Month: November 2024

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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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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Protesters stormed the parliament of the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia on Friday and demanded the resignation of its leader over an unpopular investment agreement with Moscow. The self-styled president of the region, Aslan Bzhania, said he had no intention of stepping down or fleeing. He said talks were proceeding with opposition representatives. But opposition representatives rejected the president’s statement, and news reports said they had broken off the talks. Russia said it was following the “crisis situation” with concern and urged its citizens to avoid travel to Abkhazia. Russia recognized Abkhazia and another breakaway region, South Ossetia, as …

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AMSTERDAM — Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof saved his governing coalition on Friday despite threats of an exodus by Cabinet members over the right-wing government’s response to violence against Israeli football fans last week. Junior Finance Minister Nora Achahbar unexpectedly quit the Cabinet on Friday to protest claims by some politicians that Dutch youths of Moroccan descent attacked Israeli fans in Amsterdam around the November 7 match between a Dutch team Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Her resignation triggered a crisis Cabinet meeting at which four ministers from her centrist NSC party also threatened to quit. If they had, the coalition …

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A German government spokesperson said that Chancellor Olaf Scholz held direct talks via telephone Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin during which he demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and that Russia show a willingness to negotiate a just and lasting peace. A statement from German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Scholz condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and called on Putin to end it and withdraw troops. The statement said the chancellor reaffirmed Germany’s unwavering determination to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression for as long as necessary. The brief statement did not include …

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GENEVA — Ukraine is heading into its third, most challenging winter since the war started nearly 1,000 days ago because “systematic attacks” by Russia have damaged and destroyed most of the country’s energy infrastructure, a senior U.N. official warned. “I am told that by now, 65% of Ukraine’s own energy production capacities has been destroyed,” Matthias Schmale, resident and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, told journalists Friday in Geneva. “There are a lot of worries that the Russian Federation’s military forces might strike the energy sector again,” he said. “And the real concern is, if they were to target the energy sector …

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The Hague, Netherlands — The Dutch government needs “more time” to flesh out a strategy to fight anti-Semitism after last week’s violence between Israeli football fans and locals, the justice minister has said.   “Because of the terrible events of November 7 and 8 and because I want to promote a fruitful debate in parliament, I have decided to take more time to get a strategy ready,” Justice Minister David van Weel said.   “The strategy will soon be sent to parliament,” he said in a letter to MPs, published late on Thursday.   Prime Minister Dick Schoof promised “far-reaching measures” earlier this week.    …

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Valencia, Spain — The head of Spain’s eastern Valencia region admitted Friday to “mistakes” in handing the country’s deadliest flood in decades that killed 216 people there.   “I’m not going to deny mistakes,” Carlos Mazon told the regional parliament in an address, adding he was “not going to shirk any responsibility.”   As the head of the regional government “I would like to apologize” to those who “felt” that “the aid did not arrive or was not enough,” he added.   The October 29 disaster marked the country’s deadliest floods in decades. A total of 224 people were killed nationwide, with 216 of …

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