List of All Articles with Tag 'rl'

Ukraine hit five of Moscow’s fighter jets with an overnight drone strike on Russian soil, a source in Kyiv’s security service has told Ukrainian outlets. Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have shot down two drones in the Bryansk and Kursk regions, which both border Ukraine, giving no information about possible damages or casualties. But the Kyiv Post and Ukrainska Pravda both cited sources in Ukraine’s SBU security service as claiming that just three of more than a dozen drones were brought down, claiming strikes on four Russian Su-30 fighter jets and one MiG-29 at an airfield in Kursk. It came as Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was confirmed by Russia’s Investigative Committee to have died in a plane crash near Moscow on Wednesday, citing the results of genetic tests it said confirmed the identities of the 10 bodies found in the wreckage. Western politicians and commentators have speculated that Mr Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed as punishment for Wagner’s brief mutiny in June. Meanwhile, a resurfaced clip of Prigozhin talking about a “plane falling apart in the sky” has resurfaced on social media. Read More What we know — and don't know — about the crash of a Russian mercenary's plane Putin says Wagner chief had ‘complicated fate’ – as officials suggest explosion on plane caused fatal crash While world media speculates on Wagner chief's presumed death, Russian state media shies away Wagner has been decapitated – the mercenaries should fear the future

Day 3 of the FIBA World Cup delivered the first upsets of the tournament as Rudy Gobert and France collapsed in the fourth quarter against Latvia to cap off an incredible day of basketball.

Ukraine is mourning the loss of three fighter pilots killed as two training aircraft collided in the skies some 90 miles west of Kyiv. Singled out for particular praise by president Volodymr Zelensky and Ukraine’s airforce is Captain Andriy Pilshchykov, a pilot who went by the military callsign “Juice”. The late pilot, who was 30 years old when the crash occured over the western Zhytomyr region on Friday, had become known not just for his defence of Ukraine, but also for his passionate advocacy for the United States to provide Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets. The Mig-29 pilot first won fame in Ukraine as he took part in “dogfights” with Moscow’s fighter jets in the skies above Kyiv during the initial months of Russia’s invasion, according to Ukrainian news outlets. As Russian air sorties over Kyiv grew fewer, Pilshchykov continued to defend Ukraine’s skies as he sought to intercept Russian cruise missiles and drones before they struck targets on the ground – and by last May had already racked up 500 hours of combat flights. Last summer, he was one of two Ukrainian pilots chosen to travel to Washington to lobby members of the US Congress to provide Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets, which Joe Biden’s administration eventually agreed to do in May. “Juice” also gave multiple interviews with Western media outlets, speaking to Sky News, the BBC, CNN and Washington Post to name a few, as he fought Ukraine’s case to be provided with the jets. In one interview with the BBC, he said of his missions: “Intercepting the cruise missiles, your mission is to save the lives on the ground, to save the city. If you are not able, it's a terrible feeling that somebody will die. Somebody will die in minutes and you didn't prevent that.” In another broadcast with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, he said: “All of us are ready to fight, just with our jets, with our guns, even just in the fields with rifles. “So our people, including me, we are ready to fight Russians, and we are ready to defend our country, to defend our people in absolutely any ways. But we need tools, effective tools, to do this efficiently.” His call sign, “Juice”, was reportedly given to him by US pilots during a joint training exercise because he did not drink alcohol, and air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat hailed him as a “main driver of an advocacy group promoting many decisions on the F-16s”, who was “in constant contact with Californian pilots”. Speaking to The Guardian, Mr Ihnat also praised “Juice” as a driver of reforms in the air force was “trying to bring Nato standards into Ukraine … and even western traditions, such as the burning of pianos to honour a fallen pilot”. His death has struck a chord in Ukraine, where official footage on Sunday appeared to show troops lined up on a runway to commemorate Pilshchykov and his two fallen comrades Major Viacheslav Minka and Major Serhii Prokazin, as a piano played a sombre lament and was set alight in tribute. Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office has opened a criminal investigation into whether flight preparation rules were violated prior to the fatal crash on Friday, which involved two L-39 training aircraft. As he vowed that the investigation would clarify the circumstances of the crash, Mr Zelensky hailed “Juice” in his nightly address on Saturday as “one of those who helped our country a lot”, adding: “Ukraine will never forget anyone who defended Ukraine’s free sky. May they always be remembered.” Mr Ihnat, of Ukraine’s air force, described Pilshchykov as a “mega talent”, adding: “You can't even imagine how much he wanted to fly an F-16. But now that American planes are actually on the horizon, he will not fly them.” Writing on Facebook, Mr Ihnat added: “Andriy Pilshchykov was not just a pilot, he was a young officer with great knowledge and great talent. He was an excellent communicator, the driver of reforms in Air Force aircraft, a participant in many projects. “I often supported his crazy ideas, which gave incredible results.” Nolan Peterson, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think-tank was among Western commentators to pay tribute to the pilot, saying: “The stories he told me about flying his MiG-29 in combat against Russia are the stuff of epics. He is a hero and will be rightly remembered as such.” Read More Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance following Prigozhin plane crash Putin’s hit list: from poisoned tea to mysterious falls, the grisly fate of the Kremlin’s enemies Ukraine investigates incident that killed 3 pilots while Russia attacks with cruise missiles ‘Gangster’ Putin committed ‘most ostentatious’ act of savagery in our lifetimes, says Boris

The former Navy SEAL who claims to have shot and killed Osama bin Laden has been arrested in Texas. Robert O’Neill, 47, was booked into jail in Frisco on Wednesday and released later that day on a $3,500 bond, reported The Dallas Morning News. He was charged with a Class A misdemeanour of assault causing bodily injury and a Class C misdemeanour charge of public intoxication. Mr O’Neill was a member of SEAL Team 6 during the famed 2011 mission and subsequently claimed that he had fired the shots which killed the al Qaeda leader and September 11 mastermind at his Pakistan compound. Mr O’Neill had been in the Dallas area to record a podcast at a cigar lounge, according to The New York Post. It is not Mr O’Neill’s first run-in with law enforcement. In 2016, he was arrested in Montana on suspicion of driving under the influence after police said they found him asleep in the driver’s seat of a vehicle with the engine still running, reported The Montana Standard. He blamed a prescription sleeping pill that he told officials he took to deal with insomnia and prosecutors dropped the charges. He was instead charged with negligent endangerment and the prosecution was deferred while he underwent treatment. Mr O’Neill, who is from Montana, was banned from flying on Delta Air Lines after he posted a photo of himself without a mask, when it was still required because of Covid-19. He first made his claim that he was the person who killed Osama bin Laden in a 2014 interview with The Washington Post. The US government has never confirmed nor denied his claim, and different accounts of the operation have clouded who actually pulled the trigger. Some in the special operations community have criticised Mr O’Neill for breaking the code of silence associated with Naval Special Warfare. The official version of events will likely not be de-classified for decades. Read More Plea negotiations could mean no 9/11 defendants face the death penalty, the US tells families Afghanistan is moving into a darker future – and we are letting it happen A top lawyer’s son, a FBI raid and ‘weapons of mass destruction’: How a Philly teen allegedly turned ‘aspiring terrorist’

The three biggest US carmakers should sit down with the United Auto Workers union and “negotiate a contract

Germany’s ruling Social Democratic Party will vote on a proposal for lower limits on rent increases as a

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he plans to promote US natural gas exports at a meeting with his

Spain’s national football association called an emergency meeting to respond to FIFA’s suspension of its president Luis Rubiales

The Atlanta Braves could extend Charlie Morton his $20 million option for 2024. They need to see if and when Kyle Wright will return. In the meantime, don't read Bob Nightengale because he's an idiot!

Hundreds of ginger-haired people from across the world took part in the three-day Ducth gathering.

Here we are, in the waning days of summer and a month marked by wildfires, mug shots, a

3M Co. has tentatively agreed to pay more than $5.5 billion to resolve over 300,000 lawsuits claiming it