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Russia announces completion of 1st stage of military operation in Ukraine
The main tasks of the first stage of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine have been completed in general and the combat potential of the Ukrainian armed forces has been significantly reduced, the Russian Ministry of Defense said Friday.
The Russian military will “concentrate on the main thing — the complete liberation of Donbass,” said Sergei Rudskoy, first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, at a news briefing in Moscow.
The Ukrainian air forces and air defense systems have been almost completely destroyed and its naval forces have ceased to exist. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army has no organized reserves left, Rudskoy told the media.
The Ukrainian cities of Kiev, Kharkov, Chernihiv, Sumy and Nikolaev are blocked by Russian troops, while Kherson and most of the Zaporozhye region are under Russia’s full control, Rudskoy said.
Armed forces in Donbass now control 93 percent of Luhansk region and 54 percent of the Donetsk region, he said.
Since the start of the military operation a month ago, more than 14,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed and about 16,000 others wounded. As for the Russian side, 1,351 servicemen have been killed and 3,825 others injured, said Rudskoy.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also said that since March 4, Russia has opened a number of humanitarian corridors, with nearly 420,000 civilians having been evacuated from Ukraine and the Donbass region to Russia. Russia has conducted 617 humanitarian operations in Donbass, Kiev and other places and offered 5,043 tons of emergency relief supplies to the civilians there.
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UK’s Reform party pledges visa ban affecting Afghanistan and five other states
The British political party Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, is set to impose a blanket visa ban on Afghanistan and five other countries — including Pakistan — as part of its proposed crackdown on illegal migration and states refusing to accept deported nationals.
In a speech set for Monday, the party’s newly appointed “shadow” home secretary, Zia Yusuf, will outline plans to halt all visas for diplomats, students, workers, VIPs and tourists from Pakistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan. Reform says these governments fail to cooperate in accepting back deported migrants and convicted criminals.
Pakistan received more than 160,000 UK visas last year, making it one of the biggest visa recipients. However, British officials say Islamabad accepts back only a small fraction of rejected asylum seekers and has resisted pressure to take back individuals convicted in high-profile criminal cases.
The move – which mirrors US President Donald Trump’s visa ban on 75 countries – would be a key element in Reform’s strategy to deport up to 288,000 illegal migrants from the UK on five charter flights a day.
On legal migration, Yusuf will say a Reform government would terminate all welfare payments to foreign nationals, including the 1.3 million currently receiving UC, up from around 900,000 in 2022.
Yusuf is expected to say that years of weak immigration enforcement have undermined public trust and that a Reform government would secure Britain’s borders and make people feel safe.
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Ex-US envoy Khalilzad condemns Pakistan air attacks on Afghanistan
He described the situation as a tragedy for both Pakistan and its neighbors, urging the Pakistani leadership to reconsider its policies and change course.
Former U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has strongly condemned Sunday’s airstrikes by Pakistan on Afghanistan. He stated that these attacks killed and wounded numerous innocent women, children, and elderly.
Khalilzad pointed to Pakistan’s long history of misgovernance, interference in minority rights, manipulation of democratic processes, and repeated military takeovers as the root causes.
He described the situation as a tragedy for both Pakistan and its neighbors, urging the Pakistani leadership to reconsider its policies and change course.
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Japan contributes $2.08 million to World Bank Trust Fund for Afghanistan
Japan has remained one of the major donors to Afghanistan’s humanitarian and development efforts.
Japan has signed a $2.08 million contribution agreement with the World Bank to support humanitarian and livelihood programs in Afghanistan, its diplomatic mission in Kabul said on Sunday.
The funding will be channeled through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank that finances essential services and development programs in the country.
In a statement, Japan said the contribution is intended to support people in need and promote livelihoods among vulnerable Afghans, including women and young people.
“Japan stands with the Afghan people,” the statement said.
Japan has remained one of the major donors to Afghanistan’s humanitarian and development efforts.
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