#Russia came up with the plan for decoys in late 2022 and codenamed it Operation False Target, according to a person familiar with Russia’s drone production who spoke on condition of anonymity because the industry is highly sensitive. The idea was to launch armed drones along with dozens of decoys, sometimes stuffed with rags or foam, and indistinguishable on radar from those carrying real bombs. Ukrainian forces must make split-second decisions about how to expend scarce resources to save lives and preserve critical infrastructure.

“The idea was to make a drone which would create a feeling of complete uncertainty for the enemy. So he doesn’t know whether it’s really a deadly weapon ... or essentially a foam toy,” the person said. With the thermobarics, there is now a “huge risk” an armed drone could deviate from its course and end up in a residential area where the “damage will be simply terrifying,” he said.

Russia's drone factory

In recent weeks, decoys have filled Ukraine’s skies by the dozens, each one appearing as an indistinguishable blip on military radar screens. During the first weekend of November, the Kyiv region spent 20 hours under air alert, and the sound of buzzing drones mingled with the boom of air defenses and rifle shots.

Unarmed decoys now make up more than half the drones targeting Ukraine, according to the person and Serhii Beskrestnov, a Ukrainian electronics expert whose black military van is kitted out with electronic jammers to down drones.

Both the unarmed decoys and the armed Iranian-designed Shahed drones are being built at a factory in Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone, an industrial complex set up in 2006 about 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) east of Moscow to attract businesses and investment to Tatarstan. It expanded after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and some sectors switched to military production, adding new buildings and renovating existing sites, according to satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press.

In social media videos, the factory promotes itself as an innovation hub. But David Albright of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security said Alabuga’s current purpose is purely to produce and sell drones to Russia‘s Ministry of Defense. The videos and other promotional media were taken down after an AP investigation found that many of the African women recruited to fill labor shortages there complained they were duped into taking jobs at the plant.

Russia and Iran signed a US$1.7 billion deal for the Shaheds in 2022, after President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, and Moscow began using Iranian imports of the unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, in battle later that year. Soon after the deal was signed, production started in Alabuga.

In October, Moscow attacked with at least 1,889 drones – 80 per cent more than in August, according to an AP analysis tracking the drones for months. On Saturday, Russia launched 145 drones across Ukraine, just days after the re-election of Donald Trump threw into doubt U.S. support for the country.

What to know about bird flu, poultry and dairy farms. People have been hearing a lot about H5N1 #bird flu -- or highly pathogenic avian influenza -- since a B.C. teen became the first human to get the virus in #Canada and is in hospital.

It's not yet known how the teen got infected, but Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said on Wednesday that genomic sequencing shows they have a strain of #H5N1 similar to the strains found in poultry farm outbreaks in British Columbia.

More than 20 locations with infected poultry have been identified in the province since the beginning of October, according to a news release posted recently on the B.C. government website.

The #H5N1 strain the teen has is not the same genotype that's been found in people who were infected by dairy cattle in the U.S., Tam said in an interview.

While there have been several outbreaks of bird flu on dairy farms in multiple states, the virus has not been detected on dairy farms anywhere in Canada.
How do we know dairy cattle aren't infected?

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been testing raw milk arriving at processing plants in each province for the bird flu virus.

It has also been testing pasteurized retail milk samples.

Tam said that like wastewater testing for viruses such as COVID-19 and seasonal flu, the milk testing aims to provide an "early warning" signal if H5N1 has reached dairy farms in Canada.
If H5N1 ends up in milk, is it still safe to drink?

Yes, as long as milk has been pasteurized, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says.

"In Canada, milk must be pasteurized before sale. The pasteurization process kills harmful bacteria and viruses, including HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza), ensuring milk and milk products are safe to drink and eat," the CFIA website says.
Is it safe to eat poultry, eggs and beef?

Yes, as long as they are cooked thoroughly.
Where are the infected poultry farms?

As of Nov. 13, there were 28 infected poultry locations in British Columbia, two in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's website.

Shayan Sharif, a pathobiology professor at the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph, said he believes H5N1 will reach poultry farms in other provinces.

"I hope to be proven wrong ... but I think it's probably going to come eastward in the not too distant future," he told The Canadian Press.
What do you do when there is an H5N1 infection on a farm?

Farmers are required to notify the #CFIA if they suspect their birds or livestock have avian flu.

All poultry must be killed on farms that have tested positive for H5N1, said Sharif. But cattle don't have to be killed, he said.

The virus can be spread through direct contact with infected animals, but can also spread through contaminated barns and other environments.

"Biosecurity" is one of the most important ways to stop the spread of avian flu between farms, Sharif said.

#WASHINGTON, November 11. #US President-elect Donald #Trump has already spoken over the phone with Russian President Vladimir #Putin, /. The Washington Post said, citing its sources.

However, neither Washington not Moscow have officially confirmed this information.

According to The #Washington Post, Trump and Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine and "the goal of peace on the European continent and Trump expressed an interest in follow-up conversations to discuss ‘the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon,’ several of the people said."

During his election campaign, Trump promised to immediately settle the Ukrainian conflict but did not say how he was planning to do this. According to the newspaper, Trump said privately that he would support an agreement where Russia kept some of the liberated territories and during the phone call with Putin he had briefly touched upon the issue of territories. Apart from that, the Ukrainian government was informed about the call and it did not object to it as the Kiev officials understood that Trump would discuss the matter with Putin, The Washington Post noted.

However, the newspaper noted, Trump’s calls with world leaders are not backed by the Department of State and US administration interpreters, since Trump and his aides "are distrustful of career government officials following the leaked transcripts of presidential calls during his first term." "They are just calling [Trump] directly," it cited one of the people familiar with the calls.

Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the Russian president is open to dialogue with Trump, however, in his words, nothing concrete could be said about it as of yet.

Speaking at Thursday’s plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club, Putin congratulated Trump on winning the presidential election, adding that he saw nothing wrong with calling Trump. The latter, however, told NBC that he had not yet spoken with the Russian leader but believed such a call was highly likely.

#Uganda has received an invitation to become a #BRICS partner, the country’s Ambassador to Russia Moses Kawaaluuko Kizige told TASS on Sunday.

"Yes, Uganda has received the invitation," the ambassador said on the sidelines of the first Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.

#Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 13, officials say, as first aid in weeks reaches the north. Two separate Israeli strikes killed at least 13 people, including women and children, in Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian medical officials said, as Israel announced the first delivery of aid in weeks to war-battered northern Gaza.

One of the strikes hit a school-turned-shelter in #Gaza City’s eastern Tufah neighborhood, killing at least six people, Gaza's Health Ministry said. Two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead, the ministry said. The Israeli army said the strike targeted a militant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, offering no evidence or further detail.

Another seven people were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis where displaced people were sheltering, according to Nasser Hospital. It said the dead included two women and a child. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the blast.

COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, said Saturday that 11 aid trucks containing food, water and medical equipment reached the far north of the enclave on Thursday, including the urban refugee camp at Jabaliya. It is the first time any aid has reached the far north of the enclave since Israel began a fresh military campaign there last month.

But not all the aid reached the agreed drop-off points, according to a spokesperson for the UN World Food Program, which was involved in the delivery process. In Jabaliya, Israeli troops stopped one of the convoys bound for nearby Beit Lahiya and ordered the supplies to be offloaded, said Alia Zaki.

The announcement comes days a ahead of a U.S. deadline demanding that Israel improve aid deliveries across Gaza. Experts have said there is a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in parts of northern Gaza.

Israel's new offensive has focusing on Jabaliya, a densely populated refugee camp where Israel says Hamas had regrouped. Other areas affected by the new campaign include Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, situated just north of Gaza City.

#MOSCOW -

Russian President #Vladimir #Putin on Thursday congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory in his first public comment on the U.S. vote, and he praised the president-elect's courage during the July assassination attempt.

“His behavior at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me. He turned out to be a brave man," Putin said at an international forum following a speech in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

"He manifested himself in the very correct way, bravely as a man,” he added.

#Putin also said that what Trump has said “about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, deserves attention at least.”

The Kremlin earlier welcomed Trump’s claim that he could negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine “in 24 hours” but emphasized that it will wait for concrete policy steps.

″I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America,” Putin said in a question-and-answer session at the conference.

As to what he expects from a second Trump administration, Putin said, “I don’t know what will happen now. I have no idea.”

"For him, this is still his last presidential term. What he will do is his matter,” added Putin, who this year began a fifth term that will keep him in power until 2030 and could seek six more years in office after that.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-president.html

#Netanyahu fires #Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, after months of clashes over war and #politics. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant after months of clashes over domestic politics and Israel’s war efforts.

In a recorded statement Tuesday evening, Netanyahu said that “trust between me and the minister of defence has cracked.”

Israel Katz, currently the foreign minister, will become defence minister. Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as foreign minister, the prime minister’s office said Tuesday. Neither has extensive military experience, though Katz has served in the cabinet throughout the war.The move came as voters in the United States, Israel’s most important ally, voted for their next president. Gallant is a close interlocutor for the U.S. administration, and has been said to have daily conversations with U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The reshuffle happened at a crucial moment for Israel, which is fighting bloody wars in Gaza and Lebanon while awaiting a potential retaliatory attack from Iran.

Gallant responded to the decision shortly after it was made public, posting on X that the “security of Israel has been and will always be my lifelong mission.” In a televised statement, he said his dismissal was the result of a dispute over three things: the issue of ultra-Orthodox military services, the abandonment of hostages in Gaza, and the need for an official inquiry into Hamas’ October 7 attack.

“There isn’t and won’t be forgiveness for abandoning the hostages,” he said. “This will be a ‘mark of Cain’ that the Israeli society bears, as well as those leading through this wrong path.”

Netanyahu said Tuesday he had “made many attempts” to bridge differences with Gallant, but that they “kept widening” and “came to the public’s knowledge in an unacceptable manner.” He continued: “Worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies enjoyed it and greatly benefited from it.”

Israel’s political class has long speculated that Netanyahu would fire Gallant and replace him with a political ally to shore up his domestic power. Netanyahu has struggled to maintain a hold over his fragile, right-wing governing coalition and its muddle of competing interests, whose collapse could spell the end of his leadership.

When Netanyahu first sought to fire Gallant last year, over his opposition to proposed judicial reforms, it led to mass nationwide demonstrations. Minutes after Netanyahu made the announcement, opposition leaders called for Israelis to take to the streets in protest.

Demonstrations erupted in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Protestors outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem shouted “shame!” In Tel Aviv, protesters blocked a main highway while families of hostages held in Gaza chanted “Bibi is a traitor,” using the prime minister’s nickname.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is still in Gaza, said in a statement that firing Gallant “during a war and appointing a yes-man, who lacks security related experience, in his place, is sending a clear message – no one will stand up to Netanyahu and prevent him from torpedoing deals and prolonging the war.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called it an “act of madness.”

“Netanyahu is selling out Israel’s security and IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers for his despicable political survival,” Lapid posted on X Tuesday.