Ukraine says received Russian bodies in war dead exchanges
Ukraine says received Russian bodies in war dead exchanges/node/2605280/world
Ukraine says received Russian bodies in war dead exchanges
Kyiv received the bodies of 20 Russian soldiers instead of Ukrainian ones during exchanges of war dead with Moscow, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in remarks made public Saturday. (AFP/File)
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Updated 21 June 2025
AFP
Ukraine says received Russian bodies in war dead exchanges
Zelensky accused Russia of “not checking” who they were sending
“Sometimes these bodies even have Russian passports“
Updated 21 June 2025
AFP
KYIV: Kyiv received the bodies of 20 Russian soldiers instead of Ukrainian ones during exchanges of war dead with Moscow, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in remarks made public Saturday.
He accused Russia of “not checking” who they were sending, and suggested Moscow might be doing it on purpose to conflate the number of Ukrainian bodies they had.
The repatriation of fallen soldiers and the exchange of prisoners of war has been one of the few areas of cooperation between the warring sides since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Moscow and Kyiv agreed earlier this month during talks in Istanbul to exchange the bodies of 6,000 soldiers each.
“It has already been confirmed during repatriations that the bodies of 20 people handed over to us as our deceased soldiers are Russian,” Zelensky said in remarks released on Saturday.
“Sometimes these bodies even have Russian passports,” he added.
An “Israeli mercenary” fighting for Moscow was also among those sent, he said.
Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since the war began. Neither country regularly releases information on military casualties.
Zelensky said there were currently “695,000 Russian troops” on Ukrainian territory.
Former UFC fighter Suman Mokhtarian was gunned down in a “brazen” shooting while on an early evening walk in Sydney, police said, months after surviving an attempt on his life
Updated 57 min 59 sec ago
AFP
SYDNEY: Former UFC fighter Suman Mokhtarian was gunned down in a “brazen” shooting while on an early evening walk in Sydney, police said, months after surviving an attempt on his life.
The 33-year-old was shot dead in a “targeted” attack in Riverstone, a suburb in Sydney’s northwest, on Wednesday evening, New South Wales Police said.
A short time after the shooting two cars were found on fire in different locations, a hallmark of recent organized crime hits that have rattled the city.
“It’s very brazen and it’s a shame that this is happening in our community,” NSW Police superintendent Jason Joyce said.
“You’d want to think that in a residential area that people could wander the streets at that time of (early) night and be safe, but we do believe it’s a targeted attack,” he said.
Local media reported that Mokhtarian had survived an attempt on his life last February, when a gunman fired on him outside a gym in Sydney’s west.
He fought twice in the UFC, in 2018 and 2019, losing both times, before moving into coaching, according to ESPN.
He helped develop some of Australia’s top mixed martial arts prospects, the website said.
A local who only identified himself by his first name, Ben, said he was walking with his wife when he heard a gunshot.
“It was around then when we heard a bang as well and a lot of smoke went up in the air... that would have been the car,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“There was a large commotion, a lot of people were just shocked because they’ve never witnessed anything like this.”
“The shooting happened with children literally riding bikes around the park.”
Neighbour Natalie, who also did not provide her last name, said she was out the front of her home with her children when the incident took place.
“I called the police straight away,” she told the national broadcaster ABC.
Natalie said she ran over to see if Mokhtarian was alive, but “he clearly wasn’t.”
“I could immediately tell he wasn’t alive, otherwise I would’ve tried to help him,” she said.
The killing came a day after police foiled a “kill team” bearing firearms, balaclavas, body-worn cameras and jerrycans on the way to a daycare center.
Police are investigating if the two incidents are linked.
Afghan Taliban foreign minister begins first India visit
Neither side has disclosed the agenda, but analysts say trade and security are likely to be at the forefront, though India is unlikely, for now, to extend formal recognition to the Taliban government
Updated 09 October 2025
AFP
NEW DELHI: Afghanistan’s UN-sanctioned foreign minister arrived in India on Thursday, the first visit by a top Taliban leader since they returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led forces.
Amir Khan Muttaqi’s trip — made possible after the UN Security Council granted him a travel waiver — is expected to be closely watched by India’s arch-rival Pakistan, as New Delhi deepens its engagement with the Taliban government.
“We look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement, offering Muttaqi a “warm welcome.”
Muttaqi, who met with India’s top career diplomat Vikram Misri in January in Dubai, is set to hold talks with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Neither side has disclosed the agenda, but analysts say trade and security are likely to be at the forefront — though India is unlikely, for now, to extend formal recognition to the Taliban government.
“New Delhi is eager to establish its influence in Kabul... and not be left behind by its arch-rivals, China and Pakistan,” International Crisis Group analyst Praveen Donthi told AFP.
Muttaqi’s visit follows meetings in Russia — the only country so far to have officially recognized the Taliban administration.
But while the Taliban are “seeking diplomatic recognition and legitimacy,” Donthi said, others noted that was some way off.
“India is not in a hurry to provide diplomatic recognition to the Taliban,” Rakesh Sood, India’s former ambassador to Kabul, told AFP.
India has long hosted tens of thousands of Afghans, many who fled the country after the Taliban returned to power.
Afghanistan’s embassy in New Delhi shut in 2023, although consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad still operate limited services.
India says its mission in Kabul is limited to coordinating humanitarian aid.
EU chief faces confidence votes in fractious parliament
Two motions of censure brought by the hard-left and far-right, accusing von der Leyen’s European Commission of a lack of transparency
Motions widely expected to fail, but will test the cohesion of the coalition led by von der Leyen’s conservative European People’s Party
Updated 09 October 2025
AFP
STRASBOURG, France: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen faces two confidence votes Thursday in the European Parliament — challenges that pose no serious threat to her leadership but underscore the tensions roiling the assembly.
The two motions of censure against von der Leyen were brought by the hard-left and far-right, which accuse her European Commission of a lack of transparency and reject her trade policies.
But while the motions are widely expected to fail, they reflect mounting discontent with von der Leyen’s leadership and will test the cohesion of the coalition led by her conservative European People’s Party (EPP).
For von der Leyen, there is a sense of deja vu.
She survived a previous far-right attempt to unseat her in July, but the vote opened the door for allies in von der Leyen’s so-called pro-European camp to air their own grievances.
Critics from the left and center accuse von der Leyen — and the broader conservative camp — of blurring lines with the far right and backtracking on environmental legislation.
“We can’t really say there’s been any progress in this Parliament,” charged centrist Renew group leader Valerie Hayer during a heated debate in the chamber on Monday.
“The pro-European majority that elected you is still not functioning properly,” Hayer said.
Iratxe Garcia Perez of the Socialists and Democrats delivered a warning to von der Leyen.
“You must choose between your allies and those who are not our friends,” she said in the parliament.
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Monday’s debate saw both groups bringing challenges against von der Leyen call on her to stand down.
Hard-left France Unbowed lawmaker Manon Aubry accused her of “inaction” over the “genocide” in Gaza, while the far-right Patriots group chief Jordan Bardella slammed Europe’s trade “surrender” to the United States.
But despite their own frustrations, neither the socialists nor centrists are likely to break ranks with von der Leyen.
The EPP, for its part, remains firmly behind the commission chief.
In her debate response, von der Leyen offered a more conciliatory tone than in July when she had dismissed the censure’s backers as “extremists” and admirers of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I know there are some of you who are still unsure how to vote later this week,” she told lawmakers on Monday.
The commission president defended her record and called for unity, stressing the challenges the bloc faces — chief among them the war in Ukraine and the broader threat from Russia.
“The truth is that our adversaries are not only ready to exploit any divisions — they are actively inciting those divisions in the first place,” she said.
The European Parliament has never succeeded in toppling a commission team.
The only comparable moment dates from March 1999, when the commission led by Luxembourg’s Jacques Santer resigned en masse over damning corruption claims and mismanagement, rather than face a confidence vote it was set to lose.
Medvedev to face De Minaur in Shanghai Masters quarterfinals
The Russian said he would need to rest his legs in anticipation of a similarly tough challenge against De Minaur on Friday
Another top-10 player fell on Wednesday as Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti lost to Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2
Updated 09 October 2025
AFP
SHANGHAI: Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday got his revenge against US teenager Learner Tien, beating him in a nail-biter 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (1/7), 6-4 to proceed to the Shanghai Masters quarterfinals.
There he will meet world No. 7 Alex de Minaur, who cruised past Portugal’s Nuno Borges 7-5, 6-2 earlier in the day.
Victory in Shanghai comes just over a week after the 36th-ranked Tien took the Russian out of the China Open semifinals in Beijing.
“He’s an unbelievable tennis player,” Medvedev said of the 19-year-old. “Outside of the big three, he may be the toughest opponent I’ve ever faced.”
Medvedev broke first in the ninth game, but Tien returned the favor immediately.
Daniil Medvedev (L) embraces Learner Tien at the end of their men's singles match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 8, 2025. (AFP)
The last two games of the first set saw the two players locked in an epic back-and-forth, their prolonged rallies thrilling the crowd.
Both faced breakpoint but managed to hold, with Medvedev smashing a looping lob from Tien to send them to a gripping tiebreak.
Medvedev broke early in the second set, but Tien was again unphased — breaking back in the fifth and then seventh games, before the former world number one leveled in the 10th.
Medvedev began limping just before the second-set tiebreak and spoke briefly with a medic before hobbling back onto court.
Tien went 3-0 up as the Russian, ten years his senior, tried to stretch out on court, becoming increasingly irate as the match was pushed to a decider.
“I should be more calm, but Learner drives me nuts... I lost two very traumatic matches against him — so for sure I was scared to lose again,” he said.
But a scrappy third set — full of double-faults from both players — was settled when Medvedev broke in the ninth game with a backhand.
‘Going to be a battle’
The Russian said he would need to rest his legs in anticipation of a similarly tough challenge against De Minaur on Friday, smiling wryly: “We’re gonna run again.”
After Novak Djokovic, the Australian is the highest ranked player left standing after a string of high-profile exits.
De Minaur needed five break points in the 11th game against Borges in the first set, converting the last with a backhand for a decisive advantage.
He carried the momentum into the second set, breaking in the first and third games.
But he remained cautious about his title chances.
“In our side of the draw, there’s a lot of quality players, so it’s still going to be a battle,” he said.
Another top-10 player fell on Wednesday as Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti lost to Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2.
Thirteenth-ranked Auger-Aliassime looked sharp throughout, breaking in the fifth game.
He went on to dominate the second set, breaking Musetti, the world number nine, in the fifth and seventh games.
“I knew it was going to be the toughest match of the week so far, and I knew I was going to have to raise my level, and I did,” said the 25-year-old Canadian.
He will next meet France’s Arthur Rinderknech, who reached his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal after beating Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-6 (7/5).
Rinderknech’s cousin Valentin Vacherot made it to the last eight on Tuesday, and will face Denmark’s Holger Rune for a place in the semifinals.
Djokovic will follow them on to court on Thursday against Belgium’s Zizou Bergs for a place in the last four.
US State Department fires diplomat over relationship with Chinese
Diplomat admitted concealing a romantic relationship with a Chinese national with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party, says department spokesman
The Trump administration earlier this year said it would restrict employees in China from entering romantic relationships with locals, a rare step reminiscent of the Cold War
Updated 09 October 2025
AFP
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s administration said Wednesday it fired a State Department employee who did not acknowledge a romantic relationship with a Chinese national.
“The State Department has officially terminated the employment of a Foreign Service officer who admitted concealing a romantic relationship with a Chinese national with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
The State Department said the officer, a man whom it did not identify, said on camera that the Chinese woman “could have been a spy” but did not say if there was any proof of espionage.
The dismissed employee said his partner’s father was “straight-up communist party,” according to the State Department.
The Chinese Communist Party permeates life in the billion-plus country in areas from business to education, with many ordinary Chinese maintaining ties out of practicality as much as ideology.
The State Department said it was the first known dismissal taken under an executive order signed by Trump shortly after returning to office in which he ordered that all employees “faithfully implement the president’s policy.”
“We will maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any employee who is caught undermining our country’s national security,” Pigott said.
The United States earlier this year said it would restrict employees in China from entering romantic relationships with locals, a rare step reminiscent of the Cold War.
