International
Four Ukrainian Celebrities Who Have Taken Up Arms Against Russia
As Russian invasion of Ukraine rages, celebrities from the war-torn European country are stepping out of their comfort zones to take up arms in defence of their nation.
Top among them is the professional boxer and heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, who has joined the territorial defence battalion and vowed to defend Ukraine even if it costs his blood.
OLEKSANDR USYK
OLEKSANDR USYK
Prime Minister Vladamir Putin had ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, defying threats by the United States to slam heavy sanctions against Russia. But Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelensky, is putting up stiff resistance, with him and some members of parliament, including Oleksiy Goncharenko, wielding guns to defend their nation.
Speaking to CNN via a video from a basement in Kyiv, 35-year-old Usyk, who defeated Anthony Joshua in September to claim the heavyweight title belts, said he would resist both invaders and looters that might want to cash in on the crisis.
“If they want to take my life, or the lives of my close ones, I will have to do it,” he said. “But I don’t want that. I don’t want to shoot, I don’t want to kill anybody, but if they will be killing me, I will have no choice.”
Usyk was in London, shooting sequences for an upcoming video game when the hostilities started. With the Ukraine airports closed, he flew to Warsaw in Poland and drove almost 500 miles back home and over the border to Kyiv.
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VASLILY LOMACHENKO
VASLILY LOMACHENKO
Lomachenko is another famous Ukranian boxer now at the war front. Lomachenko, 34, was said to be visiting a monastery in Greece, but returned home. Instead of flying directly to his hometown of Odessa, he travelled to Bucharest in Romania, then drove for nine hours to the port and caught a ferry into Ukraine.
Former world boxing champions, 50-year-old Vitali Klitschko and his brother, Wladimir Klitschko, have also taken arms in defence of their nation. Vitali is the current mayor of Kyiv.
ANASTASIIA LENNA
ANASTASIIA LENNA
Also, Ukrainian stars who have made their names in hip-hop as well as a former beauty queen have taken their patriotism to the battlefield.
Anastasiia Lenna, who represented Ukraine in the Miss Grand International beauty contest in 2015, took to her Instagram page in the days leading to the invasion, sharing photos of herself in military fatigues and holding a rifle.
On Sunday, Lenna also showed footage of herself at a shooting range, where she fired a rifle at targets.
She captioned the video: “Training. The invaders will die on our land! All world see this! Wait and see what will happen.”
ANDRIY KHLYVNYUK
ANDRIY KHLYVNYUK
In solidarity to his nation, a popular hip-hop and rock band BoomBox in Ukraine, Andriy Khlyvnyuk, has appeared in a video circulated on Twitter, donning military gear. He bore a firearm while singing a rousing melody.
Khlyvnyuk told Euronews that he drove his children out of Kyiv on Thursday when the full-scale invasion started.
“They bombed us. But what I hear now is complete support from everywhere, from everyone who knows me and listens to my music,” he said.
“Musicians are peacemakers,” he continued. “[But] now it’s not time for playing guitars. It’s time to take the rifles
Daily Trust
International
Canada denies 13,000 Nigerians refugee status
Canada denies 13,000 Nigerians refugee status
Over 13,000 Nigerians who applied for refugee protection in Canada from January 2013 to December 2024 were rejected.
According to data from the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, this figure includes 811 Nigerians whose applications were turned down in 2024.
The board placed Nigeria among the top five countries with the most rejected claims.
Mexico tops the list with 2,954 rejections, followed by India and Haiti, which have 1,688 and 982 rejected claims, respectively.
Colombia is in fourth place with 723 rejected claims, while Nigeria is in fifth place with 13,171 rejections.
In Canada, asylum seekers get refugee protection if the RPD satisfactorily confirms that their claims meet the United Nations definition of a Convention refugee.
In its definition of the Status of Refugee, the 1951 UN Convention states refugees are persons who have a substantiated fear of persecution because of their race, nationality, religion, political ideology or membership in a particular social group, which can include sexual orientation, gender identity, being a woman and persons living with HIV/AIDS.
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However, in Canada, asylum seekers are expected to show evidence that they are in danger of torture, risk to their life or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if they return to their country of nationality.
According to the Refugee Board’s application guideline, if an applicant’s “claim is eligible, it is sent to the RPD to start the claim for refugee protection process.”
The breakdown of the rejections showed that 127 Nigerian claims were rejected in 2013, 241 in 2014 and 248 in 2015.
Canada denies 13,000 Nigerians refugee status
International
Nurse punished in UK for addressing convicted transgender paedophile as ‘Mr’
Nurse punished in UK for addressing convicted transgender paedophile as ‘Mr’
A senior nurse in the UK is battling to save her career after facing disciplinary action for refusing to refer to a convicted child sex offender as a woman.
Jennifer Melle, 40, from Croydon, was working at Epsom and St Helier University Hospital Trust when she declined to use female pronouns for a paedophile known as ‘Mr X,’ per report from the London Standard.
The offender, currently serving time in a high-security male prison, was jailed for grooming boys online while posing as a teenage girl.
Following her refusal, Melle claims she was subjected to racial abuse and physical threats.
She was, reportedly, then issued a final written warning and referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for allegedly breaching professional standards.
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NHS lawyers argued that Melle’s Christian belief—that people are born male or female—was “not worthy of respect in a democratic society.”
An internal investigation found she had violated the NMC Code of Conduct by failing to respect the patient’s “preferred identity” and uphold the Trust’s core value of “Respect.”
As a result, Melle has been moved to another ward, which she says is a demotion, and has had her name removed from internal hospital systems, preventing her from applying for additional shifts.
Now, with the backing of the Christian Legal Centre, she has launched legal action against the Trust, alleging harassment, discrimination, and breaches of her human rights.
The case comes amid growing controversy over gender policies in public institutions.
A recent report, the Sullivan Review, revealed that UK police forces have been allowing criminals to self-identify their gender on official records, sparking nationwide debate.
Nurse punished in UK for addressing convicted transgender paedophile as ‘Mr’
International
Gaza: Iran begins talks with S’Arabia, Egypt as Israel renews attacks
Gaza: Iran begins talks with S’Arabia, Egypt as Israel renews attacks
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Saturday exchanged views with his Saudi Arabian and Egyptian counterparts on Israel’s renewed attacks on Gaza.
In a phone conversation with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Araghchi strongly condemned Israel’s attacks in Gaza, and urged other countries in the region to take collective action, said the Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement.
For his part, Faisal reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s condemnation of Israeli aggressions and emphasized regional coordination to prevent further escalation.
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In a separate phone call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Araghchi condemned Israel’s renewed attacks on Gaza as well as obstruction of humanitarian aid delivery to the Palestinian coastal enclave “in flagrant violation” of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
The Egyptian foreign minister underscored the need for consultations and diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation.
Both Egyptian and Iranian ministers agreed to maintain consultations on regional developments.
Gaza: Iran begins talks with S’Arabia, Egypt as Israel renews attacks
Xinhua
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