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Capsule Carrying 2 Russians and 1 American Heads to Earth from Space Station

File photo: This illustration provided by SpaceX in 2024 depicts a spacewalk from the Dragon capsule. (SpaceX via AP)
File photo: This illustration provided by SpaceX in 2024 depicts a spacewalk from the Dragon capsule. (SpaceX via AP)
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Capsule Carrying 2 Russians and 1 American Heads to Earth from Space Station

File photo: This illustration provided by SpaceX in 2024 depicts a spacewalk from the Dragon capsule. (SpaceX via AP)
File photo: This illustration provided by SpaceX in 2024 depicts a spacewalk from the Dragon capsule. (SpaceX via AP)

A Russian space capsule undocked from the International Space Station on Monday to take three astronauts back to Earth, two of them completing a record-long stay on the orbiting laboratory.
The capsule carrying Russians Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub and American Tracy Dyson is expected to land in the vast Kazakhstan steppe about 3 1/2 hours after the undocking, said The Associated Press.
Kononenko and Chub blasted off for the space station on Sept. 15, 2023, and on Friday set the record for the longest continuous mission on the ISS. Dyson, in her third mission into outer space, spent six months aboard.
Eight astronauts remain on the space station, including Americans Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have remained long past their scheduled return to Earth.
They arrived in June as the first crew of Boeing´s new Starliner capsule. But their trip was marred by thruster troubles and helium leaks, and the US space agency NASA decided it was too risky to return them on Starliner.
The two astronauts will ride home with SpaceX next year.

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EU Countries Take 1st Step to Weaken Protected Status of Wolves

A young wolf stands in the enclosure of the Falkenstein National Park Center. Armin Weigel/dpa
A young wolf stands in the enclosure of the Falkenstein National Park Center. Armin Weigel/dpa
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EU Countries Take 1st Step to Weaken Protected Status of Wolves

A young wolf stands in the enclosure of the Falkenstein National Park Center. Armin Weigel/dpa
A young wolf stands in the enclosure of the Falkenstein National Park Center. Armin Weigel/dpa

Safeguards to protect wolves in the European Union could be weakened in future after member states agreed on Wednesday on the first steps towards easing these measures.

Weakening the protection of wolves aims to facilitate the culling of those deemed a threat to livestock.

Until now, wolves have been highly protected in Europe. In some regions, however, people question whether the status quo is still justified as the number of wolves is growing, dpa reported.

The wolf's protection in the EU is tied to the 1979 Bern Convention, the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.

EU ambassadors in Brussels agreed to propose a change to the body in charge of the wildlife protection treaty, EU diplomats told dpa.

Amending the Bern Convention is a first step which could pave the way for the European Commission to propose EU legislation to change the protected status of the wolf at a later stage.

The wolf's comeback in Europe is highly controversial.

Currently, wolves receive strict protection status under EU law with provisions allowing for local authorities to take action, including shooting wolves in case of conflicts with rural communities and farmers.

While some EU countries, including Germany and France, are in favor of easier culling, nature conservation groups campaign for different approaches, like better herd surveillance, night confinement and more guard dogs.

Having been extinct in large parts of Europe until the 1960s, there are currently around 19,000 wolves in the EU, according to conservationists.