новини

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 …

READ MORE

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 …

READ MORE

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.   …

READ MORE

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 …

READ MORE

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 …

READ MORE

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 …

READ MORE

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 …

READ MORE

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 …

READ MORE