "I mean we are close like brothers and sisters. That is a privilege we will never have again."

But she said even though they've been sharing a small space -- and a malfunctioning toilet -- for more than a week now, "I don't think there's anything I would say... that I'm just ready to be over."

"This whole thing is a package. We can't explore deeper unless we are doing a few things that are inconvenient, unless we're making a few sacrifices, unless we're taking a few risks," she said.

"Those things are all worth it."

Koch said the team has "loved living in Orion," their spacecraft, even though it was tight quarters.

"It is bigger in microgravity," she said, but "we are bumping into each other 100 percent of the time."

Hansen said he witnessed things "I just had never even imagined" while flying around the Moon's far side.

But he said his perspective on life remains rooted: "We live on a fragile planet in the vacuum and the void of space."

"Our purpose on the planet as humans is to find joy... and lifting each other up by creating solutions together instead of destroying," Hansen told journalists from his vantage point cruising far above home.

"When you see it from out here, it doesn't change it. It just absolutely reaffirms that."

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