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NASA astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann made history as the first Native American woman to launch into space. Mann was joined on the SpaceX Falcon rocket Wednesday by fellow NASA astronaut Josh Cassada, Japan's Koichi Wakata and Russia's Anna Kikina, orbiting in a Crew Dragon capsule and set to reach the outpost in 29 hours. The mission known as Crew-5 is SpaceX's sixth crewed flight under contract from NASA and eighth overall when including private spaceflights.

The state of Florida suffered unprecedented damage from from Hurricane Ian. Aerial cameras offer a look at the scale of the damage. Researchers who study flooding, development and climate change were horrified by the emerging images but not surprised. For years, they have warned that sprawling development in Florida and other coastal states wasn't sustainable, especially with the warming climate supercharging hurricane rainfall. "This is kind of what we had expected for days in advance, and it's still heartbreaking to see so many people stranded," said Kevin Reed, associate professor in atmospheric science at Stony Brook University in New York. He and other experts said they expect Ian's devastation to lead to a push for Florida to do more to protect residents from flooding as the warming climate makes natural disasters and rainfall more extreme.

President Joe Biden gave an update on the federal government’s assistance for Hurricane Ian, saying that they will take 100% of the extra costs. Trees have been toppled, roads flooded and over 69,000 households have already lost power in South Carolina, officials said at a Friday news conference. That number had risen to over 180,000 customers without power immediately after landfall, according to poweroutage.us. The state's five shelters were at 15% capacity ahead of landfall.

After months of fighting between Russia and Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has signed a treaty annexing multiple regions of Ukraine. Putin claimed the illegal annexations were "the will of millions of people" to huge applause during a signing ceremony in the Kremlin's St. George's Hall despite widespread reports of voter coercion and people being pressured at gunpoint. The illegal occupation could potentially raise the stakes of Russia's seven-month-old war in Ukraine because Putin vowed to defend the annexed territories with "all available means," a veiled reference to his insistence he would be prepared to use nuclear weapons if Russia's territory is threatened.

President Joe Biden slammed Russia's referendum in Ukraine as "a sham" during a White House summit with Pacific Island nations. The Kremlin announced Thursday that four regions of Ukraine that were forced into elections would be annexed into Russia on Friday. Russia state media said Putin will make a speech at the Kremlin to mark the staged annexations, which are illegal under international law and call to mind Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014. Preparations were being made Thursday for the ceremony, with Red Square in Moscow being sealed off and a stage being erected. President Joe Biden on Thursday called the votes “a sham – an absolute sham.” The U.S. has proposed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the votes in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in Ukraine.

A series of explosions caused leaks on two gas pipelines that feed natural gas from Russia to Germany. Two underwater explosions, or shakings, were recorded in the Baltic Sea shortly before leaks were found in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which were pressurized with natural gas. Both pipelines were not operational. The first shaking, measuring 2.3 on the Richter scale, was recorded southeast of Bornholm, a Danish island, the Guardian reported, citing Denmark's Geological Survey. The second, with a magnitude 2.1 earthquake, was reported northeast of the island.