Vladimir Putin wants the Ukrainian counteroffensive halted by early October and has instructed Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu to improve the situation, according to a Kremlin insider cited by a US-based think-tank monitoring the war. “Putin reportedly gave Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu a deadline of one month until early October 2023 to improve the situation on the frontlines, stop Ukrainian counteroffensives, and have Russian forces regain the initiative to launch an offensive operation against a larger city,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in an intelligence update on Sunday. It said the Russian military command is likely ordering relentless attacks with the hope of forcing the Ukrainian counteroffensive to culminate, even at a high cost to Russian military capabilities, if the claims are true. The ISW said it has previously seen situations wherein the Russian defence ministry, “fearing the imminent loss of Putin’s favour”, has amped up its efforts to purge commanders offering honest but negative views. Russia launched what it called a “special military operation” in Ukraine in February last year, bringing its neighbour under a full-scale invasion and causing thousands of deaths and displacing millions. Mr Putin had first acknowledged the Ukrainian counteroffensive in June this year and claimed that the war-hit nation’s troops will not make significant gains against the strong Russian defences. He had also claimed Ukrainian troops would suffer heavy losses of personnel and western military equipment. But the initiative in which Kyiv is looking to push back all Russian forces from Ukraine’s territory, including the occupied areas, is now well into its fourth month and has registered some important territorial gains this month. President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged the counteroffensive was slow, but added that is was “important that we are moving forward every day and liberating territory”. A study by the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think-tank, found Ukrainian forces average 700-1,200m of progress every five days. That gives Russian forces time to dig in and especially to mine territory as they pull back. The 3rd Assault Brigade, composed entirely of volunteers and considered one of Ukraine’s best and most experienced corps, has been fighting almost nonstop in the east since January, while less-experienced units received new training and modern weapons to fight in the south. Read More ‘Panic’ grips Putin’s military and milbloggers over Ukraine’s advances on battlefield Ukraine-Russia war – live: ‘Panic’ among Putin’s troops as they ‘face threat of encirclement’ in Verbove Drones attack Black Sea, Crimea and parts of Russia where thousands suffered power cuts Russia ‘weaponised food and deliberately caused starvation’ in Ukraine Ukraine is building an advanced army of drones. For now, pilots improvise with duct tape and bombs

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Olivia Rodrigo recently dropped the music video for her second single 'bad idea, right?' from her sophomore album GUTS and fans couldn't help but notice some references from iconic TV shows and films. The pop-rock song is all about leaving your friends and lying to them about meeting up with an ex-boyfriend (always a bad idea), and the music video plays out this exact scenario where Olivia leaves a house party to reconnect with her ex - with some obstacles getting in the way. Here is a breakdown of all the different TV and films that were referenced: Glee Perhaps the clearest reference of them all was when Olivia was on the bus and ends getting a red slushie chucked on her, ruining her outfit. Anyone watching TV in the 2010s will know that's a shoutout to Glee where members of McKinley High's Glee Club would often receive a slushie to the face. We know Olivia is a fan of Glee and the show even got a mention in another song of hers 'Deja vu', from her previous album SOUR, where the lyrics go: "Watching reruns of Glee, being annoying singing in harmony..." Euphoria Euphoria is one of the biggest teen shows of recent years and so it's no surprise there was a reference in Roderigo's video in the form of the singer channelling Maddie (Alexa Demie) with her persistent knocking. While Maddie was knocking to go to the bathroom, Roderigo was knocking on her ex-boyfriend's front door. Empire Records (1995) and Can't Hardly Wait (1998) Olivia is known for her vintage fashion looks and her outfit in the music video took inspiration from a look Liv Tyler's character Corey Mason wore in the 1995 film Empire Records. The outfit that was referenced was a pale blue jumper but instead of the tartan skirt Liv wore in the film, Olivia wore a silver sequined skirt. Danielle Goldberg, a stylist on the music video revealed this in an Instagram Story where she posted a still from Olivia's video along with images from 90s movies such Can't Hardly Wait (1998) and Empire Records (1995) with the image of Tyler, calling it the “90s mood board of [her] dreams." Here is a still from Can't Hardly Wait (1998) where you can see the party scene inspo. Olivia's second album GUTS will be released next month on September 8. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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The special counsel investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results obtained a search warrant for the former president’s Twitter account in January, according to newly unsealed records. Twitter was prohibited from telling Mr Trump about the search, but the platform – now called “X” – was fined $350,000 for failing to meet the deadline to produce records under court order. The company ultimately produced the records three days after that deadline, according to the filing. Twitter and the office of US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith spent several months debating whether to inform Mr Trump about the warrant, a dispute that surfaced with a Washington DC appeals court’s unsealing of a decision that upheld a lower court ruling to prohibit the platform from telling the former president about the case. A federal court agreed there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that disclosing the warrant would “seriously jeopardize the ongoing investigation” by giving him “an opportunity to destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior, [or] notify confederates,” according to the decision. A footnote adds that the court “found reason to believe” that Mr Trump could “flee from prosecution”. “The government later acknowledged, however, that it had ‘errantly included flight from prosecution as a predicate’ in its application,” the footnote adds. “The district court did not rely on risk of flight in its ultimate analysis.” Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to three criminal conspiracy charges and a charge of obstruction for his attempts to overturn 2020 election results. This is a developing story Read More Trump 2020 election plan detailed in ‘fake elector’ memo as Chris Christie reacts to ‘fat pig’ attack - latest