- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Dodgers drop Padres 2-0 to advance in MLB playoffs
- Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir
- Last-minute legal ruling allows betting on US election
- Despite hurricanes, Floridians refuse to leave 'paradise'
- Israel observes Yom Kippur amid firestorm over Lebanon strikes
- Trump demonizes migrants in dark, misleading speech
- X says 'alert' to manipulation efforts after pro-Russia bots report
- US, European markets rise before Boeing unveils sweeping job cuts
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Comoros shock Tunisia, Salah, Mbeumo strike in AFCON qualifiers
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Germany win in Nations League as 10-man Dutch rescue point
- Undav brace sends Germany to victory against Bosnia
- Israel says fired at 'threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- Ecuador's last mountain iceman dies at 80
- Milton leaves at least 16 dead, millions without power in Florida
- Senegal set to announce breakaway development agenda: PM
- UN says 2 peacekeepers wounded in south Lebanon explosions
- Injury-hit Australia thrash 'embarrassing' Pakistan at Women's T20 World Cup
- Internal TikTok documents show prioritization of traffic over well-being
- Israel says fired at 'immediate threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- New US coach Pochettino hails Pulisic but worries over workload
- Brazil orders closure of 2,000 betting sites
- UK govt urged to raise pro-democracy tycoon's case with China
- Sculptor Lalanne's animal creations sell for $59 mn
- From Tesla to Trump: Behind Musk's giant leap into politics
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- Supercharged hurricanes trigger 'perfect storm' for disinformation
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Djokovic proves staying power as he progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Sheffield Utd boss Wilder 'numb' after Baldock death
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- Fans immerse themselves in Marina Abramovic's first China exhibition
- Israel says conducting review after UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Djokovic 'overwhelmed' after 'greatest rival' Nadal's retirement
- Zelensky in Berlin says hopes war with Russia will end next year
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Djokovic proves staying power as progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Hurricane Milton leaves at least 16 dead as Florida cleans up
- Britain face 'ultimate challenge' in America's Cup duel with New Zealand
- Lebanon calls for 'immediate' ceasefire in Israel-Hezbollah war
- Nihon Hidankyo: Japan's A-bomb survivors awarded Nobel
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Boat captain rescued clinging to cooler in Gulf of Mexico after storm Milton
- Tears, warnings after Japan atomic survivors group win Nobel
Overshadowed by Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine knows no respite
Volodymyr Zelensky, a 66-year-old namesake of the Ukrainian president, opened the gate of his home in the frontline town of Yampil in east Ukraine, where residents have been emptying out.
Despite a surprise Russian offensive in the northern Kharkiv region last month, Moscow has intensified attacks in Zelensky's home region of Donetsk.
"People are running away," he told AFP, vowing to stay on, although he acknowledged his fear of the Russian advances.
Standing next to a bed of yellow tulips and a couple of sleepy dogs, he recounted how several rockets had struck nearby, narrowly missing homes but leaving behind large craters.
When Russian troops occupied Yampil in the first year of the invasion, in 2022, Zelensky refused to flee.
If they manage to return though, he fears they will be "much more cruel".
Military vehicles line the streets of Yampil, about a dozen kilometres (seven miles) from the front line.
The house next door to Zelensky's lies in ruins. Others have been boarded up.
And of the few remaining residents, many fear that speaking to reporters could earn them a Russian drone strike the following day.
- Daily attacks -
Fighting that erupted in the region in 2014 between Kremlin-backed separatists and the Ukrainian military has left in its wake ghost town after ghost town.
Russia claims to have annexed Donetsk -- and four other Ukrainian regions -- and is determined to fully capture it.
The front line near Yampil is comparatively stable but elsewhere in Donetsk, Russia is advancing, slowly but surely.
Its forces are nearing Chasiv Yar -- a town perched on strategic heights -- and Pokrovsk, a rail hub where Ukraine says fighting is most tense.
"The situation is quite difficult now," said Maksym, a 38-year-old commander of a tank company deployed near Pokrovsk.
"Almost every day we repel attacks two, three times," he added.
"There has been a clear increase in enemy personnel and they have also brought in vehicles, heavy vehicles, and artillery that can fire at long range," Maksym said, describing fighting over recent days.
"It's one of the hottest areas here," his deputy, Sergiy, 36, added.
In February, Russia managed to capture Avdiivka, a prized industrial town that Ukrainian forces had controlled for around a decade.
Since then, Moscow's forces have wrested a string of mostly destroyed villages nearby -- news that is hard for Ukrainian soldiers to hear.
"It's difficult for many to remain optimistic," said Danylo, a 23-year-old drone operator, who goes by the nom de guerre "Macron".
Ukraine had suffered "a lot of losses" since winter, when delays in US aid began impacting the front, he said.
And the Russian offensive in Kharkiv did not see any let up in "pressure or shelling" in the east, he added.
The conquest of Chasiv Yar, whose several hundred residents now live under constant fire, could bring about a major Russian breakthrough.
Thick, black smoke filled the sky above the town this week, attesting to the fierce fighting.
Russian forces have not broken through the town's outskirts for now, said Ruslan, a press officer for the 41st brigade. But "they are constantly trying to get in", he added.
His brigade would soon get reinforcements by way of new recruits -- but not nearly enough.
Between the wounded, dead and tired, "we need people", he said.
F.Pedersen--AMWN