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Ukraine successfully conducted its 72nd prisoner exchange on Saturday, April 11, bringing home 182 citizens from Russian captivity just ahead of the Orthodox Easter holiday. The swap resulted in the release of 175 military personnel and seven civilians, according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the return of the defenders in a social media post, noting that the group includes warriors from the Armed Forces, National Guard, and Border Guard Service. “Most of them had been in captivity since 2022,” Zelensky stated. “Finally, they are home. It is a matter of principle for us to return everyone from Russian captivity.”

A major highlight of this exchange was the return of 25 officers, a group the Russian side had previously categorically refused to include in negotiations. More than half of the freed defenders were captured during the siege of Mariupol, while several National Guard members taken prisoner during the occupation of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) in the early days of the invasion were also released.

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In his strongest words yet, Pope Leo XIV on Saturday denounced the "delusion of omnipotence" that is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace.

Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St. Peter's Basilica on the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan and as a fragile ceasefire held.

History's first U.S.-born pope didn't mention the United States or President Donald Trump in his prayer, which was planned before the talks were announced. But Leo's tone and message appeared directed at Trump and U.S. officials, who have boasted of U.S. military superiority and justified war in religious terms.

"Enough of the idolatry of self and money!" Leo said. "Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!"

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US vice-president JD Vance left Islamabad on Sunday after failing to reach a deal with Iran after a marathon 21 hours of negotiations.

Vance cited shortcomings in the talks, saying that Iran had chosen not to accept American terms, including to not build nuclear weapons.

“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America,” Vance said.

“So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement. We’ve made very clear what our red lines are.”

Vance said he spoke with US president Donald Trump at least half a dozen times during the talks, and one of the most significant points of difference between the two sides had been around the development of nuclear weapons.

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First lady Melania Trump made a statement at the White House on Thursday to slam reports about any connections she may have had with Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

She also called on Congress to allow testimony from Epstein victims and to enter them into the official record. She denied being a victim herself and said an email exchange with Maxwell amounted to a “trivial note.”

She also called Epstein “disgraceful” and called for “lies” about her association with him to end “today.”

“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today. The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect,” Trump said from the White House’s Grand Foyer. “I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean-spirite.

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Eligible men will automatically be registered into the military draft pool by December as part of an effort to streamline the previous process of self-registration and save money.

The Selective Service System (SSS) — the government agency that maintains a database of men to be called up to serve in the case of a national emergency — submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30, according to the office’s website.

Most men between the ages of 18 and 25 are already required to register with the Selective Service, but automatic registration was mandated in December 2025 as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

The change, which was meant to save money, “transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources,” according to the website.

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A 68-year-old Palestinian woman was beaten to death by Israeli soldiers during a raid on her home in the town of Jayyous, in the northern occupied West Bank.

Soldiers stormed the house of Sabriya Shamasneh in the early hours of Tuesday morning, conducting an aggressive search and interrogating the family.

Her husband, Walid Shamasneh, told local media that shortly before the raid, his daughter-in-law had approached him in fear, believing there were “thieves” outside. She reported hearing unusual noises and noticed that the front garden gate had been forced open.

Israeli forces then broke down the front door, terrifying the family.

“The Israeli officer began asking me for the names of people I did not know. Then they forced us all into a corner of the room while they searched the other bedrooms,” Walid said.

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When not firing off social media posts threatening potential war crimes against 93 million Iranians, Donald Trump is busy quietly killing the so-called American dream. With gasoline at US$4 a gallon, credit card debt hitting a record US$1.28tn, and stagnating wages, Americans are struggling to detect the prosperity their president promised them. Regardless, Trump plans to spend a record $1.5tn on the military in 2027 – a 40% increase for the Pentagon at a time when farm bankruptcies have increased by 46%.

But if Trump’s illegal war on Iran has taught us anything, it is this: Americans will pay any price for freedom, except if it increases the price of groceries or gasoline. People in the Maga heartlands tolerated the erosion of civil liberties, democracy and the rule of law during the first year of Trump’s second presidency but they will be unforgiving if their standard of living declines.

My wife and I moved from Fremantle to New York for our careers 15 years ago, bringing our three small children with us. All of them are US citizens. But we recently took a family decision to return to Australia. To be honest, it feels like an escape.

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Israeli forces killed at least seven Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over the past day, including a World Health Organisation (WHO) worker. 

According to local media, a house in the Bureij refugee camp, located in central Gaza, was targeted on Sunday, killing four people and wounding several others.

The attack came hours after an air strike struck security personnel east of Gaza City, killing and wounding a number of people.

In a separate aerial strike, a Palestinian was killed near the Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City. An Israeli drone also targeted a group of Palestinians in the Shujaiyya neighbourhood east of Gaza City, killing one person and wounding others.

In southern Gaza, Israeli forces shot dead a young man with special needs near the Ard al-Laymoun area in Khan Younis, local media reported.

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