Reuters: World

Putin praises Russian troops for putting down mutiny as Prigozhin jet reaches Belarus President Vladimir Putin praised members of Russia's military and security forces in a ceremony on Tuesday as he sought to reassert his authority following an aborted mutiny by mercenaries led by Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. A jet linked to Prigozhin arrived in Belarus from Russia, believed to be carrying the mercenary boss into exile, three days after he abruptly called off his mutiny with his fighters bearing down on the capital. Authorities dropped a criminal case against Wagner, state news agency RIA reported, apparently fulfilling one condition of a deal agreed late on Saturday that defused the crisis. Putin told some 2,500 security personnel mustered on a square in the Kremlin complex that the people and the armed forces had stood together in opposition to the rebel mercenaries. read more

Putin pays tribute to Russian pilots killed fighting mutineers Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to pilots killed fighting an aborted mutiny and thanked the nation for showing patriotic unity while confirming for the first time that Russian pilots died opposing the Wagner militia group's march on Moscow. Putin's televised address on Monday was his first public comment since Saturday's armed revolt led by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, and confirmed reports on social media that Wagner forces had downed Russian aircraft in the fighting. Thanking the Russian people, servicemen, law enforcement and security services for remaining united to protect "the Fatherland", Putin said it showed Russia would not succumb to "any blackmail, any attempt to create internal turmoil". read more

Russian mutiny details remain scarce as Putin says he sought to avoid bloodshed Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he let Saturday's aborted mutiny go on as long as it did to avoid bloodshed, while the Wagner mercenary group boss who led the uprising said he never intended to overthrow the government. Putin's televised address was his first public comment since Saturday, when he had said the rebellion threatened Russia's very existence and those behind it would be punished. "From the very beginning of the events, steps were taken on my direct instruction to avoid serious bloodshed," Putin said on Monday. read more

North Korea holds rallies denouncing US, warns of nuclear war North Korea held mass rallies in Pyongyang where people shouted slogans vowing a "war of revenge" to destroy the United States, as it marked the 73rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, state media reported on Monday. About 120,000 working people and students took part in the rallies held across the capital on Sunday, state news agency KCNA reported. Photos released by state media showed a stadium crowded with people holding placards reading "The whole U.S. mainland is within our shooting range" and "The imperialist U.S. is the destroyer of peace." read more

Rebel Russian mercenaries return to base under deal ending advance on Moscow Heavily armed Russian mercenaries withdrew from the southern Russian city of Rostov overnight under a deal that defused an unprecedented challenge to the authority of President Vladimir Putin and halted their rapid advance on Moscow. Fighters of the Wagner group returned to their bases in return for guarantees for their safety and the leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, will move to Belarus, according to the agreement mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Videos shared on social media from Rostov overnight purportedly showed the mercenaries withdrawing from the city in a convoy of armoured vehicles, tanks and coaches to the sound of cheers, chants of "Wagner" and celebratory gunfire from local residents. read more

Moscow accuses Wagner head of mutiny, he says his forces enter Russia Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday his Wagner fighters had crossed the border into Russia from Ukraine and were prepared to go "all the way" against Moscow's military, hours after the Kremlin accused him of armed mutiny. As a long-running standoff between Prigozhin and the military top brass appeared to come to a head, Russia's FSB security service opened a criminal case against him, TASS news agency said. It called on the Wagner private military company forces to ignore his orders and arrest him. Wagner fighters had entered the southern Russian city of Rostov, Prigozhin said in an audio recording posted on Telegram. He said he and his men would destroy anyone who stood in their way. Prigozhin earlier said, without providing evidence, that Russia's military leadership had killed a huge number of his troops in an air strike and vowed to punish them. read more

Titanic sub destroyed in 'catastrophic implosion,' all five aboard dead A deep-sea submersible carrying five people on a voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic was found in pieces from a "catastrophic implosion" that killed everyone aboard, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday, ending a multinational five-day search for the vessel. A robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian ship discovered a debris field from the submersible Titan on Thursday morning on the seabed some 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, 2 1/2 miles (4 km) beneath the surface, in a remote corner of the North Atlantic, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters. The Titan, operated by the U.S.-based company OceanGate Expeditions, had been missing since it lost contact with its surface support ship on Sunday morning about an hour, 45 minutes into what should have been a two-hour dive to the world's most famous shipwreck. read more

Exclusive: US to ease visas for skilled Indian workers as Modi visits The Biden administration will make it easier for Indians to live and work in the United States, using this week's state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help some skilled workers enter or remain in the country, according to three people familiar with the matter. The State Department could announce as soon as Thursday that a small number of Indians and other foreign workers on H-1B visas will be able to renew those visas in the U.S., without having to travel abroad, one of the sources said, part of a pilot program that could be expanded in coming years. Indian citizens are by far the most active users of the U.S. H-1B program and made up 73% of the nearly 442,000 H-1B workers in fiscal year 2022. read more

Titanic sub: Rescuers race against time after hearing undersea sounds Rescue teams were racing on Wednesday to trace the origin of sounds heard from the depths of the North Atlantic in a search for a tourist submersible with five people on board that vanished on its descent to the century-old wreck of the Titanic. The U.S. Coast Guard said remotely operated vehicle (ROV) searches were deployed in the area where Canadian aircraft detected the undersea noises on Tuesday, as the clock ticked in the last 24 hours of the missing craft's presumed air supply. "Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue," the U.S. Coast Guard wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. read more

Biden calls Chinese President Xi a dictator U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday called Xi Jinping a dictator, a day after top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken visited Beijing to stabilize bilateral relations that China says are at their lowest point since formal ties were established. Biden also said Xi was very embarrassed when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was blown off course over U.S. airspace early this year, making a personal comment on the Chinese leader when Blinken said on Monday the "chapter" should be closed. It was unclear why Biden made the comments on Xi - China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong after he secured a precedent-breaking third term as president and head of the Communist Party. read more

US judge orders Trump lawyers not to release evidence in documents probe A U.S. judge in Florida on Monday ordered defense lawyers for former President Donald Trump not to release evidence in the classified documents case to the media or the public, according to a court filing. The order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart also put strict conditions on Trump's access to the materials. "The Discovery materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court," the order filed on Monday said. read more

Ships, planes search for sub that went missing on trip to Titanic wreckage U.S. and Canadian ships and planes searched on Monday for a submarine that went missing more than a day earlier off the coast of southeastern Canada while taking tourists to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, officials said. The U.S. Coast Guard said there was one pilot and four passengers on board and that the vessel had the capacity to be submerged for 96 hours, but it was unclear whether it was still underwater or had surfaced and was unable to communicate. U.S. and Canadian ships and planes have swarmed the area about 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, some dropping sonar buoys that can monitor to a depth of 13,000 feet (3,962 meters), U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters on Monday. read more