When his long-time associate Yevgeny Prigozhin launched his failed rebellion against the Russian state in June this year, many observers thought the Wagner mercenary boss would be immediately imprisoned, disappeared or eliminated. To much surprise, the biggest challenge to Vladimir Putin's 24 years in power ended with a deal under which Prigozhin and his mercenaries were allowed to travel to exile in neighboring Belarus. On Wednesday, exactly two months after his mutiny, Prigozhin died in a plane crash -- and all eyes are on Putin.

SEE WHY NO ONE WAS SURPRISED BY PRIGOZHIN'S DEMISE

Donald Trump surrendered on racketeering charges at a Georgia jail on Thursday, setting the stage for a fourth criminal trial as he campaigns to recapture the White House. The former president, accused of conspiring with 18 co-defendants to try to overturn the 2020 election, was arrested hours after he spurned a primary debate featuring eight of his rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Trump may have been absent from the debate stage but he managed to steal the spotlight both in Milwaukee and Atlanta with a 24-hour period.

SEE HOW TRUMP WON THE GOP DEBATE WITHOUT ATTENDING

Threads, Meta's challenger to depose Twitter as the go-to platform for celebrities, companies and governments, is now available on the web as it seeks to revive its underwhelming launch. A web version of Threads is seen as key to attracting professionals and media types who are the most active users of social media and post mainly from their computers during working hours. Until now, Threads was accessible only as a mobile app on iPhones and Android phones.

CAN THREADS MAKE A MAJOR CHALLENGE TO EX-TWITTER X?

In this month 32 years ago, what was the first website ever launched?

Thursday's answer: Three nations landed craft on the Moon before India's recent debut -- the USSR (1959), US (1969) and China (2013).