Russian general shot and wounded in Moscow, in latest attack on top military leaders

A Russian general serving as deputy head of Russian military intelligence was shot and seriously wounded in Moscow on Friday, officials said – the latest in a series of attacks on top military figures.

An unknown attacker fired several shots at Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev in a residential building on Volokolamskoye Highway in Moscow and fled the scene, a Russian Investigative Committee spokesperson said in a statement.

The Russian Investigative Committee said its officers are at the scene and investigators are searching for the shooter. The committee has opened a criminal case into what it called the attempted murder of a high-ranking defense ministry official.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Ukrainian government of being behind the attempted murder of Alekseyev, without citing evidence.

Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the shooting.

Alekseyev has been transferred to a city hospital, the Investigative Committee statement said. He is in intensive care and in a serious condition following the shooting, according to Russian state media.

Alekseyev, 64, is the first deputy head of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate, the GRU. The Russian general was one of several GRU officials sanctioned by the United States in 2016 for wide-ranging malicious cyber activity directed at undermining US democratic processes.

He was also sanctioned by the European Union in January 2019 following anerve agent attackin Salisbury, England, which the British government said was carried out by GRU agents to poison a former Russian spy. The EU sanctions describe Alekseyev as "responsible for the possession, transport and use in Salisbury… of the toxic nerve agent 'Novichok' by officers from the GRU," along with sanctioned Russian military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.

Alexseyev has had significant involvement in the war in Ukraine, serving as one of Russia's negotiators in thesecret talkswith a member of the Ukrainian parliament to end Russia's 2022 siege of the strategic city of Mariupol, Ukraine.

A Ukrainian intelligence report on Alexseyev claims he has been responsible for "the organization of the preparation of initial data for launching missile and air strikes on Ukrainian territory," including on civilian targets, as well as being responsible for theillegal referendain the occupied Ukrainian territories. Ukraine has also accused him of war crimes in Syria.

In 2023, Alekseyev was sent by the Russian military to negotiate withYevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private mercenary group, during the Wagner group's mutiny. At the time, he called Prigozhin's actions a coup as well as "a stab in the back of the country and the president."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a Friday press briefing that the intelligence services were investigating the attack and would report any findings to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He added: "We wish the general survival and recovery."

"It is clear that such military leaders and highly qualified specialists are at risk during a war," Peskov said when asked about the security of military officials' residences. "That's a matter for the intelligence services."

A neighbor of Alekseyev told Reuters that she heard several shots around 6:30 a.m. local time Friday. The woman, who only gave her first name as Alexandra, said she "woke up because of shots" and rushed outside the residential building alongside other neighbors. Another resident had already called police, who arrived by 7 a.m., she said.

Several prominent Russians have been killed by explosive devices or shot dead in Moscow inattacksblamed on the Ukrainian security services since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russian strikes continue

Friday's shooting in Moscow comes one day after Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators met for trilateral talks in the United Arab Emirates, where the Russian delegation was led by their military intelligence chief Kostyukov.

The Kremlin on Friday described the trilateral talks as "both constructive and challenging."

Ukraine's negotiation team also said the talks were "truly constructive" in a comment to news agency RBC-Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said they'd "agreed that the next meeting will be held in the near future."

But beyond a prisoner swap that took place on Thursday, which saw 314 POWs exchanged, no major breakthroughs were announced by either side.

Despite the diplomatic engagement, Russia's attacks on Ukraine have continued this week.

At least three Ukrainian people were killed and 15 people injured in Russian attacks within the last day, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday. Russia launched two ballistic missiles, five cruise missiles and hundreds of drones overnight into Friday, hitting the Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Kharkiv.

In Zaporizhzhia, a Russian attack on Friday heavily damaged an animal shelter, according to the city council, which released video showing several animals injured or killed.

Throughout the winter – the coldest one Ukraine has experienced in 20 years – Russia's military has also intensified itsassault on the country's energy sector.

In the capital Kyiv, where temperatures are below freezing on Friday, 1,100 high-rise residential buildings remain without power, according to local authorities. In the two districts of Kyiv that have been hit hard by attacks on energy infrastructure, about half the schools are operating without heat.

"The Kremlin is doubling down on war crimes, deliberately striking homes and civilian infrastructure," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday, as she announced the EU is tabling its 20th package of sanctions against Russia.

"This is not the conduct of a state seeking peace. It is the behaviour of a nation waging a war of attrition against a civilian innocent population," von der Leyen said.

This is story has been updated with developments.

CNN's Victoria Butenko and Svitlana Vlasova contributed to this report.

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byNeo

in Celebrity, Lifestyle, Politics, ShowBiz, Sport

February 06, 2026

Russian general shot and wounded in Moscow, in latest attack on top military leaders

A Russian general serving as deputy head of Russian military intelligence was shot and seriously wounded in Moscow on Friday, officials sai...

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Thousands of Libyans gather for the funeral of Gadhafi’s son who was shot and killed this week

BANI WALID, Libya (AP) — Thousands converged on Friday in northwestern Libya for the funeral ofSeif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son and one-time heir apparent ofLibya'slate leader Moammar Gadhafi, who waskilled earlier this weekwhen four masked assailants stormed into his home and fatally shot him.

Libya Gadhafi Son

Mourners carried his coffin in the town of Bani Walid, 146 kilometers (91 miles) southeast of the capital, Tripoli, as well as large photographs of both Seif al-Islam, who was known mostly by his first name, and his father.

The crowd also waved plain green flags, Libya's official flag from 1977 to 2011 under Gadhafi, who ruled the country for more than 40 years before being toppled in a NATO-backedpopular uprisingin 2011. Gadhafi was killed later that yearin his hometown of Sirteas fighting in Libya escalated into a full-blown civil war.

As the funeral procession got underway and the crowds swelled, a small group of supporters took Seif al-Islam's coffin away and later performed the funeral prayers and buried him.

Attackers at his home

Seif al-Islam, 53, was killed on Tuesday inside his home in the town of Zintan, 136 kilometers (85 miles) southwest of the capital, Tripoli, according to Libyan's chief prosecutor's office.

Authorities said an initial investigation found that he was shot to death but did not provide further details. Seif al-Islam's political team later released a statement saying "four masked men" had stormed his house and killed him in a "cowardly and treacherous assassination," after disabling security cameras.

Seif al-Islam was captured by fighters in Zintan late in 2011 while trying to flee to neighboring Niger. The fighters released him in June 2017, after one of Libya's rival governments granted him amnesty.

"The pain of loss weighs heavily on my heart, and it intensifies because I can't bid him farewell from within my homeland — a pain that words can't ease," Seif al-Islam's brother Mohamed Gadhafi, who lives in exile outside Libya though his current whereabouts are unknown, wrote on Facebook on Friday.

"But my solace lies in the fact that the loyal sons of the nation are fulfilling their duty and will give him a farewell befitting his stature," the brother wrote.

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Since the uprising that toppled Gadhafi, Libya plunged into chaos during which the oil-rich North African country split, with rival administrations now in the east and west, backed by various armed groups and foreign governments.

Gadhafi's heir-apparent

Seif al-Islam was Gadhafi's second-born son and was seen as the reformist face of the Gadhafi regime — someone with diplomatic outreach who had worked to improve Libya's relations with Western countries up until the 2011 uprising.

The United Nations imposed sanctions on Seif al-Islam that included a travel ban and an assets freeze for his inflammatory public statements encouraging violence against anti-Gadhafi protesters during the 2011 uprising. The International Criminal Court later charged him with crimes against humanity related to the2011 uprising.

In July 2021, Seif al-Islam told the New York Times that he's considering returning to Libya's political scene after a decade of absence during which he observed Middle East politics and reportedly reorganized his father's political supporters.

He condemned the country's new leaders. "There's no life here. Go to the gas station — there's no diesel,″ Seif al-Islam told the Times.

In November 2021, he announced his candidacy in the country's presidential election in a controversial move that was met with outcry from anti-Gadhafi political forces in western and eastern Libya.

The country's High National Elections Committeedisqualified him, but the election wasn't held over disputes between rival administrations and armed groups.

Associated Press writer Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.

byNeo

in Celebrity, Lifestyle, Politics, ShowBiz, Sport

February 06, 2026

Thousands of Libyans gather for the funeral of Gadhafi’s son who was shot and killed this week

BANI WALID, Libya (AP) — Thousands converged on Friday in northwestern Libya for the funeral ofSeif al-Islam Gadhafi, the...

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Jet fuel spill from Atlanta airport dumps 10,000 gallons in Flint River

A fuel leak atHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airportlast week dumped 10,000 gallons ofjet fuelinto the Flint River, environmental officials said.

Griffin residents were warned not todrink their wateron Jan. 30, and Governor Brian Kemp issued aState of Emergencyfor Spalding County to start cleanup efforts.

Kemp's executive order said there was a "significant release of fuel at or near" the airport.

How did the fuel spill from the airport?

The fuel leak occurred when a fuel pit hydrant attached to a fuel systempipeline burstnorth of Terminal T at Hartsfield-Jackson, the EPA told outlets.

The fuel entered theairport's storm water systemwhich flows to the Flint River, south of the airport. The Flint River is used as a primary water source for Spalding County.

According to the EPA, cleanup crews had removed 80% of the jet fuel from the river as of Wednesday, or about 8,300 gallons of the 10,000. They also collected 28,000 gallons of water that had come in contact with petroleum and some debris that had become contaminated.

Is the water in Griffin safe to use?

The water in Griffin wasdeemed safeto use the same day as the spill, later in the evening, but some residents believed the water still had an unpleasant smell.

Thursday night, a city official said that tests had been run on the water to ensure safety, and found there waspropylene glycol presentin the clear well. The official said when it mixes with chlorine and gets into the city's distribution system, it can smell like fuel. Propylene glycol, however, is safe to consume and is found in products used every day.

The city official said Thursday that every test run on the water supply since last Friday has come back negative for any fuel or fuel derivatives in the water. The test results will be madepublicly availableon the city's website.

Previous spills in Flint River

The headwaters of the Flint River, which flows south all the way to Florida, begin from seepage around the area of the Atlanta airport, meaning any contaminants from that area can reach the river more easily.

There have been multiple incidents ofcontamination of the riverfrom the area of the airport, including a fuel spill in September 2021 that dumped 1,300 gallons into the river, according to the Southern Conservation Trust.

Other than the airport, the surrounding area has high industrial activity, posing a threat to the Flint River as a safe water source, the trust said.

Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today's Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:EPA says 10,000 gallons of jet fuel spilled from Atlanta airport

byNeo

in Celebrity, Lifestyle, Politics, ShowBiz, Sport

February 06, 2026

Jet fuel spill from Atlanta airport dumps 10,000 gallons in Flint River

A fuel leak atHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airportlast week dumped 10,000 gallons ofjet fuelinto the Flint Ri...

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Cuba's power outages and other top photos from Latin America and the Caribbean

Jan. 30 - Feb. 1, 2026

Cubansgetting by without power as outages persistand tensions with US escalate.Argentina firesravage pristine Patagonia forests.After Mexico bans vapes, cartels tighten their grip on a booming market.

This gallery was curated by photo editor Anita Baca, based in Mexico City.

AP photography:https://apnews.com/photography

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/apnews

byNeo

in Celebrity, Lifestyle, Politics, ShowBiz, Sport

February 05, 2026

Cuba's power outages and other top photos from Latin America and the Caribbean

Jan. 30 - Feb. 1, 2026 Cubansgetting by without power as outages persistand tensions with US escalate.Ar...

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Giant snails and tiny insects threaten the South's rice and crawfish farms

KAPLAN, La. (AP) — Josh Courville has harvested crawfish his whole life, but these days, he's finding a less welcome catch in some of the fields he manages in southern Louisiana.

Climate Rice and Crawfish Pests

Snails. Big ones.

For every crawfish Courville dumps out of a trap, three or four snails clang onto the boat's metal sorting table. About the size of a baseball when fully grown, apple snails stubbornly survive all kinds of weather in fields, pipes and drainage ditches and can lay thousands of bubblegum-colored eggs every month.

"It's very disheartening," Courville said. "The most discouraging part, actually, is not having much control over it."

Apple snails are just one example of how invasive species can quickly become a nightmare for farmers.

In Louisiana, where rice and crawfish are often grown together in the same fields, there's now a second threat: tiny insects called delphacids that can deal catastrophic damage to rice plants. Much about these snails and insects is still a mystery, and researchers are trying to learn more about what's fueling their spread, from farming methods andpesticidestoglobal shippingandextreme weather.

Experts aren't sure what roleclimate changemay play, but they say a warming world generally makes it easier for pests to spread to other parts of the country if they gain a foothold in the temperate South.

"We are going to have more bugs that are happier to live here if it stays warmer here longer," said Hannah Burrack, professor and chair of the entomology department at Michigan State University.

It's an urgent problem because in a tough market for rice, farmers who rotate the rice and crawfish crops together need successful harvests of both to make ends meet. And losses to pests could mean higher rice prices for U.S. consumers, said Steve Linscombe, director of The Rice Foundation, which does research and education outreach for the U.S. rice industry.

Inconvenience, stress and higher costs for farmers

Courville manages fields for Christian Richard, a sixth-generation rice farmer in Louisiana. Both started noticing apple snails after a bad flood in 2016. Then the population ballooned.

In spring, at rice planting time, the hungry snails found a feast.

"It was like this science fiction movie," Richard said, describing how each snail made its own little whirlpool as it popped out of the wet ground. "They would start on those tender rice plants, and they destroyed a 100-acre field."

Louisiana State University scientists estimate that about 78 square miles (202 square kilometers) in the state are now regularly seeing snails.

To keep the rice from becoming a snail buffet, Richard's team and many other rice and crawfish farmers dealing with the pests start with a dry field to give the rice plants the chance to grow a few inches and get stronger, then flood the field after.

It's a planting method they'd already used on some fields, even before the snails arrived. But now, with the snails, that's essentially their only option, and it's the most expensive one.

They also can't get rid of the snails entirely. Many of the pesticides that might work on snails can also hurt crustaceans. People directly eat both rice and crawfish, unlike crops grown for animal feed, so there are fewer chemicals farmers can use on them. One option some farmers are testing, copper sulfate, can easily add thousands of dollars to an operation's costs, Courville said.

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It all means "lower production, decreased revenue from that, and increased cost with the extra labor," Richard said.

Cecilia Gallegos, who has worked as a crawfish harvester for the past three years, said the snails have made her job more difficult in the past year.

"You give up more time," she said of having to separate the crawfish from the snails, or occasionally plucking them out of sacks if they roll in by mistake. Work that already stretched as late as 3 a.m. in the busy springtime season can now take even longer.

The snails separated from the crawfish get destroyed later.

One of the most significant pest appearances since the 1950s

To look for pests much smaller than the apple snails, entomologists whip around heavy-duty butterfly nets and deploy Ghostbusters-style specimen-collecting vacuums. Since last year, they've been sampling for rice delphacids, tiny insects that pierce the rice plants, suck out their sap and transmit a rice virus that worsens the damage.

It's worrying for Louisiana because they've seen how bad it can get next door in Texas, where delphacids surged last year. Yields dropped by up to 50% in what's called the ratoon crop, the second rice crop of the year, said The Rice Foundation's Linscombe. Texas farmers are projected to grow rice on only half the acres they did last year, and some are worried they won't be able to get bank loans, said Tyler Musgrove, a rice extension specialist at the Louisiana State University AgCenter.

Musgrove said entomologists believe almost all rice fields in Louisiana had delphacids by September and October of last year. By then, most of the rice had already been harvested, so they're waiting to see what happens this year.

"The rice delphacid this past year was probably one of the most significant entomological events to occur in U.S. rice since the '50s when it first appeared," Musgrove said. Delphacids had eventually disappeared after that outbreak until now. It's been identified in four of the six rice-producing states — Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi — but it's not clear yet whether it's made a permanent winter home in the U.S.

Scientists are still in the early stages of advising farmers on what to do about the resurgence of the destructive bugs without adding costly or crawfish-harming pesticides. And they're also starting to study whether rice and crawfish grown together will see different impacts than rice grown by itself.

"I think everyone agrees, it's not going to be a silver bullet approach. Like, oh, we can just breed for it or we could just spray our way out of it," said Adam Famoso, director of Louisiana State University's Rice Research Station.

Climate change makes it harder to plan around pests

Burrack, of Michigan State, said that climate change is making it harder for modeling that has helped predict how big populations of invasive pests will get and when they may affect certain crops. And that makes it harder for farmers to plan around them.

"From an agricultural standpoint, that's generally what happens when you get one of these intractable pests," Burrack said. "People are no longer able to produce the thing that they want to produce in the place that they're producing it."

Follow Melina Walling on X@MelinaWallingand Bluesky@melinawalling.bsky.social. Follow Joshua A. Bickel onInstagram,BlueskyandX@joshuabickel.

The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP'sstandardsfor working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas atAP.org.

byNeo

in Celebrity, Lifestyle, Politics, ShowBiz, Sport

February 05, 2026

Giant snails and tiny insects threaten the South's rice and crawfish farms

KAPLAN, La. (AP) — Josh Courville has harvested crawfish his whole life, but these days, he's finding a less welcome ...

Read More