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Russia's President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the situation in the Kursk region, 12 August, 2024. Photo: AFP / Pool Ukraine's top commander has said Kyiv's forces control 1000 sq km of Russian territory as they press their biggest cross-border incursion in two-and-a-half years of full-scale war. Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukraine continued to "conduct an offensive operation in the Kursk region" seven days after it began. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had brought war to others and now it was coming back to Russia. But Russian leader Vladimir Putin described the offensive as a "major provocation" and ordered Russian forces to "to kick the enemy out of our territory". A growing number of people have been evacuated from the western Russian region for their...

By Rachel Maher of Joseph Simpkins was killed in a crash near the Perth Airport early on Sunday. Photo: Kalamunda Districts Rugby Union Club / Facebook Rugby communities both in New Zealand and in Australia are mourning the loss of a popular rugby player killed in a car crash. Joseph Simpkins, 28, was killed in a car crash in Perth on early Sunday morning. The Sydney Morning Herald reported Simpkins was driving near Perth Airport on Tonkin Highway when his car crashed into the side of a barrier. Former players, rugby clubs and friends have taken to social media to remember Simpkins, who has been described as a "loyal" friend who will be "greatly missed". Simpkins began his rugby career in New Zealand and later became a renowned figure in the Perth rugby community. H...

Police officers standing by a cordoned off area in Leicester square, London where a woman and an 11-year-old girl were stabbed. Photo: BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP By Liz Jackson, Harry Low and Frankie McCamley, BBC News A shop security guard has described how he helped save an 11-year-old girl as she was being attacked by a knifeman in London's Leicester Square. In a statement, the Met Police said a 32-year-old man had been arrested and taken into custody after the girl and her 34-year-old mother were stabbed. Abdullah, 29, who works at TWG tea in Leicester Square, said he intervened to stop the attacker and, with help from colleagues, gave first aid to the child. The Met said it was "not looking for anyone else" in connection with the attack and does not believe the victims knew their attacker...

Photo: AFP By Richard Cowan and Andy Sullivan, Reuters Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is due to interview Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on the X social media network next week in an event that could inject more surprises into the turbulent US presidential election. The interview, scheduled for 8 pm Eastern Time (Midday Tuesday NZT), could provide the former president an opportunity to seize the limelight at a time when his campaign is seen as sagging. His Democratic rival for the 5 November election, Vice President Kamala Harris, has erased Trump's lead in opinion polls and energized Democratic voters with a series of high-energy rallies. The interview on Musk's social media platform could allow Trump to reach a different audience than the conservative faithful who a...