- Argentina held, Brazil leave it late in 2026 World Cup qualifiers
- Obama blasts 'crazy' Trump in first rally for Harris
- 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, a plea in favour of world order?
- Fry homers as Guardians down Tigers to stay alive in MLB playoffs
- Japan PM presses China's Li on airspace intrusion
- In Trump 'Truths,' conspiracies, attacks -- and doubts about the election
- How Sebastian Stan found a 'relatable' Trump for 'The Apprentice' biopic
- Panama's water wheel trash collector keeps plastic at bay
- It's still 'the economy, stupid,' says US political guru Carville
- Five key dates in the history of the America's Cup
- Zelensky to meet Pope, Scholz as whirlwind Europe tour ends
- At least 10 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Far from eye, Hurricane Milton's deadly tornados rampaged Florida
- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Argentina held, Bolivia stun Colombia in 2026 qualifiers
- Socceroos have 'nothing to fear' from Japan
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex trafficking trial set for May 2025
- Bolivia stun Colombia in World Cup qualifiers
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Greece earn late win against England in Nations League, Italy-Belgium stalemate
- Trump biopic 'The Apprentice' hits US theaters weeks before election
- Pavlidis dedicates 'special' Greece win over England to tragic Baldock
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- 'Like a quake': Beirut shaken after deadliest strikes on centre
- Fallen giants Ghana in AFCON trouble after Sudan draw
- Asian leaders meet in Laos with US, Russia on world turmoil
- England gamble backfires as Pavlidis fires emotional Greece to victory
- Obama stumps for Harris, Trump talks US protectionism
- New-look France ease past Israel in Nations League
- Belgium fight back to draw with 10-man Italy in Nations League
- 'Get a life': Hurricane whips up US election storm
- Japan stay perfect in World Cup qualifying
- Relief as Lebanon evacuees dock in Turkey
- Lebanon says 22 dead in Israeli strikes on central Beirut
- NBA boss Silver sees games back in China 'at some point'
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Table tennis and Netflix push Ukraine teen into French Open contention
- Civilians flee Gaza's Jabalia in tightening Israeli siege
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 18
- At least 10 dead in Florida from tornadoes caused by Hurricane Milton
- Warhol's rare 'Queen' collection opens at Dutch museum
- Three-time NBA champion Green retires
- MLB Twins up for sale after 40 years
- S.Sudan floods affect 893,000, over 241,000 displaced: UN
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Windies sweat on injury to 'crucial' Taylor at World Cup
- Lebanon says 11 dead, 48 injured in Israeli strikes on Beirut
- Panama lashes out at EU over tax haven 'outrage'
- Erdogan says Gaza 'shame of humanity', calls for permanent ceasfire
- TD Bank to pay more than $3 bn to US in money-laundering case
Ukrainian forces cling on in devastated eastern town Popasna
Three soldiers enter the cellar of a partially destroyed building, part of Ukraine's tenacious resistance clinging on to the eastern town of Popasna in the face of fierce Russian shelling.
The blasts of artillery echo around the town that was once home to 20,000 people before the war.
Now the road in is a scene of devastation.
Nothing is left of a petrol station except for the crumpled skeleton of its roof.
Buildings have been eviscerated and none are intact. Shards of glass, wood and metal lie strewn on the ground as if a tornado had hit.
Only the crash of the explosions interrupts the noise of the ceaseless rain.
Just a few residents have stayed and, like the three soldiers encountered by AFP, they shelter in cellars.
"The guys have just returned from combat, they are resting," explained one of the soldiers, a man in his fifties with the call sign "Semenovych".
One of his comrades is wearing socks, fatigues and a blue jumper. He has an emaciated face and dark circles under his eyes.
Another, in his sixties, with an open army jacket and a long grey beard, looks exhausted.
He disappears into the dark depths of the cellar to go to bed.
By the harsh light of a headlamp, Semenovych says he doesn't know "the latest news, there's no internet here, no telephone network".
- 'We will resist' -
"The Russians are trying to advance two or three times a day. It's good that it's raining today, the shelling is less intense. Sometimes it's 24/7, sometimes it's a bit quieter at night," he tells AFP.
"They are targeting the infrastructure, the buildings and the civilians. It's not a war, it's a genocide. I don't know what else to call it."
But he insists doggedly that "we are holding our positions and we hope for a victory... We will resist".
In the back of a completely destroyed convenience store in the same building where the soldiers are resting, four bulletproof vests, two helmets and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher lie on the ground.
Russia's Defence Ministry on Tuesday announced that "artillery units" had struck a Ukrainian unit in Popasna, giving a toll of "more than 120 personnel" killed and "11 armoured vehicles" destroyed.
These figures could not be verified.
Popasna is in a key strategic location along the front line between the two forces.
If the city falls it will open up a route for Russian forces to push 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest towards the twin cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, Ukraine's main military hub in the east.
- 'I need silence' -
Resident Yelena Sharpai is "really afraid" of the bombings.
She will be 60 at the end of the month and would have liked to enjoy her retirement after a career as a nurse.
But since March 6, she has been living with four other people in a cellar of 15 square metres in the same building where the Ukrainian soldiers are resting.
"I need silence to go out, but it's never silent, because there is always bombing somewhere," she says, stroking her 14-year-old grey cat called Mouse.
She no longer goes to her ground-floor flat, where all the windows have been shattered.
There are four sofa beds in the cellar and it is lit by lamps linked up to car batteries.
For now there is still food.
"Sometimes the soldiers bring us bread," she says.
For water, they collect rain.
An old woman living in her block died of a stroke and a man was killed by shrapnel.
They were buried in the garden at the back.
"There is a family with children in the building opposite. They did not want to be evacuated," says Sharpai.
As for her, she is keen to go.
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced Thursday a resumption of evacuation routes, notably from Popasna, a day after they were closed because they had become "too dangerous".
"But the buses don't come anymore," says Sherpai.
As she speaks another volley of Russian artillery thunders outside.
F.Bennett--AMWN