New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge faced live pitching on Sunday for the first time since tearing a ligament in his right toe on June 3

Japan’s parliament has raised the age of sexual consent to 16 from 13, a limit which had remained unchanged for more than a century and was among the world’s lowest, amid calls for greater protection of children and women

Poland will find ways to address disagreements with Ukraine without the recent differences impacting its military support, said Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg. The two neighbouring nations have encountered friction in their ties after Poland – that has been one of Ukraine’s fiercest allies through the course of Russian invasion – decided to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports. Last week, Poland said it would only carry out previously agreed arms deliveries to Ukraine and choose to focus on rebuilding its own weapons arsenal. “I’m expecting and I’m confident that Ukraine and Poland will find a way to address those issues without that impacting in a negative way the military support to Ukraine,” Mr Stoltenberg said in an interview in Copenhagen on Friday. The announcement coincided with tensions peaking between the two neighbours after Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said some countries were “feigning solidarity by indirectly supporting Russia” with a ban on grain imports. After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February, a majority of Ukrainian grain ended up in Europe as the main Black Sea shipping lanes all but closed. Imports were then blocked by five countries to try and protect EU farmers amid fears the amount of grain would drive down local prices. Poland extended the ban after the European Union-brokered deal expired last week. On Tuesday, Mr Zelensky repeated his accusation on Eastern European nations backing Russia during his speech at the UN General Assembly. Poland then summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to its foreign ministry to protest Mr Zelensky’s comments. Hours later, Warsaw announced it would no longer be supplying weapons to Ukraine. “We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons,” the prime minister said. Poland has previously sent 320 Soviet-era tanks and 14 MiG-29 fighter jets to the war-torn country. Mr Morawiecki also issued a warning to Kyiv, saying if they “escalate the conflict”, additional products will be added to the list of banned imports. “I am warning Ukraine’s authorities. Because if they are to escalate the conflict like that, we will add additional products to the ban on imports into Poland,” he said. “Ukrainian authorities do not understand the degree to which Poland’s farming industry has been destabilised. We are protecting Polish farmers.” Ukraine’s other ally Slovakia is also seeing discussions of halting support to Ukraine. The Nato nation has been a staunch ally of Kyiv and sent military equipment including MiG-29 fighter jets and an S-300 air defence system to its neighbour. But opposition leader and former prime minister Robert Fico has pledged to end that military support. Mr Fico is leading polls ahead of Saturday’s election. “Whatever new government they will have in Slovakia, we will continue to sit down at Nato meetings,” Mr Stoltenberg said, “and I’m confident that we’ll find ways to continue to provide support – as we have been after every election in this alliance since the war started”. Read More Plans for Poland's first nuclear power plant move ahead as US and Polish officials sign an agreement Why has Poland stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine? Zelensky accuses ‘some friends in Europe’ of playing into Russia’s hands Poland done sending arms to Ukraine, leader says, as trade dispute escalates

Two American women, Judith and Natalie Raanan were released by Hamas on Friday, October 20

Days after the US Supreme Court struck down race-conscious university admissions, civil rights groups have filed a federal lawsuit targeting so-called “legacy” admissions at Harvard University. The lawsuit, alleging widespread discrimination at the college in violation of the Civil Rights Act, is the latest challenge to the practice of prioritising university admissions for the children of alumni. “There’s no birthright to Harvard. As the Supreme Court recently noted, ‘eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.’ There should be no way to identify who your parents are in the college application process,” said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Boston-based Lawyers for Civil Rights, which filed the complaint on 3 July. “Why are we rewarding children for privileges and advantages accrued by prior generations?” he said in a statement. “Your family’s last name and the size of your bank account are not a measure of merit, and should have no bearing on the college admissions process.” The group filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Chica Project, the African Community Economic Development of New England and the Greater Boston Latino Network. Last week, the conservative supermajority on the nation’s highest court ruled that private and public colleges and universities may not consider race as a factor in admissions, striking down the precedent affirmed in the 2003 ruling in Grutter v Bollinger. Civil rights advocates and justices who supported the decades-long precedent, intended to promote racially diverse college campuses, derided what they argue is the court’s ongoing perversion of the 14th Amendment and the foundational concept of equal protection. The latest lawsuit points to Harvard data finding that 70 per cent of the college’s donor-related and legacy applicants are white. So-called “legacy” applicants have a roughly six times greater chance of admission, according to records, pointing to a “custom, pattern and practice” that is “exclusionary and discriminatory” and “severely disadvantages and harms applicants of color,” plaintiffs argued. The complaint calls on the US Department of Education to initiate a federal investigation into Harvard’s application process and for the federal government to declare such practices illegal. “Harvard’s practice of giving a leg-up to the children of wealthy donors and alumni – who have done nothing to deserve it – must end,” Lawyers for Civil Rights litigation fellow Michael Kippins said in a statement accompanying the complaint. Following the Supreme Court ruling, Democratic lawmakers and President Joe Biden urged universities to reconsider their legacy admissions, which he said “expand privilege instead of opportunity.” The Independent has requested comment from Harvard. Read More Biden condemns Supreme Court striking down affirmative action: ‘This is not a normal court’ Biden reveals ‘new path’ to student debt relief after Supreme Court strikes down president’s plan Pence ‘doesn’t believe’ racial inequality exists in schools as he celebrates SCOTUS affirmative action ban

The issue of recreational marijuana legalization will be on Ohio's general election ballot in November after the initiative gathered enough signatures, the Ohio secretary of state's office announced Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is advising people under the age of 65 against getting the new Covid-19 booster shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, contradicting federal health officials' guidance.

The GOP-led House Oversight Committee is holding its first hearing Thursday in the impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden. Republicans have made Hunter Biden's business dealings the central focus of their impeachment inquiry, but there is no public evidence to date that the president personally received any money.

Tall, chimney-like towers rise from centuries-old adobe houses in Iran's desert city of Yazd, drawing in a pleasant breeze for residents of one of the...

(Reuters) -At least 10 Cuban migrants died and 17 others were seriously injured when a cargo truck ferrying them had

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is en route to Beijing for a high-stakes visit meant to steer relations between the United States and China back on course after months of inflamed tensions between the two nations.

More than 1000 people have died after a powerful earthquake struck the North African country of Morocco on Friday night. Hundreds have been injured.