Sri Lanka has told hundreds of thousands of Russians and some Ukrainians staying in the country to escape the war that they must leave in the next two weeks, immigration officers said.

The immigration controller issued a notice to the tourism ministry asking Russian and Ukrainian people staying on extended tourist visas to leave Sri Lanka within two weeks from 23 February.

Just over 288,000 Russians and nearly 20,000 Ukrainians have traveled to Sri Lanka in the last two years since the war began, according to official data.

Commissioner-General of Immigration said the “government is not granting further visa extensions” as the “flight situation has now normalised”.

However, the office of president Ranil Wickremesinghe ordered an investigation of the notice to the tourism ministry in an apparent bid to prevent diplomatic tensions.

The president’s office said that the notice had been issued without prior cabinet approval and the government had not officially decided to revoke the visa extensions, reported the Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror.

The exact number of visitors who extended their stay beyond the typical 30-day tourist visa duration remains unclear.

However, concerns have been raised over thousands of Russians and a smaller number of Ukrainians staying in the country for an extended period of time and even setting up their own restaurants and nightclubs.

Tourism minister Harin Fernando told Daily Mirror that the ministry has been receiving complaints of some Russian tourists running unregistered and illegal businesses in the southern part of the country.

Raids were conducted by the authorities following discussions with the Immigration Department, he said.

It comes amid a furious social media backlash over Russian-run businesses with a “whites only” policy that strictly bars locals. These businesses include bars, restaurants, water sports and vehicle hiring services.

In a bid to boost tourism and recover from its worst economic crisis since 2022, Sri Lanka began granting 30-days visas on arrival and extensions for up to six months.

In April 2022, the nation defaulted on its $46bn (£36 bn) foreign debt. The economic crisis triggered violent street protests for several months and ultimately culminated in the resignation of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa three months later.

Source: Independent

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The U.S. military should reassess its force posture in Europe and reduce its reliance on revolving door-style unit rotations, a major think tank’s analysts concluded in a Monday report.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ transnational threat team based their study on official documents, open-source materials and interviews with subject-matter experts.

The report’s authors recommend that the Army abandon the rotational armor brigade deployment model that “eats up … the Army’s force structure and long-term readiness.” Currently, two armor brigades are deployed to Europe. Instead, the report said, the service should permanently station an Armored Brigade Combat Team in Poland to replace one rotational unit and eliminate the remaining rotation altogether.

An Army Times investigation found that tank brigades and enlisted tank crew members were at higher risk of suicide than other soldiers in recent years, due in part to a decade of high operational tempo fueled by such non-combat deployments. The service once had armor brigades in Europe, but they were removed in the early 2010s.

Currently, the Army maintains a large presence of rotational forces in Europe. V Corps’ forward headquarters in Poznan, Poland oversees the three temporarily deployed brigade combat teams, which includes one light infantry brigade in addition to the two armor brigades. Other rotational forces include division headquarters, a combat aviation brigade, fires assets and sustainment units.

But the short-tour model has consequences, the report’s authors argued. They cost more money in the long-term compared to permanent bases, and they are less integrated into the continent’s culture and defense network. The deployment-based model negatively impacts soldiers, too — the authors said evidence suggests they “separate military personnel from their families,” causing “low morale” that can spawn “discipline issues and increased divorce rates.”

Army spokesperson Col. Roger Cabiness II told Army Times, however, that “forward basing of an ABCT is not a simple task.” Doing so would require diplomatic and legislative approvals both at home and abroad.

Despite efforts to reduce their operational tempo, the Army’s armor units continue to deploy at a high rate to fulfill the Europe requirements. The 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team cased its colors Monday, signifying its departure for an eight- or nine-month Europe rotation. The Iron Brigade’s new mission is beginning roughly 16 months after returning to Fort Carson, Colorado from another Europe deployment that wrapped in December 2022.

The report’s authors also recommended that the Air Force station an additional F-16 squadron in Germany; increase anti-submarine warfare capability and air defense forces; bolster stockpiles of prepositioned equipment and ammunition; and continue modernization, cyber, space and security cooperation efforts.

Source: Army Times

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With winter looming, many animals are busy looking for shelter from the cold, while others avoid it by migrating to warmer climates. The red fox does neither.

At home in the field, forest or even in a big city, foxes seem to thrive in all kinds of conditions, and of the dozen different fox species on Earth the National Wildlife Service says that none are as widespread as the red fox. 

Red fox can be found throughout Michigan in places where food and shelter are available, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources website. 

Well prepared for all but the worst winter has to offer, foxes don’t turn tail and run from the elements. 

With its warm fur coat, a red fox will stay out in all but the most severe weather, according to Nature Conservancy documents.

Instead of hiding out in a den, a red fox will usually just curl up right out in the open, the Nature Conservancy states. By wrapping its bushy tail around its nose, the fox can stay warm even when it’s completely covered by snow.

Finding food is a bigger problem in winter.

Most animals that hibernate, such as frogs and bears, are heavily dependent on food sources that disappear in winter. Foxes eat small animals that don’t hibernate — so they don’t have to hibernate, either.

This can be a challenge as prey are still hard to come by in winter, even for an animal as clever as a fox.

During the cold winter months, foxes rely on stored fat according to a report by the Michigan Nature Association. By packing on the pounds in summer and fall, this extra layer provides added insulation and also gives them energy when food is scarce. 

Though omnivorous most of the year, the scarcity of vegetables, insects and fruits means a greater reliance on hunting and scavenging strategies once things get cold, according to the Nature Conservancy.

To do this, the red fox utilizes its keen sense of hearing and smell.

The National Wildlife Service says that the fox can “hear a mouse squeaking from as far away as the length of a football field.”

It has a distinctive hunting technique, according to the Nature Conservancy: “freeze, listen, leap and pin down.”

During winter, a fox’s diet mostly consists of rabbits, mice, squirrels, rats and carrion, according to the Nature Conservancy, which estimates it needs to eat between 1 and 2 pounds each day.

If a fox manages to bite off more than it can chew, it will bury the surplus food in a shallow hole, or cache, for when it’s needed, Nature Conservancy documents state.

With little food to be found in winter, the search for a meal can bring these opportunistic animals closer to human dwellings, according to pest control companies like Critter Control.

“Although foxes don’t hibernate, they can den under porches or burrow under homes during their breeding season,” its website states.

Fox can be a problem for home owners and rural property owners. This is especially so when they associate people with food. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources offers the following prevention and control tips for property owners to avoid interacting with red foxes:

• Never intentionally feed wildlife.
• Eliminate all outside food sources, especially pet foods and bird feeders.
• Clear out any wood and brush piles or tall grass; they are good habitat for birds, rabbits and mice which may attract fox.
• Put garbage out the morning of pickup day.
• Never approach or touch a fox.
• Discourage a fox from denning on your property by creating a lot of human activity and disturbance in the area. 
• Do not allow small pets to roam freely when fox are present — consider keeping pets indoors and accompanying them outside, especially at night.
• If a fox dens on your property, they will most likely be solitary and confined to the den while the mother fox has her kits. During the spring the kits will emerge from the den and set out to find dens of their own. Scare the kits away and make sure food sources are removed. If they feel threatened, they will leave the property in search for a safer den site.

Source: Manistee News

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To understand the population dynamics of large mammals, biologists need to understand adult survival rates.

In a study in the January edition of the Journal of Wildlife Management, researchers used date from seven separate studies to quantify how a variety of factors, including weather conditions associated with climate change, are affecting mountain goat survival in Washington state.

Other articles look at monitoring a translocated population of collared brown lemurs, timing prescribed burns in ornate box turtle habitat, ethics assessment in wildlife management decision-making, and more.

Source: Wildlife

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A two-year experimental feeding program for starving Florida manatees will not immediately resume this winter as conditions have improved for the threatened marine mammals and the seagrass on which they depend, wildlife officials said.

Thousands of pounds of lettuce were fed to manatees that typically gather in winter months near the warm-water discharge of a power plant on Florida’s east coast. State and federal wildlife officials launched the program after pollution killed off vast seagrass beds, leading to a record of over 1,100 manatee deaths in 2021.

This season, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined the seagrass has started to recover in key winter foraging areas on the east coast, and that there appear to be fewer manatees in poor physical condition going into the stressful colder months.

“After careful consideration, the agencies are not providing manatees with a supplemental food source at the beginning of the winter season,” the FWC said Friday in a notice on its website. “However, staff developed a contingency plan which they will implement if needed.”

Last year, more than 400,000 pounds (181,000 kilograms) of lettuce, most of it donated, was fed to manatees near the power plant in Cocoa, Florida.

Manatees are gentle, round-tailed giants sometimes known as sea cows that weigh as much as 1,200 pounds (550 kilograms) and can live as long as 65 years. Manatees are Florida’s official state marine mammal but are listed as a threatened species, also facing peril from boat strikes and toxic red tide algae outbreaks along the state’s Gulf coast. Their closest living relative is the elephant.

The starvation problem — something the wildlife agencies call an “unusual mortality event” — has been traced to nitrogen, phosphorus and sewage pollution from agriculture, urban runoff and other sources that trigger algae blooms, which in turn kill off the seagrass that manatees and other sea creatures rely upon.

Millions of state and federal dollars are being poured into dozens of projects ranging from stormwater treatment upgrades to filter systems that remove harmful nitrates from water that goes into the Indian River Lagoon, the huge east coast estuary where manatees congregate in winter. Seagrass beds have been replanted.

There have been 505 manatee deaths recorded between Jan. 1 and Nov. 24 this year. That compares with 748 over the same time frame in 2022 and 1,027 the year before that, according to the wildlife commission. The Florida manatee overall population is estimated at between 8,350 and 11,730 animals.

The agencies are not ready to declare the starvation problem solved and intend to closely monitor manatees and their environment to decide whether feeding or other steps are needed.

“Feeding wild animals is a temporary emergency intervention and conservation measures like habitat restoration, improving habitat access, and increasing capacity for rehabilitation are considered long-term solutions,” the Florida wildlife agency said in its notice.

Meanwhile, environmental groups are pushing to have the manatee again listed as an endangered species, a higher classification than threatened that provides greater protections. A petition seeking the change filed with the Fish and Wildlife Service contends it was an error to take manatees off the endangered list in 2017, where they had been since 1973.

The service made an initial finding in October that placing the manatee back on the endangered list may be warranted, an interim step that requires further review. Environmental groups say the move is encouraging.

“This is the right call for manatees and everyone who cares about these charming creatures,” said Ragan Whitlock, a Florida-based attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “I applaud the Fish and Wildlife Service for taking the next step toward increased safeguards. Manatees need every ounce of protection they can get.”

Source: ABC News

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Utahn among the US Air Force crew members crash in Japan

One of the crew members of the Air Force Osprey aircraft that crashed last week in Japan was a Utahn.

The aircraft crashed on a training mission. Among the eight who passed away was 36-year-old Air Force Major Eric V. Spendlove from St. George.

Spendlove was a residency-trained flight surgeon and medical operations flight commander assigned to the 1st Special Operations Squadron, 353rd Special Operations Wing in Kadena Air Base, Japan.

According to officials, the search for remains is still ongoing.

More wildlife overpasses in Utah to come

The Utah Department of Transportation has been approved for a $5.5 million grant to build three new wildlife overpasses with intentions to reduce collisions with wildlife.

Utah is one of 17 states selected to receive funding for wildlife crossing projects. This funding was made possible due to a new program in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration.

This funding will go towards constructing wildlife crossings over busy roads, adding fencing and more tracking and mapping tools.

Source: UPR News

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OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is seeking information from the public about 17 wildlife species as part of a periodic review of wildlife on Washington’s endangered and protected species lists. The Department will use the information gathered during this process to inform Periodic Status Reviews for these state-listed species.

“Public input is an essential part of the Periodic Status Review process,” said Taylor Cotten, WDFW conservation assessment manager. “Your input will help us assess the current status of these species and whether a different conservation classification should be recommended.”

WDFW is currently seeking information about the yellow-billed cuckoo, tufted puffin, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit, fisher, sea otter, grizzly bear, Oregon silver-spot butterfly, Mazama pocket gopher; green, loggerhead, and leatherback sea turtles; and blue, fin, right, sei, and sperm whales.

WDFW is specifically looking for information about the species’ demographics, current habitat conditions, threats and trends to populations, and existing conservation measures that have benefitted the species. New data collected since the last status review for the species is helpful information for biologists.

“We are interested in obtaining information from the public, including non-governmental organizations, universities, private researchers and naturalists,” Cotten said. “Such groups and individuals could have valuable data, such as annual population counts or privately developed habitat management plans.”

The public may submit written comments via email or by mailing Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ATTN: Taylor Cotten, P.O. Box 43141, Olympia, WA 98504. Further public comment opportunities will be available during each individual species’ status review process.

All members of the public are invited to share their perspectives and participate in WDFW public feedback opportunities regardless of race, color, sex, age, national origin, language proficiency, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, or basis of disability.

The current comment opportunity is part of a process to update status reports for each species and determine whether the species warrants its current conservation classification. After developing the status review, Department staff will brief the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission on each species’ status and the Department’s classification recommendation. Changes to a species’ classification are subject to the public rule making process.

Department staff will post updated status reports to WDFW’s website as they are completed.

WDFW works to preserve, protect, and perpetuate fish, wildlife, and ecosystems while providing sustainable fish and wildlife recreational and commercial opportunities.

Source: WDFW News

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Frankfurt (3/12 – 12)

The relatively rapid cohesion of disparate nations, historically competitive or even at war with one another, into the European Union came about in part because of the ongoing threat from the Soviet Union. The specter of a tank invasion from Warsaw Pact nations, today forgotten, was such a reality that the German government kept a major portion of its gold bullion across the Atlantic.

The USSR, an ally in World War II after being double-crossed by Hitler – remember the “Non-Aggression Pact signed in Moscow by von Ribbentrop and Molotov – was soon appraised as a danger in itself when, at the conclusion of hostilities, it ringed itself with unwilling “satellites”. After having suffered under brutal Nazi rule, Poland, Czechoslovakia and others found themselves subservient to Moscow, often occupied by Russian troops.

Thus in 1949 NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was established as an intergovernmental military alliance, encompassing 29 European countries and two North American ones. In fact it was an American creation and continues until today under US domination. Its primary purpose was stated as follows: “to safeguard the security of its members and promote peace and stability in Europe.”

A wry summary of the purpose of NATO is “…to keep the Americans in, the Germans down, and the Russians out”; this is often attributed to Lord Hastings Lionel Ismay, the first NATO Secretary General. The quote has since become a common way to describe the dynamics of NATO. The Federal Republic of Germany continues to host American military bases, nearly 40,000 American troops and nuclear weapons, just as it did during Post-WW II Occupation.

The common belief of military strategists is that a paranoid, expansionist USSR, under the tyranny of Joseph Stalin, would inevitably be at war with the democratic nations of the west. Some Soviet leaders and military may have assumed the same, although it never came to pass. The politicians talk tough, but those in charge of the weapons of mass destruction are justifiably terrified of them.

American nuclear weapons were stationed in Europe, pointed at the Soviets, in case of a sneak attack; the French, having decided to refrain from joining NATO, since President Charles de Gaulle considered it too much of an American-dominated organization, had their own, a “Force de Frappe”, part of a triad of air-, sea- and land-based nuclear weapons intended for “dissuasion”, the French term for “deterrence”.

With the exception of some strongly-anti-Communist military men, nuclear war was generally considered to be impractical, as even a small number of detonations could effectively paralyze any nation, and airtight defense against nuclear attack was simply impossible, once ICBMs proliferated. At the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, General Curtis LeMay urged President Kennedy to launch an all-out attack on the Soviets; Kennedy mused, out loud, “Can I afford to lose twenty million voters?” that being a conservative estimate of the deaths that would result from a Russian retaliatory attack on the US mainland.

Following the totally unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, notable as a colossal failure on the part of western intelligence organizations to anticipate, NATO was faced with finding a new raison d’etre to justify its enormous budget – mostly born by the Americans, whose military-industrial complex is the single greatest support for a deindustrialized economy, once manufacturing was offshored to the People’s Republic of China, Korea, Vietnam and other cheap-labor countries.

The much-abused Finland joined NATO in April 2023, in part because of the conflict in Ukraine. The clever Europeans, offering tempting goodies including economic benefits and modern weaponry, have managed to lure in former Soviet satellites Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary (members since 1999), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Bulgaria (all joining in 2004). It is clearly a valiant attempt at a historical “containment” of Russia – including the “oddball member” of Türkiye, a ferociously Islamist republic dedicated to the conquest of an infidel Europe, not to mention a diehard enemy of fellow NATO member Greece.

The clearly-stated American objective, in the words of a Pentagon document, is “total spectrum dominance”, with the USA as the single superpower on the face of the planet. Russia, possessing some 6000 nuclear weapons on land and at sea, is an inconvenient obstacle to the achievement of this goal; the unexpected rise of the People’s Republic of China as a military and naval force, financed by the profits from export sales across the globe, adds another challenge to American dominance. China never had a blue-water navy; it has a respectable one now, thanks in part to the Russians, as NATO has unexpectedly pushed the two legacy adversaries into a marriage of convenience.

The “Special Military Operation” of the Russian Federation in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, in response to reported repression and slaughter of Russian speakers in the Donbass from 2014, has been a godsend to both NATO and the western military-industrial complex, with a ready market for its tanks, helicopters, 155mm shells and other armaments. The trigger for the Russian invasion was the clearly-stated stance of Ukraine to become a member of NATO, which Russia considers an existential threat: no way will they countenance nuclear missiles three minutes’ flight from the Kremlin. While the Americans are cheering Ukraine on (while sending no soldiers to fight there), the Europeans, perhaps with a memory of what it was like to be bombed, are less enthusiastic about approving Ukrainian membership: Article 5 of the Mutual Defense Agreement states that an attack on any NATO member will require all the rest to pile in and retaliate. Europe does not fancy turning into a radioactive ashtray. The United States of America simply cannot imagine it, never having been bombed to bits.

“’Equipment that defends America and is made in America. Patriot missiles for air defense batteries, made in Arizona. Artillery shells manufactured in 12 states across the country, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas. And so much more,’ the politician stated. ‘You know, just as in World War II, today patriotic American workers are building the arsenal of democracy and serving the cause of freedom.’

“Ukraine has been striking Russian logistics hubs using Lockheed Martin’s Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GMLRS, that are partially made in Lufkin, Texas — a city of 34,000 people that saw its paper mill and foundry close over the last two decades.” [case study in deindustrialization.]

“It is represented by Republican Rep. Pete Sessions, a Ukraine aid supporter, who said Friday that the U.S. has an obligation to protect Ukraine under its post-Cold War security commitments.

“The U.S. has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers that fire GMLRS and are made in Camden, Ark., a town of about 10,000 people that is 100 miles south of Little Rock.

“Republican Rep. Bruce Westerman, who represents Camden, said critics of government spending can be surprised to know some of that spending is going back to communities like his.”

In the opinion of many of these fine folks, killing Russians is a great idea, particularly when it is such a profitable one. That Russia will escalate with nuclear weapons, obliging NATO to do the same, is dismissed as ridiculous.

As ever, to understand the deep dynamics of the situation, simply “follow the money”.

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CAMERON PARISH, La. (KPLC) – Deep in the heart of Southwest Louisiana, Visit Lake Charles, in collaboration with the Louisiana Office of Tourism, is playing host to a national television crew.

Peter Greenberg Worldwide has set its lenses on Rockefeller National Wildlife Refuge in Cameron Parish.

The 12-person team is in action, capturing the best of the Bayou State for the PBS program “Hidden Louisiana,” led by CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg.

Today marks day six in a seven-day expedition spanning the entire state. The final product aims to showcase the state’s culture and beauty.

“I don’t look at this as a destination, I look at this as a way of life, and a lifestyle, and a culture that needs to be exposed,” Greenberg said.

The production crew wraps up filming Friday with a sunrise kayaking tour of Lake Martin just outside of Breaux Bridge.

“Hidden Louisiana” is set to air this upcoming spring and will be streamed later in the year on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

Source: KPCL TV

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Two international human rights organizations have called on the Tajikistan government to immediately release jailed lawyer and human rights activist Manuchehr Kholiknazarov, as well as other activists and journalists.

The International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) and the international non-profit organization CIVICUS, which bills itself as “a global alliance aimed at strengthening the action of citizens and civil society around the world,” in their message published specially on the eve of Independence Day, September 8, focus on the fact that Tajik human rights activist and civil society activist Manuchehr Kholiknazarov was falsely sentenced to a long prison term. “The government of Tajikistan, which is celebrating Independence Day, must immediately release him and everyone who has been unjustly imprisoned,” the appeal says.

The International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) and the international non-profit organization CIVICUS, focus in their message on the fact that Tajik human rights activist and civil society activist Manuchehr Kholiknazarov was falsely sentenced to a long prison term and that the government of Tajikistan must immediately release him and everyone who has been unjustly imprisoned.

The head of the Pamir Lawyers Association, Manuchehr Kholiknazarov, was detained in May 2022 after protests by residents of Gorno-Badakhshan and sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of “collaboration with the criminal community and banned organizations.”

Kholiknazarov was a member of the “Commission 44,” which was created by GBAO activists for a joint investigation with investigators from the General Prosecutor’s Office of the murder of Gulbiddin Ziyobekov, a resident of the Roshtkala district, and the November 2021 events in Khorog.

International human rights organizations criticized the fact that “the trial of Kholiknazarov took place behind closed doors and did not meet international standards of justice.”

They called the arrest and sentencing of Manuchehr Kholiknazarov a continuation of the Tajik government’s pressure on civil society activists, ranking Tajikistan among the most repressive countries in the world.

“The Tajik authorities, using fabricated charges, have repeatedly accused journalists, bloggers, activists and critics of the government of “extremism” and “terrorism.” – says the joint appeal of IPHR and CIVICUS.

Brigitte Dufour, director of IPHR, said Manuchehr Kholiknazarov has been in prison for 15 months simply because he defended people’s rights and fought injustice. “He’s not the only one. Tajikistan must immediately release Manuchehr and all other human rights defenders who have been imprisoned for defending people’s rights,” she said.

While human rights organizations have repeatedly demanded that the authorities release Badakhshan activists, calling them fighters for justice, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Supreme Court classify them as “members and leaders of criminal groups.”

How the Tajik authorities responded to the new appeal and demands of human rights organizations regarding the release of Manuchehr Kholiknazarov and other activists is unknown.

This year, the international organization CIVICUS Monitor in its review ranked Tajikistan, along with Turkmenistan, China and Syria, as a “closed country”. This was the worst rating for the country.

Over the past year and a half in Tajikistan, eight journalists and bloggers have been imprisoned for periods ranging from 7 to 21 years for collaborating with banned organizations. Charges that human rights activists and the prisoners themselves called fabricated.

Source : Radio Liberty

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