Polar Bears Take Over Abandoned Research Station in Russian Arctic

The animals hop between windowless buildings and make themselves at home

A group of polar bears have taken over an arctic Russian island and now live among its abandoned buildings.

Dozens of bears roam freely on Kolyuchin Island, in Russia's Chukchi Sea, hopping between windowless buildings and making themselves at home.

The 11km island off Russia's far eastern coast has no human population and was once used as a Soviet weather station.

But the Kolyuchin station was abandoned following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. 

New drone footage, captured by photographer Vadim Makhorov, show the large bears inside empty homes, resting on porches and looking out of windows. 

Around 20 bears are running around the island he said, adding there is a nearby bed of walruses. 

Birds eye photographs show deserted buildings scattered across the island, with bits of debris dispersed.

Dozens of polar bears roam freely on the abandoned Russian arctic Kolyuchin Island

A group of polar bears have taken over the island and now live among its abandoned buildings

A group of up to 20 bears lives undisturbed on Kolyuchin Island, in Russia's Chukchi Sea

Others show the bears relaxing, yawning, lying on stairs and sitting on the floor.

Some peer through windows while others are seen exploring the island's terrain. 

'Bears are no strangers to the feeling of comfort and coziness,' he wrote in a social media post. 'They perceive homes as shelter.'

In another post, he wrote: 'Polar bears like to occupy at home. This happens not only in Kolyuchin. Any polar base with its door open is at risk of getting new furry inhabitants. 

'For example, at the ZFI in Pacific Bay, where the very first Soviet polar station is preserved, there are also many such houses.

'And before you feel calm on the base, you need to walk and look at every house, make some noise so that the bears move away from people.

'Polar bears also try to break into residential polar bases. To prevent this from happening, polarists put bars with spikes on the windows, put 'bear slippers' - boards with nails in front of the door.

'Bears certainly don't step on nails or get traumatized. They see them and just don't climb the door.'

The 11km island off Russia's far eastern coast has no human population and was once used as a Soviet weather station

New drone footage show the large bears inside homes, resting on porches and looking out of windows

Around 20 bears are thought to be running around the island, photographer Vadim Makhorov said

Some bears peer through windows while others are seen exploring the island's terrain

One polar bear can be seen poking its face towards the drone 

The houses, which have been taken over by the bears, were abandoned when the Soviet Union fell

While some were pictured exploring the islands, others were spotted taking shelter in the empty houses

Bears are no strangers to the feeling of comfort and coziness,' he wrote in a social media post. 'They perceive homes as shelter,' photographer Vadim Makhorov said

Photographs show the bears relaxing, yawning, lying on stairs, sitting on the floor and exploring the environment

The bears roam around the island which has deserted buildings and bits of debris scattered across

'Polar bears like to occupy at home. This happens not only in Kolyuchin. Any polar base with its door open is at risk of getting new furry inhabitants,' Makhorov said

The polar bears on Kolyuchin Island are not the first to take over an arctic weather station.

Scientists were forced to drive away dozens that besieged a station in Troynoy island, in the Kara Sea north of Siberia in 2016.

Five scientists based at the station were encircled by 10 adult bears and some cubs.

Two resident dogs were killed by the bears, while one female bear spent the night beneath its windows. 

A nearby ship reached the island and supplied the scientists with dogs and flares to scare them off. 

Before the ship arrived, scientists were advised to 'use extreme caution' and to remain inside the station.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15198395/The-polar-bears-taken-Russian-island-live-buildings.html

Afghan KnifeMan Attacks a Group of Toddlers in Germany, Stabs 2 Year Old to Death

An Afghan who stabbed a two-year-old and a father to death while attacking a group of toddlers played motivational fighting music on his phone before he launched the rampage.

The man, named as Enamullah O, carried out the deadly knife attack in a park in the southern German city of Aschaffenburg, killing the boy and a 41-year-old father who tried to protect the children.

Three others were wounded when the Afghan set upon the daycare group with a 30cm kitchen knife.

The 28-year-old, who is on trial for murder and attempted murder, played 'motivating battle music' before the attack in Schöntal Park, prosecutor Juergen Buntschuh told a court in Aschaffenburg.

The video titled 'Motivating Battle Music' on YouTube was played shortly before he attacked the group which comprised of five toddlers from a kindergarten class and two teachers.

Yannis, a two-year-old boy, was fatally stabbed five times, and the man slain by the attacker was stabbed four times.

A two-year-old Syrian girl and a 72-year-old man who had also tried to protect the children were reportedly stabbed, while a teacher broke her arm.

The group were about to turn around because a teacher believed he was acting suspiciously by blaring music loudly. 

An Afghan man who stabbed a two-year-old and a father to death while attacking a group of toddlers played motivational fighting music on his phone as he launched the rampage

Yannis, the two-year-old boy, was fatally stabbed five times after being attacked by the Afghan 

Prosecutors said he tore hats and scarves from the children's heads before pulling one from their stroller and stabbing him to death.   

The suspect, known to police for previous assaults, property damage and resisting officers, was arrested near the scene. A bloodied knife was found nearby.

Facing the court in handcuffs and foot shackles, the Afghan mostly stared at the table and yawned frequently.

Prosecutors are seeking to have him permanently confined to a psychiatric facility.

Not long after the attack, German media reported that the authorities had tried and failed in 2023 to deport the man to Bulgaria - the first EU country he had arrived in.

Enamullah O, 28, was arrested near the scene after attacking a group of children in a park in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria

In August 2024, he allegedly threatened a fellow resident at an accommodation for asylum seekers in the nearby town of Alzenau with a butcher's knife and caused her minor injuries.

The Aschaffenburg stabbings, which followed a string of other bloody attacks in Germany, provoked intense political reactions.

Friedrich Merz, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democrats who went on to become chancellor, promised a 'fundamental' overhaul of asylum rules and strict border controls if elected.

About a week later, Merz, then the opposition leader, relied on support from Alternative for Germany (AfD) to pass a non-binding resolution through parliament demanding stricter immigration and refugee policies.

Merz's decision to rely on AfD support broke a longstanding taboo in German politics.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15198469/Afghan-played-motivational-fighting-music-phone-attacking-group-toddlers-knife-killing-one-father-tried-stop-him.html

The Afghan man, deemed psychologically ill, faced a German court over the deadly knife attack on a group of toddlers that his defence lawyer labelled the 'deed of a madman'. 

The suspect in the killing, named by German authorities as Enamullah O., arrived in court for the start of his trial 

Five toddlers from a kindergarten class were in a public park, accompanied by two teachers, when the assailant attacked them with a kitchen knife.

He also injured a two-year-old Syrian girl, one of the teachers as well as a 72-year-old man who had also tried to protect the children.

The two-year-old boy was stabbed five times, and the man slain by the attacker was stabbed four times.

The murders rocked Germany and sparked heated debates about immigration 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15197219/Afghan-man-stabbed-two-year-old-man-death-attacking-group-toddlers-Germany.html

Coup in Madagascar, Historically a Main Center of the Muslim Slave Trade

The Capsat military unit launched a coup. Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar.

CAPSAT is the name of a unit in the Malagasy military, formally known in English as the Personnel and Services Administration Corps. Their camp is located near the national capital of Antananarivo. They are not a frontline combat unit, but they are considered an elite division of the military, charged with logistical and technical support.

CAPSAT entered the politics of Madagascar once before, in 2009, when the unit declared control over the entire military command structure and ousted President Marc Ravalomanana. 

Madagascar President is forced to flee his country 'over fears for his life' after weeks of Gen-Z led anti-Government protests

The protests have been led by young Madagascans

The President of Madagascar has fled the country fearing for his life in the wake of a military rebellion and Gen Z-led protests.

Andry Rajoelina said he was sheltering in a 'safe space' in a speech which was broadcast on social media from an undisclosed location.

In recent weeks, protests led by young people in the East African island nation have called for the president to step down.

On Saturday an elite military unit joined the protests and also called for Rajoelina's resignation.

That prompted the leader to say that an illegal attempt to seize power was underway in the Indian Ocean island, off the East Coast of Africa, and leave the country.

The President was due to address the nation in a late night speech on television, but the broadcast was delayed after soldiers took control of the state broadcaster buildings.

The speech was eventually broadcast on the presidency's official Facebook page, instead of on national TV. 

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina said he has fled the country over 'fears for his life'

Gen Z-led protests in the Indian Ocean nation had been calling for the President's resignation

It was Rajoelina's first public comments since the CAPSAT military unit turned against his government in an apparent coup.

He was flown out of the country on a French military plane.

Madagascar is a former French colony and Rajoelina  has French citizenship.

Members of the Malagasy gendarmerie take cover behind their shields amid tear gas during clashes between demonstrators and security forces

Protesters torched an armoured vehicle in demonstrations against the President last week 

The same elite CAPSAT military unit that rebelled against Rajoelina was prominent in him first coming to power in 2009.

The U.S. Embassy in Madagascar advised American citizens to shelter in place because of a 'highly volatile and unpredictable' situation. 

A protester waves his country's flag as demonstrators gather outside the town hall in Antananarivo

Madagascar has had several leaders removed in coups and has a history of political crises since it gained independence from France in 1960.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15189423/Madagascar-President-forced-flee-country-fears-life-anti-Government-protests.html

Madagascar was a major center of the Arab slave trade, from East Africa to Muslim lands, as was described by Sir Richard Burton during the 1800s.

The Islamic slave trade, or Arab slave trade, is known as one of the longest enduring slave trades in the world, as it is known to have existed from Ancient times.

The Red Sea, the Sahara, and the Indian Ocean were the three main routes by which East African slaves were transported to the Muslim world.

The slave trade from Africa to Arabia via the Red Sea had ancient roots. While in Pre-Islamic Arabia, Arab war captives were common targets of slavery, importation of slaves from Ethiopia across the Red Sea also took place.^[The Red Sea slave trade appears to have been established at least from the 1st-century onward, when enslaved Africans were trafficked across the Red Sea to Arabia and Yemen.

In the 9th century, slaves were transported via the Red Sea slave trade to Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina, and by caravan over the desert to Baghdad and slavery in the Abbasid Caliphate.The slave trade was still going on a many centuries later, when it was noted by Western travelers.

Richard Francis Burton described the slave market in Medina in the 1850s:

"The bazar at Al-Madinah is poor and as almost all the slaves are brought from Meccah by the Jallabs or drivers after exporting the best to Egypt the town receives only the refuse.... some of these slaves come from Abyssinia: the greater part are driven from the Galla country and exported at the harbours of the Somali coast, Berberah, Tajoura and Zayla. As many as 2000 slaves from the former place, and 4000 from the later, are annually shipped off to Mocha, Jeddah, Suez and Maskat. [...] It is a large street roofed with matting and full of coffee-houses. The merchandise sat in rows parallel with the walls. The prettiest girls occupied the highest benches. Below were the plainer sort and lowest of all the boys. They were all gaily dressed in pink and other light-colored muslins with transparent veiles over their heads; and whether from the effect of such unusual splendor or from the re-action succeeding to their terrible land-journey and sea-voyage, they appeared perfectly happy."

Some Historical Excerpts::

African Slaves were marched in shackles to the coasts of Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, placed upon dhows and trafficked across the Indian Ocean to the Gulf or Aden, or across the Red Sea to Arabia and Aden, with weak slaves being thrown in the sea.

East Africa had come to act as a supply source for slaves to the Arabian Peninsula via the Indian Ocean slave trade since at least the Middle Ages. While the majority of these slaves appear to have been shipped to the Arabian Peninsula via Oman and Muscat rather than via the Red Sea, the Red Sea was also a route for the slave trade between East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It also acted as a route for slaves to Egypt.

Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands

Slaves were also trafficked to Red Sea ports from Madagascar and adjacent Indian Ocean islands, after Arab Muslim traders, along with their Swahili allies, gained control of Zanzibar and the Swahili Coast in the 9th century. From the 9th to the 17th centuries, an estimated 2,000-3,000 East African and Malagasy slaves were trafficked annually from the East African coast to slave ports along the Red Sea and other parts of Arabia. By the mid-17th century, this number had surged to over 3,000 to 6,000 slaves trafficked each year from just Madagascar alone to the Red Sea by non-European Muslim slave traders (Swahili, Comorian, Arab and Hadrami).

Some historians estimate that during the 17th century as many as 150,000 Malagasy slaves were exported from northwest Madagascar to the Muslim world. 

The East African slave had started some 4,000 years ago. Muslim slave trading started in the 7th century, 

After the 1st century, the export of black Africans from Tanzania, Mozambique and other Bantu groups became a "constant factor".

Arab Muslim traders also trafficked Malagasy and Comorian slaves from Madagascar and the Comorian Archipelago to ports on the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Swahili Coast, Zanzibar, and the Horn of Africa. From 700 AD to 1600 AD, an estimated two to three thousand East African and Malagasy slaves were trafficked annually from the Indian Ocean coast to slave ports along the Red Sea and Southern Arabia. By the mid-1600s, this number had increased to five to six thousands slaves trafficked each year from Madagascar alone (not including the Comoros) to the Middle East by non-European Muslim slave traders (Swahili, Comorian, Arab, Hadrami, Omani, and Ottoman).