Donald Trump has suggested he will not participate in the first debate among candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, telling Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that it’s “not fair” for candidates who are polling well to be asked questions alongside lower-polling candidates. “Well, you know, it’s quite an easy question normally,” the former president said in a taped interview that aired on Sunday Morning Futures on16 July when asked directly whether he will join the debate scheduled for 23 August. “Ronald Reagan didn’t do it. A lot of people didn’t do it. When you have a big lead, you don’t do it,” he said. He added: “Why would you be doing a debate? It’s actually not fair. Why would you let someone that’s [polling] at zero, or one, or two, or three, you know, be popping you with questions.” The crowded field of candidates must hit certain fundraising and polling thresholds – and sign a “loyalty pledge” to support the eventual party nominee – to make it to the debate stage. Mr Trump’s appearance on the network comes one day after his rambling remarks to right-wing activist group Turning Point USA’s Turning Point Action Conference in Florida, where he painted a typically bleak picture of the state of the US and denied wrongdoing in the multiple investigations and indictments against him. Read More Trump news – live: Trump tells DeSantis to go back to Florida as governor’s campaign fires staff Donald Trump brands US a ‘third-world hellhole’ run by ‘perverts’ and ‘thugs’ 2024 GOP candidates desperate to make debate stage are finding creative ways to boost donor numbers

The comedy group 'Please Don't Destroy' scored a major coup by teaming up with Taylor Swift and 'SNL' star Pete Davidson for their latest project

Arizona ace Zac Gallen and slugging first baseman Christian Walker were both raised in the Philadelphia area

(Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the first over-the-counter contraceptive pill, paving the way for millions

Aziz Ansari's 'Good Fortune' movie suspended production indefinitely due to the ongoing writers' strike in Hollywood.

Russian forces have fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa and shelled the eastern Donetsk region killing at least six people and damaging dozens of homes Moscow has recently stepped up aerial strikes in their nearly 16-month war. Kyiv’s armed forces, meanwhile, have reported limited gains in the early stages of a counteroffensive to take back the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine's territory that is under Russian control. The grinding Ukrainian advance is pressing slowly ahead, Ukraine's deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said. Western analysts and military officials say the effort to dislodge entrenched, powerfully armed and large numbers of Russian troops could take years. Ukrainian troops have advanced 200m to 500m (650ft to 1,600ft) at various sections of the front line around the Donetsk city of Bakhmut and 300m to 350m (980ft to 1,150ft) in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, Ms Maliar claimed. Ukrainian forces have managed to make gains despite the Russian edge in artillery and air power, she said. Ukrainian forces can expect to make slow progress in what will be a "hugely difficult" fight as the counteroffensive gains traction, according to a Western official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence. "Intense fighting is now ongoing in nearly all sectors of the front," the official said "This is much more than probing. These are full-scale movements of armor and heavy equipment into the Russian security zone." The official described the Ukrainian attacks as methodical and said that, broadly speaking, "Russian forces have put up a good defense." In Odesa, three food warehouse employees were killed in a strike that also damaged homes, shops and cafes in the city's downtown, the regional administration said on Facebook. An additional 13 people were injured. Search teams were looking for possible survivors under the rubble of the warehouse, it said. The attack on the port city, launched from the Black Sea, was the second in a week and involved four Kalibr cruise missiles, three of which were intercepted by air defenses, the administration said. In eastern Ukraine, Donetsk province governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, wrote on Telegram that at least three people died after shelling destroyed seven homes and damaged dozens more in the cities of Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka. Ten towns and villages along the front line in Donetsk were struck as Kyiv's troops slowly advance, according to Ukraine's presidential office. A missile hit the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kramatorsk, where Kyiv's forces are headquartered, killing two civilians and wounding two others while damaging 29 homes, the presidential office said. Russian shelling of Kostiantynivka killed one civilian, with 57 houses damaged, it added. Andriy Kovalov, a spokesperson for the General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces, said the Russian military increased missile and aerial strikes as Kyiv's forces intensify attacks along the war's 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line and claim some modest gains at the beginning of their counteroffensive. In a briefing, he said strikes on the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kirovohrad regions, in addition to the Odesa region, involved Kh-22 cruise missiles, sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles, and Iranian-made Shahed drones. Nine were intercepted. Mr Kovalov said Ukrainian forces had made advances in several sections and fighting was continuing in or near at least two Donetsk province communities. The UK's Defense MInistry, which has regularly issued updates on the conflict, wrote on Twitter that southern Ukraine "has often been more permissible for Russian air operations" compared with other parts of the front. Separately, the mayor of the central city of Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown, said the death toll from a Russian strike that hit an apartment building a day earlier had risen to 12. Ukrainian authorities continued to rescue people from the flooded areas of southern Ukraine's partially Russian-occupied Kherson region following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam last week. A total of 28 settlements on the Ukrainian-held western bank of the Dnieper River remain under water, and nearly 2,800 people have been taken to safety so far, the presidential office said, adding that the rescue effort was taking place under relentless Russian shelling. A visit by Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Wednesday was postponed for security reasons. He met with Mr Zelensky on Tuesday to discuss the perils facing the nuclear plant, which grew more serious after the Kakhovka Dam burst last week. The plant has been in the crossfire repeatedly since Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022 and seized the facility shortly after. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe faces "a relatively dangerous situation," the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog told journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday. The Ukrainian-controlled areas of the Kherson region came under artillery fire 57 times over the past 24 hours, the presidential office said. Rumors swirled Wednesday about a relative and close associate of the Kremlin-backed, strongman leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. The reports said that MP Adam Delimkhanov had been wounded in Ukraine. After Russian state TV reported that the lawmaker had been wounded and Ukrainian Telegram channels suggested that he had been killed, Mr Kadyrov published a photo showing Mr Delimkhanov. In a photo caption, Mr Kadyrov said that Mr Delimkhanov was "alive and well" — adding that he knew this "from the very beginning," despite earlier requesting Ukrainian intelligence to provide information on what positions were hit so that he could locate his "dear brother." Associated Press Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary FIFA official Fatma Samoura leaving after 7 years as pioneering woman in soccer In blow to Russian LGBTQ+ community, lawmakers weigh a bill banning gender transitioning procedures Recruiting criminals for Putin’s forces backed by Russian parliament – live

The United Auto Workers union announced a surprise targeted strike against General Motors' Arlington Assembly plant in Texas on Tuesday morning. 5,000 members walked off the job, joining the now 45,000 UAW members on the picket lines. This expanded strike impacts GM's Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade.

Detectives dubbed Christopher Michael Paul Jackson 'snake burglar' due to his tendency to crawl along the floors of companies he'd broken into

By Steve Scherer OTTAWA Canada's government is sending the military to the Eastern province of Nova Scotia on

The Ukrainian trio Three G's daring balance performance received 'yes' votes from all four judges

Sagging badly in opinion polls, with voters angry about housing and inflation, Justin Trudeau is facing calls to

By Chen Lin and Xinghui Kok SINGAPORE (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin rebuked China on Saturday for refusing