Andrei Troshev, a founding member and Executive Director of the Wagner Group, reportedly met Valdimir Putin and Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov on Thursday night. The meeting came hours before Kyiv launched drone strikes on Russia’s border regions, ‘hitting a power substation’ and ‘cutting power supplies’, according to the Russian defence ministry. The meeting underscored the Kremlin’s attempt to show that the state had now gained control over the mercenary group after a failed June mutiny by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash in August. Days after the Wagner’s mutiny, Putin offered mercenaries the opportunity to keep fighting but suggested that commander Andrei Troshev take over from Prigozhin, Russia’s Kommersant newspaper has reported. “You yourself have been fighting in such a unit for more than a year,” Putin said. “You know what it is, how it is done, you know about the issues that need to be resolved in advance so that the combat work goes in the best and most successful way.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA news agency that Troshev worked at the defence ministry. “He now works in the defence ministry.” Read More Ukraine ‘hits power substation’ in drone attacks on Russian border regions Putin’s shameless UN charm offensive - with stolen grain from Ukraine Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva's Olympic doping case will resume for two more days in November Ukraine's Zelenskyy taps celebrities for roles as special adviser and charity ambassador

An Australian think tank says Beijing has increasingly targeted its South Pacific political allies with its shrinking aid budget as interest wanes in Chinese credit and competition grows with the United States for influence in the region

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro says the network could take on a sports league as a minority partner as the network continues its transition from a cable channel to a digital company

One year on from the Kanjuruhan football stadium disaster that killed more than 130 people in Indonesia, families of the victims are calling on authorities to reopen investigations and declare the incident "a serious human rights violation."

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A person briefed on the matter tells The Associated Press the newly appointed chief operating officer of the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres has been fired along with the Bills' general counsel because the two were in a romantic relationship

Forty-one people reportedly died in a migrant shipwreck near the Italian island of Lampedusa, survivors say, the latest tragedy amid a spike in efforts in people making the dangerous sea crossing from North Africa to Europe.

An urgent rescue operation is underway to save Florida coral species from extinction as a mass bleaching event and die-off from unprecedented water temperatures spreads across the Florida Keys.

Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Donald Trump are heading to court to argue over a proposed gag order aimed at reining in the former president’s diatribes on likely witnesses and others in his 2020 election interference case in Washington

Watch live as Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the Danish parliament on Monday, 21 August, after Denmark and the Netherlands announced they will supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine in what he called a "historic" pledge. Denmark will deliver 19 jets, with the first six due to be shipped around New Year, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. A further eight will be sent in 2024 and five in 2025. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands has 42 jets but some will be needed for training purposes. It is not confirmed when the Netherlands will send the aircraft. The US has given approval to both countries to provide the jets. Denmark and the Netherlands both have F-16s available as their armed forces are transitioning to newer F-35 jets. Speaking at an air force base in Eindhoven on Sunday after inspecting F-16 jets parked in a hangar, Zelensky hailed the decision was "absolutely historic, powerful, and inspiring for us". Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

The shutters were down on one of Japan's best-known department stores on Thursday in the sector's first strike for six decades, sparked by fears that its mooted...

People in countries including Italy and Spain are struggling to cope with soaring temperatures.