Britain’s military chief has defended Ukraine’s counteroffensive and said its troops “continue to hold the initiative” amid criticism that the pushback against the Russian invasion is moving slowly. The comments have also come as the war-hit nation’s deputy defence minister on Thursday said “good news” had emerged in the eastern front of the battlefield. “In the north, they are holding and fixing Russian forces there and in the south they are making progress between 10km and 20km, depending on how you judge it,” Sir Tony Radakin was quoted as saying by The Guardian at the DSEI arms fair in London. “The idea that war is neat and tidy, and you can plan and predict it to the nth degree is nonsense,” said Britain’s most senior military officer. He said progress of the counteroffensive could not be measured by a predictable timetable and warned the UK is vulnerable to a potential missile or drone attack as he pushed for a further discussion on improving homeland security. There is an “aggressive world out there in terms of state threats”, he said, pointing out it is now easy to “get close to a country and fly drones in”. British armed forces were “having a bigger conversation about homeland defences”, the chief of the defence staff said and asked whether within that “we need to have a conversation about integrated missile defence”. Admiral Radakin has been closely monitoring the war with communication lines to Ukraine’s most senior military commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi. The comments come a week after Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg shot back at recent criticism of “slow” counteroffensive from Ukrainian troops as he pointed out the numbers of mines in the battlefield Ukraine is encountering are at a historic high. “The starting point is that the Russian army used to be the second strongest in the world. And now the Russian army is the second strongest in Ukraine. That’s quite impressive by Ukrainians,” he said. “No one ever said that this was going to be easy,” Mr Stoltenberg told lawmakers at the European parliament earlier this month. “Hardly any time in history we have seen more mines on the battlefield than we are seeing in Ukraine today. So it was obvious that this was going to be extremely difficult. “The Ukrainians are gradually gaining ground. They have been able to breach the defensive lines of the Russian forces, and they are moving forward,” he said. Ukrainian officials said the war being fought in the country is unlike any other, as its air space has not been shut down and it does not have top-tier warplanes like F-16s. Last month, several US and other Western officials suggested the grinding war’s counteroffensive stage was falling short of expectations – but did not choose to be quoted on their claims. Some officials pointed holes in Ukraine’s strategy and blamed it for concentrating its forces in the wrong places. The counteroffensive has been backed by billions of dollars’ worth of Western military equipment. Read More Just 14 UK tanks for Ukraine? We must do better than that Sunak says Russian leader ‘doesn’t want to be held accountable’ at G20 US sends Ukraine controversial depleted uranium weapons that can pierce tank armour Zelensky needed to sack his defence minister – but it goes beyond just corruption scandals From Challenger to Leopard: How Ukraine’s tanks compare to Russia’s

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK A selloff in U.S. government bonds is jolting everything from stocks to

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 26, 2023--

WASHINGTON Twenty or more Americans are missing following Palestinian Islamist group Hamas' attack on Israel over the weekend

A man has died after being injured at the construction site where Everton FC are building their new stadium. The 26 year-old victim, a worker on the development, was involved in an “incident” at the Bramley Moore Dock site in Liverpool at around lunchtime. A Merseyside Police spokesperson said: “We can confirm that a man has died after an incident at Bramley Moore Dock this afternoon. At around 1pm it was reported that a man, aged 26, had been injured. “He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. His next of kin have been told and an investigation is under way.” A spokesperson for the club said they were ‘heartbroken’ by the unnamed individual’s death. Everton FC said: “Everyone at Everton Football Club is heartbroken by the news a male worker has died following an incident at the Everton Stadium site at Bramley-Moore Dock. “The thoughts and condolences of everyone connected with Everton are with his family, friends, and colleagues at this unimaginably sad time. “Stadium contractor Laing O’Rourke has immediately launched an investigation and will work with the police and the Health and Safety Executive to establish the full details of the incident.” Work began on the new stadium two years ago, as part of a £500 million waterside scheme in the city. A spokesperson for contractors Laing O’Rourke said: “We can confirm that earlier today a member of our team, who was carrying out work for one of our sub-contractors, was seriously injured in an incident. He was taken to hospital via ambulance, where he sadly died. “We are shocked and saddened by today’s tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased man and our wider project team. “The police and the Health and Safety Executive are on site and we have suspended work until further notice. We will cooperate fully with any investigation that follows.” Read More Cook says Australian mushroom deaths were ‘accidental’: ‘I had no reason to hurt people I love’ Couple whose husky mauled their baby daughter to death allowed to keep pack of dogs Heartbreaking moment Hawaiian broadcaster reveals on air he lost four family members to Maui wildfires RAF jets launched to intercept Russian bombers off coast of UK Bibby Stockholm: A timeline of the government’s controversial migrant accommodation Public support for new Brexit referendum revealed

Call of Duty Games are likely coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2024 as Microsoft works to bring Modern Warfare 3 and more CoD titles to the service in the future.

The shelves at Moscow supermarkets are full of fruit and vegetables, cheese and meat

Real Madrid have named their new captain following Karim Benzema's departure.

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Donald Trump is testing a strategy that may soon become a necessity as his legal woes mount: relying

A former Apple employee has been sharing some of the handy iPhone hacks he learnt while working at the tech giant - and we can't believe we didn't know them before. From tips as simple as holding your camera button down to record a video instead of swiping, to switching to a 'one-handed keyboard' to save your muscles aching, Tyler Morgan has completely changed the way his followers are using their phones. Arguably one of the most popular he recommended is that you can actually do voiceovers while screen recording, by swiping down to reveal a microphone button. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Nigeria’s official currency exchange rate is once again widening a gap with the parallel-market rate, shrugging off a