© Hannah Yoon for The New York Times
日本首相高市早苗的“台湾有事”论和中国驻大阪总领事薛剑对此回应的“斩首论”，分别在中日掀起轩然大波。日本执政的自民党拟要求党内相关人士不出席中国驻大阪总领事馆主办的活动。
高市早苗11月7日在众议院质询时表示，如果“台湾有事”，且伴随武力攻击，有可能被认定为“存亡危机事态”，日本自卫队可行使集体自卫权。这番涉台言论随即引来两名前日本首相的议论，并引发中国外交部提出严正交涉和强烈抗议，批评日本领导人涉台言论性质和影响极其恶劣。
中国驻大阪总领事薛剑11月8日深夜在社媒X发文称，高市把脖子伸到不该伸的地方，“那种肮脏的头就应该毫不犹豫斩掉”，“斩首论”引起日本社会哗然。
据日本共同社报道，自民党外交小组和外交调查会星期五汇总意见书，针对薛剑在X平台上就高市早苗有关“台湾有事”的国会答辩发贴一事，要求呼吁党内相关人士不出席大阪总领事馆主办的活动，近日将通过政调会长小林鹰之通知党内。
外交小组透露，大阪总领事馆计划下个星期五（11月21日）在广岛县举办日中友好活动。
另一方面，针对薛剑已删除的贴文，自民党外交小组和外交调查会已向日本政府提交决议，表示如果中国不予妥善解决，则要求日本政府对发贴的总领事（即薛剑）采取坚决的应对措施。
中国农业农村部呼吁，继续实施好返乡回流脱贫人口促就业专项行动，防止形成规模性返乡滞乡。
据中国农业农村部网站消息，农业农村部星期四（11月13日）在云南省楚雄彝族自治州召开工作会议，聚焦全国乡村工匠培育暨脱贫人口务工就业“两稳一防”。两稳一防指的是稳定脱贫人口务工规模、稳定脱贫人口务工收入，防止因失业导致规模性返贫。
会议指出，要把培育乡村工匠放在重要位置，在资金保障、品牌打造、宣传推广等方面切实加大支持力度，在培育规范化、人才年轻化、产业集群化等方面持续用力，发挥乡村工匠在巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果、推进乡村全面振兴中的重要作用。
会议要求加强乡村公益性岗位开发管理，支持就业帮扶车间提档升级，提高就业技能培训实效，持续推进考核发现问题整改。
会议还称，要继续实施好返乡回流脱贫人口促就业专项行动，防止形成规模性返乡滞乡；要加大乡村振兴重点帮扶县、易地扶贫搬迁安置区和受灾地区就业帮扶工作力度，着力稳定脱贫人口务工规模和务工收入。
中国神舟二十号载人飞船疑似遭到微小太空碎片撞击受损后，航天员星期五（11月14日）乘坐神舟二十一号飞船返回地面，并成功着陆。
据央视新闻报道，神舟二十一号载人飞船返回舱当天下午在东风着陆场成功着陆。
今年4月24日，神舟二十号发射，三名航天员此后在空间站驻留长达六个月，顺利完成全部既定任务。搭载三名航天员的神舟二十一号10月31日深夜升空，隔天凌晨与空间站对接，两个乘组11月4日举行交接仪式，正式移交空间站“钥匙”。
原本预计11月5日返回地面的神舟二十号乘组，因飞船疑似遭到微小太空碎片撞击，中国官方在当天宣布推迟返回任务。
中国载人航天工程办公室透露，神舟二十号载人飞船返回舱舷窗玻璃出现细微裂纹，最大可能是受空间碎片外部冲击导致，不满足载人安全返回的放行条件。
© Photo Illustration by Philotheus Nisch for The New York Times
In breaking ranks to end the federal government shutdown this week, Nevada’s two Democratic senators showcased the shifting politics of the once solidly blue state, home to a diverse, working-class population that relies heavily on tourism.
In the national battle for party expansion, Republicans have the edge in the Silver State.
Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen joined an octet of members in the Senate Democratic Caucus who backed ending the shutdown. Their home state politics made their gambit an electoral calculation and an economic necessity, even as it angered some Nevada Democrats, according to interviews with more than a dozen political strategists, staffers and elected officials in the state.
“Nevada isn't a blue state — it's a swing state with a Democratic lean and a Republican trend line,” said Mike Noble, a pollster who focuses on the Southwest. “Both senators are reading the room, and brinksmanship doesn't play well with the middle.”
The GOP advantage in Nevada has been building for several years. Republicans overtook Democrats in voter registration for the first time in nearly two decades this year, the result of a dedicated campaign from the Nevada Republican Party. Polls show GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo with a slight lead in his reelection bid, which will be one of the most competitive gubernatorial races next year. And Republicans are trying to flip Democrats’ three House seats in Nevada next year. In 2024, Donald Trump became the first Republican to win the state in 20 years, beating Kamala Harris by 3.1 points, while Rosen won reelection by just 1 point.
"Nevada has really tightened up," said Robert Uithoven, a GOP strategist from the state .
Republicans and Democrats are fiercely courting Nevada’s working class. In 2024, Trump appealed to the state’s service, hospitality and construction industries with promises to end taxes on tips and overtime — both policies that were passed in the GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” And his campaign also made significant investment in reaching Latinos, who make up one in five registered voters.
Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping that the sluggish economy, GOP-backed healthcare cuts and aggressive deportations under Trump will help them win back anxious Nevadans.
“If you hear someone who is saying we are not going to tax your tips, that's compelling,” said Washoe County Commission Chair Alexis Hill, who is running in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. “That economic message is consistently what we need to drive home as Democrats and get away from that corporate message."
Nevada’s economy is tethered to the tourism industry, fueled by hourly-wage hospitality workers. The state has seen a massive downturn in travel this year after major post-pandemic increases, which — coupled with a sharp dropoff in construction jobs — sparked concern among economists and local officials, who largely gauge the health of the local economy on its tourism industry.
The state’s heavy reliance on federal aid also makes it more susceptible to partisan swings. The freeze on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program resulting from the government shutdown hurt the 15 percent of Nevadans who receive SNAP benefits, among the highest shares of any state. And recent disruptions around air travel significantly affected flights coming and going from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. On Saturday, the airport recorded 198 flight delays.
Ted Pappageorge, the secretary-treasurer of the politically influential Culinary Union, praised the two senators for “clearly fighting for working-class folks,” but noted now is the time to “get the government going and get the benefits moving.”
“At the end of the day, it's about who is going to be in the corner of working-class folks,” he said. “The Democrats' ship has been wandering the last few years, and the voters have been very clear about that.”
Both Cortez Masto and Rosen signaled they sided with Republicans on ending the shutdown because of its severe effects on workers. Cortez Masto, who also voted to end the shutdown over a month ago, defended her recent vote by citing the pinch felt by small businesses and other workers. Rosen, meanwhile, said she hit a breaking point in recent days as she saw the effect of “fully withholding SNAP benefits and gutting our tourism industry by grinding air travel to a halt.”
“How do you stay the course when people are rummaging through the trash for food because Donald Trump took away their SNAP benefits?” said one Rosen aide, granted anonymity to speak openly. “At some point, you’re hurting the people you’re trying to help by not putting an end to the Trump cruelty.”
Rosen is up for reelection in 2030; Cortez Masto in 2028.
Scott Gavorsky, the GOP Elko County chair, predicted the senators would have dealt with blowback from voters had they prolonged the shutdown, especially in areas that have trended to the right, like in the rural region he represents that helped Lombardo flip the governorship in 2022. “Memories are long out here,” he said.
But the pair is already facing backlash. Some Nevada Democrats voiced frustration with their decision to break from the caucus after Democrats stuck together for over a month.
Democratic State Assemblymember Selena La Rue Hatch said she’s heard from many constituents in her swing district in Washoe County, which encompasses Reno, over their “concern about whether we are actually putting the brakes on a reckless authoritarian administration.”
“I have heard overwhelming shock and dismay and concern that we have now given up the fight, and what are we getting out of it?” she said.
A Democratic state party strategist, granted anonymity to speak freely, called the agreement with Republicans to vote on extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits at the heart of Democrats’ shutdown negotiations a bonus.
“At the end of the day it isn't focused on political tactics, it’s focused on ending this pain,” the strategist said.
The tourism-dependent state experienced the nation’s highest unemployment rates during the 2008 recession and 2020 pandemic shutdown, after it had become one of the fastest-growing economies in the nation from 1970 to 2008.
Trump’s 2015 ascent came just in time to exploit Nevadans’ lingering pessimism, said Andrew Woods, the director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Center for Business and Economic Research. Then, when Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak shut down Nevada’s casinos for 78 days during the 2020 pandemic, the state’s unemployment rate ballooned again, reaching 28 percent in April 2020.
“That sense of security was taken away,” Woods said. “It made the state purple.”
Republicans are making a big play in Nevada in next year’s midterms, hoping to flip three seats including the one held by Democrat Susie Lee, who represents many workers on the Las Vegas strip.
But Trump’s Nevada victory was fueled by economic dissatisfaction, and recent polling suggests Nevadans aren’t much more satisfied now. In an October poll from Noble Predictive Insights, 50 percent of respondents said the state is worse now than it was four years ago, and just 24 percent said it is better. Their top issues were affordable housing and inflation.
“The electorate is definitely more driven by economic anxiety than ideology these days,” said Mike Noble, the pollster.
© AP
Rep. Seth Moulton (D–Mass.) is not one to shy away from criticism of his own party. He made waves in the past when he insisted that the Democrats’ approach to dialogue on transgender issues was stifling. Moulton has also been vocal about the need for generational change in an aging Washington.
This time, the Massachusetts congressman is speaking out about the deal that ended the longest government shutdown in history. And how Senate Democrats missed an opportunity to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“If Republicans were somehow gaining advantage here, if the polling was shifting in their favor, if they had done well in the elections last week, then I might say,’Okay, I get it. It doesn't seem like this strategy is working, so let's give up,’” says Moulton. “But Schumer has just snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.”
Moulton is a veteran who served four tours in Iraq as a Marine Corps infantry officer. He’s also challenging Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey for his seat in the 2026 midterms, facing competition from Rep. Joe Kennedy III in the process.
“Senator Markey is a good guy,” says Moulton. “He served the country for half a century. I mean, he's been in office longer than I've been alive. He and I agree on many of the issues. He says the right things, he has great press releases, but how much has he actually gotten done?”
In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Moulton talks with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns about how Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is failing his party, why age needs to be a major consideration for lawmakers and how Senate Democrats could have done more to guarantee access to affordable healthcare.
Plus, POLITICO’s Senior Congressional editor Mike DeBonis joins Dasha to discuss how the shutdown finally came to an end, which party ended up better off afterwards and how this event may shape Congress in the year to come.
PA MediaRachel Reeves has dropped plans to increase income tax rates at the Budget on 26 November, according to reports in the Financial Times.
The newspaper says the chancellor and prime minister U-turned on increasing the tax, which would have broken an election manifesto promise, over fears it would anger voters and Labour MPs.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said "no decisions were made or set in stone" until Reeves delivered the Budget in the House of Commons.
The Treasury have not responded to a request for comment.
Reeves had not publicly confirmed she would raise income tax rates but had refused to rule it out.
Earlier this month, she also delivered a pre-Budget speech in which she emphasised the need to make "necessary choices" and warned that everyone would have to "contribute".
Press AssociationNHS bosses are aiming to keep nearly all services running as resident doctors begin a five-day walkout in England.
The strike – the 13th by British Medical Association members in the long-running pay dispute – starts at 07:00 GMT and lasts until 07:00 Wednesday.
Resident doctors – the new name for junior doctors – will walk out of both emergency and non-urgent care.
Hospitals will come under the most strain, with resident doctors making up about half the medical workforce. But NHS England said patients should still attend appointments unless advised otherwise.
It said it wanted to keep 95% of non-urgent work, such as hip and knee operations, going.
The NHS aims to do this by re-deploying and offering overtime to consultants and and other senior doctors as well as relying on those not striking – around a third of resident doctors are not BMA members.
But this will come at significant cost with the NHS estimating the five-day walkout is costing £240m to cover.
OtherDespite the attempt to keep services going, patients like Colette Houlihan, 68, have still had to face postponements.
She was due to have a pre-surgery appointment on Monday, but this has now been pushed back to late December.
Ms Houlihan, from Cambridgeshire, who is waiting for a benign tumour in her neck to be removed, said she had had to put up with two cancellations already, but could understand those as she was told patients who were higher priorities needed to be seen.
"They could have had cancer. I didn't mind that, but this is different.
"I am furious. By striking they ignore the Hippocratic Oath - first and foremost do no harm.
"Striking causes harm by way of delaying procedures, taking senior doctors from their posts and causing chaos within the system," she said.
NHS England medical director Prof Meghana Pandit said it was frustrating and disappointing that there was another round of industrial action at a challenging time for the NHS, with flu cases rising earlier than usual.
"Despite this, staff across the NHS are working extremely hard to maintain care and limit disruption," he added.
But BMA leader Dr Tom Dolphin said keeping most services running would be "challenging".
He said doctors had a legal right to strike and should not be "bullied or coerced" into working.
And he warned his members would only leave the picket line if there was a major emergency – such as a mass casualty event.
The latest walkout comes after Health Secretary Wes Streeting launched arguably his strongest attack on the BMA.
Addressing a conference of health managers this week, he called the union "morally reprehensible" and accused it of acting like a cartel, attempting to hold the public and government to ransom.
He said doctors had received generous pay rises over the past three years – worth nearly 30%, bringing average basic salaries to just over £54,000.
Talks between him and the union broke down last week after the BMA turned down a fresh offer to end the dispute.
Streeting has maintained throughout the year that he could not negotiate on pay, but he proposed a deal that would see out-of-pocket expenses like exam fees and membership fees covered, along with a boost in speciality training places.
But the BMA has argued that, despite the pay rises, resident doctors' pay is still a fifth lower than it was in 2008, once inflation is taken into account.
The union has also warned doctors are struggling to find jobs at a key stage of their training – between years two and three when they start speciality training.
This year there were more than 30,000 applicants for 10,000 jobs at this stage, although some will have been doctors from abroad.
Amber warnings have been issued by the Met Office as Storm Claudia is forecast to bring heavy and persistent rain to parts of the United Kingdom.
Through Friday, rain will spread across large parts of England and Wales with a larger yellow severe weather warning also issued.
There will be some flooding and difficult travelling conditions with a strong easterly wind also developing through the day.
The warnings come after recent rain and and flooding has already affected many areas such as south Wales last week.
Amber warnings have been issued ahead of Storm Claudia bringing heavy rain on Friday
Storm Claudia - named by the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) - has already brought heavy rain and strong winds to Spain and Portugal.
But rain associated with this storm will spread quickly north across England and Wales during Friday where it will stall and become persistent for most of the day.
Met Office Amber warnings have been issued for parts of east Wales from 12:00 to 23:59 GMT where up to 150mm of rain - nearly 6 inches - is possible over high ground.
An additional amber warning will also come in to effect for the same time across parts of east Wales, the Midlands and towards eastern England.
Widely 50-75mm (2-2.9in) of rain is expected throughout Friday with some places seeing up to 80mm (3in).
Difficult driving conditions and transport disruption is likely and some communities could be cut off from flooding.
A larger Met Office yellow severe weather warning has been issued elsewhere across England and Wales that will come into force from 06:00 GMT Friday, lasting through until Saturday at 06:00 GMT.
Around 30-50mm (1.2-2.9in) of rain is expected quite widely which may also bring some localised flooding and transport disruption.
Strong south-easterly winds will accompany the rain.
Additional yellow warnings for the wind have been issued for the far north-west of Wales and the Pennines.
Gusts up to 50-70mph (80-113km/h) could bring some minor damage and disruption.
Storm Claudia was named by the Spanish Meteorological Agency and will stay to the south-west of the UK while rain associated with the storm heads into the UK
While a typical named storm in the UK might sweep in from the North Atlantic bringing strong and damaging winds, Storm Claudia is more notable for the rainfall.
Named by AEMET earlier this week for the impacts it has brought to Spain, the storm is moving up the western side of Portugal and France and approaching the UK from the south-west.
And while it will turn quite windy with gusts up to 70mph (113km/h) in north-west Wales and the Pennines, the winds are not the most notable feature of this storm.
Once a meteorological agency takes the decision to name a storm, there is agreement that all nations use the same name to allow consistency and clearer communication of the impacts.
Claudia will not replace Bram in the list of the UK's named storms. So we can still expect the next weather event deemed serious enough to be named by either the Met office, Met Eirean in Ireland or KNMI in the Netherlands to be Bram.
Rain has featured a lot so far this November with some areas seeing over their November average in the first thirteen days.
Shap and Carlisle in Cumbria for example have recorded more than their November rainfall already; 226mm and 95mm compared to the averages of 205mm and 85mm respectively.
Other sites on higher ground such as Honister in the Lake District has recorded over 500mm of rain.
Bannau Brycheiniog - known as the Brecon Beacons - in south Wales, has also been particularly wet with many Natural Resources Wales rainfall stations recording over 200mm of rain so far.
The heavy rainfall in south Wales has also led to some significant flooding.
A business owner who had to close his shop in Carmarthen due to the floods described it as "the worst in living memory".
ReutersThree people have died and at least 26 others injured in a wave of Russian drone and missile strikes on Kyiv, Ukrainian officials say.
Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko described strikes, which caused explosions and fires in residential buildings across the city, as "massive".
Kyiv's energy infrastructure was also damaged, leaving some buildings in the north-east without heat, he said. Ukraine's air force reported several other regions across the country were also being targeted.
Russia's defence ministry said it had downed or intercepted 216 Ukrainian drones that had targeted its industrial facilities and disrupted air travel, according to Reuters news agency.
In Kyiv, residential buildings came under attack "in practically every district", the head of the city's military administration Tymur Tkachenko said on Telegram.
He issued a warning to take shelter a minute after midnight local time on Friday (22:01 GMT), writing "it's loud in Kyiv".
Falling debris and fires have damaged multiple high-rise apartment buildings, a hospital, school and administrative buildings, according to emergency services.
More than 40 people have been rescued, they added, including 14 from a fire in a residential building in Desnayanskyi district where one person died.
Another person was rescued in the building after being pulled from beneath rubble, they said.
Medical teams were deployed to all fires, officials said, while Klitschko said nine people were being treated in hospital with one man in an "extremely serious condition".
Parts of the Ukrainian capital's heating network were also damaged in the attack, the mayor noted, adding that the city's electricity and water supplies may have been disrupted.
Ukraine's air force warned drones and guided bombs had been targeting several other regions, including Sumy.
The overnight strikes follow the deaths of six people in another Russian offensive less than a week ago that also damaged residential buildings and energy infrastructure.
Russia says its attacks on energy targets, now a familiar part of the war, are aimed at the Ukrainian military.
Those attacks prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for "no exceptions" to Western sanctions on Russian energy - shortly after the US granted Hungary one such exemption.
US President Donald Trump had initially announced the sanctions on Russian oil after saying ceasefire talks with Russian President Vladimir were not progressing.
APSwiss ministers are in Washington for talks aimed at slashing US President Donald Trump's steep 39% tariffs on Switzerland's exports to the US – the highest rate in Europe.
Initial attempts by Swiss President Karin Keller Sutter to change Trump's mind fell on deaf ears. But a visit on 4 November by business leaders appears to have changed his mind.
A senior administration official told reporters on Thursday that the talks between the US and the Swiss ministers were "very positive" and "very focused", adding that they are "very aware" of their trade deficit with the US and are prepared to address it.
For months the Swiss have been trying to bring down the rate, which has hit Switzerland hard.
Trump's response to the Swiss president's bid was that she "was a nice woman, but she did not want to listen".
But last week's private business initiative adopted a more unconventional approach.
Swiss industry chiefs came to the Oval Office on 4 November bearing gifts, including a Rolex gold watch and a specially engraved gold bar from Swiss-based gold refining company MKS.
Already this week Trump has said a deal is being worked on to bring the tariffs "a little bit lower… I haven't set any number".
After their talks the Swiss industrialists said in a statement "our entire initiative was undertaken in the spirit of Swiss unity between the private and public sectors".
Some business figures, particularly those trading in luxury goods, gold, or commodities, already had contacts in Trump's circle.
In September, Trump appeared at the US Open tennis final in the Rolex VIP box hosted by the Swiss watch company's chief executive Jean Frédéric Dufour.
MANDEL NGAN/AFPThe president, apparently guessing what was going on, even asked if Dufour would have been there if Trump had not slapped such steep tariffs on Switzerland.
Last week Dufour met Trump again, this time in the Oval Office, along with fellow business leaders including Johann Rupert from luxury goods maker Richemont and Marwan Shakarchi from MKS.
It is quite normal nowadays for any leader heading to the Oval Office to come bearing a gift.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer brought an invitation from King Charles for a lavish state visit. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz offered a framed copy of Trump's German grandfather's birth certificate.
Requests for confirmation of the gifts to the two Swiss companies involved brought a "no comment" from Rolex and MKS.
But days after the meeting, Trump was pictured in the Oval Office with what looked very much like a Rolex "Datejust" desk clock, produced by the company as a collector's item, and worth tens of thousands of dollars.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFPA White House official confirmed the two items had been given to Trump.
The US president receives thousands of gifts every year and they then become US property, deposited with the National Archives and filed annually by the state department.
They are eventually transferred to a presidential library. Some gifts can be kept but presidents have to pay federal taxes if they do not come from a close relative.
In 1969, President Richard Nixon gently refused the gift of a Swiss Omega watch to commemorate the Moon landings.
Whatever happens to the Swiss gifts, Trump's stance towards the Swiss appears to be softening, telling reporters he is working on something "to help Switzerland".
Swiss economy minister Guy Parmelin and chief trade negotiator Helene Budliger Artieda, who travelled to Washington on Wednesday, are more hopeful than they have been in months, amid suggestions that 39% tariff may be reduced to 15% - the same as Switzerland's neighbours in the EU.
In return, promises from the Swiss pharmaceutical giants to build more production plants in the US are already on the table. It is also reported that Swiss International Airlines, whose fleet is primarily Airbus, may pivot towards Boeing.
But will it be enough? Swiss industry is waiting with bated breath. The tariffs are beginning to bite, with a number of Swiss companies warning they will have to furlough staff if nothing changes.
The Swiss do have one more highly influential figure they can call on.
Fifa president and Swiss citizen Gianni Infantino, long a friend of Trump's, was reportedly urged by some Swiss parliamentarians to try to change the president's mind.
As part of preparations for next year's World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico, Infantino visited the Oval Office in August bearing the trophy.
As the cameras rolled he handed it to Trump saying he was "a winner". The president responded asking "can I keep it? That's a beautiful piece of gold".
Infantino has also announced a brand new Fifa world peace prize, to be announced in Washington DC on 5 December.
All bets are off as to who that might be.
Ronald Surgenor/PA WirePuffins have been seen on the Isle of Muck in County Antrim for the first time in years, after a major scheme to remove invasive brown rats.
It is the first time the vulnerable seabird has been recorded on the tiny island off Islandmagee since Ulster Wildlife took over the management of the seabird sanctuary 25 years ago.
A programme of rat eradication began in 2017 and winter grazing has now been implemented to keep vegetation low, so predator cover is reduced.
The charity's nature reserves manager Andy Crory said the discovery of the puffins "proves seabird restoration works".
RONALD SURGENORFive puffins were spotted in 2024. Then in spring this year, cameras set up as part of the rat eradication programme caught two puffins coming and going from a nesting burrow on the cliff ledges.
Their behaviour, bringing food back to the nest, was a positive sign that they were breeding.
For Mr Crory, tales of puffins once breeding on the Isle of Muck "felt more like folklore", but the myth is now becoming a reality.
"Seabirds face immense challenges globally, with 24 of the 25 breeding species at risk of local or global extinction," he said.
"So, while a handful of puffins on a tiny island may seem small, this moment is huge – it proves that seabird restoration works."
The puffin sightings are the latest in a long line of positive signs of the impact conservation management has been having on the island.
Annual surveys have begun to record steady increases in eider ducks, guillemots, herring gulls and lesser-backed gulls on and around the island, year on year.
It is not known for certain that the puffins seen this year managed to successfully rear a chick.
But Mr Crory is staying positive.
"Our hope is that the Isle of Muck will become a thriving stronghold for puffins and, in time, tempt back other lost species like the Manx shearwater.
"For now, we're waiting with great excitement to see if the first 'pufflings' – baby puffins – appear on the cliffs next summer.
"That truly would be the icing on the cake."
Puffins are a priority species in Northern Ireland and red-listed in the UK, putting them in the highest conservation concern bracket due to food shortages, climate change, and predation by invasive species.
They spend most of their lives at sea, only returning to land to breed in spring and summer at the same nesting site with the same partner, year after year.
Each pair raises a single chick during the breeding season.
Ulster Wildlife said rats are a major issue for many seabird islands across the UK, posing a threat to eggs and chicks.
The Isle of Muck is not accessible to the public and it is hoped that isolation will help the birds to return safely next summer.
Similar rat removal projects have been carried out elsewhere to help seabirds bounce back.
The LIFE Raft project on Rathlin Island is expected to have rid the island of the predators when it publishes its latest report soon.
Ferrets have already been cleared from Rathlin in a world-first project.
Getty ImagesAriana Grande fans are calling for a man who jumped the barricade and grabbed the actress at a Wicked: For Good premiere on Thursday to be arrested or deported from Singapore.
A now viral video shows the Australian man, Johnson Wen, pushing past photographers and charging at Grande while the cast made its way down a yellow carpet surrounded by fans.
Co-star Cynthia Erivo promptly wrested the stunned actress away from Mr Wen, who was seen being escorted out of the event by security officers.
Mr Wen posted on Instagram late on Thursday that he was "free after being arrested", though court documents showed that he was scheduled to appear on Friday morning. It is not clear if he was charged.
This is not the first time Mr Wen, who describes himself as a "Troll Most Hated", has invaded a concert or event. His Instagram feed includes clips of him disrupting other celebrity events, including jumping on stage at Katy Perry's Sydney concert in June this year and in a similar way during The Chainsmokers performance in the city last December.
"There needs to be action [taken] against him as this is clearly a criminal offence," wrote an Instagram user, in a comment a video Mr Wen posted of his act.
"Oh wow so you do this a lot... how aren't you in jail?" one Instagram user wrote.
Several fans accused Mr Wen for "re-traumatising" Grande, who had spoken of experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder after a suicide bomb attack at the end of her May 2017 concert in Manchester, killing 22 people and injuring hundreds.
"Ariana has been through so many scary things... and at her Manchester concert and you thought it would be fun to jump the barricade?" said another comment on Instagram.
Some fans also criticised security officers at the Thursday event for not being vigilant enough; while others called for social media platforms to ban Mr Wen's videos.
In clips circulating online, Grande appeared shocked when she was grabbed by the intruder. Her co-stars Michelle Yeoh and Erivo can be seen comforting her while Mr Wen was escorted away by security.
Grande has not commented on the incident, and the rest of the event proceeded as normal.
The BBC has reached out to Singapore's police and immigration authority for comment.
Getty ImagesHundreds of fans had gathered in a sea of green and pink at the Wicked: For Good Asia-Pacific premiere in a Singapore mall, including some who had stood in line for as long as eight hours before it began.
The movie, to be released on 21 November, is the second of a two-part adaptation of the popular Broadway and West End musical Wicked, which centres on the unlikely friendship between two very different witches.
The musical itself is a spin-off of the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Grande, who plays the good witch Glinda, was decked out in a champagne pink sequin dress at the premiere while Erivo, who plays the wicked witch, wore a black tube grown embroidered with roses.
They were joined by co-star Jeff Goldblum.
The first movie, Wicked, was the highest-grossing movie of 2024 in the UK, and scored 10 Oscar nominations, winning two for best costume and production design.
媒体的新闻报道中使用带货主播公开的画面，是否对主播构成侵犯肖像权？腾讯给出了答案：构成侵犯肖像权。
11月13日下午，澎湃新闻影子调查队视频号发布了一则关于某知名品牌奶粉涉嫌篡改相关研究论文数据用于产品宣传，带货主播违规宣称能增高的新闻报道。
在报道发布一个多小时后，便遭到了不明来源的投诉，最终腾讯方面认为该新闻报道侵犯了肖像权，对该视频新闻报道进行了“屏蔽”处理。
这已是影子调查队视频号上线以来，第二次遭到腾讯方面的屏蔽。视频号所谓的“屏蔽”，会导致该则新闻报道仅自己可见，无法转发传播，其实和“删除”几乎无异。
新闻报道中使用带货主播公开的画面，是否构成侵犯肖像权？根据民法典第一千零二十条的规定，为实施新闻报道，不可避免地制作、使用、公开肖像权人的肖像，可以不经肖像权人同意。
显然，腾讯方面判定影子调查队的新闻报道侵犯肖像权，缺乏相应的法律依据。影子调查队视频号，是经过严格审核，认证了红V新闻机构标识的媒体账号，是依法取得新闻资质、承担新闻采编责任的机构身份。红V的意义，本应是让公众在纷乱信息中迅速识别可信来源。
但问题来了，为什么一个信息聚合平台可以仅凭一方投诉，就把新闻媒体的报道直接“处理掉”？这背后，平台到底扮演了什么角色？
按照《互联网新闻信息服务管理规定》，互联网新闻信息服务提供者及其从业人员不得通过采编、发布、转载、删除新闻信息，干预新闻信息呈现或搜索结果等手段谋取不正当利益。
对新闻报道的审核是为了保障真实性与合法性，不是为了迎合投诉者的诉求，平台成了“自动化总编辑”，不问内容是否属实、是否违法，也不问投诉是否合理，直接“屏蔽”了事。
如此一来，说轻了，就是让一些违法违规者滥用投诉机制，借机干预新闻信息呈现；说重了，就是商业平台对意识形态领域的粗暴干涉。想给受众呈现什么、不呈现什么，故意营造“信息茧房”不能由信息聚合平台来独断。
网络内容治理并不反对投诉制度，但制度的前提是证据、是调查、是复核。
此外，《网络信息内容生态治理规定》明确要求“网络信息内容服务平台应当加强对本平台设置的广告位和在本平台展示的广告内容的审核巡查，对发布违法广告的，应当依法予以处理。”
然而，影子调查队曝光揭露了某知名品牌牛奶涉嫌虚假宣传的问题，腾讯方面未对违法广告进行处理，却将影子调查队的新闻报道给“处理了”。
换句话说，平台并没有在履行法律规定的“审核职责”，让投诉方轻松获得“信息删除权”。
政策鼓励权威媒体优先传播，这是为了避免谣言先行，不让违法违规、误导群众的信息和行为占上风。但当平台在商业关系、用户投诉、传播流量之间权衡时，红V不再是优先，而成了“高风险内容”。
一旦企业认为报道“不利”，就投诉；平台为了避免麻烦，先“屏蔽”；新闻机构若想澄清，还要反复申诉。
这不是正常的互联网内容治理，而是一种变相的“软封堵”。
新闻要被监督，但监督不是“删帖键”。新闻报道当然可以被质疑、被反驳、被追责。但监督新闻的是法律、是专业伦理、是主管部门，而不是平台的简单投诉审核机制。
申诉未通过。
每一篇报道背后都经过新闻工作者的认真调查核实，新闻单位及新闻工作者对新闻的真实性负主要责任。
当投诉可以直接导致新闻消失，那就意味着谁不愿意被报道，谁就能通过“投诉”让新闻不存在。平台拥有技术权力，但技术权力不能越过法律权力，更不能越过新闻应有的公共价值。
新闻机构要承担新闻责任，平台也应承担平台责任。平台不是新闻媒体的“总编辑”，也不应该成为“总编辑”。
更多调查新闻，关注影子调查队视频号⬇️
本期资深编辑 周玉华
乌克兰首都基辅周五（11月14日）凌晨再遭俄罗斯大规模空袭，导致至少4人死亡，24人受伤，与此同时，莫斯科表示当夜击落了200多架攻击其境内的乌克兰无人机。
基辅市长蒂穆尔·特卡琴科表示，“俄军袭击了居民楼。基辅几乎每个区都有多座高层建筑受损。” 乌克兰总统泽连斯基周五宣布，俄罗斯夜间向基辅发射了约430架无人机和18枚导弹，造成四人遇难。他谴责俄罗斯发动“旨在对民众造成最大伤害、对民用基础设施造成最大破坏”的蓄意攻击。
法新社记者看到对抗无人机的曳光弹及防空系统已经启动，夜间市中心传来巨大的爆炸声。
基辅警方称，有约有30栋居民楼遭到破坏，受伤者中包括一名孕妇和一名10岁的男孩。
周四夜间，基辅市长要求居民紧急前往避难所，警告“敌人将对首都发动大规模空袭”。他说，袭击后多个街区发生火灾，救援人员已出动救援。他特别指出，部分供暖管网遭到破坏。在斯尼亚区，由于主供暖管道出现紧急情况，部分建筑暂时停止供暖。” 并还可能停水和停电。
据救援人员称，基辅共十个区中有八个区受到袭击影响，市政府警告称，周五上午城市公交将受到影响。
基辅州伊尔平市市长马尔库申在脸书上形容度度过一个“艰难的夜晚”，“ 多架沙赫德无人机和导弹飞越了该市”。
俄军目前继续推进在乌东、特别是顿涅茨克地区的攻势，随着冬季临近，数周以来俄军持续加大对乌克兰民用和能源基础设施以及铁路网的轰炸力度。
与此同时，俄罗斯方面周五宣布，当夜拦截了200多架乌克兰无人机，其中部分无人机的袭击目标是黑海的一个石油港口及伏尔加格勒和萨拉托夫两座城市。俄罗斯国防部在电报网上称，“当夜防空系统共拦截并摧毁了216架乌克兰无人机”，其中66架在南部克拉斯诺达尔地区被击落，59架在黑海上空被击落。 官方表示，新罗西斯克的一家炼油厂发生火灾，多栋居民楼和一艘民用船只被无人机碎片损坏，共造成四人受伤。
乌克兰的无人机袭击频繁对俄罗斯石油和天然气及其运输管道造成破坏，导致燃料价格上涨。
在美国总统特朗普于普京拟定的布达佩斯峰会被推迟后，乌俄间的和平谈判陷入僵局。
一辆载有13名中国公民的汽车在峇厘岛布勒冷县发生交通事故，造成五人死亡、8人受伤，印尼籍司机轻伤。
据央视新闻报道，中国驻印尼登巴萨总领馆星期五（11月14日）清晨接到峇厘警方通报上述消息。
领馆随后启动应急机制，与印尼警方等有关部门保持密切联系，核实中国公民伤亡情况，与当事人建立直接联系，并协调当地领保志愿单位派员为当事人提供翻译服务。
目前，中国官方尚未披露事故的具体时间、地点和原因。
现任联合国秘书长古特雷斯明年底将卸任，特朗普政府10月底呼吁全球竞逐该职，此举可能激怒拉丁美洲国家。中国常驻联合国副代表耿爽纽约时间当地时间星期四（11月13日）在联合国不点名回应美国，表示选举新一任联合国秘书长应遵循联合国有关文件规定，并提醒刻意寻求突破、人为制造分裂只会拖累选举进程。
联合国秘书长一职传统上在各地区轮换，以确保来自不同区域的代表都有机会担任此职。现任联合国秘书长古特雷斯来自欧洲，按序下一任联合国秘书长应轮到拉丁美洲/加勒比地区。
据路透社报道，美国常驻联合国副代表谢伊10月24日说：“我们认为这一重要职位的遴选过程应该基于择优录取，并尽可能广泛物色候选人。”
她续称：“基于这一考虑，美国邀请所有地区派代表竞选联合国秘书长。”
联合国安全理事会15个成员国和联合国大会主席将在今年年底前发出一封联合信函，征集联合国秘书长提名。届时，竞选将正式开始。联合国秘书长候选人由联合国会员国提名。
古特雷斯的第二个任期将在2026年结束，下一任联合国秘书长将于2026年选举产生，任期五年，从2027年1月1日开始。
联合国安理会五个常任理事国（中国、法国、俄罗斯、英国和美国）必须对联合国秘书长候选人达成一致，因为常任理事国都拥有一票否决权。
据中新社报道，第80届联大星期四举行联合辩论。耿爽发言时说，选举新一任联合国秘书长是安理会和联大未来一年最重要的任务之一。《联合国宪章》、联大决议和安理会文件对选举程序有着明确规定，会员国以此为遵循，在实践基础上，已经形成了一套行之有效的作法，应当予以坚持。
耿爽提醒，刻意寻求突破、人为制造分裂、挑动机构竞争，只会拖累整个选举进程，既不符合会员国共同利益，也不符合整个联合国利益，更是对历史的不负责任。
耿爽呼吁联合国会员国加强团结，相向而行，共同维护有效的制度安排，营造良好的政治氛围。他表示，中国愿同各方一道，通过充分酝酿、反复协商，最终选出一位能服务广大会员国共同利益的新任秘书长。北京也乐见会员国提出新一任秘书长的女性候选人。
耿爽表示，联大是最具代表性的宪章机构，其工作成效事关全体会员国切身利益，事关联合国的权威和地位。当前联合国面临内外冲击挑战，联大要顺应时代潮流，响应各国呼声，带头自我革新，履行好《联合国宪章》赋予的重要职责。
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