Yankees reliever Anthony Misiewicz was released from Allegheny General Hospital after taking a line drive to the face, and New York placed him on the seven-day concussion injured list

A significant Ukrainian force has launched an assault on Russian lines in the southern Zaporizhzhia region – with a surge in attacks that points towards its counteroffensive shifting into high gear. A number of US and Ukrainian officials suggested this was the start in earnest of Kyiv's bid to reclaim territory lost to Russian occupation during Moscow's invasion. Ukraine's commanders and government have always said there would be no official announcement of the start of the counteroffensive and there has already been an increase in military activity all week. The combat against Russian positions – including intense fighting outside of the town of Tokmak, a Russian logistical hub – is said to involve Western-supplied tanks, armoured vehicles and infantry backed by artillery. The Kremlin has repeatedly claimed to have repelled Ukrainian attacks – that it calls the counteroffensive – across various points of the war's frontlines for a number of days, but Russian military bloggers noted an increase in clashes overnight Wednesday and into Thursday. One said: “Wave after wave of the enemy is trying to break through our defence." Appearing to confirm an operation was underway, the Ukrainian deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, said Russia was “actively on the defensive” in the Orihiv area of Zaporizhzhia region. Citing two unnamed Ukrainian officials, including a source close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, ABC News reported that the offensive was truly beginning. Reports from other US outlets citing both Ukrainian and US officials, all speaking anonymously, said similar things. But when asked about these reports, a spokesperson for the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces told Reuters: "We have no such information." Video footage appearing on social media appeared to suggest that that German-made Leopard 2 tanks were involved in the battle. Russian Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk claimed, without providing evidence, that Moscow's forces had destroyed three Leopard tanks. The officer also said that the general in charge of Russia’s troops in Ukraine, chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov, briefed President Vladimir Putin on the battles in Zaporizhzhia. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also claimed that country's forces had driven back Ukrainian troops trying to punch through defensive lines in the Zaporizhzhia region – after a two-hour battle involving what he said was up to 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers and 150 armored vehicles. The Kremlin has a habit of inflating such numbers and the fog of war obscures a significant proportion of what happens on the frontlines. Zaporizhzhia – one of four partly occupied regions illegally annexed by the Kremlin – has long been seen as a likely point of a main Ukrainian strike, but Kyiv has worked to mask its plans by launching attacks on multiple points across the vast frontlines. Zaporizhzhia is part of the land corridor that Moscow has sought to create between Ukrainian's industrial heartland and the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin annexed in 2014. For Ukraine, breaking or disrupting that land bridge will likely be one of the main aims of the offensive. The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based thinktank that tracks the war in daily updates, said it had concluded on Thursday that the Ukrainian counteroffensive "has begun". “Activity throughout Ukraine is consistent with a variety of indicators that Ukrainian counteroffensive operations are under way across the theatre,” the organisation tweeted. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden stress ‘unwavering support’ for Ukraine Renowned human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov on trial for “discrediting” Russian military Ukraine tells ‘clown’ Tucker Carlson to check his facts after pro-Kremlin rant

Gilbert Sotelo's brother is urging the driver responsible for the tragedy to step forward and take responsibility

Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen is facing off with him at the former president’s civil fraud trial

The retractable roof at Chase Field was closed for Game 4 of the NL Championship Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies after temperatures spiked to a record 104 in Phoenix on Friday afternoon

Salacious clips show the mother of two performing sex acts with her husband online while encouraging viewers to shell out 'tips' for specific requests

A public breakup between two women has gone viral on TikTok resulting in many people talking about 'peeling oranges.' The TikTok, which is a series of screengrabs of text messages between the two women, who are known only as Charlotte and Em. The slideshow was shared on TikTok by the account @things.i.cant.sen and has already been viewed more than 5 million times. The story starts with Charlotte texting 'Hey' to Em, however, the latter woman is surprised to hear from Charlotte. The crux of the conversation is that Charlotte wanted to tell Em that she got a place at New York University. Em says that she is 'proud' of Charlotte but as the text messages continue it becomes obvious that the two women were once a couple. Although Charlotte is still in love with Em the feeling isn't mutual adding that she was once in love with Charlotte but isn't. anymore. Things soon turn very emotional and intimate when Charlotte speaks about 'peeling oranges'. "I miss when you would peel my oranges for me in the morning," says Charlotte. Em replies, "Did you learn how to do it yet" "No, I still get juice all over and stab my nails too deep," Charlotte says. Em adds: "You'll figure it out someday." As the conversation continues Charlotte tells Em that she "loves" her. Em replies that she "loved" her too. The slides do end on a happy but emotional note with Charlotte telling Em "I peeled my orange today." That final line has broken TikTok users with many flooding the comments to say how moved they are by the exchange. One person wrote: "“i peeled my orange today” SOBBING. baby im so proud of you." Another said: "i peeled my orange today” SOBBING. baby im so proud of you." A third added: "i peeled my orange today “ broke me." For those wondering if peeling an orange is a metaphor for something else, as far as we can tell it's not. It's just one woman. telling her ex-lover that she has now learned to do something that she used to rely on her partner for. On that note, we're going to sit in the corner and cry for a while... Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The following are comments from key European Central Bank policymakers in the run up to the June 15

China is hosting its third international forum centered around President Xi Jinping’s signature policy, the Belt and Road Initiative, which over the past 10 years has built infrastructure across continents, burdening some smaller countries with debt

Henry Davis is officially a big leaguer

Washington's role as the US capital makes it reliant on government workers for its economic success -- and many are choosing to stay home, perhaps for good, leaving vast federal...

Joe Rogan said, 'Millions of years that dinosaurs were around, all that water, at some point in time, was filtered out of a dinosaur's d**k'