Borussia Dortmund announed on Friday they have signed Germany striker Niclas Fuellkrug from...

Aug 18 - Aug. 24, 2023

By Laura Matthews and Chibuike Oguh Global investors are gaming out how a tentative deal to raise the

A newly built Russian naval corvette was “almost certainly damaged” after being struck in occupied Crimea, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in its intelligence update. The Karakurt-class Askold warship was launched in 2021 and had not been yet commissioned into the Russian navy, the MoD said, citing Ukrainian and Russian sources. The Russian word “Karakurt” means “Black Widow spider”. Russian officials claimed Ukrainian cruise missiles were aimed at the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch on 4 November. The officials confirmed the attacks had struck one of its small warships. Askold is one of Russia’s Kalibr cruise missile carriers. The Commander of Ukraine’s air force, Lt Gen Mykola Oleshchuk, had earlier said he believed a vessel carrying the Kalibr missiles was struck, and suggested Kyiv used long-range French Scalp cruise missiles. Andriy Ryzhenko, a captain in the Ukrainian naval reserve, also said he believed the vessel struck by the missile was one belonging to the Karakurt Project 22800 – a new class of Russian corvettes. The damage to the Russian Black Sea fleet ship was significant, according to The Institute for the Study of War (ISW). “Russian and Ukrainian sources posted photos on November 7 showing significant damage to the Askold Project 22800 Karakurt-class Kalibr missile carrier corvette that will likely render it inoperable for the foreseeable future,” it said on Tuesday in its assessment, referring to the ship’s full name. These attacks by Ukrainian forces are part of a campaign against Russian military infrastructure, especially Black Sea Fleet assets, in occupied Crimea to “degrade the Russian military’s ability to use Crimea as a staging and rear area for Russian operations in southern Ukraine”, the ISW said. The UK MoD also said the strikes were “farther to the east in Crimea than most previous Ukrainian-claimed long-range strikes”. It said the attack could mean Russia may have to consider relocating its shipbuilding infrastructure farther away from the front line, something that could further delay the delivery of new ships. Earlier this week, satellite photos appeared to show damage to the Russian corvette and a firefighting vessel along with booms – or temporary floating barriers – in the water to stop oil leaks from the damaged ship. Photos showed the still-afloat vessel had some burn marks. The measurements of the vessel and its shape corresponded to those of a Karakurt-class corvette. This class of ships are designed to carry around eight Kalibr cruise missiles at a time. Kyiv has been gearing up to launch a major winter drone offensive against Russia’s ongoing invasion once harsh winter conditions hamper ground attacks, a top military official had told The Independent recently. Brigadier General Serhiy Baranov, the chief of the military unit overseeing drone operations, had warned Crimea, that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and border areas within Russia would be subject to renewed aerial bombardment. Read More Pro-Palestinian groups defy police calls to call off Armistice Day march Police urge organisers to cancel Armistice weekend protests Scope of inquest into man’s death in incident involving soldiers to be looked at Not possible to hear Loughgall inquest before legislation cut-off, judge says First charter flight for Afghan refugees living in Pakistan arrives in London UK scrambles charter flights to bring Afghans stuck in Pakistan hotels to safety

A’ja Wilson had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces advanced to the finals for the third time in four years, beating the Dallas Wings 64-61 for a three-game sweep

What the papers say Manchester City are reportedly leading a long line of suitors for Brighton striker Evan Ferguson. According to the i, any move would be viewed as future-proofing the side should Erling Haaland elect to depart the club once his contract expires in 2027. The Telegraph says Manchester United have commenced contract extension talks with defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The 25-year-old is in the final year of his current deal, but manager Erik ten Hag is believed to be impressed with the right-back’s progression in recent months. Reports from the Daily Mail indicate Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq are still pushing to sign Everton winger Demarai Gray before the transfer deadline window closes on Thursday. Social media round-up Players to watch Kylian Mbappe: The Paris St Germain forward is open to joining Liverpool next summer, according to L’Equipe. Jorginho: Italian outlet Tutto Mercato says the 31-year-old midfielder is set to rebuff interest from Fenerbahce to stay at Arsenal. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Extreme weather caused by climate change has damaged food production...

Anyone who has braved a stroll along England's coastline will be aware of seagulls' tyrannical regime. They prey on people eating chips, they swoop down on unsuspecting holidaymakers licking an ice cream, and they can be quite aggressive indeed. And now, terrifying research has revealed that they are more calculating than you may have previously thought. A University of Sussex study on herring gulls at Brighton beach found that the birds choose what to eat by watching what humans are enjoying. Scientists taped green (salt and vinegar) and blue (cheese and onion) packets of Walkers crisps to tiles and placed them a few metres from gulls on Brighton beach and filmed the birds’ behaviour from a distance. In some cases, the researchers ate from one of the bags of crisps. When the scientists didn't eat, less than a fifth of gulls approached the crisp packets placed nearby. But when the researchers were snacking on crisps, 48 per cent of the birds came to check out the packets. Nearly 40 per cent of such approaches ended with gulls pecking at the crisp packets, and of these, 95 per cent were directed at the same colour packet as the scientist was eating from. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “We’ve shown that adult gulls are able to pay attention to the behaviour of humans and apply that to their own foraging choices,” said Franziska Feist, a biologist and first author on the study. “Given that the urbanisation of gulls is very recent, this ability must come from the gulls’ general smartness and behavioural flexibility.” “It is likely that simply deterring the public from directly feeding gulls may not be enough,” Feist said. “They are still able to observe what we eat and that would inform their ability to target waste, litter and so on.” Dr Madeleine Goumas, an expert on herring gulls at Exeter University who was not involved in the study, said: “We already know from previous research that gulls use information from people when they’re searching for food. “This study shows that we aren’t only drawing gulls’ attention to where food is, but they also learn about the type of food we’re eating. Knowing this may have implications for how we reduce negative interactions between humans and gulls, as we seem to be inadvertently teaching gulls to exploit new food items.” Meanwhile, past alarming research revealed that gulls prefer food that has been touched by people. Overall, it's giving Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Cleveland Browns rallied in the fourth quarter for the second straight week and pulled out a thrilling, unexpected victory

Osleivis Basabe had a tiebreaking two-run double in a four-run eighth inning and the playoff-bound Tampa Bay Rays beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-2

Dean Cain criticized government policies as he justified leaving California, saying he is 'ecstatic to be in Nevada'

Dozens of people with flowers have come to say goodbye to an award-winning Ukrainian writer who was killed by a Russian missile attack on a popular restaurant in east Ukraine