Almost as if to answer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement the counteroffensive is "slower" than some might have imagined, a pinpoint strike hit a key pair of bridges for Russia's occupation. The Chonhar bridges are both rail and road crossings, and head from the northeast of occupied Crimea to Ukraine's main target in this counteroffensive: occupied Zaporizhzhia region.

Driver Noah Gragson has been suspended indefinitely and will not participate in NASCAR's Cup Series race on Sunday due to his "actions" on social media, according to NASCAR and his team, Legacy Motor Club.

Andy Farrell believes Ireland must remain calm and “roll with the punches” to realise their potential at the Rugby World Cup. Former dual code international Farrell is preparing for his first global tournament as head coach having previously been involved as a player and an assistant coach. Six Nations champions Ireland have topped the world rankings for more than a year and arrived in France on Thursday among the favourites to go all the way. Englishman Farrell has welcomed setbacks during his tenure to challenge his players and prevent them becoming fazed on the biggest stage. “The key learnings are the scenarios that we’ve tried to put ourselves through in the last few years,” the 48-year-old said of his previous World Cup experiences in both rugby union and rugby league. “You hear me say constantly ‘best laid plans and all that’, it’s 100 per cent that at a World Cup. “The ones that get flustered with all that because they’re not ready for all different types of permutations are the ones that lose the plot. The key to progressing in a competition like this is staying calm, keeping your feet under you and making sure that you just roll with the punches. Andy Farrell “The key to progressing in a competition like this is staying calm, keeping your feet under you and making sure that you just roll with the punches and be the best version of yourself no matter what happens and have no-excuse mentality. “We’ve tried to put ourselves in those type of positions before and we know what’s coming through.” Ireland have been placed in the tougher half of the draw and begin their campaign next Saturday against Romania in Bordeaux. Farrell’s men then face Tonga, reigning champions South Africa and Scotland in Pool B, with hosts France or New Zealand likely opponents should they progress to the quarter-finals. Asked if this is the most competitive and open World Cup, Farrell said: “I think everyone loves to say that anyway. “Everyone wants it to be like that because there’s so many good teams that can beat each other on any given day. “The pressures of the competition within itself, the history of all that shows that it is going to be a wide-open competition. So one step at a time. Let’s see if we can build some momentum.” Farrell assisted Joe Schmidt at the 2019 World Cup before stepping up to become Ireland boss following a quarter-final exit against the All Blacks. The opening year of his reign, amid the coronavirus pandemic, brought mixed results but his side have won 25 of 27 Tests dating back to round three of the 2021 Six Nations. “I’m not surprised,” Farrell said of the progress. “If you’re talking four years ago then we probably didn’t know the total plan as in what we’ve been through and what we’re going through. “The process has always been for the here and now, and the medium term, and the long term. “A lot tend to go from cycle to cycle and chop a few and carry on. “I think the right way, for me anyway, is to grow and develop competition as we go and then when we get to something like this (World Cup) watch and learn and let’s pick accordingly on what’s right on the team.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Mason Greenwood will begin to rebuild career with loan move to Getafe David Moyes enjoying West Ham topping Premier League after Luton win Sofyan Amrabat ‘will put everything’ into playing for Manchester United

ESG fund managers who turned to big tech as a low-carbon, high-return bet are growing increasingly anxious over

Last month was the warmest June of the past three decades globally, with several places in western Europe

Here's how to stay safe when you take a dip at beaches, lakes, or rivers.

Manchester City are closing in on the signing of Belgian international Jeremy Doku. Here's why the Cityzens want to sign the Rennes winger.

Poland’s lawmakers have confirmed that a controversial government-planned referendum on migration will be held alongside key parliamentary elections in October

Studio executives are calling the film ‘Barbillion’ after ‘Barbie’ made history by raking in more than $1 billion in global box office gross.

Developers say they “audibly gasped” when first using Apple’s upcoming augmented reality headset, the company has said. Apple announced the Vision Pro headset in June, when it said it would arrive early next year and cost $3,500. In the wake of that announcement, it allowed some journalists to use the headset, including The Independent. Since then, however, Apple has kept its Vision Pro largely hidden. Some units have been shipped out to developers, and it is offering special sessions where they can try out their apps in Apple’s buildings, but those taking part have been asked to sign expansive non-disclosure agreements that mean they cannot talk about those experiences. Now Apple has published some comments from some of those early users, however, who have detailed the first experience of using the headset. Actually strapping the headset on is fundamentally different from using it in the simulator that Apple has provided so that developers can start work on their augmented reality apps, they said. “I’d been staring at this thing in the simulator for weeks and getting a general sense of how it works, but that was in a box,” said David Smith, the developer of the app Widgetsmith. “The first time you see your own app running for real, that’s when you get the audible gasp.” Another developer said that it changed the experience of using his app. Michael Simmons – who runs Flexibits, which creates apps such as calendar tool Fantastical, said that using the kit was a surprise. “It was like seeing Fantastical for the first time,” he said. “It felt like I was part of the app.” Using the app in augmented reality meant that he was already thinking of new ways to get past the “limiting” nature of a screen with a border, he said in Apple’s post. “Experiencing spatial computing not only validated the designs we’d been thinking about — it helped us start thinking not just about left to right or up and down, but beyond borders at all.” Slack employee Chris Delbuck also said that he had come to think about the way the app might work in three dimensions in new ways. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that without having the device in hand,” Apple quoted him as saying. Apple is allowing any adult developer to apply to attend one of its “Vision Pro labs” for free, which are being held in a range of cities across the world. Developers must bring either an app they are working on for the Vision Pro, or an iPhone or iPad app that they want to see in augmented reality. Some reports have suggested that Apple has seen less interest for the labs than it might have hoped, possibly in part because it is not offering the labs on the east coast of the US. The labs have been “under-filled”, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported earlier this month – which might explain why the company is so keen to stress the importance of attending the sessions. Read More iPhone 15 could bring two major changes to fix battery life iPhone owners to receive payouts from Apple iPhone 15: Global smartphone demand collapses as Apple aims to take top spot

Israel’s anti-government has gained new momentum as tens of thousands of people spill into the streets of cities across the country to oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious judicial overhaul plan

The yen briefly weakened beyond 150 against the dollar again in early Asian trading on Monday as the