Saudi Arabia and Israel voiced optimism Wednesday that they were moving closer to a historic normalization of ties as Iran -- their common foe -- accused the kingdom of betraying...

The European Central Bank is now at a point where it can pause and assess the impact of

Russians are “united as never before,” Vladimir Putin said at his first international summit since an armed revolt that briefly triggered fears of a coup. “Solidarity and responsibility for the fate of the fatherland was clearly shown,” he said, “by the entire society by standing as a united front against the attempted armed rebellion.” He was speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting, hosted via videoconference by India and one of the few remaining global platforms where he can get a sympathetic hearing. It was founded by Russia and China to counter western alliances, and also welcomed Iran as a new member, bringing its membership to nine. On a video link from the Kremlin, Mr Putin thanked the SCO for supporting Moscow during the short-lived mutiny mounted by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, and said the West has turned Ukraine into “a virtually hostile state - anti-Russia.” It came as Russia's military claimed to have fended off a Ukrainian drone attack that briefly forced the closure of one of Moscow’s airports. Four out of the five drones were downed by air defences and the fifth was jammed and forced down, the defence ministry said. Flights were disrupted at Moscow's Vnukovo airport and arrivals diverted to others in the city. Ukrainian forces continue to probe Russian defences in the south and the east of the country in the initial stages of a counteroffensive. They are up against minefields, anti-tank ditches and other obstacles, as well as layered defensive lines reportedly up to 12 miles deep in some places as they try to dislodge Russian occupiers. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's Security and Defence Council, claimed that the last few days of fighting have been particularly “fruitful,” though he provided no evidence for his claim. Western analysts say the counteroffensive, even if it prospers, will not end the war which started with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russia, meanwhile, has continued its missile and drone barrage deep behind the frontline. Shelling of Pervomaiskyi, in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, wounded 31 civilians. Nine children, including two babies, were among the wounded. Meanwhile, tearful mourners filled one of Kyiv's main cathedrals to honour a prominent Ukrainian writer and war-crimes researcher killed in a Russian missile strike on a cafe. Victoria Amelina, 37, died from injuries in a 27 June attack on a restaurant packed with civilians in Kramatorsk. "She was a real crusader for truth. She was extraordinarily persistent," Roman Avramenko, executive director of Truth Hounds, an NGO that documents Russian war crimes, told reporters after the service. A wide array of writers, journalists and other public intellectuals streamed into the golden-domed St. Michael's Cathedral to pay tribute. Relatives and friends broke down as they filed past Amelina's coffin. It came as armed masked men attacked and seriously injured a prominent female Russian journalist. Yelena Milashina, a journalist for Novaya Gazeta, was travelling to Grozny, Chechnya from the local airport with a lawyer when they were attacked. "It was a classic kidnapping... They pinned (our driver) down, threw him out of his car, got in, bent our heads down, tied my hands, knelt me down there, and put a gun to my head," Milashina told Mansur Soltayev, a Chechen human rights official. Memorial, a rights group outlawed in Russia, said the pair had been “brutally kicked, including in the face, threatened with death, had a gun held to their heads, and had their equipment taken away and smashed.” Separately, the Kremlin has opened the door for talks with the US over a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich - but said they must be held away from the public eye. “We have said that there have been certain contacts on the subject but we don't want them to be discussed in public,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Mr Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in Yekaterinburg while on a reporting trip and is being held at Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary He was the CIA whiz kid in 'Charlie Wilson's War.' His new book offers advice for the US in Ukraine. Putin claims Russia more united than ever just days after Wagner’s failed mutiny AP News Digest 7 am

Virat Kohli defied Australia on Saturday to give India hope of an extraordinary win in the World Test Championship...

New York police are investigating a string of shootings in Queens that left at least three people injured Saturday morning, authorities say.

The scene looks almost lunar. Drone videos covering more than a thousand miles of the Ukrainian front line show great craters of earth, scooped from the ground by unseen barrages.

North Korea has said that detained U.S. soldier Travis King, who is Black, complained about mistreatment and racial

Australians rallied around the country on Sunday to fight for a landmark Indigenous rights reform that is bleeding support in the polls...

About an hour and a half into its voyage, a missing submersible on an expedition to view the wreckage of the Titanic lost communications

Elon Musk said Twitter's cash flow remains negative because of a nearly 50% drop in advertising revenue and

Ukraine could still achieve a big breakthrough in its counteroffensive before changing weather conditions make it harder to advance, president Volodymyr Zelensky says. Mr Zelensky’s forces have broken through the first of three main Russian defensive lines in Zaporizhzhia and could make more gains in the weeks to come, he said, though a breakthrough will not be “tomorrow or the day after tomorrow”. “If we push them [Russia] from the south, they will run,” he told The Economist in an interview. It comes after US military chief General Mark Milley said Kyiv could have as little as 30 days of fighting left before the onset of Ukraine’s infamously wet autumn weather makes battlefield movement more difficult. General Milley said the rains would make it “very difficult to manoeuvre” for both sides. Mr Zelensky reiterated the assessments of his military and Western intelligence agencies that Ukraine is making clear gains, however modest, in the east and south. “Keeping morale high is crucial. This is why even limited progress on the frontline is essential,” Mr Zelensky said. “Now we have movement. It’s important.” Read More Russia is turning to old ally North Korea to resupply its arsenal for the war in Ukraine Families in Gaza have waited years to move into new homes. Political infighting is keeping them out India avoids condemnation of Russia to produce united G20 declaration

Even though the fire has been fully contained, officials warn that it could still emit traces of smoke from smoldering vegetation