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Plato and Aristotle, ancient Greek philosophers

Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. It investigates different forms of government, ranging from democracy to authoritarianism, and the values guiding political action, like justice, equality, and liberty. Political philosophy focuses on desirable norms and values, in contrast to political science, which emphasizes empirical description. Political philosophy has its roots in antiquity, such as the theories of Plato and Aristotle (both pictured) in ancient Greek philosophy, with discussions on the nature of justice and ideal states. Confucianism, Taoism, and legalism emerged in ancient Chinese philosophy, while Hindu and Buddhist political thought developed in ancient India. The modern period marked a shift towards secularism as diverse schools of thought developed, such as social contract theory, liberalism, conservatism, utilitarianism, Marxism, and anarchism. (Full article...)

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Pallas Athena

... that Rembrandt's Pallas Athena (pictured) has sometimes been identified as a painting of Alexander the Great?
... that Kaleena Smith received her first NCAA Division I offer to play college basketball as a pre-teen?
... that "transients" that appear in 1950s celestial images have been attributed to defects in the Palomar Observatory's photographic plates?
... that the building of Wallace Presbyterian Church in Maryland has been described as a "life-size origami creation"?
... that actor Nathaniel Dass found Hollyoaks' exploitation storyline difficult to film?
... that a New York City ferryboat shot down two enemy aircraft in World War II?
... that Helen Essary said Thomas E. Dewey's mustache made him look less like a plausible president of the United States?
... that the premiere episode of Oshi no Ko had the highest viewership in Hidive's history?
... that to mark the end of Burlington, Vermont's trolley system under Mayor John Holmes Jackson, a trolley was burned?

In the news

Faustin-Archange Touadéra

Faustin-Archange Touadéra (pictured) is re-elected as the president of the Central African Republic.
Delcy Rodríguez is sworn in as interim president of Venezuela following the capture of Nicolás Maduro during United States strikes on the capital.
Luke Littler wins the PDC World Darts Championship.
A fire at a bar during New Year's Eve celebrations in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, kills 40 people.

On this day

January 9

RMS Queen Elizabeth in 1966

1917 – World War I: A meeting of the German Crown Council decided upon the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare.
1972 – Seawise University, formerly RMS Queen Elizabeth (pictured), an ocean liner that sailed the Atlantic for Cunard Line, caught fire in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.
1981 – U.S. representative Raymond Lederer was convicted of bribery and conspiracy for his role in the Abscam scandal, but continued to serve his term for three more months.
1996 – First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launched raids in the city of Kizlyar, Dagestan, which turned into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.
2015 – A hostage situation, related to the Charlie Hebdo shooting, occurred at a Jewish market in Vincennes.

Demetrios Chalkokondyles (d. 1511)
Annemarie Heinrich (b. 1912)
Catherine, Princess of Wales (b. 1982)
Otto Schenk (d. 2025)

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Bahamian Parliament, Nassau, The Bahamas

There are 39 constituencies of the Bahamanian National Assembly, the lower house of the bicameral legislature of The Bahamas, an island country in the Caribbean. It is housed at the Bahamian Parliament Building in Nassau, the national capital. The current Assembly was elected by the general election held on 16 September 2021. The Members of Parliament (MPs) are directly elected from single-seat constituencies and sit for a term of five years. The current constituencies are based on the recommendations of the Constituency Commission in 2021. The commission conducts a review of the electoral boundaries every five years and makes recommendations to keep constituencies roughly the same size while considering other factors like "the needs of sparsely populated areas". The constituency of MICAL is the smallest in terms of the number of voters (1,392), while Golden Isles is the largest with 7,391 voters. (Full list...)

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Titan is the largest moon of Saturn, the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found. Discovered on 25 March 1655 by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, Titan is the sixth ellipsoidal moon from Saturn. Frequently described as a planet-like moon, it is the second-largest natural satellite in the Solar System, after Jupiter's moon Ganymede, and it is larger by volume than the smallest planet, Mercury. Titan itself is primarily composed of water ice and rocky material. Its dense, opaque atmosphere meant that little was known of the surface features or conditions until the Cassini–Huygens mission in 2004. Although mountains and several possible cryovolcanoes have been discovered, its surface is relatively smooth and few impact craters have been found. Owing to the existence of stable bodies of surface liquids and its thick nitrogen-based atmosphere, Titan has been cited as a possible host for microbial extraterrestrial life or, at least, as a prebiotic environment rich in complex organic chemistry. This mosaic of nine processed images was acquired during Cassini's first close flyby of Titan in 2004.

Photograph credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute

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