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A top candidate for president in Taiwan says he still strongly dislikes the party he’s teaming up with,

Asian shares halted a three-day rally, while the dollar strengthened amid concern this week’s gains on weak US

Ukraine’s forces have “gained a foothold” on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in a significant step for Kyiv’s counteroffensive, but Russia says they are raining “hell fire” on the troops. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had crossed onto the east bank of the river in the Kherson region “against all odds”. The river has been one of the key battlegrounds of the conflict, with Russia crossing from the eastern bank to seize Kherson city in the early days of the invasion only to abandon the regional capital late last year. Though they lost ground in the area and retreated back across the river, Russia has maintained a consistent troop presence on the eastern bank, hemming in the Ukrainian counteroffensive. The Russian military said it had pinned down Ukrainian forces who crossed onto the eastern bank of the River Dnipro is raining “hell fire” on them. They said that the average life expectancy of a Ukrainian soldier there is around two days. “The enemy is trapped in (the settlement of) Krynki and a fiery hell has been arranged for him: bombs, rockets, heavy flamethrower systems, artillery shells, and drones,” said Vladimir Saldo Read More Russia admits Ukrainian troops crossed Dnipro river but says ‘fiery hell’ awaits them Putin could face new war crime case as evidence suggests starvation of Ukraine was pre-planned Ukraine troops applying pressure on Putin’s forces having gained foothold along Dnipro River, says Kyiv Bombs, betrayal and burying loved ones: Plight of one Ukraine village illustrates toll of Russia’s invasion

Russia has admitted to losing occupied territory on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river in a significant victory for Ukraine, but has warned “a fiery hell” awaited Kyiv’s troops. War-time president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff had earlier said Kyiv had “gained a foothold” in the Kherson region “against all odds”, in a fresh blow to Vladimir Putin’s troops, who have been facing a gradual counteroffensive since the spring. A Ukrainian breakthrough across the Dnipro could open up a new line to attack Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. Ukraine’s forces have crossed the river, said Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of Kherson under Moscow’s control. He, however, said Ukrainian troops were taking heavy losses as more of Mr Putin’s soldiers were being poured into the battlefield to stop Kyiv’s advance. Mr Saldo said Ukrainian forces were seen operating in small groups spread over a distance of around 20km, covering an area from a railway bridge to the village of Krynky. “Our additional forces have now been brought in,” he said. “The enemy is trapped in Krynky and a fiery hell has been arranged for him: bombs, rockets, heavy flamethrower systems, artillery shells and drones.” Mr Saldo, citing Russia’s “Dnepr” military grouping, said Ukrainian troops were pinned down in basements during the day. Kyiv said its troops were moving forward to push Russian forces back from the eastern bank of the river. The frontline is “fairly fluid”, said Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command. She said Kyiv’s forces had been putting pressure on Russian troops. “The pushback from our side is taking place on a line from 3-8km along the entire bank from the water’s edge,” she said. “For now, we will ask for informational silence ... which would allow us to report later on great successes.” Both the accounts could not be immediately verified. Kyiv has frequently resorted to informational clampdown on its military moves along the 1,000km long frontline and asked spectators to await news of breakthroughs. Kyiv’s counteroffensive that was launched months ago has yielded incremental results. Moscow has maintained a consistent silence on the number of casualties its troops have faced during the war. The growing area of contested control on the eastern bank of the Dnipro “significantly reduces the mobility and capability of the Russian occupiers”, military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko said. Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak had, in remarks published on Tuesday, said Kyiv’s counteroffensive was “developing”. He also said Ukraine knew “how to achieve victory”. In the eastern theatre of the war, Ukrainian officials said the city of Avdiivka was “being wiped out” because of a month of continuous Russian bombardment. The pre-war population there of 32,000 people has come down to fewer than 1,500 residents. The Institute for the Study of War cited Russian sources on unconfirmed claims that Russian forces continued advancing around Avdiivka on Wednesday. “A Russian milblogger claimed that Russian forces pushed Ukrainian forces from their positions near the waste heap north of Avdiivka and that Russian forces seized at least 60 per cent of the industrial area south of Avdiivka,” said the US-based think-tank that is monitoring the war. It cited a Russian source as saying that the Ukrainian forces counterattacked in the Avdiivka direction on Wednesday, but did not advance. Read More Major breakthrough for Ukraine but troops face ‘hell fire’ - latest updates U.N. Security Council schedules a vote on a resolution urging humanitarian pauses, corridors in Gaza EU moves closer to imposing a new set of sanctions on Russia for its war on Ukraine Ukraine troops pressuring Putin’s forces along Dnipro River NATO to buy more ‘eyes in the sky’ planes to monitor Putin’s war on Ukraine Bombs and betrayal: Plight of one Ukraine village highlights toll of Russian invasion

President Joe Biden will address a group of CEOs grappling with the risks to their businesses from world crises

The BBC has been looking in detail at how the casualty figures are totalled.

About 46,000 United Auto Workers at General Motors on Thursday are expected to wrap up voting on a tentative contract agreement in a close race that will decide the fate of the deal that ended a six-week strike

President Joe Biden is nurturing economic ties this week with Asia

Ukrainians in occupied territories are being forced to take Russian citizenship, a report finds.

The rival presidents found common ground on climate change, military communications and fentanyl.

Russia was actively preparing to steal grain supplies and starve the Ukrainian population of food for months before Vladimir Putin ordered last year’s invasion, according to new evidence compiled by human rights experts. When Russian tanks did roll across the border on 24 February 2022 they deliberately targeted grain-rich areas and food production infrastructure first, the new report by international human rights law firm Global Rights Compliance found. GRC found that Russia’s defence contractor began purchasing trucks to transport grain, as well as three new 170-metre bulk carrier cargo ships, as early as December 2021, evidence of advance planning for the pillage of Ukrainian food resources “on an unprecedented scale”. Russia began commandeering Ukrainian farms within less than a week of its invasion, and at its peak was exporting 12,000 tonnes of grain per day from across occupied territories. The evidence of a “highly coordinated level of pre-planning” will be provided by to the International Criminal Court and GRC hopes it will lead to a first international prosecution against Mr Putin for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare. It is “highly likely” Russia will be found guilty, Catriona Murdoch, a partner at Global Rights Compliance, and if so Mr Putin could face another ICC arrest warrant to go with the one issued in March this year for the unlawful deportation of children from occupied Ukrainian territories. “Russia not only deployed a multi-pronged approach by besieging civilian populations, destroying critical infrastructure, but it also pre-planned the seizure and pillage of agricultural commodities in an insidious plan. Moscow has sparked a global food crisis and attacked Ukraine’s agriculture sector as a warfare tactic,” Ms Murdoch told The Independent. The grain pillaged from Ukraine so far has an estimated market value of $1bn per year. Multiple private Ukrainian grain companies were forcibly incorporated into Russia’s state operator, the GRC said. Beyond its impact on Ukrainian citizens, Russia’s invasion has affected millions around the world by increasing global food insecurity – Ukraine was the world’s largest wheat producer prior to the conflict. A farmer in Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine said his grain farm was taken over by Russian forces five days after the full-scale invasion began. “Multiple convoys of vehicles were seen carrying grain in the direction of the Crimean Peninsula in the following weeks, and GPS trackers on farmers’ stolen trucks show them driving through Crimea and into Russia,” the GRC said. Satellite images shared with The Independent by the GRC showed grain trucks at a facility in Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia bearing licence plate numbers registered in occupied Crimea. Other images show train carriages labelled “grain” leaving Beridansk train station in Zaporizhzhia. And another image from March this year shows a newly constructed storage building in Melitopol with grain visible throughout the compound. GRC said that despite the apparent planning that went into Russia’s theft of Ukrainian grain, job adverts seen in Russia suggest the government was unable to recruit truck drivers quickly enough to transport the vast quantities of stolen food. The investigation into grain theft ran up to August this year. GRC said that while Russia has not captured any more grain-rich territory since then, it still controls all of the Crimean peninsula – one of the main regions from which grain is transported by sea to Russia and abroad. Yousuf Syed Khan, senior lawyer at GRC, called Russia’s weaponisation of Ukraine’s grain industry “unprecedented in modern history”. Russia is now appealing to the UN and other global powers to ease war-related sanctions so it can resume grain exports from occupied territory to developing countries hit hardest by the food crisis. The offer of grain to friendly third countries was also part of Mr Putin’s failed charm offensive to get back onto the UN Human Rights Council. “Russia is doing this to represent itself as the legitimate authority of Ukrainian territory, in turn also weakening Ukraine’s national economy,” Mr Khan said.

Millions of women will be able to get free contraceptive pills on the high street from next year without having to see a GP, under new plans revealed by the NHS. Starting next month, women in England can obtain a first prescription of the pill by visiting their local pharmacy. The change will give women greater choice over where to get the pill, and will free up 10 million appointments in GP surgeries, according to NHS England. The move has been hailed as a “step in the right direction” for patients and comes as part of a broader plan to allow patients to be treated for a range of conditions at local pharmacies. These conditions include sore throats and urinary tract infections. William Pett, the head of policy, public affairs and research at Healthwatch England, said: “Women across England will welcome the convenience of getting the contraceptive pill at a local pharmacy. “Being able to see your GP in a timely manner remains the public’s top concern. “If this initiative is effectively communicated and delivered, it will make a real difference to patients and relieve the pressure on hard-pressed services.” Mr Pett said there could be problems with the plan, though, such as pharmacists not being able to see a patient’s GP records, or differences in access between different areas of the country. The plan to make the pill available from pharmacies was piloted among a cohort of 4,500 women earlier this year. Under the scheme, if women opt for the combined oestrogen and progestogen pill, they will have a check-up with a pharmacist to record their blood pressure and weight. No checks are needed for the mini pill (progestogen only), which is also the case in other settings, NHS England said. Pharmacies need to sign up for the new service, meaning that it will not be available immediately everywhere in England. As more pharmacies join the scheme, the NHS web page will be updated so that women can check which locations offer the service. Women who are significantly overweight, or whose blood pressure is high – putting them at higher risk of blood clots on the combined pill – may be referred to their GP for further checks. The ongoing checks on blood pressure and weight that women need when they are on the pill will also be available in pharmacies. Funding has also been put in place to allow more pharmacies to offer repeat prescriptions of all types of contraceptive pill. NHS England said it expects almost half a million women to be able to access the pill next year without needing to contact their GP first, with the figure rising after that. Prescription figures for 2022-23 suggest there were almost 3 million prescriptions for the combined pill and more than 4 million for the mini pill. NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said of the plan: “This is really good news for women – we all lead increasingly busy lives, and thanks to this action, rather than making a GP appointment, they can simply pop into their local pharmacy when they need or want to access contraception. “We will also be expanding services so that more health checks are available for patients on the high street, which is not only better and easier for patients but also frees up NHS time for more GP appointments for those who need them most.” Under wider plans, pharmacists will be offering more blood pressure checks to patients who are at risk of high blood pressure, with a commitment to deliver 2.5 million a year by spring 2025. NHS England estimates that this could prevent more than 1,350 heart attacks and strokes in the first year. Dr Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, said: “This is a step in the right direction for patient care. The pharmacy network has the knowledge, skill sets and the willingness to deliver these services and support the NHS. For years we have been highlighting that, if supported appropriately, pharmacies can add a lot of value to the NHS. We are accessible and we have a track record of delivering for patients.” Victoria Atkins, the new health and social care secretary, said: “For the public, these changes will mean more options for women when making a choice about their preferred contraception, reduce the risks of people suffering heart attacks and strokes, and make it easier to access medicines for common conditions.” Janet Morrison, chief executive at Community Pharmacy England, said: “It makes perfect sense to use community pharmacies as a first port of call for healthcare advice, access to contraception, and health checks such as blood pressure tests.” Read More Stephen Fry uses walking stick after breaking his leg, pelvis and ‘a bunch of ribs’ Jonnie Irwin jokes he’s ‘whacked’ after attending The Streets gig in Newcastle Kourtney Kardashian ‘gives birth to first child’ with Travis Barker Stephen Fry uses walking stick after breaking his leg, pelvis and ‘a bunch of ribs’ Jonnie Irwin jokes he’s ‘whacked’ after attending The Streets gig in Newcastle Kourtney Kardashian ‘gives birth to first child’ with Travis Barker