A trio of young falcons born atop a 35-storey building in Melbourne’s CBD have taken flight for the first time, with the take-off captured on a livestream for the world to see.
The three peregrine falcons – two females and one male – fledged late last week, with the footage of their first flight posted on Instagram by non-profit organisation Bird Life Australia. The last falcon took flight shortly after 9am on Saturday for the second time – after returning to the ledge in a crash landing the day before.
Russian attacks kill four on Saturday; Serbian government faces deadline to oust Russian owners from state oil company. What we know on day 1,362
Ukraine’s army said on Saturday it struck a Russian oil refinery in the Ryazan region near Moscow, as “part of efforts to reduce the enemy’s ability to launch missile and bomb strikes”. Explosions and a large fire were observed at the site, said the military. Ryazan is located about 200km (125 miles) south-east of Moscow.
Russian officials often do not admit such attacks have succeeded, and the Ryazan governor, Pavel Malkov, adopted the standard line that Ukrainian drones were shot down but debris happened to hit the target. “Falling debris caused a fire on the premises of one enterprise,” Malkov said. A wave of 25 Ukrainian drones attacked the region, Malkov said.
Officials in southern Ukraine said four people were killed by Russian attacks on Saturday. Prosecutors in the Kherson region said “three civilians are known to have been killed” in the village of Myklitskyi and the city of Kherson. The governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, Ivan Federov, said a Russian attack killed one person.
The US will not lift sanctions on Serbian oil company NIS unless Belgrade terminates the firm’s majority Russian ownership, Serbia’s energy minister said on Saturday, warning that her country faced “difficult” decisions. Washington sanctioned Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) as part of its crackdown on the Russian energy sector. Analysts say Serbia is on the brink of a winter energy crisis with its lone oil refinery facing a potential shutdown.
Serbia’s energy minister, Dubravka Đedović Handanović, said the US wanted a “complete change of Russian shareholders” to be negotiated by 13 February before lifting sanctions. NIS is 45% owned by Gazprom Neft, which has been targeted by US sanctions. Neft’s parent company, Gazprom, has transferred its own 11.3% stake in NIS to another Russian firm, Intelligence. The Serbian state holds nearly 30% of NIS, with the rest owned by minority shareholders. Handanović suggested the Serbian government was looking at a possible Russian takeover of NIS and would hold a special cabinet meeting about it on Sunday.
Ukraine has recorded a threefold increase in the number of attacks on its railway system since July, according to a senior minister, as Moscow seeks to scupper one of Kyiv’s key logistical systems, Peter Beaumont writes. The rail network carries more than 63% of the country’s freight – including grain shipments – and 37% of passenger traffic, according to the state statistics service. Military assistance from foreign countries often arrives by train. Oleksii Kuleba, a deputy prime minister, said: “What we have seen in these escalating attacks is that they are going after trains, especially trying to kill the drivers.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced an overhaul of state-owned energy companies amid a corruption scandal. Anti-graft investigators allege around $100m has been embezzled. Zelenskyy has already ordered two ministers to resign over the alleged scheme and sanctioned a former business partner who was named as its mastermind. “Alongside a full audit of their financial activities, the management of these companies is to be renewed,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president called for a new supervisory board at Energoatom – the state nuclear company – “within a week” that would enable a “complete overhaul of the company’s management”. He also called for the quick appointment of a new head of hydropower generating company Ukrhydroenergo and other reforms for oil and gas giant Naftogaz and the main gas operator.
President’s one-time ally says she has been contacted by private security firms after denunciation by president. Key US politics stories from Saturday 15 November at a glance
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a longtime Republican ally who previously fiercely defended Donald Trump and his Maga movement, said on Saturday she had been contacted by private security firms “with warnings for my safety” after Trump announced on Friday he was withdrawing his support for and endorsement of the Georgia representative.
In a post on X, Greene said that “a hot bed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world”, without referring to Trump by name, adding it was “the man I supported and helped get elected”.
The 46-19 shellacking against Ireland is a stark reminder of how far behind the best teams Australia still sit
Three weeks ago, Australia arrived in Europe self-assured and quietly confident of taking a few prized scalps. And why not? They had come within a single refereeing call at the breakdown of claiming a British & Irish Lions series win. They had hammered the world champion Springboks in Johannesburg. They had shown great chutzpah to beat Argentina after the hooter and they still carried the glow of last November’s win over England.
This was a side developing shape and steel, a side capable of the sublime, a side beginning to coax long-dormant fans back to the code while tempting home several stars who had crossed to rugby league. This tour was supposed to confirm, unequivocally, that the Wallabies were back. Instead, they’ve gone backwards after a sorry performance against Ireland in Dublin where they received a 46–19 shellacking that still managed to flatter them on the scoreboard.
Philip Barantini’s single-take special follows the star mooching around Manhattan, guitar ever ready for ad hoc turns, ahead of his evening show
Ed Sheeran floats through New York on a cloud of his own sunny high spirits in this hour-long Netflix special. He is the Candide of the music business, smiling benignly, strumming and singing, seamlessly pausing for selfies and fist-bumps and high-fives; he almost visibly absorbs energy from the saucer-eyed fan-worship shown by gobsmacked passersby and radiates it back at them.
Maybe you have to be a Sheeran fan to really appreciate it, but this is another single-take bravura special from film-maker Philip Barantini (who directed Netflix’s searing single-take drama Adolescence) and his director of photography Nyk Allen. With no cuts (though there’s an allowable fast-forward bit, and the audio might have been tweaked in post-production) they follow the unselfconscious Ed as he completes a late-afternoon soundcheck at the New York theatre where he’s playing a concert later on, and then for the next hour, and with fans pretty much always swarming around him, he wanders through the city with his guitar for various encounters, some planned, some (supposedly) not.
Commons committee report challenges ‘lazy narrative’ used by ministers that scapegoats wildlife and the environment
Nature is not a blocker to housing growth, an inquiry by MPs has found, in direct conflict with claims made by ministers.
Toby Perkins, the Labour chair of the environmental audit committee, said nature was being scapegoated, and that rather than being a block to growth, it was necessary for building resilient towns and neighbourhoods.
Conor Benn, who has been through notoriety, shame and a chastening defeat, finally gained a large measure of sweet relief when he totally outclassed and beat up his diminished old rival Chris Eubank Jr over 12 one-sided rounds on Saturday night. Benn came close to sealing the knockout he craved in the last minute of the fight when he twice dropped Eubank Jr heavily.
A shuddering combination from Benn had an initially delayed reaction but the right hand that smashed into the side of Eubank Jr’s head finally sent him toppling to the canvas. He rose to his feet but was soon down again as Benn threw punch after punch at his wilting and shrunken frame. Eubank Jr staggered to his feet just before the referee completed his count. The fight would surely have been waved over – but the last bell echoed above the bedlam.
Ford scores 13 points including two drop goals in victory
‘He made brilliant decisions and executed perfectly’
Steve Borthwick has paid tribute to the perseverance and character of George Ford after England’s impressive 33-18 victory over the All Blacks. Twelve months ago, Ford narrowly failed to clinch a home victory in this same fixture, but he was a pivotal figure on Saturday as his side gained their revenge with a first win over New Zealand in south-west London since 2012.
“George is a brilliant player, an outstanding leader and an even better person,” the head coach said after the fly-half contributed 13 points to seal his team’s 10th successive Test win this year. “I know you like to talk about 12 months ago and the ball hitting a post. But when he pulls on the England shirt he is just such a consistent performer.
Buffer has just finished making the fighter announcements as 50 Cent remained in Eubank’s corner. A crackling atmosphere at Tottenham’s home ground. The waiting is over. The final instructions have been given by the referee, the seconds are out and we’ll pick it up with round-by-round coverage from here!
Eubank Jr is now trained by Brian “BoMac” McIntyre who is always in the corner of Terence Crawford, the best fighter in the world by some distance. And so there was a little zing of excitement among the Crawford connoisseurs when the mighty Bud appeared on the giant screen as he moved around Eubank’s dressing room. He shook hands warmly with a beaming Eubank Sr before stopping to share a few words with Junior. Those moments will matter far more to the Eubank camp than the fact that Benn received a bigger cheer than they did when he was seen on the same big screen having his hands wrapped. Personally, I think that’s 1-0 so far to Eubank Jr/Crawford over Benn/the crowd.
A Texas trooper who confronted South Carolina’s Nyck Harbor after the player’s touchdown on Saturday was sent home from the game, according to the state’s Department of Public Safety.
Harbor scored on an 80-yard reception in the second quarter and entered the tunnel after the score, appearing to walk off a leg injury. As he and three of his teammates, including running back Oscar Adaway III, were walking back to the field, the trooper walked in between Harbor and Adaway and bumped into them.
The most extraordinary upshot of an extraordinary evening was that Scotland’s dream of qualifying automatically for the World Cup remains alive. Steve Clarke has Belarus to thank for that, their surprise draw in Denmark leaving Scotland in precisely the position they had sought before this clash with Greece. If Scotland beat Denmark in Glasgow on Tuesday, they will top this section.
The dust might just have settled on this preposterous fixture by then. Scotland trailed by three at one point before hauling themselves back into proceedings against a Greece team who finished with 10 men.
There are shades of Gossip Girl, Desperate Housewives and everything Nicole Kidman has appeared in for the last five years. Put your brain aside, and enjoy
That its ultra-wealthy characters live in a place called Richford Lake tells you almost everything you need to know about the glossy new thriller Wild Cherry. Yes, it’s another entry in the increasingly popular eat-the-rich genre. Yes, it has shades of The White Lotus and everything starring Nicole Kidman for the past five years. Yes, most of the budget has gone to wardrobe, with any woman over the age of 30 apparently allergic to synthetic fibres and every actor seemingly cast primarily for her ability to carry off swagged silk and cashmere in warm beige tones. Yes, you should have bought shares in the colour camel years ago but it’s too late now. Yes, the insular community and soapy vibe suggests an ancestry that includes Desperate Housewives and Gossip Girl. Yes, in short, it’s trash with pretensions. But trash with pretensions is as fun a way to spend the long winter evenings as any, so why not set your brain aside and enjoy it?
We begin with the obligatory the-future-as-prelude scene, which here involves four women – two older, two younger – standing in a well-appointed bathroom in their underwear scrubbing blood off their hands. We then flashback to begin the six-part journey to finding out what the jolly heck is going on.
One-time Maga loyalist diverges with Trump on issues including Epstein, so US president has withdrawn support
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a longtime Republican ally who previously fiercely defended Donald Trump and his Maga movement, said on Saturday she had been contacted by private security firms “with warnings for my safety” after Trump announced on Friday he was withdrawing his support for and endorsement of the Georgia representative.
In a post on X, Greene said that “a hot bed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world”, without referring to Trump by name, adding it was “the man I supported and helped get elected”.
Greece get the ball rolling. It’s far from a full house at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis in Piraeus, home of Olympiacos. But it’s still noisy.
The teams are out! Greece in white with blue stripes, Scotland in blue with white stripes. Everyone looking real fine. We’ll be off once a Hymn to Liberty and a paean to a Flower have been sung.
Hansen a revelation at fullback as Ireland dismantled the Wallabies
8 mins. A clumsy breakdown effort from Ireland on the restart allows the Wallabies to win the ball back. However, their attack on the 22 is in about three minds and none of them have a discernible plan, which leads to O’Connor spilling the ball after a big hit from Prendergast. Yes, Prendergast, you read that right.
6 mins. Ireland work back into the 22 and the pressure coming from the pace of the recycling forces Williams to drift offside. The ball is tapped by Gibson-Park and some quick hands find Hansen free under the posts to walk in.
A tactically and technically adept Three Lions squad can take the handbrake off and prosper in North America next summer
Watching Micky van de Ven surge through the pretty much the entire FC Copenhagen team in the Champions League last week, two sensations occurred. The first was awe, that somebody so powerful and so quick would still have the composure to finish as he did. And the second was that this didn’t feel entirely fair. It was as though Gulliver had landed himself a deal in the Lilliput Premier League.
The same evening, Liverpool, who have at times struggled physically in the Premier League this season, bullied Real Madrid, their threat at set plays so marked that eventually it was the 5ft 7in Alexis Mac Allister who headed the vital goal. The following day, Newcastle swatted Athletic Bilbao aside, largely by being bigger than them: for the opening goal, the Spanish side’s defence appears to have looked at Dan Burn and decided there was no point even trying to mark him.
Africa CDC says at least nine cases have been detected of Ebola-like illness, which kills up to 80% of those infected
Ethiopia has confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the south of the country, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said.
The Marburg virus is one of the deadliest known pathogens. Like Ebola, it causes severe bleeding, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea and has a 21-day incubation period.
Wales laboured to a 1-0 win over the international minnows Liechtenstein to keep alive their hopes of finishing second in their World Cup qualification group.
Jordan James claimed his first Wales goal from close range after Liechtenstein’s assorted collection of full-time players, office workers and students had held out for over an hour. James wheeled away in delight with his obvious relief shared by 3,000 Wales fans filling three sides of the Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz.
Long before we’d met, I had heard a lot about a guy called Tom Box. I knew he was an Australian living in the South Island of New Zealand. I was in Wellington, and there’d been a few occasions when I’d travelled to the South Island for raves or anarchist conferences where some of the folks had gone to Tom’s place – but I splintered off somewhere else.
Then one day, in 2007, I was at a punk gig when a mutual friend said, “Oh, do you know Tom Box? He’s over there. He’s just moved up to Wellington.” There in a sea of black-clad punks, jumping up and down at the front of the mosh pit, was this guy in a pale blue Star Trek uniform. To me, as a person unfamiliar with Star Trek, he looked like he was wearing pyjamas. This was my first vision of him, but we didn’t talk at all that night.
You did a whole book on Australia, and have travelled here a bit since – what’s the number one tip or recommendation you’d give someone coming for the first time?
Get out and walk! I mean, maybe not through the outback, but if you’re in any of the cities, walk. I do that wherever I go. And I love to just go off and explore without knowing where I’m going, without a map or any preconceived ideas. I think it’s the best way to discover a place, and it has the great virtue that if you turn a corner – say in Sydney – and there’s suddenly the Harbour Bridge, you feel as if you’ve discovered it. There’s a real feeling of exhilaration, I think, in that. But also, you discover little cafes and hidden corners and odds and ends.
A callow Australia side confirmed in defeat by Venezuela that the head coach needs his big hitters back before facing Colombia in New York
A day before Australian football looked to its past, Tony Popovic sent out a side to face Venezuela focused on its future. Nineteen years and 364 days ago, the Golden Generation defender had been part of the side that defeated Uruguay in a shootout to end 32 years of heartbreak and send the Socceroos back to the promised land. Two decades on, here he was in the dugout of Shell Energy Stadium, tinkering and experimenting before a sixth-straight World Cup for Australia.
Popovic had named an XI with three debutants – the most in 12 years – and a player in Nestory Irankunda that hadn’t been born when John Alosi scored that famous penalty.
Influential musician who created Americana hits had recently been hospitalized with pneumonia
Todd Snider, the influential alt-country singer-songwriter who created Americana hits such as Alright Guy, has died at 59.
His passing was shared through announcements on his official social media accounts. Although no cause of death was provided, his family shared on Friday that he had recently been hospitalized with pneumonia.
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