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Ukraine has begun firing on North Korean troops inside Russia for the first time since they were deployed in the conflict, a Kyiv official said.They added that Pyongyang's units were struck in the Kursk region of Russia following a deployment that was criticised by the US and Ukraine's other Western allies. US, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments say up to 12,000 North Korean combat troops are being sent by Pyongyang to the war under a pact with Moscow.Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation branch of Ukraine's Security Council, wrote on Telegram: "The first North Korean troops have already been shelled, in the Kursk region."He provided no further details. Western governments had expected that the North Korean soldiers would be sent to Kursk border region i...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired his defence minister Yoav Gallant.The move comes 14 months into the Middle East war sparked by the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Mr Netanyahu said a "crisis of trust" had developed between him and Mr Gallant.He said there had been too many "significant gaps" between them over the management of Israel's wars."In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister," Mr Netanyahu said. "Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister."The two have regularly been at odds over the handling of the Gaza war.A previous attempt to fire Mr ...

Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Conor McGregor "in effect raped" a woman who suffered a "violent and vicious assault" at his hands, jurors at Dublin's High Court have been told.The woman is claiming civil damages against the Irish fighter and another man, James Lawrence, alleging they sexually assaulted her in December 2018.As a jury was sworn in on Tuesday, Justice Alexander Owens told them it is alleged that the men had "in effect raped her".But lawyers for the fighter, nicknamed "notorious", accused her of attempted "extortion".McGregor and the plaintiff knew each other, had mutual friends, and had occasionally been in contact on social media, John Gordon SC, the woman's lawyer, said.She "was no angel", Mr Gordon said, and after going out with friends in the city on the night of ...