BREAKING Israeli military says it has carried out a 'targeted strike' in Beirut
The Israeli military said it carried out a 'targeted strike' in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday.
A trail of destruction lies in the path that Ukrainian forces carved on their risky incursion into Russia, blasting through the border and eventually into the town of Sudzha, where Associated Press journalists travelled Friday on a Ukrainian government-organized trip.
Artillery fire has blown chunks out of a statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin that stands in a central square of the Russian town, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday was fully under his troops' control. The windows of an administrative building are blasted out, and its bright yellow facade is scorched and pockmarked with bullet holes.
Ukrainian forces have overrun one Russian settlement after another in the surprise operation that Kyiv hopes will change the dynamic of the 2 1/2-year-old conflict.
Russia's military has so far struggled to mount an effective response to the attack on its Kursk region, the largest on the country since World War II. Sudzha, which is 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the border, is the biggest town to fall to Ukraine's troops since the incursion began Aug. 6.
Evidence of Ukraine's lightning march lines the roads to the town. On grass littered with debris lies a sign blasted with bullets that has arrows in two directions: Ukraine to the left and Russia to right. A burned-out tank stands by the side of a road.
The photos and video the AP chose to publish were reviewed by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, as is standard procedure on such trips.
The incursion has reframed the conflict, leading to the evacuation of more than 120,000 civilians, according to Russian authorities, and the capture of at least 100 Russian troops, according to Kyiv. It is widely seen as a major morale boost for a country and an army struggling to fend off steady Russian advances more than two years after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
But, so far, it has not dented Russia's overall strategic advantage.
The full scope of the Kursk operation remains unclear, including how long Ukraine is willing to hold Russian territory and to what end. Will Sudzha be a bargaining chip for a future cease-fire negotiation? And if so, will Ukraine assume the role of an occupier in a country that, in turn, controls a fifth of its own territory?
Ukrainian officials and soldiers have said diverting Russian reserves from the main battlegrounds in eastern Ukraine is a minimum aim of the Kursk offensive, but Moscow has shown no signs of withdrawing significant numbers of troops from battles there or slowing their tempo.
Zelenskyy has said Ukraine will establish a command office in Sudzha to coordinate aid and military affairs. That suggests Ukraine may plan to remain in the Kursk region long-term -- or at least wants to signal to Moscow that it might.
Ukraine's Western backers have remained largely silent about the surprise operation, though U.S. President Joe Biden said that he's been kept abreast of developments.
Sudzha, which had a population of just 5,000 before the conflict began, holds some strategic importance. From the town, troops can access main roads to continue with their operation in Russia. Natural gas flowing from West Siberian gas fields to Central Europe via Ukraine passes through a metering station in the Sudzha district. However, Ukraine can also cut this gas flow from its own territory.
In the Russian town on Friday, residents huddled in a school basement. As they wondered about their fate, Ukrainian forces pushed their advance in Kursk. Fighting continued south of Korenevo, a town similar in size to Sudzha that would be an important tactical gain.
The Israeli military said it carried out a 'targeted strike' in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Following the MIND diet for 10 years produced a small but significant decrease in the risk of developing thinking, concentration and memory problems, a new study found.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.
The federal firearm buyback program has cost taxpayers nearly $67.2 million since it was announced in 2020, but it still hasn't collected a single gun.
Lawyers representing dozens of women who say they were raped and sexually abused by Mohamed Al Fayed, the former boss of the famous London department store Harrods, said the case was akin to the crimes of sex offenders Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
Software company Mustimuhw Information, which develops medical records systems built on a foundation of Indigenous traditions and values, is allowing health providers to capture data informed by cultural practices.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.