International
Russia Hands Over Bodies of 1,000 Ukrainian Soldiers
Russia on Tuesday returned the bodies of what it said were 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers, five of whom died while in captivity, a Ukrainian government agency said.
Ukraine returned the bodies of 19 Russian soldiers in exchange, a Russian official said.
Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022, though neither side regularly publishes data on their own casualties.
The exchange of prisoners of war and repatriation of war dead has been one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since the war began.
The two sides have intensified these efforts in recent months during talks in Istanbul.
“According to the Russian side, 1,000 bodies belonging to Ukrainian military personnel have been returned to Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on Telegram.
“Unfortunately, among those repatriated are the bodies of five Ukrainian servicemen who died in captivity,” it added.
It said law enforcement would begin the process of identifying the soldiers.
The exchange was carried out by agreements reached between the two sides in Istanbul, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said.
Kyiv initially said the two had agreed to “exchange” the bodies of 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers for as many Russians, though Moscow has always presented the deal as a unilateral decision to repatriate Ukrainians.
AFP
International
Death toll in Hong Kong fire rises to 44 with 279 still missing, authorities say
Hong Kong authorities say the fires in four of the buildings have been brought under control, but large plumes of smoke are still hanging over the residential estate.
Photo: AFP
At least 44 people have been killed so far in a major fire engulfing public housing apartments in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, with 279 people not accounted for.
Three construction company executives have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter connected to flammable materials, including mesh and plastic sheets, that may have allowed the fire to spread quickly.
More than 800 firefighters are tackling the blaze at Wang Fuk Court, which has been burning for over 18 hours.
The fire has been classified a level five blaze, the most serious level in Hong Kong.
A baby and an elderly woman were rescued during a late-night rescue, local media reports.
Hong Kong authorities say the fires in four of the buildings have been brought under control, but large plumes of smoke are still hanging over the residential estate.
I can smell it in the air. I can also see a number of small fires still burning in the apartment blocks.
Even more fire engines and an ambulance have arrived this morning to help with rescue efforts
BBC.
An Indian fighter jet has crashed while performing a display at an airshow in Dubai, officials have said.
Details later.
A Bangladeshi war crimes tribunal has sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death.
The verdict, delivered on Monday, November 17, 2025, follows a months-long trial that found Hasina guilty of ordering a lethal crackdown on a student-led uprising last year. She received a death sentence for the killing of several protesters and a life sentence on charges of crimes against humanity.
The ruling marks the most significant legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader in decades and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected in early February 2026. There was cheering and clapping in the courtroom as the death sentence was pronounced. The verdict can be appealed in the Supreme Court, though Hasina’s son and adviser, Sajeeb Wazed, said they would not appeal unless a democratically elected government, including the Awami League, is in office.
Prosecutors told the court that evidence showed Hasina directly ordered security forces to use lethal force to suppress protests in July and August 2024. A United Nations report estimates that up to 1,400 people were killed during the demonstrations, with thousands more injured, making it the deadliest unrest in Bangladesh since its 1971 war of independence.
Hasina, represented by a state-appointed defense lawyer, denied the charges, calling the tribunal proceedings unfair and claiming a guilty verdict was “a foregone conclusion.”
Tensions in Bangladesh had escalated ahead of the verdict, with at least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles torched in recent days, though no casualties were reported.
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