Defenders of Ukraine's city of Bakhmut are keeping up the pressure even though Russian forces declared victory there after the longest, deadliest battle of the war so far. The ongoing defense gives commanders in Moscow another thing to think about ahead of an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive. Ukraine's deputy defense minister said artillery shelling continues at levels similar to those at the height of the nine-month fight over the city. She says the battle is evolving into a new phase. Ukrainian defenders still control the western fringes of Bakhmut. From the Kremlin’s perspective, the area around the city is part of the more than 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) front line that the Russian military must hold.
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Hundreds of thousands of people have marched in an anti-government protest in Poland’s capital. Poles traveled from across the country to voice their anger Sunday at a conservative government that has eroded democratic norms. Warsaw City Hall hall estimated that up to 500,000 people took part. The march was held on the 34th anniversary of the first democratic elections in 1989 after Poland emerged from decades of communist rule. Critics argue that a recently passed law that would allow a commission to investigate Russian influence in Poland will be used by the ruling party to remove opposition party leader and former Prime Minister Donald Tusk and other rivals from public life.
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China’s defense minister has defended sailing a warship across the path of an American destroyer and Canadian frigate transiting the Taiwan Strait, telling a gathering of some of the world’s top defense officials in Singapore that so-called “freedom of navigation” patrols are a provocation to China. In his first international public address since becoming defense minister in March, Gen. Li Shangfu told the Shangri-La Dialogue on Sunday that China doesn’t have any problems with “innocent passage” but that “we must prevent attempts that try to use those freedom of navigation (patrols), that innocent passage, to exercise hegemony of navigation.” On Saturday, a Chinese warship intercepted a U.S. guided-missile destroyer and a Canadian frigate in the strait dividing Taiwan and mainland China.
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Jake McMurray had four of Oral Roberts’ 24 hits and Jonah Cox went 3 for 4 with a double, a home run and six RBIs to help the No. 4 seed Golden Eagles rally from an eight-run deficit and beat Washington 15-12 at the Stillwater Regional for their 20th consecutive win. Oral Roberts awaits the winner of a loser-out game between Washington and Dallas Baptist. . Johnny Tincher and Sam DeCarlo each hit a home run in Washington’s seven-run first inning and Tincher’s RBI groundout in the second made it 8-0 but Cox hit a three-run shot in the third — ORU’s second home run of the inning — and added an RBI sacrifice fly to cap a three-run fourth that made it 8-7.
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For the first time in their history as Major League Soccer rivals, the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers played to a 0-0 draw in a match where scoring chances were limited and neither goalkeeper was tested. The previous 39 MLS matches between the teams – regular and postseason — all featured at least one goal scored. But the draw continued Portland’s run of surprising success in Seattle as the Timbers are now unbeaten in their past eight games played at Lumen Field. Portland’s last loss in Seattle was May 27, 2017.
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