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Germany demands Israel probe incidents involving UN in Lebanon

By - Oct 21,2024 - Last updated at Oct 21,2024

Vehicles from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in Marjayoun in southern Lebanon on October 12 (AFP photo)

BERLIN — Germany on Monday demanded Israel "clarify every incident" involving the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), including the reported destruction of a UNIFIL observation tower and fence.
 
UN peacekeepers on Sunday said an Israeli "army bulldozer deliberately demolished" a UN observation tower and fence in southern Lebanon.
 
Israel launched ground and air attacks on Lebanon in September, saying it wanted to crush Hezbollah, a powerful political party and armed group.
 
Berlin voiced "great concern" about the latest in a series of incidents reported by the Blue Helmet force, which have sparked international condemnation.
 
The German government expects "the Israeli side to clarify every incident" and to release "the results of the investigations into this specific incident", said foreign ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer. 
 
"The safety of an operation mandated by the United Nations Security Council and its personnel must not be endangered," she added.
 
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has said the country and its military have "no intention" of harming the peacekeepers.
 
UNIFIL has accused Israel of attacking their members multiple times in recent weeks. 
 

Storm Oscar hits eastern Cuba as island grapples with blackout

By - Oct 21,2024 - Last updated at Oct 21,2024

HAVANA — Tropical storm Oscar made landfall as a hurricane on Sunday evening in Cuba, where residents were preparing for more chaos and misery as the country grapples with a nearly nationwide power outage in its third day. 
 
The arrival of Oscar, after the Friday collapse of Cuba's largest power plant crippled the whole national grid, piles pressure on a country already battling sky-high inflation and shortages of food, medicine, fuel and water.
 
Cuba's government said power would be restored to most of the country by Monday evening, with President Miguel Diaz-Canel warning his government would not tolerate public disturbances during the outage.
 
Oscar was a Category 1 storm when it made landfall in eastern Cuba at 5:50 pm local time (2150 GMT) on Sunday, the US National Hurricane Center said, before it weakened to become a tropical storm.
 
As of 11:00 pm local time, the storm was packing maximum sustained winds near 110 kilometers per hour, and it was expected to continue moving across eastern Cuba into Monday.
 
In Baracoa, waves reaching up to four meters high hit the seafront. Roofs and the walls of houses were damaged, and electricity poles and trees felled, state television reported.
 
Energy and Mining Minister Vicente de la O Levy told reporters Sunday that electricity would be restored for most Cubans by Monday night, adding that "the last customer may receive service by Tuesday."
 
The power grid failed in a chain reaction Friday due to the unexpected shutdown of the biggest of the island's eight decrepit coal-fired power plants, according to the head of electricity supply at the energy ministry, Lazaro Guerra.
 
National electric utility UNE said it had managed to generate a minimal amount of electricity to get power plants restarted on Friday night, but by Saturday morning it was experiencing what official news outlet Cubadebate called "a new, total disconnection of the electrical grid."
 
Most neighborhoods in Havana remain dark, except for hotels and hospitals with emergency generators and the very few private homes with backup systems.
 
After three days of no power, "my fridge has defrosted and I'm afraid that everything will be spoiled," said Adismary Cuza, a 56-year-old worker.
 
"Cubans are tired of so much," added Serguei Castillo, 68.
 
 'Energy emergency' 
 
The blackout followed weeks of power outages, lasting up to 20 hours a day in some provinces. 
 
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero on Thursday declared an "energy emergency," suspending non-essential public services in order to prioritize electricity supply to homes. 
 
And on Sunday, President Diaz-Canel warned that the government would act "severely" against anyone who attempted to "disturb public order" during the blackout.
 
That statement came as witnesses reported residents in several neighborhoods of Havana had taken to the streets on Sunday night to express their discontent. 
 
There are "people in the street making noise with pots and pans, shouting 'Let us have the power back on,'" a resident of the Santo Suarez neighborhood told AFP. 
 
Barricades of trash had also been erected in the Centro neighborhood, AFP photographers saw.
 
 Leaving Cuba 
 
President Diaz-Canel blamed the situation on Cuba's difficulties in acquiring fuel for its power plants, which he attributed to the tightening, during Donald Trump's presidency, of a six-decade-long US trade embargo.
 
Cuba is in the throes of its worst economic crisis since the collapse of key ally the Soviet Union in the early 1990s -- marked by soaring inflation and shortages of basic goods. 
 
With no relief in sight, many Cubans have emigrated.
 
More than 700,000 entered the United States between January 2022 and August 2024, according to US officials.
 
While the authorities chiefly blame the US embargo, the island is also feeling the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic battering its critical tourism sector, and of economic mismanagement.
 
To bolster its grid, Cuba has leased seven floating power plants from Turkish companies and also added many small diesel-powered generators. 
 
In July 2021, blackouts sparked an unprecedented outpouring of public anger.
 
Thousands of Cubans took to the streets shouting, "We are hungry" and "Freedom!" in a rare challenge to the government.
 
One person was killed and dozens were injured in the protests. According to the Mexico-based human rights organization Justicia 11J, 600 people detained during the unrest remain in prison.
 
In 2022, the island also suffered months of daily, hours-long power outages, capped by a nationwide blackout caused by Hurricane Ian.
 

US defense chief in Kyiv on solidarity visit

By - Oct 21,2024 - Last updated at Oct 21,2024

People place their ballot as they vote in the presidential elections and a referendum on joining the European Union, at a polling station in the village Hirbovat on October 20, 2024 (AFP photo)

KYIV, Ukraine — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv Monday in a show of support for Ukraine at a critical moment in its war with Russia and just weeks before the US election.
 
Austin arrived as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urges Western allies to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons and presses for an immediate invitation to join NATO.
 
But Ukraine fears the prospect of reduced US military support should Donald Trump be elected to the White House next month.
 
"I'm back in Ukraine for the fourth time as secretary of defense," Austin wrote on X, posting a picture of himself at Kyiv railway station.
 
He said his previously unannounced visit demonstrated that "the United States, alongside the international community, continues to stand by Ukraine".
 
The US Defense Department said Austin would meet Ukrainian leaders and "underscore the US commitment to providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself from Russian aggression on the battlefield". 
 
Austin will also deliver a speech, it said.
 
US President Joe Biden on Friday along with the leaders of Germany, France and Britain pledged to maintain support for Ukraine and condemned "Russia's continued war of aggression".
 
A high-ranking Ukrainian presidency official said Austin's visit would likely focus on a so-called "victory plan" unveiled by Zelensky to allies last week. 
 
"We expect that there will be more determination and understanding that we need to strengthen (military support for Ukraine), especially in the context of North Korea," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
 
About 1,500 North Korean soldiers are in Russia acclimatising and will likely to head to the front lines, Seoul's spy agency has said, with more troops set to depart soon.
 
Russia staged more aerial bombardments on Ukraine. The governor of Zaporizhzhia region said at least one person had been killed and 14 more were wounded in a strike that damaged a kindergarten.
 
"The body of a dead man has been recovered from the rubble in Zaporizhzhia," governor Ivan Fedorov said on social media, adding that 30 buildings were damaged.
 
The Kremlin claimed to have annexed the southern frontline region in 2022 alongside three others despite not having full military control over the territory.
 

Ex-general Prabowo takes office as Indonesia president

By - Oct 20,2024 - Last updated at Oct 20,2024

Indonesia's newly sworn-in President Prabowo Subianto (right) holds a meeting with South Korea's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Sunday (AFP photo)

JAKARTA — Former general Prabowo Subianto was sworn in on Sunday as president of Indonesia, seeking a more prominent position on the global stage for the world's fourth most populous nation.
 
"We will lead the Indonesian government... by prioritising the interests of all Indonesian people, including those who did not vote for us," he said, pledging to tackle corruption and protect democracy.
 
Prabowo has committed himself to Indonesia's non-aligned foreign policy, but has signalled that he will be bolder on the world stage.
He made China his first foreign visit after his election eight months ago, before embarking on trips to a dozen other countries including Russia and Australia, where he signed a key security deal.
 
Prabowo won by a first-round landslide in the February vote, helped by the support of running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the 37-year-old son of Widodo.
After his swearing-in, the former defence minister, dressed in traditional attire, addressed lawmakers who chanted his name.
 
"We want to be the good neighbour," he said.
 
"We don't want to disturb other countries, but we will not let any countries disturb us."
Prabowo then went to the presidential palace in Jakarta, shaking hands with supporters before a handover ceremony with former rival Widodo, more popularly known as Jokowi, to whom he lost two elections.
 
He later announced his cabinet of 48 ministers, naming Sugiono, an official from his party who goes by one name, as new foreign minister.
Rosan Perkasa Roeslani returned as investment minister and Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Erick Thohir kept their respective portfolios of finance and state owned enterprises.
 
Rights record 
 
Several dozen diplomats attended the inauguration, including Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, British foreign minister David Lammy and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.
 
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message Sunday, saying he would maintain "close strategic communication" with Prabowo, state broadcaster CCTV said.
 
Tens of thousands lined the streets of Jakarta amid heightened security as Prabowo became Indonesia's eighth leader since the country achieved independence in 1945.
 
"I hope that the vision and mission that they have created can be implemented, prioritising the welfare of the people," said Calissa Putri, a 20-year-old student, of Prabowo and Gibran.
 
NGOs and his former military bosses accuse Prabowo of ordering the abduction of democracy activists at the end of Suharto's rule in the late 1990s.
Prabowo was discharged from the military over the abductions, but denied the allegations.
The United States and Australia have refused in the past to give Prabowo a visa because of his rights record but he has visited both countries in recent years.
"Concerns remain about what Prabowo's ascension may mean for democracy and human rights," said Parker Novak, nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council.
 
Image reboot 
 
A campaign to rehabilitate Prabowo's reputation won over younger voters in the last election, with the former general remodelling himself as a grandfatherly figure.
The addition of Gibran to the ticket prompted accusations of nepotism after age limits for candidates were lowered last year by Jokowi's brother-in-law, then the chief justice.
Gibran's popularity is tied to his father, who took Indonesia out of the Covid-19 pandemic relatively unscathed and back to 5-per cent growth.
Jokowi's successor has set an even higher target of 8 per cent growth.
But experts say a bigger challenge lies ahead on the world stage.
 
"He will have to navigate inevitable tension between his country's extensive economic relationship with China and growing security relationships with the United States and Australia," said Novak.
 

Putin seeks to rival Western power with high-profile summit

By - Oct 20,2024 - Last updated at Oct 20,2024

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin gives a speech during a BRICS business forum in Moscow on October 18, 2024 (AFP photo)

MOSCOW — Two dozen world leaders will meet in Russia next week for a summit of the BRICS group, an alliance of emerging economies that the Kremlin hopes will challenge Western "hegemony".
 
The summit will be the biggest in Russia since the Ukraine conflict began and comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to show Western attempts to isolate Moscow over the two-and-a-half-year offensive have failed.
 
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are scheduled to join the event in the city of Kazan from October 22 to 24.
 
Russia has said it is expecting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well.
 
Moscow has made expanding the BRICS group , an acronym for core members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa , a pillar of its foreign policy.
 
The main issues on the agenda include Putin's idea for a BRICS-led payment system to rival SWIFT, an international financial network that Russian banks were cut off from in 2022, as well as the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
 
The Kremlin has touted the gathering as a diplomatic triumph that will help it build an alliance able to challenge Western "hegemony".
 
The United States has dismissed the idea that BRICS could become a "geopolitical rival" but has expressed concern about Moscow flexing its diplomatic muscle as the Ukraine conflict rages.
 
Moscow has been steadily advancing on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine this year while strengthening its ties with China, Iran and North Korea, three of Washington's adversaries.
 
'Brick by brick' 
 
By gathering BRICS in Kazan, the Kremlin "aims to show that not only is Russia not isolated, it has partners and allies," Moscow-based political analyst Konstantin Kalachev told AFP.
 
Putin was declared wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2023 over the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine, and abandoned plans to attend the previous summit in ICC member South Africa.
 
This time round, the Kremlin wants to show an "alternative to Western pressure... and that the multipolar world is a reality," Kalachev said, referring to Moscow's efforts to shift power away from the West to other regions.
 
Putin has repeatedly accused the West of "provoking" Russia into sending troops into Ukraine, rejecting the idea his offensive is an imperial-style land grab, despite Moscow seizing four Ukrainian regions and claiming them as its own.
 
The Kremlin has said it wants global affairs to be guided by international law, "not on rules that are set by individual states, namely the United States."
 
"We believe that BRICS is a prototype of multipolarity, a structure uniting the Southern and Eastern hemispheres on the principles of sovereignty and respect for each other," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
 
"What BRICS is doing is gradually , brick by brick , building a bridge to a more democratic and just world order," he added.
 
 'Crazy goals' 
 
The West believes Russia is using the group to expand its influence and promote its own narratives about the Ukraine conflict.
 
Presenting his "victory plan" to lawmakers this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned other countries could feel emboldened if Putin wins on the battlefield in Ukraine.
 
"If Putin achieves his crazy goals -- geopolitical, military, ideological and economic it will create an overwhelming impression among other potential aggressors, particularly in the West, Indo-Pacific and Africa, that wars of aggression could be beneficial for them as well," he said.
 
Starting with four members when it was established in 2009, BRICS has since expanded to include several other emerging nations such as South Africa, Egypt and Iran.
 
Turkey, a NATO member with complex ties to both Moscow and the West, announced in early September that it also wanted to join the bloc.
 
According to Ushakov, all BRICS members will be represented in Kazan by their leaders, except Saudi Arabia, which will send its foreign minister.
 
The absence of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom's de facto leader, has fuelled speculation about disagreement between two of the world's biggest energy heavyweights.
 
"It is clear that the Kremlin wanted to see the Crown Prince," Kalachev said, but added that on the whole, "everything is going rather well for the Kremlin."
 

Libyan held in Germany over suspected Israel embassy plot

By - Oct 20,2024 - Last updated at Oct 20,2024

Police officers stand in front of the Israeli embassy in Berlin on Sunday (AFP photo)

BERLIN — German prosecutors said Sunday they had arrested a Libyan man on suspicion of having links to the Islamic State group and planning to attack the Israeli embassy in Berlin with firearms. 
 
The suspect, identified only as Omar A., was arrested on Saturday evening at his home in Bernau, just outside the German capital, the federal prosecutors' office said.
 
The 28-year-old was accused of "supporting a foreign terrorist organisation" and was said by prosecutors to be an adherent to the ideology of the Islamic State group. 
 
Prosecutors said Omar A. was planning a "high-profile attack with firearms" on the Israeli embassy in Berlin.
 
As part of his preparations, Omar A. was said to have had "exchanges with a member of IS in a messenger chat".
 
The suspect was set on Sunday to be put before a judge who would decide if he should be remanded in custody, according to prosecutors. 
 
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X that he "would like to thank our security authorities for preventing a cowardly attack plan. We will not let up in the fight against terrorism".
 
Authorities said they searched the suspect's home in Bernau on Saturday. They also searched the property near Bonn of another person "not suspected" of involvement in the alleged plan. 
 
German media said the flat in the town of Sankt Augustin near Bonn belonged to the suspect's uncle, who was being treated as a witness.
 
Asylum request 
 
German authorities arrested Omar A. after a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency, according to local media, adding that he had not been on any militant watchlist in Germany.
 
The suspect was said to have entered Germany in November 2022 and to have made a request for asylum the following January, a government source told AFP.
 
This was rejected in September 2023, meaning Omar A. would have been required to leave the country, the source said.
 
The suspect's immigration status is similar to that of the alleged perpetrator of a deadly stabbing at a festival in Germany in August.
 
The attack in the western city of Solingen, which left three people dead, caused public outrage after it was revealed that the Syrian suspect had evaded authorities' attempts to remove him from Germany.
 
The government in Berlin has responded with stricter knife laws and a tougher line on immigration. MPs on Friday passed rules which remove benefits offered to asylum seekers who are set to be deported to other EU countries. 
 
'Utmost vigilance' 
 
Responding to news of the arrest, Israel's ambassador to Berlin said: "Muslim anti-Semitism is no longer just hate rhetoric. It leads to and encourages terrorist activities worldwide." 
 
Israeli embassies were "on the front line of the diplomatic battlefield", ambassador Ron Prosor said in a message posted by the embassy on social media platform X.
 
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said protecting Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany was "of the utmost importance to us".
 
Law enforcement were acting with the "utmost vigilance" to prevent any suspected "Islamist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel violence", Faeser said. 
 
Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel's retaliatory onslaught on Gaza, German authorities have increased vigilance about possible Islamist threats and anti-Semitism. 
 
In early September, Munich police shot dead a young Austrian man known for his links to radical Islamism after he opened fire at the Israeli consulate and on police.
 
In early October, there were explosions near the Israeli embassy in Denmark and gunfire near its mission in Sweden.
 

Cuba's endless woes, from energy to economy

By - Oct 20,2024 - Last updated at Oct 20,2024

People is silhouetted against the light of a motorbike during the second day of the nationwide blackout in Havana October 19, 2024 (AFP photo)

HAVANA — Plunged into darkness on Friday by a collapsed power grid, Cuba was already grappling with several interrelated crises connected to its chronically neglected infrastructure and economic stagnation.
 
The blackout followed weeks of outages, which had lasted up to 20 hours a day in some provinces.
 
The island's economy, already in dire straits , has been brought to a virtual standstill, with all non-essential public services suspended, schools shut and even traffic lights in the capital not working.
 
From the obsolete electricity network, heavy dependence on fossil fuels, lack of investment and tightening of the US trade embargo, here is an overview of how the communist island reached this breaking point:
 
Fragile energy infrastructure 
 
The island-wide blackout stems from a fragile power generation network, which depends almost entirely on fossil fuels and only produces a third of the electricity that is needed, according to government figures.
 
But Cuba is struggling to buy fuel, in part because of a tightening, during the Donald Trump presidency, of the embargo imposed by Washington in 1962.
 
The electricity Cuba generates mainly comes from eight decrepit coal-fired power plants, some of which have been in operation for over 40 years and suffer from recurrent breakdowns or are under repair.
 
To bolster its grid, Cuba has leased seven floating power plants from Turkish companies and also added many small diesel-powered generators. 
 
The island relies heavily on oil from its main ally Venezuela, partially footing the bill by sending brigades of Cuban doctors there. But Venezuela appears to have significantly slashed the volume of oil deliveries.
 
According to online opposition news outlet Cibercuba, Caracas sent only around 22,000 barrels/day to Cuba in September, compared with 33,700 barrels/day in June. 
 
In the meantime, the government has launched projects to develop renewable energy, but the lack of investment and the US embargo are slowing down the process.
 
Economics and protests 
 
Cuba is in the throes of its worst economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a key ally in the early 1990s. Cuba suffers from sky-high inflation and shortages of food, medicine, fuel and even water.
 
While the authorities chiefly blame the US embargo, the island is also feeling the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic battering its critical tourism sector, and of economic mismanagement.
 
In July 2021, blackouts and soaring food prices sparked an unprecedented outpouring of public anger.
 
Thousands of Cubans took to the streets shouting, "We are hungry" and "Freedom!" in what was then a rare challenge to the government.
 
One person was killed and dozens were injured in the protests. According to the Mexico-based human rights organization Justicia 11J, 600 people detained during the unrest remain in prison.
 
Cuba's government accused Washington of being behind the protests, but seeking to quell the economic crisis, Havana authorized the creation of private small- and medium-size businesses, a major shift in the communist-ruled country.
 
In 2022, new protests erupted, again over power cuts, and dozens were arrested.
 
The electricity situation briefly improved in 2023, only to deteriorate again this year.
 
In March, hundreds of people again took to the streets in Santiago de Cuba and three other cities, demanding food and electricity.
 
Emigration 
 
But many Cubans have since given up hope that things will change, and are fleeing the country, where the average monthly wage is only around 5,000 pesos .
 
The tide of emigration is the biggest since the revolution that brought the late Fidel Castro to power in 1959.
 
According to official statistics, in 2024 the island will have fewer than 10 million people, compared with 11.1 million at the time of the 2012 census.
 
More than 700,000 entered the United States, legally or illegally, between January 2022 and August 2024, according to US officials.
 
This excludes those who have gone to Latin America and Europe, for which no detailed data is available.
 

World cholera vaccine stockpile empty: WHO

By - Oct 19,2024 - Last updated at Oct 19,2024

A medic administers a polio vaccine to a Palestinian child in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 19, 2024 (AFP photo)

GENEVA — There are no more oral cholera vaccines left in the global stockpile, the World Health Organization said Friday, with the shortage jeopardising work to stop the disease's spread.
 
Global vaccine production is operating at full capacity, but demand is outpacing supply, the UN health agency said in its monthly situation report.
 
"As of October 14, the global stockpile of oral cholera vaccine is depleted, with no remaining doses available," the WHO said.
 
"Although more doses are expected in the coming weeks, this shortage poses significant challenges to outbreak response efforts and hampers efforts to control the spread of the disease."
 
The WHO said that between September 1 and October 14, the International Coordinating Group on vaccine provision received requests for oral cholera vaccines from Bangladesh, Sudan, Niger, Ethiopia and Myanmar.
 
The requests amounted to a total of 8.4 million doses, but due to limited availability, only 7.6 million doses could be shipped.
 
Deaths spiking 
 
The WHO said there had been 439,724 cholera cases and 3,432 deaths reported this year up to September 29.
 
"Although the number of cases in 2024 is 16 per cent  lower than last year, the 126 per cent  spike in deaths is deeply concerning," it said.
 
The WHO said the mortality increase might be partially down to where the outbreaks are located.
 
Those include conflict-affected areas where healthcare access has been severely compromised and areas hit by flooding.
 
Since last month's report, new cholera outbreaks have been reported in Niger (705 cases and 17 deaths) and Thailand (five cases with no deaths), pushing the total number of affected countries in 2024 to 30, said the WHO.
 
In September, 47,234 new cholera cases were reported from 14 countries.
 
And this month, a cholera case was detected in conflict-hit Lebanon, where the WHO warned the risk of it spreading was "very high" due to the deteriorating sanitation conditions for the large numbers of displaced people.
 
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae, often from faeces.
 
It causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps.
 
Cholera can kill within hours when not treated, though it can be treated with simple oral rehydration, and antibiotics for more severe cases.
 
In April, the Gavi vaccine alliance and the UN children's agency UNICEF said South Korean firm EuBiologics was currently the only oral cholera vaccine supplier to the global stockpile, although other manufacturers were expected to have products available in the coming years.
 

Russia, Ukraine swap 190 POWs: ministry

By - Oct 19,2024 - Last updated at Oct 19,2024

This handout photograph released by the Ukrainian presidential press service on July 17, 2024 shows Ukrainian prisoners of war posing for a photo following a swap at an undisclosed location in Ukraine (AFP photo)

MOSCOW — Russia said Friday that it had swapped 95 Ukrainian soldiers held captive for an equal number of Russian troops in an exchange deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
 
"As a result of the negotiation process, 95 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime," the Russian defence ministry said. 
 
"In return, 95 Ukrainian army prisoners of war were handed over," it said. 
 
Kyiv has not confirmed the exchange but the human rights centre Zmina said a prominent Ukrainian rights activist, Maksym Butkevych, was freed in the swap, citing his father. 
 
Butkevych, co-founder of the independent Hromadske radio station and also a Ukraine serviceman, was serving a 13-year sentence on charges of wounding two civilians while firing an anti-tank grenade launcher in the eastern city of Severodonetsk.
 
He joined the Ukrainian army in March 2022, was detained in June and convicted of war crimes by a court in Lugansk in Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine in March 2023.
 
Despite ongoing hostilities, Russia and Ukraine have swapped hundreds of prisoners since the launch of Moscow's offensive in 2022, often in deals brokered by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia or Turkey.
 
The last reported swap was in September, when 206 POWs were exchanged, in a deal also mediated by the UAE.
 
Earlier Friday, Kyiv said it had received the bodies of 501 soldiers killed fighting Russian forces, mainly in eastern Ukraine, as a result of repatriation measures.
 
Russian lawmaker Shamsail Saraliyev told the RBK media outlet that Russia received 89 bodies of its soldiers in return.
 

Harris targets Trump's age after report of exhaustion

By - Oct 19,2024 - Last updated at Oct 19,2024

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally to get out the early vote at Western International High School in Detroit, Michigan, October 19, 2024 (AFP photo)

DETROIT — Kamala Harris questioned Donald Trump's fitness for office Friday as the oldest major-party White House candidate in history faced speculation that he is "exhausted" after backing out of a spate of interviews.
 
While he has been appearing on friendly TV networks, the 78-year-old Republican has canceled sitdowns with media outlets including NBC, CNBC and CBS. He has also refused a second debate with Harris, after being soundly bested in the first.
 
Politico reported that a Trump aide had told producers at a website negotiating an interview that the ex-president was "exhausted" and refusing some appearances -- a claim described by his campaign as "detached from reality."
 
But Harris, who turns 60 this weekend, hammered Trump over his health and resilience.
 
"If you are exhausted on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about whether you are fit for the toughest job in the world," Harris told supporters during a day of multiple stops across the swing state of Michigan.
 
The former president has hardly been idle, pursuing a busy schedule of appearances with new and traditional media, but most have been on outlets where he is rarely challenged.
 
Trump reacted angrily to Harris's jab, telling reporters that he had canceled nothing and calling his Democratic opponent a "loser" who "doesn't have the energy of a rabbit."
 
Dueling rallies 
 
He also claimed to be "killing" her in the polls and that she did not pass the bar exam.
 
Harris -- a former California attorney general who passed the bar exam in 1990 -- has a narrow lead in national polling averages, while numerous October surveys in Michigan show them neck and neck.
 
Trump has surprised analysts with a program that mixes swing state stops with appearances in regions he has no chance of winning, but where he is guaranteed big crowds.
 
He was in the liberal stronghold of New York for a Catholic charity dinner on Thursday, where he mocked Harris in an occasionally mean-spirited speech that earned gasps for its off-color remarks and profanity.
 
But he was back on home turf Friday morning for a soft Fox News interview, before heading to Michigan for counterprogramming against Harris.
 
Both candidates are spending their final campaign days in pivotal battleground states where early voting is already underway.
 
With less than three weeks to go, Harris has seen encouraging signs in her push for supporters to vote as soon as possible, as a bulwark against the traditional Republican edge among Election Day voters.
 
Almost 12 million votes had been cast by Friday evening -- around a third of them in the seven swing states expected to decide the election -- according to data tracked by the University of Florida Election Lab. 
 
Early voting surge 
 
Georgia has been smashing records, while North Carolina reported a first day of voting Thursday that beat 2020, when there was a pandemic-linked surge of early ballots.
 
Where party breakdowns were available, registered Democrats accounted for roughly half of the total, while Republicans -- who have spent much of the Trump era casting aspersions over drop boxes and mailed ballots -- were responsible for around a third.
 
After her event in Grand Rapids, Harris targeted blue-collar voters with remarks at a union hall in Lansing, giving a more manufacturing-focused speech in which she argued that the future of the labor movement was "on the line" in November's election.
 
She was set to hold an evening rally in Oakland County before returning to Detroit on Saturday.
 
The Democrat has found herself on eggshells as she upholds President Joe Biden's support for key ally Israel, while Muslim and Arab American voters -- particularly in Michigan -- have voiced outrage over the death toll in Gaza.
 
The killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar drew optimism from Harris for a Gaza ceasefire, but Israel quickly said his death is not the end of the campaign launched in response to the militant group's October 7, 2023 attack. 
 
Speaking to journalists ahead of a speech in Detroit, Trump said Sinwar's death had increased the likelihood of a peaceful solution to the war in Gaza -- while warning Biden not to try to restrain Israel.
 

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