Megyn Kelly choked up as she found it 'incredibly difficult’ to report on the deadly Israel-Hamas conflict

Ukrainian soldiers successfully repelled attacks along the war frontline at Avdiivka on Tuesday as a new offensive from Russian soldiers erupted near the eastern Ukraine town, officials said. “I can add that our defenders on the Avdiivka front repelled all the attacks of the enemy, no losses of lines and positions were sustained,” colonel Oleksandr Shtupun, the spokesperson of the joint press centre of defence forces, said. He confirmed an escalation of Russian military offensive actions on the same front. He said Ukrainian forces repelled attacks in Keramika, Ocheretyne, Berdychiv, Stepove, Lastochkyne, Tonenke, Avdiivka, and Pervomaiske in Donetsk oblast. Around three Russian battalions launched a ground assault on Monday on the eastern town which remained one of the most heavily fortified areas of Donetsk oblast, officials in Ukraine confirmed. "The invaders also launched air strikes near Berdychiv and Avdiivka. From the morning till now, the civilian infrastructure of Avdiivka and the settlements in the Pokrovske district around it are periodically shelled. Avdiivka was bombarded from tubed artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems,” he said in a national telecast. Ukrainian officials have confirmed that they view Russian attacks along the Andiivka and Donetsk city as active enemy efforts to prevent them from moving forces to Zaporizhzhia. In fresh signs of escalation, Russian tanks and armoured personnel were also seen moving towards Ukrainian lines which were backed by air strikes around 5am on Tuesday morning, reported Kyiv Post citing multiple sources. According to the Ukraine’s general staff of the Armed Forces, Russia targeted more than 130 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblast with artillery fire. It added that Ukrainian defence forces saw success in the areas east of Klishchiivka and Andriivka. The defence by Kyiv’s troops continued in the south of Bakhmut in Donetsk oblast. In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian Air Force carried out 11 air strikes on Russian positions of concentration of troops, weapons and military equipment and nine air strikes on the anti-aircraft missile system used by Russia. A Russian Su-25 fighter jet and seven drones were also shot down, along with successful attacks on Russian ammunition depot, command post, artillery systems among other critical Russian infrastructure, the general staff said in the latest war update on Wednesday. According to the Russian military bloggers, Moscow’s actions in the Avdiivka area operations were aimed at capturing the city Ukraine took back just last month, the Institute for the Study of War said. They claimed Russian forces wanted to encircle Ukrainian troops. “A successful encirclement of Avdiivka – one of the most heavily fortified areas of the Donetsk Oblast front line – would very likely require more forces than Russia has currently dedicated to the Avdiivka-Donetsk City effort,” it said in its latest assessment. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Moscow fails in bid to return to UN’s top human rights body Russia will only resume nuclear tests if the US does it first, a top Russian diplomat says Ukraine's Zelenskyy visits neighboring Romania to discuss security and boost ties Russia faces a tough fight to regain its seat in the UN's top human rights body

(Reuters) -GSK on Wednesday said it would confidentially settle another lawsuit in California alleging its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused

When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Beijing in June, China vowed to contribute "Chinese wisdom, Chinese strength" to resolve the long-standing conflict between the Palestinians and Israel.

MARRAKECH, Morocco World Bank President Ajay Banga said on Wednesday interest rates will likely stay higher for longer

A never-before-seen ore containing vast quantities of an element widely used in semiconductors has been found in China in a discovery that could propel new advances in battery technology. Geologists found rare earth metal niobium inside the new ore named niobobaotite from north China’s Inner Mongolia. The rare earth metal is widely used in alloys for jet engines and rockets and has also been shown to have exceptional current conducting properties in low temperatures. Some researchers have said batteries made from niobium have several advantages over traditional lithium-ion batteries. The main source of niobium until now has been from the ore mineral columbite that is extracted widely in Canada, Brazil, Australia and Nigeria, with China obtaining nearly 95 per cent of the element for its steel industry via imports. If geologists can prove that sufficient volume and quality of niobium can be extracted from niobobaotite, experts said it could help make China “self-sufficient”, reported the South China Morning Post newspaper. The niobobaotite ore has received official approval from the International Mineralogical Association’s classification committee, according to the China National Nuclear Corporation, a state-run enterprise responsible for overseeing China’s civilian and military nuclear programmes. The Brazilian Metallurgy and Mining Company (CBMM) has been working on new projects towards the use of niobium to make advanced lithium-ion batteries. China’s state news agency Xinhua reported earlier this year that CBMM is partnering with universities, research centres and battery makers to improve the use of the rare earth element in lithium batteries. Niobium batteries are expected to bring several advantages over traditional lithium-ion batteries that tend to pose challenges like safety risks, short life cycles and long charging times, Antonio Castro Neto, director of the National University of Singapore’s Centre for Advanced 2D Materials, said earlier this year. “We have made significant progress in our development of niobium-graphene batteries which are proving to be a game changer in safety, efficiency, and sustainability,” Dr Neto said. Researchers said the performance duration of niobium-graphene batteries can be 10 times longer than traditional lithium-ion batteries, thus making them last for an estimated 30 years and make them more durable and reliable as well. These batteries, currently in development, can also be fully charged in less than 10 minutes, they said. “As they have a longer lifespan, the new graphene-niobium batteries significantly reduce total cost of ownership compared to existing lithium-ion batteries and have ultrafast charging capabilities. In addition, they offer higher safety as they do not risk explosion even in high temperatures,” Rogerio Ribas, CBMM’s global head of batteries, said in a statement. Read More China’s ‘government-approved’ AI chatbot says Taiwan invasion is likely Australian-Chinese journalist detained for 3 years in China returns to Australia Driver killed after crashing into Chinese consulate in San Francisco had knives and crossbow EU asks Elon Musk to ‘walk the talk’ on X/Twitter disinformation over Hamas attack Earth hit by a huge solar storm that would devastate civilisation, trees show Viral WhatsApp warning of cyberattack targeting Jewish people is fake

'RHOSLC' star Meredith Marks received backlash as people pointed out that there are 'innocent human beings on both sides'

On October 11, 2002, the world witnessed a momentous occasion as former US President Jimmy Carter was bestowed with the Nobel Peace Prize

Hurricane Lidia was downgraded to a tropical storm early Wednesday as it weakened after making landfall on Mexico's Pacific coast, where it left at least one dead and caused...

Ana Navarro shared a snap of her 'lifelong' friends while fans recalled some of their own friendships

SAVE $300: The Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni robot vacuum and mop is on sale for

As per Dr Chiadi E Ndumele, lead author of the AHA advisory, more than 90% of adults fall on the CKM spectrum