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Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran watches the ball after playing a shot during the T20 World Cup group stage match against Canada at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in…
Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) are seen after a swap, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, at an unknown location in Ukraine, Thursday. Ukraine and Russia each freed 200 prisoners of war Thursday, the first part of an exchange that will see them swap 500 people each in total, officials said.The two sides agreed to the exchange during talks in Geneva last month, both sides said. Prisoner swaps are one of the few areas of co-operation between the warring countries.”Today, 200 Ukrainian families received the most-awaited message – their loved ones are coming home,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.Video shared by Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets showed servicemen leaving buses, wrapped in Ukrainian flags and shouting “Glory to Ukraine!”, as well as embracing those who came to welcome them.Among those freed were Ukrainian soldiers captured in 2022, including some who fought in the three-month-long Russian siege of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, said Lubinets.At the site of the exchange in the northern Chernigiv region, Kateryna Movchan, 29, waited for news of her uncle, Valentyn, who went missing on the front in 2024.”We’re hoping that maybe someone will recognise him and there will be at least some kind of feedback,” Movchan, from the northwestern Rivne region, told AFP.”We have absolutely no information at all: how he is, where he is,” she added.The Russian defence ministry published footage showing its soldiers boarding a bus and cheering while draped in Russian flags.The United Arab Emirates and the United States helped mediate Thursday’s exchange, Russia said.More prisoners will be released today, with the two sides set to exchange 500 each in total, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on Telegram.There have been several prisoner exchanges during the war. The swaps are among the few tangible results of talks between the two sides, mediated by Washington as it seeks to broker a deal to end the war.Negotiations appear to have stalled, with the United States now focusing its attention on the Middle East.Kyiv had said there was a tentative plan to hold talks in Abu Dhabi this week – one of the places being hit by Iranian missiles and drones.Zelensky on Monday suggested holding the next meeting in Switzerland or Turkiye, which both have hosted previous talks, instead. Related Story Source…
New Zealand’s Finn Allen celebrates after scoring a century (100 runs) in the end of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup semi-final match between…
File photo: A man works on a diamond and gold ring inside a Senco Gold & Diamonds jewellery workshop in Kolkata, India. The Middle East conflict has disrupted India’s gems and jewellery exports, as well as imports of rough diamonds from the United Arab Emirates, because of widespread flight cancellations and airspace closures.Dubai, a major global hub for polished and rough diamonds and bullion, has suspended numerous cargo and passenger flights, affecting trade flows and shipments of both exports and essential raw materials, industry officials said.”Exports and imports from the Middle East have come to a standstill, and there are no logistics in place to move goods,” Vipul Shah, managing director of Asian Star, a leading diamond exporter, told Reuters.The Middle East accounts for nearly a quarter of India’s annual gems and jewellery exports of around $30 billion, while the United Arab Emirates makes up more than two-thirds of the country’s rough diamond imports.India is the world’s largest cutting and polishing hub, handling nine out of every 10 diamonds processed globally.The country’s gems and jewellery exports will fall in March as Dubai is not only a major market for gems and jewellery, but also a key intermediary between diamond-producing countries and major consumer markets, said Shaunak Parikh, vice-chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.”If it (the conflict) drags on, it could hurt demand,” Parikh said.India has been relying on demand from the Middle East after its top buyer, the US, imposed hefty tariffs on Indian goods last year and curtailed purchases.Overseas buyers are cautious about placing orders amid volatility in the rupee-US dollar exchange rate and logistical constraints, said Colin Shah, managing director of Kama Jewelry.The Indian rupee fell to a record low of 92.3025 per US dollar on Wednesday.Both buyers and sellers know the war has disrupted trade, so they are agreeing to delay shipments, said a Mumbai-based diamond exporter. Related Story Source…
India’s players celebrate after Jacob Bethell of England is run out in the final over of the World Cup semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai…
Swedish Air Force JAS 39 Gripen aircraft are parked in a hangar at the air base in Keflavik, Iceland. Swedish fighter jets are patrolling the skies around Iceland for the first time, as Nato allies try to show both US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that they are serious about protecting the Arctic. Sweden has sent six of its Saab Gripen fighter jets, the crown jewel of its defence industry, as part of Nato mission Arctic Sentry.The mission is seeking to strengthen Nato’s presence in the strategically important Arctic region as part of an effort to defuse severe tensions within the alliance prompted by Trump’s push for the US to acquire Greenland.Trump has forced Nato allies to sharply increase military spending, including in the Arctic. He has been particularly unimpressed by Denmark’s military presence on Greenland, which he mockingly described as “two dog sleds”.The Swedish fighters are mainly on the lookout for Russian long-range bombers that can take off from air bases on the Kola Peninsula, which is home to Russia’s Northern Fleet and also has nuclear missile silos. “Iceland as well as all of the Arctic would be important (in case of a conflict) because that’s the warning chain for attacks against the US or Canada across the Arctic,” said Major General Frode Arnfinn Kristoffersen, deputy chief of staff, operations, at Nato Joint Force Command Norfolk.”Russia sees the Arctic as vital to becoming a great power and has also built up new Arctic bases and opened up former Soviet military sites, including deep-water ports and airfields,” he said. Russia has repeatedly dismissed claims it is seeking to take over Greenland, or is a threat in the Arctic, saying they are false “horror stories” made up by Western leaders to justify their own behaviour.HARSH ARCTIC CONDITIONSKeflavik Air Base, built during World War Two and up until 2006 an American base, is home to the Nato air policing missions that have been done periodically since 2008.The cold and windy conditions are the same as those on Greenland and the rest of the Arctic.”We have experiences from operating in this kind of harsh environment…so for us, it’s quite natural to also be able to operate here in Iceland,” said Major General Jonas Wikman, Sweden’s Air Force chief.The JAS 39 Gripen is a fourth-generation light single-engine supersonic multi-role aircraft, meaning it can do air-to-ground, air-to-surface, and air-to-air operations.”It’s perfectly suitable for this weather. It’s built in Sweden for the Swedish climate, and this is basically what we have back in Sweden,” said Lieutenant Colonel Robin Arvidsson, fighter pilot and squadron commander in the Swedish Air Force.It has a low logistical footprint and can be refuelled and rearmed by one officer and four conscripts in as little as 10 minutes.DANGEROUS BUILD-UPWhile Nato allies have rushed to increase the alliance’s presence in the Arctic, some analysts and politicians have questioned the rationale behind the build-up, saying Russia does not currently pose a threat to Greenland.”This is very dangerous because it leads to an action-reaction cycle,” said Pavel Devyatkin, senior associate at Washington-based think tank, The Arctic Institute.”There’s a very high chance of an accidental incident, of an escalation,” he said. “These moves from Sweden and from Nato are basically appeasing President Trump,” he said. Related Story Source link
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gives an update on the situation in the Middle East at Downing Street Briefing Room, in London, Thursday. The “special relationship” between Britain and the US remains intact and they continue to share intelligence, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday, after Donald Trump rebuked him for hesitating to support US strikes on Iran.After initially refusing to allow the United States to use British bases for the US-Israeli campaign, Starmer has come under personal attack from the US president, who said the British leader was “not Winston Churchill”.Speaking at a press conference, Starmer defended his decisions both to withhold initial access to bases, and then to participate in “defensive” operations against Iran, once Tehran had responded by attacking its neighbours.”The special relationship is in operation right now,” Starmer said. “We are working together in the region, the US and the British working together to protect both the US and the British in joint bases, where we’re jointly located and we’re sharing intelligence on a 24/7 basis in the usual way.”As well as the tongue-lashing from Trump, Starmer has also faced criticism for his cautious response from other allies in the region, including Cyprus where an Iranian-made drone hit one of Britain’s military bases on the island.He has also faced criticism at home, including from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a right-wing Trump supporter, who has accused the prime minister of dithering.”What Keir Starmer has done in alienating the American administration is not to just put that relationship personally at stake, but frankly to risk a relationship with a country without whom we are defenceless,” he told Reuters Thursday.Starmer’s government said this week it would deploy a warship, as well as helicopters with counter-drone capabilities, to help blunt Iran’s retaliatory strikes, and Thursday he announced he would send four more Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar to provide additional protection.Britain, like other European countries, is searching for ways to repatriate citizens stranded in the Middle East by a conflict that has shut some of the world’s busiest airports.Starmer said more than 4,000 people had arrived back in the United Kingdom on commercial flights from the UAE, while 140,000 British nationals had registered their presence in the region. Related Story…
Real Madrid’s Spanish coach Alvaro Arbeloa is pictured during the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and Getafe CF at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in…
Demonstrators hold a banner that reads “The rich want war, the youth wants a future” during a protest against the potential return of military conscription in…
An Iran embassy staff member (right) stands outside the Karapitiya hospital in the southern city of Galle Thursday where the rescued Iranian sailors are being kept…