الكاتب: kafej

When living your best life just isn’t enough, why not live two?

That’s the ethos of the Japanese green syllid worm, which scientists have found is able to detach its backend to embark on its own underwater adventures.

In a process called stolonisation (which sounds like a Christmas diet), the bottom end of these worms develop their own eyes, antennae and swimming bristles before breaking up with the top half and swimming away.

This bottom end, called the stolon, is full of eggs or sperms and heads off looking for a mate – while the rest of the worm stays behind and avoids the potentially dangerous journey.

For years, scientists have been baffled as to exactly how these stolons form before becoming independent.

Now a team at the University of Tokyo have discovered that they do so in sequence, starting with the maturation of gonads and then the formation of its own head.

Eyes, antennae, and other sensory organs follow, then come the swimming bristles, before the remarkable process rounds out with new nerves and a “brain”.

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It lacks a unique digestive tract, and much of its body segments are repeated from the worm’s front.

But with everything it needs in place, these reproductive stolons can safely detach and live their own life.

Lead researcher Professor Toru Miura said it was a remarkable example of how animals adapt to survive.

“This shows how normal developmental processes are modified to fit the life history of animals with unique reproductive styles,” he added.

A former US State Department official who worked on Middle East affairs has been filmed harassing a Muslim street vendor who he abused with Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian remarks.

Russian intelligence services organised the spy network to engage in sabotage and propaganda, claims Warsaw.

Poland has charged a group of 16 foreigners with espionage after it shut down a Russian spy ring earlier this year.

The suspects, who are accused of undertaking sabotage and propaganda activities under the direction of Russian intelligence, have confessed to the charges, Warsaw said on Wednesday. The spy ring was dismantled earlier this year.

“Charges have been filed against 16 foreigners accused of conducting espionage activities on behalf of Russian intelligence services on Polish territory and participating in an organised criminal group,” the office of intelligence service coordinator Mariusz Kaminski said in a statement.

“Their assigned tasks included identifying military facilities and critical infrastructure, monitoring and documenting trains transporting military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and preparing for train derailments,” it added.

The sabotage and propaganda acts also aimed to turn Polish sentiment against neighbouring Ukraine, the statement said.

16 rosyjskich szpiegów staje przed sądem. Lubelscy prokuratorzy skierowali właśnie akty oskarżenia przeciwko członkom groźnej siatki szpiegowskiej – oskarżeni na zlecenie rosyjskiego wywiadu prowadzili działania wywiadowcze wokół portów morskich i jednostek militarnych,…

— Zbigniew Ziobro | SP (@ZiobroPL) November 22, 2023

“Lublin prosecutors have just filed indictments against members of a dangerous spy network – the defendants, commissioned by Russian intelligence, conducted intelligence activities around seaports and military units, prepared acts of sabotage, and also undertook propaganda activities against Poland,” Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro posted on X. “They face 10 years in prison each.”

NATO member Poland is a major hub for Western weapons going to Ukraine in support of its fight against Russia’s invasion.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Poland’s conservative government has focused on strengthening the armed forces and has spent more than $16bn on tanks, missile interceptor systems and fighter jets, many bought from the United States and South Korea.

Baghdad denounces the strikes as a breach of its ‘sovereignty’.

The government in Baghdad has condemned the United States for a series of air raids which killed eight Iran-backed fighters, saying it violated Iraqi sovereignty.

The US did not coordinate the attacks on militia positions south of Baghdad on Tuesday and early Wednesday morning with Iraq, government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said. The strikes constitute an “unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty”, he added.

Pro-Iran militia Kataib Hezbollah, also known as Hezbollah Brigades, confirmed on Wednesday that eight of its fighters were killed in the US strikes. It warned in a statement that the attacks “will not go unpunished”.

US Central Command said the strikes were retaliation for “attacks against US and coalition forces by Iran and Iran-backed groups”.

US positions under fire

The strikes are the first the US has announced against Iran-backed forces in Iraq since those groups launched a flurry of attacks against US targets in response to Washington’s support for Israel in the ongoing Gaza war.

Washington has, however, targeted Iran-backed groups in neighbouring Syria, where its positions have also been under fire.

Since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, US forces deployed in Iraq and Syria have been attacked at least 66 times, causing injuries to more than 60 personnel, the Pentagon says.

The most recent of these attacks occurred on Monday, with Iran-backed militias firing a “close-range ballistic missile against US and coalition forces at Al-Asad Airbase”, injuring eight people and prompting the US retaliation, Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder said in a statement.

Iraqi spokesperson al-Awadi has denounced the Iran-backed groups whom Washington blames for repeatedly attacking its forces, saying they are engaging in “unlawful” activity and “jeopardising the national interest”.

The Ain al-Assad airbase in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, hosts forces of the US-led coalition fighting ISIL (ISIS) in Iraq.

There are roughly 2,500 US soldiers in Iraq and some 900 in Syria as part of efforts to prevent a resurgence of ISIL.

The Kremlin says only that it is ‘developing military relations’ with Iran as Ukraine reports ‘rare’ drone.

Russia has declined to comment on US claims that Iran could supply it with ballistic missiles. Ukraine said it shot down a “rare” Iran-built drone amid a barrage of attacks overnight.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on Wednesday that it had downed more than a dozen attack drones and a cruise missile. The overnight assault followed a report by authorities in the southern region of Odesa that a rare Iranian-designed attack and reconnaissance drone had been destroyed.

The air force said the overnight barrage was launched from southeast Russia and that a combination of air defence units in several central regions had “destroyed all 14 enemy Shahed-131/136 drones”.

“The X-22 cruise missile failed to reach its target and landed in Zaporizhia region in an open area, and the blast wave damaged private homes. There were no casualties,” it added in a statement.

Ukraine has been bracing for an increase in Russian attacks on critical infrastructure – particularly energy facilities – as subzero temperatures set in.

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure last winter left many in the cold and dark for long periods. Kyiv has since received more air defence systems from its allies.

‘Rare’ drone

Authorities in the Odesa region said on Tuesday that they had downed a “rare” Mohajer-6 drone.

“The reconnaissance and strike UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] was sneaking up on the Odesa region,” city officials said.

The statement on social media said Russia had purchased 30 of the drones last year and that air defence forces shot one down for the first time last September.

The Mohajer-6 is designed for reconnaissance and attack, can carry four guided missiles and has a range of up to 200km (124 miles) over 12 hours, the statement added.

Iran’s support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has long disturbed the US. The Kremlin declined on Wednesday to comment on a suggestion by White House spokesperson John Kirby that Iran may be considering providing Russia with ballistic missiles for use in its war.

“We are developing relations with Iran, including in the field of military-technical cooperation, but we do not comment on this information,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the accusation.

Kirby said the United States would monitor the situation between Iran and Russia and take appropriate action as needed.