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Hands pulling the wheels on his wheelchair, a young Israeli soldier led the way into his hospital bedroom, both legs patched up after surgery for three gunshot wounds.

The reservist, a member of an elite unit called the counter-terror school, was wounded as he helped to recapture a rural community near Gaza that had been overrun by Hamas militants.

Two weeks into his recovery, the soldier, who asked to go by the initial “D”, said he hopes to be able to return to the frontline in Israel’s war with Hamas.

Follow live: First aid trucks enter Gaza as border crossing with Egypt opens

“Hell yeah,” the 22-year-old said, showing how he is already trying to stand up despite a particularly serious wound to the back of his left leg.

Soldier D
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Soldier D

The soldier is being treated at a sprawling hospital complex on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the past few days, doctors at a rehabilitation department inside the Sheba facility have expanded almost two-fold their capacity to rehabilitate wounded soldiers in anticipation of demand rising because of the war.

Professor Israel Dudkiewicz, chairman of the rehabilitation division at the Sheba Medical Centre, said the injuries that are already being treated are from bullets, shrapnel and bombs.

Asked whether the hospital would be able to handle an influx of wounded troops should Israel launch a ground invasion into Gaza, he said: “The answer is yes. We’re going to deal with how many that we need, for how long that we need. We know how to do it and we’re going to be here.”

Professor Israel Dudkiewicz, chairman of the rehabilitation division at the Sheba Medical Centre
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Professor Israel Dudkiewicz said the hospital is expanding to cope with the increase in patients from the war

Hardest part was ‘thinking twice before you pull the trigger’

Soldier D recalled what happened to him when he responded to an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October that killed more than 1,400 people, mainly civilians.

A reservist, he said he grabbed his uniform, body armour and weapons as news first broke about the carnage that was unfolding against communities that sit close to the Gaza Strip.

Soldier D assembled with other troops at a base before receiving the order to move towards a kibbutz called Be’eri that had been overrun.

By this point it was around 7pm in the evening – more than 12 hours after the attack began.

His commander told the men they needed to be ready for “harsh views” as they prepared to enter the site – now known to have been the location of one of the worst killings by Hamas.

“I looked straight and could see burning buildings, destroyed buildings, a lot of dead corpses – most of them were children and women,” said Soldier D.

Soldier D
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Soldier D

With the militants still at large, his unit was ordered to try to find civilians who might still be hiding inside the small stone houses that made up the community of around 1,000 residents.

The soldier said he was warned some of the attackers might be dressed in Israeli security uniforms or civilian clothing, making them hard to distinguish.

The unit also had to be careful not to open fire on other Israeli forces involved in the rescue.

“You had to think twice before you pull the trigger. That was the hardest part,” he said.

Approaching a house that had flames coming out of the roof, the soldier peered in through a window to look for occupants.

He said he could make out a couple in their late 50s or early 60s. They looked to be in shock and unaware that their house was burning.

He asked the women if there were any attackers inside.

“She only answered to me with: ‘Water. I need water to drink’.”

He decided to climb through the window to help them.

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On board of Israeli patrol vessels that look for attempts by Hamas to attack from the water

“They both look at me, terrified, the faces are black, dry eyes, red eyes, dry voice, heavily damaged, people, damaged clothes,” the soldier said.

He helped to hoist them out of the window to safety as the fire still raged above.

“When I heard some heavy cracking, I took [the man], put half of his body alone to the window. My commanding officer took him and I took five or six steps backward, sprinted to the window and got outside safely. Almost fell on my face. But that’s okay…Twenty seconds, 30 seconds, maybe 40, the building started collapsing inside.”

‘I didn’t feel any pain’ – at first

In total, his unit managed to save seven civilians.

They were then instructed to search houses to hunt for Hamas fighters who might be hiding. That was when Soldier D was shot. A number of his colleagues were also shot and his commander was killed.

“I got three bullet holes – two in my left leg, in my calves. The third shot was on my right leg,” Soldier D said.

“I didn’t feel any pain [immediately]. I felt that my legs were really wet and I felt like my body weight and my plate armour and everything I had on was pushing me downwards.”

He somehow managed to run to colleagues further back, giving them his tourniquets and asking for help. He said he spoke very calmy as he did not want to cause alarm.

“They didn’t see me yelling or even panicking. And I started singing and even laughing at it. It’s just to keep the morale up.”

Once in the privacy of an ambulance he allowed his composure to slip – briefly.

“We started driving and that’s when I started yelling, touching everything, and that’s when the pain really kicked in. When the damage started talking.”

A fortnight later, though, Soldier D is smiling once more.

He said he is determined to make a full recovery, drawing on a homemade motto: “Hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard.”

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Trump could meet Putin as early as next week to discuss Ukraine ceasefire – White House official

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Trump could meet Putin as early as next week to discuss Ukraine ceasefire - White House official

Donald Trump could meet Vladimir Putin in person as early as next week to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine, a White House official has said.

They said the meeting would be conditional on the Russian president meeting his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sky News’s US partner network NBC News reported.

It came days before the White House’s deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or face severe economic penalties, which could also target countries buying its oil.

Ukraine war latest

Asked during a news conference at the White House if the talks would take place, Mr Trump said: “There’s a very good prospect that they will.”

He said it had not been determined where the talks would take place, but added: “We had some very good talks with President Putin today.”

However, he said: “I’ve been disappointed before with this one.”

Asked if Mr Putin made any kind of concession to lead to the development, Mr Trump did not give much away, but added: “We’ve been working on this a long time. There are thousands of young people dying, mostly soldiers, but also, you know, missiles being hit into Kyiv and other places.”

Trump might finally be a step closer to ending the war

Seven hours is a long time in US politics.

At 10am, Donald Trump accused Russia of posing a threat to America’s national security.

At 5pm, Trump said there was a “good prospect” of him meeting Vladimir Putin “soon”.

There had, he claimed, been “great progress” in talks between his special envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian president.

It’s difficult to gauge the chances of a meeting between the two leaders without knowing what “great progress” means.

Is Russia “inclined” towards agreeing a ceasefire, as Ukraine’s president now claims?

Is Putin prepared to meet with his Ukrainian foe Volodymyr Zelenskyy, too?

The very fact that we’re asking those questions suggests something shifted on a day when there was no expectation of breakthrough.

Trump repeatedly vowed to end the war within 24 hours of becoming president.

On day 198 of his presidency, he might, just might, be one step closer to achieving that.

More tariffs ‘could happen’

Mr Trump also said he could announce further tariffs on China similar to the 25% he announced on India over its purchases of Russian oil.

“Could happen,” he said, after saying he expected to announce more secondary sanctions intended to pressure Russia into ending its war with Ukraine.

Earlier, he imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, on top of a previous 25% tariff, over its continued purchases of Russian oil.

India’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the additional tariffs were “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.

Vladimir Putin welcomes Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Moscow. Pic: Sputnik/Reuters
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Vladimir Putin welcomes Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Moscow. Pic: Sputnik/Reuters

It came after Mr Putin held talks with Mr Trump‘s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow, with the meeting lasting around three hours.

In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said Mr Witkoff “had a highly productive meeting” with Mr Putin in which “great progress was made”.

He said he had updated America’s European allies, and they will work towards an end to the Russia-Ukraine war “in the days and weeks to come”.

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Correspondents in Washington and Moscow break down a busy day of diplomacy

‘The war must end’

Mr Zelenskyy later said he and Mr Trump spoke on the phone after the meeting. He said “European leaders also participated in the conversation” and “we discussed what was said in Moscow”.

He added: “Our common position with our partners is absolutely clear: The war must end. We all need lasting and reliable peace. Russia must end the war that it started.”

Mr Zelenskyy later said: “It seems that Russia is now more inclined to agree to a ceasefire.”

He added that the pressure on Moscow “is working”, without elaborating, and stressed it was important to make sure Russia does not “deceive us or the United States” when it comes to “the details” of a potential agreement.

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Government ministers among eight killed in Ghana helicopter crash

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Government ministers among eight killed in Ghana helicopter crash

Ghana’s defence and environment ministers are among eight killed when a military helicopter crashed, the government has said.

The West African country’s military said the helicopter took off in the morning from the capital Accra and was heading northwest into the interior to the town of Obuasi when it went off the radar.

Footage of the crash site shows debris on fire in a forest as people circle around to help.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The military said an investigation was under way.

Defence minister Edward Omane Boamah and environment minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were killed, along with the vice-chair of the National Democratic Congress ruling party, a top national security adviser and the helicopter’s three crew members.

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State media said the aircraft was a Z-9 helicopter, which is often used for transport and medical evacuation.

It was one of the worst air disasters in Ghana in more than a decade.

A service helicopter crashed off the coast in May 2014 and killed at least three people.

And in 2012 a cargo plane overran the runway in Accra and crashed into a bus full of passengers, killing at least 10 people.

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The new space race? NASA accelerates plan to put nuclear reactor on the moon

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The new space race? NASA accelerates plan to put nuclear reactor on the moon

NASA is accelerating plans to put a nuclear reactor on the moon, and they claim it could happen by 2030.

In a directive – a written or oral instruction issued by the US government – to NASA staff earlier this month, Sean Duffy, US transport secretary and the new interim administrator of the space agency, said it should be ready to launch a 100 kilowatt nuclear reactor in five years.

Plans to get a reactor on the lunar surface are not new. The NASA website states the space agency is working on the Fission Surface Power Project to create a system capable of generating at least 40 kilowatts of power – but that is less than half of what Mr Duffy has now proposed.

He also stressed the importance of America’s space agency deploying the technology before China and Russia.

“To properly advance this critical technology, to be able to support a future lunar economy, high power energy generation on Mars, and to strengthen our national security in space, it is imperative the agency move quickly,” the directive, which was first reported on by Politico, states.

Sean Duffy says NASA should be ready to launch a 100 kilowatt nuclear reactor in five years. Pic: Reuters
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Sean Duffy says NASA should be ready to launch a 100 kilowatt nuclear reactor in five years. Pic: Reuters

A nuclear reactor on the moon would be considered a key step towards building a permanent base for humans to live on the lunar surface.

But Mr Duffy warned that the first country to deploy a reactor “could potentially declare a keep-out zone” which he said could significantly inhibit NASA’s Artemis mission – the lunar exploration programme which aims to land astronauts back on the moon in 2027.

When quizzed about the plan on 5 August, he told reporters: “We’re in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon. And to have a base on the moon, we need energy.”

Why use a nuclear reactor?

Unlike solar power, which is used on the International Space Station, a small nuclear reactor can operate continuously, Dr Sungwoo Lim, a senior lecturer in space applications, exploration and instrumentation at the University of Surrey told Sky News.

This is critical for infrastructure on the moon, which spends two weeks in complete darkness as it slowly orbits the Earth.

Nuclear reactors therefore diminish the need for sunlight, and can be used to power life support, communications and other critical science instruments, even in darkness.

An artist impression of a nuclear reactor on the moon. Pic: NASA
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An artist impression of a nuclear reactor on the moon. Pic: NASA

“In practice, this means astronauts could use a reactor to establish sustainable bases and extend exploration to places where solar energy is impractical,” Dr Lim adds, including in the moon’s permanently shadowed region, where scientists believe ice water exists.

Professor Mike Fitzpatrick, an expert in nuclear technology at Coventry University, adds that the proposal of a 100 kilowatt nuclear reactor, is relatively small compared to most that are built on Earth.

To put it in real terms, it takes around three kilowatts to power the kettle in your home.

But Prof Fitzpatrick says a smaller reactor could pose as “demonstrator technology”, something small and compact that makes it easier to transport it to the moon.

“Then you can have a whole array of them,” he says.

So, what’s the catch?

While scientists agree that nuclear energy seems like the necessary way to make progress on the moon, Prof Fitzpatrick says questions still remain about safety.

“Shipping the fuel to the moon is relatively safe, because at that point it is not particularly toxic, it is the highly reactive fission products that become the issue,” he says.

“What’s going to be the strategy for long-term storage and disposal on the moon after these plants have operated for certain periods of time? The sooner those conversations are had, and you have international consensus, the less likely it is you’ll get future friction.”

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Four astronauts launch to ISS after delay

Dr Lim also questioned Mr Duffy’s timescale of 2030, saying meeting the target depends heavily on the space agency’s budget.

NASA’s future funding is currently unknown after Donald Trump’s 2026 budget request sought a cut of $6bn (£4.5bn) and the termination of dozens of science programs and missions.

Over 2,000 agency employees are also set to voluntarily leave NASA in the coming months under the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” programme.

Is this the new space race?

Last year, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said it was planning to build a lunar nuclear reactor alongside China’s National Space Administration by 2035, in order to power the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).

The collaboration was never formally announced by China but the joint plan was included in a presentation by Chinese officials in April this year, which outlined the 2028 Chang’e-8 lunar mission which aims to lay the groundwork for the ILRS.

“Duffy explicitly described it as a competition,” says Dr Lim, adding that the move towards lunar exploration signals a renewed moon or space race among major parties like China, Russia, India and the US to claim strategic lunar territory and technology.

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However, Rossana Deplano a professor of international space law at the University of Leicester, says there is a lot of misunderstanding around “keep out” or safety zones, which Mr Duffy’s directive mentions.

“Safety zones are explicitly recognised in the Artemis Accords,” she says.

“They are a notification and consultation zone to be declared in advance in order to avoid harmful interference.

“They must be temporary in nature and do not establish state jurisdiction, e.g. they cannot be enforced.”

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