VLADIMIR PUTIN, president of Russia. (Shutterstock).

Friday the 13th turned into an unlucky day for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine.

According to The New York Times, invading troops are being driven back in eastern area of Ukraine and are retreating from the positions near Kharkiv, the nation’s second-largest city. The push east was expected to be more successful than the failed assault on the capital city of Kyiv because many Russian-speaking people live in that area of Ukraine, but it hasn’t turned out that well so far.

Great Britain has imposed new sanctions on Putin’s family and “inner circle,” including his former wife and another woman widely rumored to be his girlfriend.

“We are exposing and targeting the shady network propping up Putin’s luxury lifestyle and tightening the vise on his inner circle,” said Liz Truss, the British foreign secretary.

Sports: Angels win, Dodgers trail

The Los Angeles Angels defeated the Oakland A’s on the road on Friday behind a sterling pitching performance by Chase Silseth. He worked six innings, giving up only one hit. He struck out four batters and walked two.

Andrew Velazquez homered in the fifth, his first of the season. The other Angel run came in the fourth when Jared Walsh singled home Anthony Rendon, who had reached on a double.

With the win the Angels are 22-12, still a half-game behind the Houston Astros (22-11) in the American League West. Houston stayed ahead with its 10th straight win, beating Washington 6-1.

At home, the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 12-10 to the Philadelphia Phillies in 10 innings. They are 20-11 and still lead the National League West by a few percentage points over the San Diego Padres.

Weather: Heat will peak Saturday

The brief heat spell hitting the West Orange County area should peak on Saturday. The forecast calls for a daytime high of 87 under mostly sunny skies, and an overnight low of 60. Sunday will see a cooler day of 77 (59) dropping to 74 (58) on Monday.

Business: Twitter deal still on hold

Billionaire Elon Musk said Friday he was putting his planned purchase of the Twitter message app on hold, pending verification of just how many users it had.

It claims 61 million users but some skeptics believe it is infected with many – perhaps millions of – fake accounts created by digital intruders known as “bots.”

According to Business Insider, Musk wants to determine whether the fake accounts amount to less than 5 percent of Twitter users. A random sampling of the Twitterverse would be used.