Grocery prices in the United States cooled in August, up just 0.2% for the month. That's an improvement from July, when grocery prices were up 0.3%, according to the latest Consumer Price Index, released Wednesday.

New Zealand posted its first monthly decline in food prices since early 2022, adding to signs that inflation

Influencer and TikTok star Loren Gray has dated a number of fellow online celebrities

WASHINGTON The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday its executive board completed the first reviews of Rwanda's loan

Western hopes for Ukraine’s counteroffensive to achieve a dramatic breakthrough have been significantly pared back, with US officials now reportedly forecasting that Kyiv will fall short of its key aim of severing Russia’s land bridge with occupied Crimea. One of the significant challenges confounding Kyiv’s efforts to redraw the frontline is the millions of mines Russia has laid in their path, to the extent that Ukraine is now being described as the most heavily mined country in the world. “What we are seeing is an industrial level of mine-laying, particularly anti-tank mines,” said Paul McCann, of the Halo Trust, the world's largest humanitarian landmine clearance organisation. “Nothing like it [has been] seen in Europe since the Second World War.” In one part of the liberated Mykolaiv region, close to lands flooded by the Khakovka Dam attack, clearance workers found “incredibly dense” fields of powerful anti-tank mines, with one explosive for every square metre, Mr McCann said. But Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov has warned that the minefields on Russian-held territory – spanning the length of the 1,000km frontline – are up to five times as dense as those found in Mykolaiv. They also deep – with reports of as many as five anti-tank mines being stacked one on top of the other – capable of destroying even tanks equipped with mine ploughs. The painstaking efforts by Ukrainian troops to clear paths towards the enemy through the fields of explosives – often under heavy shelling and other fire – mean that, at one key hospital in Dnipro, the number of wounded troops arriving with mine-related injuries is now said to be second only to victims of artillery fire. Experts have told The Independent that Western hesitance to supply Kyiv with the necessary weapons for its counteroffensive this summer had allowed Russia time to create formidable defences, and lay millions of mines – meaning hopes of a “Hollywood”-style breakthrough are likely “unrealistic”. The minefields are “a serious problem”, warned Mark Galeotti, of the Mayak Intelligence consultancy. “If you’re facing a heavily mined battlefield, you have to move slowly ... at the speed of anti-mining tanks or engineers moving through marking mines, so you are therefore vulnerable to being caught under artillery fire. “Mines fix you slowly or they channel you – often into a ‘kill zone’ where they’re waiting to drop volleys of artillery shells on you. They deny the Ukrainians that kind of fluidity and speed of movement [seen during last year’s lightning counteroffensive].” Meanwhile, as Ukrainians risk their lives to clear the minefields, “the Russians can replenish them if nothing else just by using rocket launchers that scatter mines”, Mr Galeotti added. Mines can even be laid in this fashion to trap Ukrainian troops who have just cleared a path through, often by hand. The mines “would be vastly less formidable”, however, were they not “part of a very complex defensive setup”, said the author and honorary professor at University College London. He was alluding to the array of trenches, anti-tank ditches, “dragon’s teeth” barricades and other obstacles Russia has constructed. “It’s always a danger to underestimate Russians in the defence, they can be very dogged,” Mr Galeotti said. Following initial attempts to punch through Russia’s defences which likely proved costly in both manpower and Western-supplied equipment, including tanks, Ukraine now appears to have broadened its focus to target supply lines, decimate key artillery systems and exhaust the Russian military with drone strikes on targets such as Moscow, Belgorod and the Black Sea fleet. “The change in tactics at the line of contact on the battlefield has been towards using lighter footprints, small units on foot, but in the grander scheme of things we’re seeing a lot of these asymmetric cheap attacks being conducted,” said Dr Marina Miron, of King’s College University’s war studies department. “They don’t want to waste the Nato-trained brigades to run against a concrete wall, which is basically those minefields and the Russian defences,” Dr Miron added. Mr Galeotti estimates that Ukraine has already committed half of its new 10th Corps, comprising troops trained and equipped by Nato – a tens of thousands-strong grouping initially intended to hold back and capitalise on any breakthroughs rather than toil at creating them. The minefields and resulting casualties have been “leading to a degree of fatigue even within the [rest of the] country”, Mr Galeotti believes – pointing to recent reports suggesting that the days of “lines of volunteers eager to sign up” to Ukraine’s war effort are “long gone”. However, Ukraine has been buoyed this week by successes in breaking through the first line of Russian defences near the Zaporizhzia village of Robotyne – a first step on the path to severing Russia’s land bridge with Crimea. This breakthrough is “tactically significant” in that it may allow Kyiv’s forces to start operating beyond Russia’s densest minefields, according to the Institute of the Study for War. The gains have prompted some suggestions that further advances could finally allow Kyiv’s troops to pour through paper-thin gaps in the minefields to establish some control over a vast area between Russian lines. “If the Ukrainians are going to break through, it’s going to be like bankruptcy – it’s gradually then all at once,” said Dr Patrick Bury, a senior lecturer at Bath University and former Nato analyst. “That’s what you’re looking for – you get through the defences and suddenly you’re out in the open,” said the former British Army infantry captain. “Basically, you tell tanks and armoured infantry to drive hell for leather and you’re trying to get to undefended towns and cities because they’re your logistics and transport hubs. “They’ll be trying to drive [as] fast as they can towards the Sea of Azov. It’s not as if they want to cut the Russians off completely but they want to force them to withdraw ... Once you break out and you’re inside, it’s about momentum, decision-making, and you’re the one imposing your tempo on the enemy. You move and they have to react.” But while the gains near Tokmak show “progress”, with Dr Bury also pointing to fighting near the village of Urozhaine as “the one to watch”, he believes the chances of a sudden breakthrough are “50/50 at the moment”. “It’s hanging in the balance, and I think the next few weeks are going to be pretty decisive, one way or the other.” Read More Ukraine-Russia war live: Kyiv claims five Moscow fighter jets hit by drones, as Prigozhin ‘confirmed dead’ Experts warn Ukraine’s frontline push is being damaged by West On the ground in Ukraine, the desperate fight to protect a key city from 100,000 of ‘Putin’s thugs’ Wagner Group: Timeline of Yevgeny Progozhin’s private army as leader ‘killed in plane crash’ Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘Ask Me Anything’ - expert Tim White answers your questions Wagner chief ‘killed’ in crash

Watch live as Oktoberfest, the world's largest beer festival, opens for the 188th time in Munich, Germany, on Saturday (16 October). The festivities, which go on for two weeks until 3 October, will kick off with a traditional keg tapping ceremony at noon local time. Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter will tap the first barrel of Oktoberfest beer in the Schottenhamel Festhalle. The long-standing tradition, dating back to 1950, involves the mayor of Munich attempting to insert the tap in as few blows as possible to fill up the first beer glass, which then given to the incumbent Bavarian state premier. Mr Reiter shares the current record for the perfect tapping ceremony - two blows - wih former mayor Christian Ude. After the tapping ceremony, 12 gunshots will be fired to signal to the other festival tents that Oktoberfest is officially open and they can start serving beer. On Sunday, thousands of people dressed in traditional costumes will parade through the city. Read More Ukraine war: ‘Significant losses’ for Putin as Kyiv vows more drone strikes UK officially bans Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group as terrorist organisation The cost of damage from the record floods in Greece's breadbasket is estimated to be in the billions

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida together laid flowers at a memorial

To turn off crossplay in MW3 on Xbox and PlayStation, players must disable the option in their settings. PC players cannot turn off crossplay in MW3.

Reigning champion Remco Evenepoel won stage three of the Vuelta a Espana, outpacing general classification rival Jonas Vingegaard in a display of strength in a two-man sprint finish on Monday...

Eminem has had 10 studio albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, out of which 9 have been No. 1

After horse deaths marred this year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and another occurred days ahead of the world championships, safety at the Breeders’ Cup is under intense scrutiny

The House of Representatives has voted to raise the debt limit, thereby ensuring the United States will avoid defaulting on its debt, despite vocal opposition from many Republicans in the House majority. The legislation had resulted from negotiations between lieutenants of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House. The passage of the legislation is the first major hurdle to be cleared for Mr McCarthy, who made a series of concessions on how to negotiate the debt limit during the marathon 15 votes it took for him to become speaker in January. The Senate will take up the legislation for a vote and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has pledged it will pass before 5 June, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the United States will run out of options to maintain its debt obligations. Multiple Republicans vehemently criticised the bill, saying it did not go far enough in its spending cuts as well as highlighting the fact it raised the debt limit until January 2025, rather than raising it a certain dollar amount. Rep Garret Graves (R-LA), one of the chief negotiators with the White House, said that conservative criticism ignored the fact that had it not been for the agreement, the White House would have likely raised the debt limit unilaterally or Democrats would have teamed up with moderate Republicans to raise the debt limit without spending cuts. “So by doing so all you're doing is playing into the hands of the White House,” he told The Independent. “Because if you keep going down this road, if you keep trying to sew this line, that's simply not true that there's some other option out there to save a gazillion dollars, all you're doing is you're moving towards default.” But several House conservatives criticised the bill for multiple provisions, including the fact it did not put in place work requirements for Medicaid. The agreement increases the age for work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, for able-bodied adults without dependent children from 50 to 54. That earned the criticism of many progressive Democrats and led to them opposing the bill. At the same time, the agreement would exempt youth in the foster care system, veterans and people experiencing homelessness from work requirements for SNAP and the Congressional Budget Office estimated that approximately 78,000 would gain benefits in an average month as a result of the deal. But Rep Byron Donalds (R-FL) criticised the legislation for not going far enough in work requirements such as including them for Medicaid. “And I think that's just a smart and prudent thing to do,” he told The Independent. “But when you expand eligibility for the program, at least the way CBO is putting it we're actually taking a step backwards.” Read More What’s in the cliffhanger deal struck by Biden and McCarthy to raise the debt limit? Anti-poverty groups and progressives blast work requirements for aid to poor Americans in debt ceiling deal