Latest news with #combatants
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Fighters at unsanctioned events could expose themselves to criminal charges, says lawyer
New Zealand MMA fighter Dan 'Hangman' Hooker is promoter of 'King of the Streets'. Photo: PHOTOSPORT A sports lawyer says participants in an underground street fighting competition could be exposing themselves to criminal charges. The King of the Streets event - which has received the backing of New Zealand UFC fighter Dan "Hangman" Hooker - was held over the weekend in a suburban backyard of an Auckland property, with 32 combatants and no weight limits. Fighters competed for a prize of $50,000 with Hooker later confirming all participants would receive $1000 through TheDoctor, an online streaming, gambling and give-away website linked to the event. Last week, police said they were assessing the event against existing legislation. Former AUT law lecturer Craig Dickson told RNZ if the event was unsanctioned, it could be "problematic" around issues of consent. "If you're going on to the field under those rules then there is a certain level of consent given that people can assault you," he said. "But you then get to a position where there are actions outside of those rules that you can't be seen to be consenting to. Once you get far enough outside the rules, then clearly that still qualifies as a criminal assault." Mixed martial arts is not considered under the Boxing and Wrestling Act 1981 that stipulates both amateur and professional fights require a police permit. "There is a level of violence and bodily injury resulting that is so severe that your consent will be ineffective because public policy would say the public wont allow assaults over a certain level," Dickson said. He said in the scenario of a fighter being seriously injured, or killed, there were legal grounds for charges under the Crimes Act. "I don't think there's any question about that. Particularly if it's an unsanctioned event and whatever that rule base is, if you're far enough outside whatever that rule base might be, then you squarely land on assault to injure territory. "If we're talking about an unsanctioned event that doesn't fall under any of the [necessary] parameters, then it's hard to see how that's greatly different to anybody conducting a similar assault on the street on a Friday night." The governing body for mixed martial arts is calling for the government to urgently regulate popular combat sporting codes. President of the New Zealand Mixed Martial Arts Federation (NZMMAF) president Terry Hill told Checkpoint the event was not the first amateur event held on these shores. Hill said there was no legal framework in place that administered amateur events such as the King of the Street event held at the weekend. "The basic requirement's you need is referees, qualified judges, and medical staff. By all accounts there [were] at that event," he said. "There was a very good referee, they did have three judges apparently, and there were medics checking the fighters afterwards." Unlike other countries, New Zealand did not have a combat sports commission regulating amateur events, Hill said. "The Boxing and Wrestling Act is just completely irrelevant to what you're looking at today. And there are real health and safety issues about it," he said. Although the event was billed as an amateur event, the winner of the King of the Street tournament was a professional, Hill said. "The regulations are very loose and hazy and they need to be tightened and it's the government that needs to enforce that, through sport, through policing etcetera. Otherwise people can just do what they want." Despite the event being unregulated, reports from the weekend's fighting had been positive, Hill said. "By all accounts, everyone was very well behaved and there were no problems or incidents at all. "But it's certainly intimidating to everybody else who isn't involved in it, and that's what the promoters want. It's shock entertainment." Hill said there were reports on social media that nine different gangs were represented at the event. "Good on them for not losing control and getting out of hand, but the potential for it is huge." Hill said he was making enquiries after hearing that the $50,000 prize was not awarded in cash, but rather cryptocurrency, "Something needs to be done for combat sports in New Zealand. In 2019 you had three corporate boxers die in a 12-month period, not good enough. "If three All Blacks had died playing rugby then there would've been a huge inquiry."
The Independent
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Russia launches huge drone-and-missile attack on Ukraine after prisoner swap
Moscow and Kyiv engaged in a significant prisoner exchange on Sunday, marking a rare instance of cooperation amid ongoing hostilities. The Russian defense ministry confirmed the swap, the third such exchange in a series that began on Friday. This latest exchange saw 303 soldiers returned to each side, following the release of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday. The combined exchanges represent the largest prisoner swap in over three years of conflict. The announcement came hours after a massive Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other regions in the country for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens, officials said early Sunday. The scale of the onslaught was stunning — Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, making this the largest single aerial attack of the more than three-years-long war, according to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force. In all, Russia used 69 missiles of various types and 298 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed drones, he told The Associated Press. It was "the most massive strike in terms of the number of air attack weapons on the territory of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022," Ihnat said. For Kyiv, the day was particularly somber as the city observed Kyiv Day, a national holiday that falls on the last Sunday in May, commemorating its founding in the 5th century, 'Deliberate strikes on ordinary cities' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages and urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia. That has been a long-standing demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that — despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe — have not materialized in ways to deter Russia. "These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that Sunday's targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions. "Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help," Zelenskyy said. "Determination matters now — the determination of the United States, of European countries, and of all those around the world who seek peace." Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed its troops have taken control of the village of Romanivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region on Sunday. A map of Romanivka: The prisoner swap was the only tangible outcome from peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month that have so far failed to produce a ceasefire and a rare moment of cooperation between the warring sides. Russia's Defense Ministry said emanwhile that its air defenses shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight. The 'most massive Russian air attack' Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defense persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down Russian drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital itself, according to the security service. "A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night. The most massive Russian air attack in many weeks lasted all night," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X. Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris. In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, the emergency service said three children were killed, aged 8, 12 and 17. Twelve people were injured in the attacks, it said. At least four people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine. One man was killed in Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone and one of the building's walls was on fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed and in Shevchenkivskyi district, windows in a residential building were smashed. The scale of Russia's use of aerial weapons aside, the attacks over the past 48 hours have been among the most intense strikes on Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion. In Markhalivka, just outside Kyiv where several village homes were burned down, the Fedorenkos watched their ruined home in tears. "The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it's just terrible," says 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko, comparing their village to some of Ukraine's most devastated cities. She told the AP she was grateful her daughter and the grandchildren hadn't joined them for the weekend. "I was trying to persuade my daughter to come to us," Fedorenko said, adding that she told her daughter, "After all, you live on the eighth floor in Kyiv, and here it's the ground floor."' "She said, 'No, mum, I'm not coming.' And thank God she didn't come, because the rocket hit (the house) on the side where the children's rooms were," Fedorenko said. Ivan Fedorenko, 80, said he regrets letting their two dogs into the house when the air raid siren went off. "They burned to death," he said. "I want to bury them, but I'm not allowed yet."
Arab News
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds more prisoners hours after a massive attack on Kyiv
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's defense ministry said each side brought home 307 more soldiers on SaturdayHours earlier, explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard throughout Kyiv as many sought shelter in subway stationsKYIV: Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds more prisoners Saturday as part of a major swap that amounted to a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire. The exchange came hours after Kyiv came under a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack that left at least 15 people President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's defense ministry said each side brought home 307 more soldiers on Saturday, a day after each released a total of 390 combatants and civilians. Further releases expected over the weekend are set to make the swap the largest in more than three years of war.'We expect more to come tomorrow,' Zelensky said on his official Telegram channel. Russia's defense ministry also said it expected the exchange to be continued, though it did not give earlier, explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard throughout Kyiv as many sought shelter in subway stations as Russian drones and missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital talks held in Istanbul earlier this month — the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion — Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each.'A difficult night'Officials said Russia attacked Ukraine with 14 ballistic missiles and 250 Shahed drones overnight while Ukrainian forces shot down six missiles and neutralized 245 drones — 128 drones were shot down and 117 were thwarted using electronic Kyiv City Military Administration said it was one of the biggest combined missile and drone attacks on the capital.'A difficult night for all of us,' the administration said in a on X, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it 'clear evidence that increased sanctions pressure on Moscow is necessary to accelerate the peace process.'Posting on X, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy spoke of 'another night of terror for Ukrainian civilians.''These are not the actions of a country seeking peace,' Lammy said of the Russian Mathernová, the European Union's ambassador to Kyiv, described the attack as 'horrific.''If anyone still doubts Russia wants war to continue — read the news,' Katarina Mathernová wrote on the social raid alert in KyivThe debris of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least six Kyiv city districts. According to the acting head of the city's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, six people required medical care after the attack and two fires were sparked in Kyiv's Solomianskyi Obolon district, where a residential building was heavily damaged in the attack, was the hardest hit with at least five wounded in the area, the administration Bondarchuk, a local resident, said the air raid siren 'started as usual, then the drones started to fly around as they constantly do.' Moments later, he heard a boom and saw shattered glass fly through the air.'The balcony is totally wiped out, as well as the windows and the doors,' he said as he stood in the dark, smoking a cigarette to calm his nerves while firefighters worked to extinguish the air raid alert in Kyiv lasted more than seven hours, warning of incoming missiles and mayor, Vitalii Klitschko, warned residents ahead of the attack that more than 20 Russian strike drones were heading toward the city. As the attack continued, he said drone debris fell on a shopping mall and a residential building in Obolon. Emergency services were headed to the site, Klitschko 13 civilians were killed on Friday and overnight into Saturday in Russian attacks in Ukraine's south, east and north, regional authorities people died after a Russian ballistic missile targeted port infrastructure in Odesa on the Black Sea, local Gov. Oleh Kiper reported. Russia later said the strike Friday targeted a cargo ship carrying military defense ministry on Saturday claimed its forces overnight struck various military targets across Ukraine, including missile and drone-producing plants, a reconnaissance center and a launching site for anti-aircraft missiles.A complex dealThe prisoner swap on Friday was the first phase of a complicated deal involving the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each took place at the border with Belarus, in northern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak released Russians were taken to Belarus for medical treatment, the Russian Defense Ministry arrived at the medical facility in the Chernihiv region for a second day on Saturday. But for many their arrival was who were not reunited with their loved ones took solace in the released POWs providing some information about when their relatives were last Marchenko, the daughter of a missing Ukrainian serviceman, was elated when a released POW said they had seen her father.'This is such a big news. It's like a fresh breath of air,' she said. 'I didn't see him, but at least it's some news. At least it's news that gives us the opportunity to continue to breathe and live in peace.'However, the exchange — the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians so far — did not herald a halt in the continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep the May 16 Istanbul meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a 'confidence-building measure' and said the parties had agreed in principle to meet Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks as diplomatic maneuvering Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a 'sustainable, long-term, comprehensive' peace agreement, once the ongoing prisoner exchange had apart on key conditionsEuropean leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his larger army's battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian Istanbul meeting revealed that both sides remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting. One such condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful Defense Ministry said that overnight and early on Saturday its forces shot down over 100 Ukrainian drones over six provinces in western and southern drone strikes injured three people in the Tula region south of Moscow, local Gov. Dmitriy Milyaev said, and sparked a fire at an industrial site Kovalenko, of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said Saturday the drones hit a plant in Tula that makes chemicals used in explosives and rocket fuel.
National Post
24-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds more prisoners, hours after a massive attack on Kyiv
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds more prisoners on Saturday as part of a major swap that amounted to a rare moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire. The exchange came hours after Kyiv came under a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack that left at least 15 people injured. Article content Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia's defence ministry said each side brought home 307 more soldiers on Saturday, a day after each released a total of 390 combatants and civilians. Article content 'We expect more to come tomorrow,' Zelenskyy said on his official Telegram channel. Russia's defence ministry also said it expected the exchange to be continued, though it did not give details. Article content Hours earlier, explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard throughout Kyiv as many sought shelter in subway stations as Russian drones and missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital overnight. In talks held in Istanbul earlier this month — the first time the two sides met face to face for peace talks since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion — Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each. Article content 'A difficult night' Article content Officials said Russia attacked Ukraine with 14 ballistic missiles and 250 Shahed drones overnight while Ukrainian forces shot down six missiles and neutralized 245 drones — 128 drones were shot down and 117 were thwarted using electronic warfare. Article content The Kyiv City Military Administration said it was one of the biggest combined missile and drone attacks on the capital. Article content Article content 'A difficult night for all of us,' the administration said in a statement. Article content Posting on X, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it 'clear evidence that increased sanctions pressure on Moscow is necessary to accelerate the peace process.' Article content Meanwhile, the EU's ambassador to Kyiv described it as 'horrific.' Article content 'If anyone still doubts Russia wants war to continue — read the news,' Katarina Mathernova wrote on the social network. Article content The debris of intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least six Kyiv city districts. According to the acting head of the city's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, six people required medical care after the attack and two fires were sparked in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district. Article content The Obolon district, where a residential building was heavily damaged in the attack, was the hardest hit with at least five wounded in the area, the administration said.
Russia Today
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia reports POW swap with Ukraine
Each side had 205 of its respective troops returned in the exchange, according to Moscow's Defense Ministry Moscow and Kiev have conducted an exchange of prisoners of war, each repatriating 205 combatants, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced. The Tuesday swap was mediated by the United Arab Emirates, the statement said. The Russian soldiers have been transported to the territory of Belarus, Moscow's ally, where they are receiving medical treatment, the ministry added. They will be soon be returned home for rehabilitation. DETAILS TO FOLLOW
