Belarusian forces will hold joint military exercises with Wagner fighters near its border with NATO-member Poland, Belarus' Defence Ministry said.

Max Verstappen completed a practice double for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix by edging out Lando Norris. After leading the way in the first running at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Verstappen – who has won 15 of the 18 rounds so far – set the fastest time in the day’s concluding running. The Red Bull driver finished 0.119 seconds clear of McLaren’s Norris, with Charles Leclerc a quarter of a second back in his Ferrari. Home favourite Sergio Perez finished fifth, three tenths behind Red Bull team-mate Verstappen, while Lewis Hamilton took seventh for Mercedes, a third of a second down. Verstappen has dominated this year, and wrapped up his third successive world championship in Qatar earlier this month. And the Dutchman will head into the remainder of the weekend in the breathless Mexico City air as the man to beat. The high-altitude venue, which sits 2,200 metres above sea level, can often throw up anomalies, and Valtteri Bottas was a surprised fourth for Alfa Romeo, with Daniel Ricciardo sixth in his AlphaTauri, just three tenths off the top. Hamilton finished a close second to Verstappen in the United States a week ago before he was disqualified for running an illegal floor on his Mercedes. But despite his post-race exclusion, Hamilton hoped his speed in Austin would enable him to challenge Verstappen here. However, the seven-time world champion failed to challenge the top of the leaderboard on Friday, finishing 11th and seventh respectively in the two sessions. George Russell, who sat out the opening running as Mercedes blooded academy driver Frederik Vesti, finished 10th, half-a-second behind Verstappen. Earlier on Friday, Ollie Bearman made history by becoming the youngest British driver to take part in a Formula One weekend. Bearman, 18, competing for American outfit Haas, ended his F1 debut in 15th, only 1.6 sec slower than Verstappen and three tenths adrift of Nico Hulkenberg – a veteran of 200 grands prix – in the other Haas. Bearman also finished one place ahead of double world champion Fernando Alonso. F1 teams must run a rookie driver at least twice during the season and Chelmsford-born Bearman was handed his chance to impress, breaking the British record previously held by Norris. Norris was three months shy of his 19th birthday when he took part in practice for McLaren in Belgium in 2018 before he was promoted to a race seat the following season. Bearman turned 18 in May. The teenager, a member of the Ferrari academy, has taken four victories in F1’s feeder series Formula Two and is sixth in the standings ahead of next month’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.

No. 21 Tennessee and Kentucky need a victory to have a chance to finish at least third in the Eastern Division of the SEC with both trying to bounce back from rough losses

The Boston Red Sox signed outfielder Rob Refsnyder to a team-friendly deal.The art of right-handed hitting can be lost on some in Boston, where the Green Monster looms over left field. Not for the Red Sox, however. Veteran outfielder and right-handed specialist Rob Refsnyder has been one of Bost...

A security guard is in a critical condition after being shot in the back of the head while attempting to break up a fight at a high school football game. Gunfire erupted just after 4pm on Saturday in a parking lot outside Thomas R. Proctor High School in Utica, the city’s police department said. Police said the game between Proctor High School and Binghamton High School was in its final moments when a fight broke out in the parking lot outside the stadium. Two security guards attempted to break up the fight, police said, before one was struck by a flying bullet. He was rushed to the hospital, where he remains in critical condition. A 16-year-old boy was arrested following the shooting and charged with attempted murder. Police said the suspect is not a current student at Proctor High School, but is enrolled in an alternative educational program. The fight broke out after a security guard turned a group away from the varsity game just moments before the shooting, Utica police chief Mark Williams said. “He suspected that something wasn’t right with this group and he refused to lead into the stadium,” Mr Williams said. The stadium was fitted with metal detectors but the security guard turned the group away before he could be alerted to the firearm. Police believe a lone gunman was responsible for the shooting and have not established a motive, but said it may possibly be gang-related. An investigation is ongoing. School officials cancelled on-campus activities for Sunday and after-school activities on Monday, and said counselling would be available. It comes after 16-year-old was shot dead at an Oklahoma high school football game in August. A 15-year-old boy was arrested, who was not named because he is a juvenile. Choctaw police chief Kelly Marshall said the shooting followed an argument between two males at the game, but she didn’t know what the argument was about. A 15-year-old girl was wounded in the leg during the shooting, while a 42-year-old man was hospitalized in intensive care with a gunshot wound to the chest. Read More Teen arrested in fatal shooting of 16-year-old during Oklahoma high school football game Ten children wounded after shooting at high school football match An off-duty Oklahoma officer fired a shot that wounded a man at a high school football game

Maine is poised to launch an offshore wind program that would meet clean energy goals and produce enough power for about 900,000 homes from floating wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine

De Beers plans to stockpile unsold diamonds after the world’s biggest producer responded to plunging prices by allowing

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been accused in a legal filing of sexually assaulting a woman in 1993

Real Madrid will not sign a new centre-back to replace the injured Eder Militao and will instead promote one of the club's youngsters into the first team, according to a report in Spain.

Apple's fix for overheating iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max is on its way, new

Imagination has always been humanity's greatest asset. We all have great ideas, but what too

By Gleb Garanich and Sergiy Karazy KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Tuesday it had shot down six Russian hypersonic Kinzhal