The Food and Drug Administration meets this week to consider a much-debated treatment for Lou Gehrig’s disease

Bible-toting parents and Republican lawmakers convened on Utah's Capitol to protest a suburban school district that recently announced it had removed the Bible from some schools

If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offer support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. SNL and Timothee Chalamet are under fire after broadcasting a sketch that involves both suicide and Hamas, despite everything going on in the world right now. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Ukrainian forces fired more than 30 drones in a renewed assault over the weekend as Russian forces lost at least an entire brigade in their push for the eastern town of Avdiivka, officials said. The Russian air defence systems destroyed 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, its defence ministry wrote on Telegram on Sunday, accusing Kyiv of carrying out a “terrorist attack”. In a separate incident, local officials in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region near the Black Sea said an oil refinery was hit and set ablaze in the early hours of Sunday but did not explain what caused the fire. Several local media outlets said that the fire was caused by a drone strike or a crashed drone’s debris. Officials in Kyiv have not issued a comment on the Russian defence ministry’s claims. The war-hit nation rarely acknowledges responsibility for attacks on Russia and Russian-occupied territories but has admitted that striking targets there helps its counteroffensive. The recent months have seen drone strikes and shelling on the Russian border regions and illegally annexed Crimea peninsula as a regular part of the continuing military offensive. This comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Vladimir Putin has lost “at least a brigade” of troops in his offensive push towards the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka. “The invaders made several attempts to surround Avdiivka, but each time our soldiers stopped them and threw them back, causing painful losses. In these cases, the enemy lost at least a brigade,” Mr Zelensky said. Avdiivka, about 25km (16 miles) from Russian-occupied Donetsk, is surrounded by Russian-held territory to the north, east and south, leaving only its west for Kyiv’s troops to resupply and evacuate people. In its latest push for the coke town, Ukraine claimed that Russia is pouring a huge number of forces. The offensive from Russia was renewed in mid-October as tanks and heavy military vehicles were seen heading for the town. Russian forces have since tried to shell Ukrainian positions with constant barrages of artillery, waves of troops and fighting vehicles. But these losses being borne by Mr Putin are likely among some of the highest Russia has seen this year, the British Ministry of Defence said in its intelligence update on the war, claiming that Moscow has probably committed elements of up to eight brigades to the fighting which is “heavy but inconclusive”. The British intelligence claimed that the Russian military bloggers have been “harshly critical” of the tactics Russia has deployed in the Avdiivka operation. Elsewhere on the war front, the Ukraine’s Air Force said its forces shot down five Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones fired by Russia overnight. Another four police officers were wounded when a shell fired by Russian troops exploded near their car in the city of Siversk, located in the partly occupied Donetsk province close to the front line in the country’s east where Ukrainian and Russian forces were locked in a battle for control. Read More Russia-Ukraine war: Putin ally Lukashenko warns of ‘serious stalemate’ If Putin dies, this is what would happen in Russia War-weary mothers, wives and children of Ukrainian soldiers demand a cap on military service time

A growing wildfire in eastern Washington state has caused two medical facilities to shelter in place and some residents have been asked to evacuate.

By Tom Westbrook SINGAPORE China led Asia's stock markets higher on Wednesday as investors cheered the approval of

Emmanuel Macron has sparked anger by attending an Elton John concert in Paris as riots raged in France over the police killing of a teenage delivery driver. Hundreds have been arrested so far over three nights of furious protests since the boy identified only as Nahel M, a 17-year-old of North African heritage, was fatally shot in the chest by police in the suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday after driving away from officers trying to pull him over. The following night, as more than 130 people were arrested and fires raged on French streets for a second evening, the president and his wife Brigitte attended the British singer’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour at the Accor Arena in Paris. Follow live coverage of the Paris riots in our live blog here. Footage showed him tapping his foot along to the 76-year-old pianist as he performed hits such as “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” and “Burn Down the Mission”. Elton and his husband David Furnish also posted a photo on Instagram on Thursday showing them meeting with the Macrons. Thierry Mariani, an MEP with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, described Mr Macron as “totally irresponsible” and quoted Ecclesiastes as he said: “Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child”, adding: “While France was on fire, Macron preferred to applaud Elton John.” “Wrong timing,” one Instagram user wrote beneath Mr Furnish’s photograph, while another remarked: “Macron is below everything.” Another added: “At the same time a child was killed by police under his government, he's enjoying a show. Disgrace on Macron.” Following an EU summit at Brussels, Mr Macron was set to return to hold a fresh emergency meeting on Friday, after what interior minister Gerald Darminin called a night of “rare violence”, in which 40,000 police officers were deployed 667 people arrested as part of government efforts to be “extremely firm” with protesters. While Mr Macron initially struck a conciliatory tone, calling Nahel’s death “inexplicable and unforgivable”, his response has hardened as violence intensified, denouncing attacks on public buildings as “totally unjustifiable” and voicing his gratitude for riot police battling with protesters. On Thursday night, protesters erected barricades, lit fires and shot fireworks at police, while armoured police vehicles rammed through the charred remains of cars that had been flipped and set ablaze in Nanterre. On the other side of Paris, protesters lit a fire at the city hall of the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois and set a bus depot ablaze in Aubervilliers, while some shops were looted. Schools and police stations also were targeted by people setting fires, and police used tear gas, water cannons and dispersion grenades against rioters, a police spokesperson said. It followed a peaceful vigil on Thursday organised by Nahel’s mother Mounia, who led the procession from a flatbed lorry, holding a poster saying, “Police kill”, and raising a red flare as the march reached the local courthouse, while the crowds chanted her son’s name. The officer accused of pulling the trigger at 9am on Tuesday has been charged preliminarily with voluntary homicide, after prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial investigations indicated “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met.” Mr Prache said officers tried to stop Nahel because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish number plates in a bus lane. He allegedly drove through a red light to avoid being stopped before getting stuck in traffic, and the officer who fired the shot said he feared he, his colleague or a bystander could be hit by the car, Mr Prache said. While the teenager’s family and their lawyers are reported not to have said the police shooting was race-related, his death has intensified anger among activists about police misconduct. “We have to go beyond saying that things need to calm down,” said Dominique Sopo, head of the campaign group SOS Racisme. “The issue here is how do we make it so that we have a police force that when they see Blacks and Arabs, don’t tend to shout at them, use racist terms against them and in some cases, shoot them in the head.” Speaking to the news site Blast, Mounia said her only child had been “a respectful, kind boy”, adding: “My life, my heart was taken away from me. I miss him. It’s painful.” The Independent has approached the Elysee Palace for comment. Additional reporting by AP Read More Paris shooting: Where are the riots in France and why are they happening? Violence rocks Paris for third night over teen’s killing as police arrest nearly 700 people Who is Nahel M? The teen shot dead by police in France ‘This is war’: France burns amid angry protests after teenager shot dead by police in Paris suburb

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A US warship that intercepted drones and missiles near the coast of Yemen on Thursday encountered a larger and more sustained barrage than was previously known, shooting down 4 cruise missiles and 15 drones over a period of 9 hours, according to a US official familiar with the situation.