A Rubens painting lost to history and misidentified for almost 300 years has re-emerged with the help of X-ray analysis and could now fetch up to £6 million ($7.7 million) at auction next month.

Over the weekend, the Arizona Diamondbacks had a chance to trade punches with one of the best teams in the National League, but ended up losing the series 2-1 to the Braves after taking Game 1. Now, the 35-25 first place Diamondbacks are in DC for a three-game series with the 25-34 Washington Nation...

Robert Bowers killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue and he's facing a possible death sentence at his ongoing trial

Ecuador's National Electoral Council announced on Tuesday that early presidential elections would be held on Aug. 20 after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree last week and brought forward the vote scheduled for 2025. Lasso's decision to dissolve the opposition-led legislature came as lawmakers tried to impeach him for not stopping a deal between the state-owned oil transport company and a private tanker company, accusations he denies. In disbanding the assembly, the president made first use of an option available to him under the constitution in conflicts with the legislative branch. Elections had to be called within three months, for both the assembly and presidency, and the winners will serve out what would otherwise have been the remainder of the terms of those elected officials. If there is no outright winner a runoff vote will be held in October. Lasso can choose to run in the presidential election. In the meantime, he can rule by decree for up to six months. Ecuador’s Constitutional Court on Thursday rejected multiple challenges that sought to invalidate Lasso’s decree dissolving the National Assembly. Lasso, a 67-year-old former right-wing banker, took power in May 2021 for a four-year term after winning the general election. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the apologies offered by Luis Rubiales, President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), for giving Spain midfielder Jennifer Hermoso an unwanted kiss on the lips are "not enough."

Russia has taken the wheel from Wagner as the Kremlin has recruited up to 100,000 prisoners to fight in Ukraine. The practice was a trademark move of the late mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who filled his group’s ranks with convicted criminals. The army unit, commonly known as Storm-Z, is reportedly seen as a disposable force in Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation”. It comes as the Russian prison population has dropped from an estimated 420,000 to around 266,000, according to deputy minister Vsevolod Vukolov, who disclosed the figures earlier this month. Russian state-controlled media reported that Storm-Z squads exist, that they took part in intense battles and some of their members received medals for bravery, but it has not disclosed how they are formed, or the losses they take. While the Russian defence ministry has never acknowledged creating Storm-Z units, the first reports of their existence emerged in April when the Institute for the Study of War cited what it said appeared to be a leaked Russian military report on the formation of the squads. RTVI, a Russian news website, said Storm-Z “is the same scheme as with the [Wagner] private military company. Prisoners sign contracts with the defence ministry, and after completing them they can go home or continue serving”. However, a Russian soldier who fought alongside members of the penal squad told Reuters that Storm-Z fighters “are just meat”. The soldier, from army unit no. 40318 who was deployed near Bakhmut in May and June, said he’d given medical treatment to a group of six or seven wounded Storm-Z fighters on the battlefield. In doing so, he had disobeyed an order from a commander - whose name he didn’t know - to leave the men. He said he didn’t know why the commander gave the order, but claimed that it typified how Storm-Z fighters were considered of lesser value than ordinary troops by officers. The soldier, who requested anonymity because he feared prosecution in Russia for publicly discussing the war, said he had sympathy for the men’s plight: “If the commandants catch anyone with the smell of alcohol on their breath, then they immediately send them to the Storm squads.” The UK ministry of defence addressed the emergence of the penal squads in its update on 24 October, saying: “Russia largely continues to rely on specially designated ‘Shtorm-Z’ units for local offensive operations in Ukraine.” It said: “Multiple accounts suggest the units are given the lowest priority for logistical and medical support, while repeatedly being ordered to attack.” The intelligence update added that the squads were “likely first fielded in 2022” and they highlight “the extreme difficulty Russia has in generating combat infantry capable of conducting effective offensive operations”. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Live updates | Israeli troops briefly enter Gaza as wider ground incursion looms Europe's central bank is set to halt rate hikes as the Mideast war casts a shadow over the economy Putin presides over rehearsals of 'massive' Russian nuclear strike

Atlanta Braves slugger Matt Olson is closing in on Andruw Jones single-season home run record, but he doesn't seem to care all that much.

Previously unseen home video footage shows a younger, untidy and awkward-looking Vladimir Putin socialising and playing table tennis during a visit to Finland around three decades ago. The rare clip, obtained by Finnish outlet Yle, shows the future Russian president dressed in a shellsuit playing darts and eating with other guests at a hospitality venue near Helsinki. According to sources spoken to by Yle, the Finnish broadcasting company, the video was shot around a May Day holiday in the early 90s. At the time Putin, then around age 40 and becoming a major player in the St Petersburg political scene, was working as a KGB officer and had become an adviser to Anatoly Sobchak, then mayor of the Black Sea city. Mr Sobchak is also seen in the clip along with his bodyguards and the party later goes fishing together. On their return, a man can be heard shouting from the boat: “I cannot hear you - we have so much fish. We have so much fish that I cannot hear you.” Putin is seen facing away from the camera with the hood of his coat up. The other men in the boat are facing in the direction of the filmer. Throughout the video, Putin appears to be aware that he is being filmed but on occasion tries to turn his face away from the camera. After the boat returns to shore, a woman is seen scaling the catch on a jetty next to the lake where the men had been fishing. An eyewitness told Yle the woman was Putin’s then-wife Lyudmila. The outlet said it was unable to corroborate the account but confirmed that the Putin’s and their children - Maria and Katerina - were present. Yle said the video was a far cry from the “macho, dictatorial image that Putin has since hewn for himself”. ”This is pre-rich Putin, Putin in a bad shell suit, with a bad haircut, bad vest, doing everyday dad stuff,” said Luke Harding, Russia expert and former Moscow correspondent for the British newspaper The Guardian. ”The most striking thing is he is smiling. He looks human, rather than the ghoul he has become,” says Mr Harding when shown excerpts of the video by Yle. Read More Putin gives defence chief one month deadline to stop Ukrainian counteroffensive in its tracks Russia unleashes hypersonic missiles on Odesa port in overnight attack Russian oil supplies continue to spike despite G7 price cap sanctions, data shows Putin wants Ukrainian counteroffensive halted before early October, report says South Korea's Yoon calls for a strong military amid deepening North Korean-Russian ties Ukraine launches new missile attack near Putin’s military airfield in Sevastopol

A baseball player turned pro wrestler, Caleb Balgaard takes a leap of faith to win the heart of Charity Lawson among 24 other contestants

Here's a breakdown of the May 26 patch notes for Call of Duty: Warzone Season 3 Reloaded.

Polyphony Digital president Kazunori Yamauchi says there is “nothing to talk about” over ‘Gran Turismo 7’ coming to PC.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain will hold a Facebook Live event on Friday, the union said, as