Rex Heuermann was arrested last month for the murders of three women between 2009 and 2010

Two Russian fighter jets were scrambled on Thursday to prevent three British warplanes from entering Russian airspace over the Black Sea, the Russian defence ministry has claimed. The Su-27 fighter jets were sent to intercept “three air targets” near the border, with Russia claiming to have identified them as a British RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft and two Typhoon fighter planes. “As the Russian fighters approached, the foreign military aircraft turned away from the state border of the Russian Federation,” the statement claimed. It was not clear how close the planes came to each other. The Black Sea has become an increasingly important theatre in the war between Russia and Ukraine, now nearing the end of its 20th month. President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he had ordered Russian planes armed with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles to patrol over the Black Sea. Russia has previously reported a number of incidents in which its fighter jets were scrambled to intercept military planes from Norway, another NATO member, over the Barents Sea. In September last year, a Russian pilot fired two missiles towards an RAF surveillance plane after mistakenly believing he had permission to fire. Russia claimed it had been caused by a “technical malfunction” with the UK’s Ministry of Defence publicly accepting their explanation. After firing, the first missile missed the RAF plane while the second failed to launch successfully. If it had reached its target, it could potentially have drawn a Nato member into a military confrontation with Russia. The two Russian SU-27 fighter jets had encountered the RAF plane, which was carrying a crew of up to 30 people, as it was flying a surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace on 29 September 2022. The Ministry of Defence has been approached for comment. Read More Ukraine-Russia war - live: Kyiv makes ‘breakthrough’ on Dnipro river as Moscow warns US of ‘grave’ mistake Ukraine has used long-range ATACMS missiles against Russia, Zelensky says Putin says Russia ‘will be able to repel’ Ukraine’s new weapons used to damage Kremlin’s air assets The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Hui Ka Yan, the billionaire chairman of beleaguered property developer China Evergrande Group, has been placed under police

A new analysis shows students across the U.S. fell further behind academically last school year despite extensive efforts to help them recover from learning setbacks tied to the COVID-19 pandemic

After weeks of negotiations, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have announced an “agreement in principle” to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and avoid a potentially catastrophic default

Deep-sea researchers have completed the first full-size digital scan of the Titanic, showing the entire wreck in unprecedented detail and clarity

Record ocean heat has invaded Florida with a vengeance

The Supreme Court on Monday left in place a lower court opinion that invalidated a code of conduct at a North Carolina publicly funded charter school that required girls to wear skirts in order to "preserve chivalry" based on the belief that every girl is a "fragile vessel."

The move comes after rioting sparked by last month's killing of a 17-year-old by police in Nanterre.

State-sponsored Chinese hackers have infiltrated critical US infrastructure networks, the United States, its Western allies and Microsoft said Wednesday while warning that similar espionage...

Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes, including a 66-yarder to George Kittle, and the San Francisco 49ers seemingly fixed all their woes with a cross-country trip and a 34-3 drubbing of Jacksonville that ended a three-game skid

Rep Matt Gaetz of Florida said on his podcast Tuesday morning that he will in the coming days introduce a bill to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into former President Donald Trump. “In the coming hours, the coming days, I will be introducing legislation under my name, in the House of Representatives, as a freestanding bill, to defund the Jack Smith investigation,” Mr Gaetz said. “And one reason why is the election interference feature. Another reason why: the lack of transparency.” Mr Gaetz’s announcement comes just hours after Mr Trump said he’s recieved a letter from Mr Smith’s investigation into the events of January 6 informing him that he is the target of a grand jury investigation in Washington, DC. “Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and indictment,” Mr Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. It is as of now unclear what charges Mr Trump may face, though he’s already been indicted for allegedly mishandling classified documents in Florida and allegedly participating in a hush money payment scheme in New York. But if Mr Trump is indicted again for his participation in efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election and subvert American democracy, it could dampen his odds of being returned to office in next year’s election — a prospect he and his supporters are arguing amounts to election interference. Mr Trump has in recent weeks repeatedly attacked Mr Smith, who was appointed as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland last year. Mr Smith has been charged with overseeing two Department of Justice investigations into the former president, one regarding January 6 and the other regarding his handling of classified material. Read More Democratic lawmaker screams at ‘exhausting’ Matt Gaetz on House floor House Ethics Committee revives ‘misconduct’ probe into rep Matt Gaetz Christopher Wray hits back at Gaetz after Republican presses him on trust in the FBI