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Russia says it advances in eastern Ukraine and regroups after incursion

The operation has boosted Ukrainian morale, and Kyiv believes the seizure of territory and Russian prisoners has strengthened its hand in any potential negotiation.

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Russia said on Tuesday its forces had taken control of what it described as the strategically important logistics hub of Niu-York in eastern Ukraine, part of Moscow's grinding drive to capture the entire Donetsk region, Reuters reported.

Even as Ukrainian troops seek to advance in Russia's Kursk region after a surprise cross-border attack that began on Aug. 6, the fate of Niu-York - which Reuters could not independently confirm - is a reminder that Russian forces are still pressing on with their own offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Russia separately announced the formation of new military groupings in Kursk and two other border regions as it tries to repel the incursion without diverting forces from front lines deep inside Ukraine.

Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said a new coordinating body had "already" begun working round the clock to liaise between regional authorities, troop commanders and the defence ministry, read the report.

But the timing of his announcement - a full two weeks after Ukrainian forces smashed through Russia's western border - served to emphasise the delayed nature of Moscow's response. He did not say why such smooth coordination had not been possible previously.

Ukraine's top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Tuesday his forces had pushed 28-35 km (17-22 miles) into Russia, capturing 1,263 sq km (488 square miles) of territory including 93 settlements - figures that Reuters could not independently confirm. Russia has vowed to crush the incursion, but has shown no sign it is close to expelling Ukrainian forces.

The operation has boosted Ukrainian morale, and Kyiv believes the seizure of territory and Russian prisoners has strengthened its hand in any potential negotiation.

But independent military analysts say Kyiv has gambled by pulling some of its most effective combat units away from the defence of front lines in eastern Ukraine, where Russia is continuing to advance, Reuters reported.

The capture of Niu-York, if confirmed by Ukraine, would mark another incremental success for Russia and would open the door to further possible strategically important gains. The town, whose name is pronounced like "New York", has been devastated by heavy shelling and bombing by Russian forces who have used drones to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions.

With a pre-war population of just under 10,000, thousands of whom have since fled the fighting, the town is on the railway line to Sloviansk, one of the cities in Donetsk which Moscow has long wanted to take.

Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions which Russia says it has annexed even though it does not fully control all of it, a territorial claim which Kyiv and the West have rejected as illegal and one which Ukraine has vowed to reverse by force, read the report.

Russian state TV correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny, who this month survived a Ukrainian drone attack on a car he was travelling in, said control of Niu-York would allow Russian forces to get closer to cutting off a key road - the Pokrovsk-Kostiantynivka highway - that keeps the Ukrainian army in the east supplied.

Alexander Kots, a war correspondent for the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily, said Russian forces would now also be able to attack the eastern city of Toretsk - which is already under Russian pressure on its eastern flank - from the south.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the situation near Pokrovsk and Toretsk was "difficult".

Ukraine's General Staff said on Facebook that 14 combat clashes had been reported in the Toretsk area and 34 in the Pokrovsk sector since the start of the day.

There was no immediate confirmation by Ukraine that Niu-York was in Russian hands. Ukraine's General Staff acknowledged Russian troops were attacking near Niu-York but said Ukrainian forces were giving them "a worthy rebuff".

Ukrainian officials said Russia had also hit energy infrastructure in northern Ukraine in an overnight missile and drone attack and caused a huge fire in the west of the country, resulting in increased chlorine levels in the air, Reuters reported.

Separately, Russia said it had summoned a senior U.S. diplomat in Moscow to protest over what it called the "provocative" actions of American journalists who had crossed into the Kursk region from Ukraine to report on the incursion.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had also protested over what it said was emerging evidence of the participation of U.S. private military companies in the invasion of Russian territory by Ukraine. It did not say what evidence it was referring to.

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NATO’s Stoltenberg says each country must decide if Ukraine can use its long-range missiles on Russia

Some U.S. officials are deeply skeptical that allowing the use of such missiles would make a significant difference in Kyiv’s battle against Russian invaders.

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The outgoing head of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday he welcomed talks on Ukraine's use of long-range missiles to strike inside Russian territory, but any decision on the issue would have to be made by individual allies, Reuters reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been pleading with allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles including long-range U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadows deep into Russia to limit Moscow's ability to launch attacks.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President Joe Biden held talks in Washington on Friday on whether to allow Kyiv to use the long-range missiles against targets in Russia. No decision was announced.

"I welcome these developments and these decisions but its for individual allies to make the final decisions," Stoltenberg told LBC radio. "Allies have different policies on this."

Some U.S. officials are deeply skeptical that allowing the use of such missiles would make a significant difference in Kyiv's battle against Russian invaders, read the report.

President Vladimir Putin has said the West would be directly fighting Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike with Western-made long-range missiles.

Asked about possible Russian retaliation, Stoltenberg said there were "no risk-free options in the war".

"But I continue to believe that the biggest risk for us, for United Kingdom, for NATO, will be if President Putin wins in Ukraine," he added.

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Trump safe after assassination attempt thwarted at Florida golf course

The suspect left an AK-47-style assault rifle and other items at the scene and fled in a vehicle and was later arrested

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was safe on Sunday after the Secret Service foiled what the FBI called an apparent assassination attempt while he was golfing on his course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Several Secret Service agents fired on a gunman in bushes near the property line of the golf course after he was spotted a few hundred yards from where Trump was playing, law enforcement officials said.

The suspect left an AK-47-style assault rifle and other items at the scene and fled in a vehicle and was later arrested, Reuters reported.

The apparent attempt on Trump's life came just two months after he was shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, sustaining a minor injury to his right ear.

Both incidents highlight the challenges of keeping presidential candidates safe in a hotly contested and polarized campaign with just over seven weeks to go before the Nov. 5 election.

"I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes - It was certainly an interesting day!," Trump said on social media late on Sunday, thanking Secret Service and police for keeping him safe.

CNN, Fox News and The New York Times identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, citing unidentified law enforcement officials. The FBI declined to comment and Reuters could not independently verify his identity.

It was not clear if or how the suspect knew Trump was playing golf at the time, or what his motive was, but the attempted attack was sure to raise new questions about the level of protection he is given.

 

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Houthi missile reaches central Israel for first time, no injuries reported

At a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the Houthis should have known that Israel would exact a “heavy price” for attacks on Israel.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would inflict a "heavy price" on the Iran-aligned Houthis who control northern Yemen, after they reached central Israel with a missile on Sunday for the first time, Reuters reported.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group struck with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that travelled 2,040 km (1270 miles) in just 11 1/2 minutes.

An Israeli military official said the missile was hit by an interceptor and fragmented in the air, rather than being completely destroyed.

Air raid sirens had sounded in Tel Aviv and across central Israel moments before the impact at around 6:35 a.m. local time (0335 GMT), sending residents running for shelter. Loud booms were heard, read the report.

Missile pieces landed in fields and near a railway station. There were no direct casualties, but nine people were lightly hurt while seeking cover. Reuters saw smoke billowing in an open field in central Israel.

At a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the Houthis should have known that Israel would exact a "heavy price" for attacks on Israel.

"Whoever needs a reminder of that is invited to visit the Hodeida port," Netanyahu said, referring to an Israeli retaliatory air strike against Yemen in July for a Houthi drone that hit Tel Aviv.

The Houthis have fired missiles and drones at Israel repeatedly in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians, since the Gaza war began with a Hamas attack on Israel in October, Reuters reported.

The drone that hit Tel Aviv for the first time in July killed a man and wounded four people. Israeli air strikes in response on Houthi military targets near the port of Hodeidah killed six and wounded 80.

Previously, Houthi missiles have not penetrated deep into Israeli air space, with the only one reported to have hit Israeli territory falling in an open area near the Red Sea port of Eilat in March.

Israel should expect more strikes in the future "as we approach the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 operation, including responding to its aggression on the city of Hodeidah," Houthis spokesperson Sarea said.

The deputy head of the Houthi's media office, Nasruddin Amer, said in a post on X on Sunday that the missile had reached Israel after "20 missiles failed to intercept" it, describing it as the "beginning".

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