Ukrainians share experiences of visiting families and friends back home, amidst daily danger alerts.

Doctors found an 80-year-old woman in Russia has lived her entire life with an inch-long needle in her brain. A local radiologist discovered a three-centimetre needle inside the octogenarian’s brain during an X-ray scan, said the Ministry of Health in Sakhalin in a Telegram post on Wednesday. The tiny needle was located in the parietal lobe of the unnamed woman’s brain, according to the ministry. While it did not disclose the exact date of discovery, it said the needle was found this year. The needle was lodged inside her brain since she was born. Doctors believe she had survived a failed infanticide attempt by her parents. In the Soviet era during the famine of the 1930s, desperate parents struggling with poverty would insert a needle into the soft spot of a baby’s head – the fontanelle – where the skull hadn’t entirely developed. It would then close, obscuring the needle, but the newborn would eventually die. “Such incidents were not uncommon during the years of starvation: a thin needle would be inserted into a newborn’s fontanel to damage the brain,” the local health department of the remote Russian region wrote on its Telegram channel. “The fontanelle quickly closed up, covering up evidence of the crime, and the baby died.” Such an attempt, believed to have been carried out on the woman who was likely born around 1943, did not lead to the intended effect. The woman had, however, occasionally complained of headaches. While doctors have decided against surgery to pull the needle, fearing it could harm the patient, “her condition is being monitored by primary care physicians”, said the ministry’s statement, adding that she was not at risk. Sakhalin is an island of 50,000 people located 6.5km off the southeastern coast in Russia and 40km of north Japan’s Hokkaido. Its control was split between the former Soviet Union and the then Japanese Empire in 1905, following a war between the two sides. The Soviet Union had seized the Japanese portion of the island in the final days of the Second World War in 1945. Read More ‘Alive and wriggling’ parasitic worm removed from brain of Australian woman Dog thought to have a brain tumour turns out to have a 7cm needle stuck in neck Pope links plight of Ukrainians today to Stalin's 'genocide' The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

An attempted uprising by mercenaries has revealed cracks in Vladimir Putin’s authority, according to the US secretary of state. The mutiny by the Wagner Group, which saw its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin order his troops to march on Moscow, left the Russian president hiding from public view on Sunday after being forced into an amnesty deal. Though the astonishing revolt was short-lived – with the fighters withdrawing under the agreement that saw Mr Prigozhin exiled to Belarus – it has raised questions about Mr Putin’s grip on power. The Russian president has not commented publicly since the deal was struck to de-escalate one of the biggest challenges since he rose to power more than two decades ago. He said he was giving top priority to the conflict in Ukraine in excerpts from an interview aired by state television on Sunday, but it appeared to have been recorded before the rebellion. Speaking on Sunday, US secretary of state Anthony Blinken said the revolt was a “direct challenge of Putin’s authority”. Mr Blinken said the turmoil has weakened Mr Putin in ways that could aid Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Mr Blinken told US media: “We’ve seen more cracks emerge in the Russian facade. It is too soon to tell exactly where they go... but certainly, we have all sorts of new questions that Putin is going to have to address in the weeks and months ahead.” The Wagner Group’s forces were just 195km (120 miles) from Moscow before the rebellion was called off to avoid shedding Russian blood. Mr Prigozhin had said his “march” on Moscow was intended to remove corrupt and incompetent Russian commanders he blames for botching the war in Ukraine. Mr Prigozhin has for months accused Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, of incompetence and of withholding ammunition from his fighters as they battled to take Bakhmut in Ukraine. This month, Mr Prigozhin defied orders to place his troops under defence ministry command. He launched the rebellion on Friday after alleging the military had killed some of his men in an airstrike – a claim denied by the defence ministry. Mr Prigozhin, 62, was seen leaving the district military headquarters in Rostov, hundreds of miles south of Moscow, late on Saturday. His whereabouts on Sunday were not known. The deal brokered by Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko also means Wagner fighters who joined the “march for justice” will face no action. In an earlier televised address on Saturday, Mr Putin said the rebellion put Russia‘s very existence under threat. “We are fighting for the lives and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for the right to remain Russia, a state with a thousand-year history,” Mr Putin said, vowing punishment for those behind “an armed insurrection”. In his daily address on Sunday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Mr Putin is “obviously very afraid” and is “probably hiding”, while his defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said the 36-hour mutiny shows Russian authorities are “weak”. Mr Reznikov said: “Had a phone conversation with my friend and colleague secretary of defence Lloyd J Austin III. “We talked about recent events in Russia. We agree that the Russian authorities are weak and that withdrawing Russian troops from Ukraine is the best choice for the Kremlin. Russia would be better served to address its own issues.” He added: “We also discussed the #UAarmy‘s counteroffensive and the next steps in strengthening our defence forces. Things are moving in the right direction. Ukraine will win.” Meanwhile, the Institute for the Study of War said Russia struggled to respond clearly and coherently to the threat from the Wagner Group. It said the incident has highlighted “internal security weaknesses likely due to surprise and the impact of heavy losses in Ukraine”. Commons defence committee chair Tobias Ellwood told the i newspaper: “Putin’s days are clearly numbered, he might survive the initial wound for a period of time but as Russian history shows, often it triggers a series of subsequent events that lead to the leader’s downfall. “Power is ebbing away. The Wagner Group may be neutered, Prighozin exiled, but Putin is definitely weaker and the hawks are now circling.” Read More Ukraine says Wagner’s mutiny proves Putin’s fragility – but this war ends on the battlefield US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says ‘we haven’t seen the last act’ in Russia’s Wagner rebellion Russia-Ukraine war live: Wagner rebellion shows Putin’s power is finally cracking, US says The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

An Ohio father allegedly shot dead his three young sons in the garden of the family home and wounded their mother. Chad Doerman, 32, was arrested in Clermont County and charged with murdering the three boys aged 7, 4, and 3, in the shocking incident, according to officials. The alarm was raised on Thursday afternoon when a female called 911 and screamed that “her babies had been shot,” reported ABC News. A second 911 call was then received several minutes later from a passerby who said that a young female had been running down the street screaming that “her father was killing everyone.” Clermont County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the home in Monroe Township, which is located 26 miles southeast of Cincinnati, where they found the suspect sitting on a step outside. He was taken into custody without incident. The sheriff’s office says that deputies then found “three unresponsive gunshot victims in the yard of the residence” and first responders immediately began life-saving measures. “All life-saving measures were unsuccessful and all three gunshot victims succumbed to their injuries while on scene,” they said. “A fourth gunshot victim, later identified as an adult female age 34, was also located outside of the residence. The female sustained what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to her hand [and was] non-life threatening.” Mr Doerman was interviewed by detectives and charged with three counts of aggravated murder. He was taken to the Clermont County Jail where he is currently being held without bond. David Gast, the chief prosecutor in Clermont County, spoke during an arraignment hearing on Friday. “The trauma that this man has inflicted on his family, community, law enforcement, first responders, and all the rest of us is unspeakable,” he said. “There has been a full admission in this case, the case is still new, we’re still discovering facts. But the evil horror of what we know is impossible to process. “In an act of incomprehensible cruelty, the father that stands before you lined up his three young boys and executed them in his own home with a rifle. In an act of desperation, the mother at some point grabbed the gun the father was wielding to attempt to protect them.” Read More DoJ releases scathing report of systemic abuse by Minneapolis Police after investigation prompted by George Floyd murder Synagogue shooter found guilty in deadliest attack on Jewish community in US history Clown performer’s 15-year-old son shot dead as he entertained children’s party

Turkey is turning another corner in ending an era of ultra-loose monetary policy. The central bank will likely

The Chicago Blackhawks have won the NHL draft lottery and the right to select Connor Bedard with the first pick

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Monday for the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel on the eve of his...

Leida Margaretha, star of '90 Day Fiance', was detained in Wisconsin when it was claimed that she stole thousands of dollars using the credentials to her business account

Salma Paralluelo has scored deep in extra time to give Spain a 2-1 win over Netherlands and send the sixth-ranked nation into the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup for the first time

WASHINGTON Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet U.S. and Indian business leaders in Washington on Friday, the

Bryce James is already three inches taller than his brother Bronny James

Taylor Swift recently announced on her Instagram story that her second concert in Rio de Janeiro, scheduled for Saturday night, has been postponed due to intense temperatures