Month: November 2024

Russia’s Gazprom stops flow of natural gas to Austria, utility says

VIENNA — Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom stopped supplies to Austria early Saturday, according to the Vienna-based utility OMV, after OMV said it would stop payments for the gas following an arbitration award. The official cutoff of supplies before dawn Saturday came after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Friday held a hastily called news conference to emphasize that his country has a secure supply of alternative fuel for this winter. OMV said it would stop paying for Gazprom gas to its Austrian arm to offset a $242 million arbitration award it won from the International Chamber of Commerce over an …

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Protesters in Georgia’s separatist region refuse to give up government buildings

TBILISI, GEORGIA — Opposition protesters in Georgia’s breakaway province of Abkhazia have refused to cede control of key government buildings that demonstrators stormed to protest new measures allowing Russians to buy property in the area. Abkhazian President Aslan Bzhania announced Saturday that he would step down and hold early elections if demonstrators vacated the region’s parliament building. But crowds that gathered in the Abkhazian capital, Sukhumi, rejected the deal, and opposition leaders said they would accept only Bzhania’s unconditional resignation. “None of us have come here for the sake of seats [in parliament],” former Abkhazian Prime Minister Valery Bganba told the …

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Protesters gather at UN climate talks in ‘global day of action’

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — Hundreds of activists formed a human chain outside one of the main plenary halls at the United Nations climate summit on what is traditionally their biggest protest day during the two-week talks. The demonstration in Baku, Azerbaijan, will be echoed at sites around the world in a global “day of action” for climate justice that’s become an annual event. Activists waved flags, snapped their fingers, hummed and mumbled chants, with many covering their mouths with the word “Silenced.” Demonstrators held up signs calling for more money to be pledged for climate finance, which involves cash for transitioning to …

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Russia captures 2 villages in eastern Ukraine, defense ministry says

MOSCOW — Russian forces have captured the villages of Makarivka and Hryhorivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday. Makarivka is located to the south of Velyka Novosilka while Hryhorivka, which Moscow calls by its previous name of Leninskoye, is situated to the west of the town of Selydove, captured by Russia last month. Reuters could not independently verify developments on the battlefield in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.   …

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Jake Paul beats boxing legend Mike Tyson

ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Jake Paul beat boxing legend Mike Tyson by unanimous decision to win an intergenerational heavyweight battle in Texas on Friday that failed to live up to its enormous hype. The bout between the 27-year-old social media influencer-turned-prizefighter Paul and the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Tyson was streamed live on Netflix and played out in front of a sold-out crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Those fans were left largely disappointed as Tyson showed his age and was never able to generate any offense against his younger opponent, landing just 18 punches to Paul’s 78. “First and foremost, Mike …

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Wild deer population boom has some in England promoting venison to consumers

WINCHESTER, England — In the half-light of dusk, Martin Edwards surveys the shadows of the ancient woodland from a high seat and waits. He sits still, watching with his thermal camera. Even the hares don’t seem to notice the deer stalker until he takes aim. The bang of his rifle pierces the stillness. He’s killed a buck, one of many wild deer roaming this patch of forest in Hampshire, southern England. Edwards advocates humane deer management: the culling of deer to control their numbers and ensure they don’t overrun forests and farmland in a country where they no longer have natural …

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Operation False Target: How Russia plotted to mix a deadly new weapon among decoy drones in Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine — At a secretive factory in Russia’s central grasslands, engineers are manufacturing hundreds of decoy drones meant to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses as they try to protect against a horrific new weapon, an Associated Press investigation has found. The plant at Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone recently started churning out thermobaric drones alongside the decoys, the investigation found. The thermobaric warheads create a vortex of high pressure and heat that can penetrate thick walls. They suck out all the oxygen in their path, and have a fearsome reputation because of the injuries inflicted even outside the initial blast site: Collapsed …

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У прикордонній з Україною області РФ знову збільшили виплату учасникам війни

За оцінкою видання «Медіазона», що спирається на дані Центробанку РФ про кредитні канікули військовослужбовцям у країні загалом, за третій квартал 2024 року контракти для участі у війні проти України уклали вдвічі більше осіб, ніж за той же період попереднього року …

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