North Korea’s economy shrank for a third year as the pandemic continued to weigh on activity, but resurgent

A teenager is among at least six people killed in Russian airstrikes across Ukraine over the past 24-hour period, local officials said on Sunday. Of these, two people were killed and three were injured in the Kherson area after Russia fired more than 100 shells over the weekend, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Two more people died in the Donetsk area, local officials said. An airstrike in the Kharkiv region killed a 57-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman, and also destroyed their home. A 14-year-old boy was killed in a separate incident after a mine exploded in a field in the Mykolaiv region, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said. Another 12-year-old boy was also injured in the attack. In another separate strike, Russia fired two guided bombs on key infrastructure in Kherson city, causing a partial blackout and disruption to the water supply in the area, the head of the city’s military administration Roman Mrochko said. A total of 27,768 casualties in Ukraine have been recorded since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February last year, in which 9,806 civilians have been killed and 17,962 have been injured, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Ukraine saw 188 casualties – 66 killed and 122 injured – in just the first week of October, the OHCHR said. It has also warned that the actual figures of casualties are considerably higher. This comes as Kyiv continued with its drone strikes inside Russia, with the Russian defence ministry claiming that Ukraine had launched 27 drones in an overnight attack on western Russia. A total of 18 drones were shot down over the Kursk region as analysts speculated that Ukrainian forces were targeting the nearby Khalino military airfield. The debris of downed drones was seen burning just 1.5km (1 mile) from the air base in images posted on social media. The facility was previously attacked by Ukrainian forces at the end of September. The debris had fallen in the region’s namesake capital and the nearby village of Zorino, Kursk governor Roman Starovoit said on social media. Two more drones were shot down over Russia’s Belgorod region, officials said. Even as the other seven drones remained unaccounted for, Ukrainian media outlets later said that Kyiv’s forces had carried out a successful strike on Russia’s Krasnaya Yaruga electrical substation, close to the Ukrainian border. The reports cited an unnamed source from within Ukraine’s security services and included a video that appeared to show an aerial strike against an unidentified target. This comes at a time fighting has flared up in eastern Ukraine with Russian forces trying to force their way into the Kharkiv region’s Kupiansk city and encircle it, military officials said. Ukrainian forces in the area, defending the territory, faced 10 separate attacks in a span of 24 hours, Illia Yevlash, spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s eastern forces said on Sunday. “The enemy is trying to attack us in the direction of Kupiansk to encircle it and reach the banks of the Oskol River,” he told Ukrainian television. He said that Ukrainian forces in the town of Lyman in the Donetsk region had also faced heavy attack. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin suffers serious losses in largest offensive in months Russia's foreign minister will visit North Korea amid claims of weapons supplied to Moscow Russian governor reported to police for speaking out over Putin’s ‘unnecessary’ war against Ukraine Putin's visit to Beijing underscores China’s economic and diplomatic support for Russia

By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly two years in the third

For the past month, Bishkek resident Kanychai Bakirova has lived with her family of 11, including young children, in a home with only a trickle...

“Oh my goodness me!” screamed ITV’s lead Formula 1 commentator James Allen, words struggling to comprehend the sheer craziness of what was being witnessed. “We’ve got a lunatic on the track!” When a group of protestors from Just Stop Oil invaded the circuit last year during the opening lap of the British Grand Prix, it wasn’t Silverstone’s first run-in with track invaders. Contrarily, 20 years ago, the 2003 British Grand Prix was 10 laps in before deranged Irish priest Neil Horan sprinted up the fiercely quick Hangar Straight. Many drivers had to swerve to avoid him as Horan, dressed in a brown kilt, madly ran into the racing line of F1 cars speeding at 200mph while waving banners which read: “Read the bible” and “The Bible is always right.” The result could have been catastrophic if it wasn’t for the quick awareness of the drivers and the marshal stationed at position ‘Hangar 1’. Volunteering at the British Grand Prix once again, Stephen Green ran into the void of the unknown. “I didn’t really think, adrenaline just kicks in,” Green, now 72, tells The Independent. “I made the decision anyway to wait until most of the pack had gone past. I actually watched it last week on YouTube – it seems like the guy is running up there forever and a day before I get to him. “I think I just barged into him! Then he fell over and I just grabbed his wrists and dragged him. There was a white transit van with security waiting behind the debris fence. I remember what I said to him but it’s not printable!” It was an astonishing scene. While pitch invasions and streakers have for many a long year popped up at various sporting events across the country, a live racetrack is an entirely different situation altogether. More so than any wider cause, lives in the immediacy are at risk. For Green, though, it brought a sense of notoriety not familiar to the men and women in orange suits. Soon after, once the police investigation had subsided and Horan was charged with “aggravated trespass”, the marshal was the second man awarded the BARC (British Automobile Racing Club) Browning medal for outstanding bravery. The first was David Purley, 21 years earlier, following his attempts to save Roger Williamson from a fire at Zandvoort. Meanwhile Horan, laicised by the Catholic Church, did not stop there; in fact, Silverstone was just the start of his bizarre interventions. A year later, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, he ran into the path of lead Brazilian runner Vanderlei de Lima in the men’s marathon and pushed him into the crowds, ruining his path to gold. Months earlier, he was caught by police at the Epsom Derby. He also appeared on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, performing an Irish jig. Yet that day 20 years ago brought together two very different people from two very different walks of life. A point not lost on Green when, peculiarly, Horan got in touch. “Strangely enough, he emailed me five years ago to ask how I was,” Green says. “We exchanged a couple of emails and that’s about it. “Strange chap, shall we say!” The subject of protestors is top of the agenda at Silverstone this weekend. If not for last year’s near-catastrophe, then for Just Stop Oil’s recent interventions at Twickenham, the World Snooker Championship, the Ashes and just this week, Wimbledon. “At a national event, you always run the risk of idiots turning up and doing whatever they’ve got in mind to do,” Green says. “There was a huge tightening of security after the 2003 incident. “Last year I just got messages from my mates saying ‘why are you not at Silverstone?!’ There is a difference between Just Stop Oil and Horan though, I think everyone would say that Just Stop Oil are actually trying to achieve something. “Motorsport is lucky in many ways that we don’t get as much as we could’ve done. It is very tightly controlled – given F1 goes all over the world, I think it does pretty well.” Green, who still marshals at events across the UK after previous F1 stints in the Middle-East as well as Silverstone, had the rarest of race interactions on that day in ‘03. F1 and the police are on red-alert this Sunday to ensure a repeat does not occur, with the threat level at an all-time high. Read More Lewis Hamilton supports ‘peaceful’ protests at British Grand Prix this weekend Just Stop Oil ‘vital’ says Dale Vince as sports fans are backed to intervene Arrests at Wimbledon after Just Stop Oil protesters storm court twice Lewis Hamilton must be ‘cold-blooded’ in new Mercedes contract negotiations F1 release 2024 calendar with radical change to start of the season F1 descends into farce again after results shake-up – the FIA has to be better

By Joe Cash BEIJING China on Tuesday set out plans to develop a free trade zone in its

Son Heung-min's double earned Tottenham a point from a pulsating 2-2 draw against Arsenal, as Liverpool moved into second in the Premier League with a 3-1...

Here's a comprehensive guide on how to unlock Tiragisú and whether it has an evolution in Vampire Survivors.

California officials are faulting communities in a stretch of the crop-rich San Joaquin Valley for failing to develop a plan to adequately protect groundwater

Over the years, Dolly has evolved in more ways than one, not just as an artist but as a cultural icon

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker needs to check the stats before he speaks on his team's HBP numbers.

By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD A Pakistan high court on Friday temporarily halted former Prime Minister Imran Khan's trial