The top American military officer says North Korea may be able to boost Russia’s supply of artillery munitions for the war in Ukraine

Fox News has quietly changed a headline on a highly controversial article that equated a Pride flag hung at the White House with “grooming and paedophilia”. After a furious response from LGBTQ+ advocates and White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, who accused the network of “characteristically lying through its teeth”, Fox altered the headline while keeping the central “grooming” allegations in the article. The original headline and a since-deleted tweet by Fox News’ lifestyle reporter Kerry Byrne read: “White House flew controversial new transgender flag that promotes grooming and pedophilia, say critics.” The article quoted a founder of the far-right Gays Against Groomers activist group who claimed the flag was a political statement about “indoctrinating kids and trans kids and pushing kids to sterilize and mutilate themselves”. Mr Bates later shared a screenshot of Mr Byrne’s request for comment on Twitter which made no mention of a link to paedophilia or grooming. “FoxNews is characteristically lying through their teeth,” Mr Bates tweeted. “Please see Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Network. Fox never even communicated the malicious and discredited foundation of this article to the White House. Then they lie about whether we responded at all,” he tweeted. After the backlash, Fox News revised the headline on Wednesday to “White House flew controversial new transgender flag that troubles some critics in the gay community”. Fox Digital did not add a footnote explaining that the article had been changed. The flag in question, known as the Progress Pride flag, was designed by artist Daniel Quasar in 2018 and is based on the original multi-coloured rainbow flag and the transgender pride flag, according to Northwestern University. The White House confirmed to Mediaite that it had responded to Fox News to say it had been flying the flag for three years at Pride events. Fox News later updated its story after publication to include the response. The edited version included a line saying: “The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment on the flag’s design and meaning.” Twitter users pointed out that Fox’s parent company wrapped its logo in the same flag to promote inclusiveness in a corporate responsibility report in 2022. Fox News did not respond to The Independent‘s request for comment. A White House spokesperson referred The Independent to Mr Bates’ tweets. Fox News, other right-wing media organisations and far-right personalities have repeatedly pushed a narrative linking transgender rights to paedophilia. The “grooming conspiracy theory”, which has led to state legislatures passing dozens of punitive laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community, is based on “discredited research and junk science”, according to the Southern Poverty Law Centre. On Wednesday night, a Biden administration source told CNN: “Fox paid the biggest settlement in media history because they platformed dangerous lies, and the lesson they took from that experience is to repeat the same behaviour, including spreading baseless QAnon filth?” This comes after Fox News came under fire earlier this week for describing President Joe Biden as a “wannabe dictator” who tried to have “his political rival arrested” during Donald Trump’s post-arraignment speech. Read More White House condemns Fox News chyron calling Biden ‘wannabe dictator’ as broadcaster walks back accusation Trump news – live: Trump rejected efforts to settle classified papers as Melania spotted in NYC on birthday Barr, Pompeo, Pence, Haley: All the Trump allies who have now changed their tune over indictment After expulsion and reinstatement, Tennessee Reps. Pearson, Jones advance past Democratic primaries US, Japan, Philippines agree to strengthen security ties amid tensions over China, North Korea Commerce Department announces nearly $1 billion in grants for 'middle mile' internet access

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Ukraine claimed the first successes of its counter-offensive on Sunday as it recaptured three villages from Russian forces in the south-east of the country. Unverified footage showed Kyiv’s forces hoisting the Ukrainian flag at a building in the village of Blahodatne in Donetsk region and posing with their unit’s flag in the adjacent village of Neskuchne. The troops also reportedly retook Makarivka, the next village to the south, and advanced between 300 and 1,500 metres in two directions on the southern front, deputy defence Minister Hanna Maliar said in a statement. “No positions were lost on the directions where our forces are on the defensive,” Maliar added. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Ukrainian “counteroffensive and defensive operations” were taking place. Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Friday that a Ukrainian military push was well underway, but that it had failed and had so far suffered “significant losses”. Kyiv has kept information of its counter-offensive secret and urged Ukrainians not to disclose any information that could compromise the operation. The video from Blahodatne showed Ukrainian troops inside a heavily damaged building as the sound of artillery rumbled in the distance. “We’re kicking the enemy out from our native lands. It’s the warmest feeling there is. Ukraine is going to win, Ukraine above everything,” an unidentified soldier said in the video on Facebook. Russia said at least twice this week that it had repelled Ukrainian attacks close by the nearby settlement of Velyka Novosilka. The occupied southeast is seen as a likely priority for Kyiv’s forces that may aim to sever Russia’s land bridge to the annexed peninsula of Crimea and split Russian forces in half. Makarikva is around 90km northwest of the city of Mariupol, which lies on the Sea of Azov on the southern rim of the land bridge. Russia captured the major city last year after besieging and bombarding it for several weeks. Russia has built vast fortifications across occupied territory to prepare for a Ukrainian counterattack using thousands of troops trained and equipped by the West. In her statement, Maliar also said Ukrainian forces were continuing assault operations in the east near the devastated city of Bakhmut and had advanced 250 metres near the Berkhivka Reservoir. Russia said it captured the city of Bakhmut last month after the bloodiest and longest battle of the February 2022 full-scale invasion, but Kyiv has said it has been regaining ground on the flanks of the city. The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said separately that a motorised infantry brigade had advanced on the front line around the eastern city Avdiivka in recent days and captured a Russian position, but it provided no further details. In other developments, the Ukranian president said on Sunday that work has already started on an investigation by the International Criminal Court of the breach of the Kakhovka dam. “Representatives of the International Criminal Court have visited Kherson region in recent days,” Mr Zelensksy said in his nightly video address. “On the very first day after the disaster, the general prosecutor’s office sent a corresponding request to the International Criminal Court concerning an investigation of this disaster and the work has already begun.” Mr Zelensky said it was important that international legal experts saw the aftermath of the disaster, including incidents of shelling of flooded areas. Officials said three people were killed on Sunday in Russian shelling of boats carrying evacuees. The president said Ukrainian rescue teams had evacuated about 4,000 residents from affected zones - including areas on the Russian-occupied east bank of the Dnipro River. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Kyiv says it has liberated first village in counter-offensive action Air Defender 23: Nato exercise will divert and delay hundreds of planes each day Volodymyr Zelensky welcomes Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau for surprise Ukraine visit The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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