Warring sides exchange 175 prisoners as Ukraine accuses Russia of 469 ceasefire violations, and Moscow blames Kyiv for gas station attack. What we know on day 1,509 Russia and Ukraine on Saturday accused each other of violating a brief ceasefire in their four-year-old war, hours into the truce put in place to mark Orthodox Easter. Governors of two Russian border regions said Ukrainian drones had a...
Warring sides exchange 175 prisoners as Ukraine accuses Russia of 469 ceasefire violations, and Moscow blames Kyiv for gas station attack. What we know on day 1,509 Russia and Ukraine on Saturday accused each other of violating a brief ceasefire in their four-year-old war, hours into the truce put in place to mark Orthodox Easter. Governors of two Russian border regions said Ukrainian drones had attacked targets in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, injuring five people. The general staff of Ukraine’s military said Russian forces had violated the terms of the 32-hour truce through assault actions, shelling and drone strikes. By late Saturday, Ukraine’s military said in a Facebook post that “469 ceasefire violations were recorded , namely: 22 enemy assault actions, 153 shelling attacks, 19 strikes by attack drones ... and 275 strikes by FPV drones.” In total, the Ukrainian military said Saturday had seen Russia carry out 57 airstrikes and drop 182 guided aerial bombs, along with deploying 3,928 drones and conducting 2,454 shelling attacks “on populated areas and positions of our troops”. In Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, governor Alexander Khinshtein also accused Kyiv of breaking the 32-hour truce by attacking a gas station in the town of Lgov with a drone, injuring three people, including a baby. Despite tensions over the truce, the warring sides exchanged 175 prisoners of war each on Saturday , according to officials from both sides. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had brought home 175 servicemen and seven civilians from Russian captivity. Andrii Yusov, a Ukrainian defence intelligence representative, said 163 of those freed had been held since 2022. “This is a real success, a very significant achievement,” Yusov said. “It is very hard to imagine what these people have been through during that time and you can see that the men are returning in varying conditions.” Russia’s defence ministry said the United Arab Emirates had mediated the exchange. Russia...
Hong Kong’s 21 ministerial-level officials spent more than HK$46.6 million (US$5.9 million) on trips over the past three financial years, with finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po accounting for nearly a quarter of the total. Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah was the most frequent traveller, making 50 trips in the past three years at a cost of HK$7.21 million to taxpay...
Hong Kong’s 21 ministerial-level officials spent more than HK$46.6 million (US$5.9 million) on trips over the past three financial years, with finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po accounting for nearly a quarter of the total. Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah was the most frequent traveller, making 50 trips in the past three years at a cost of HK$7.21 million to taxpayers, official records released to legislators showed. Chan made 35 visits during the three financial...
After a man in China was killed in a road accident last year, his family hired an artificial intelligence (AI) technology team to create a digital version of him to comfort his elderly mother. The AI creation is able to chat with his octogenarian mother online and help her live with the reality of her only child’s death. The incident was exposed by the AI team leader Zhang Zewei, who is based in e...
After a man in China was killed in a road accident last year, his family hired an artificial intelligence (AI) technology team to create a digital version of him to comfort his elderly mother. The AI creation is able to chat with his octogenarian mother online and help her live with the reality of her only child’s death. The incident was exposed by the AI team leader Zhang Zewei, who is based in eastern Jiangsu province, according to the media outlet Litchi News. The family, who live in Shandong...
China's BYD Introduces 3.9-Second 0-60 Electric SUV With Massive Range Authored by Bojan Stojkovski via Interesting Engineering , The BYD Great Tang full-size SUV is now reaching dealerships across China ahead of its planned April presale debut at the Beijing Auto Show. Early dealer data shows at least four configurations are being prepared for the market, spanning rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-d...
China's BYD Introduces 3.9-Second 0-60 Electric SUV With Massive Range Authored by Bojan Stojkovski via Interesting Engineering , The BYD Great Tang full-size SUV is now reaching dealerships across China ahead of its planned April presale debut at the Beijing Auto Show. Early dealer data shows at least four configurations are being prepared for the market, spanning rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive setups with varying performance and range ratings. BYD Great Tang SUV set to challenge established plug-in hybrid rivals. In its most capable form, the SUV is expected to deliver up to around 590 miles of driving range, positioning it as a long-distance option in the segment . As the production version of the Dynasty-D concept, the Great Tang sits at the top of BYD’s SUV lineup, both in size and technology. [ ZH: The range claim comes from the Chinese CLTC test cycle, which tends to be a bit optimistic ] It measures more than 17.4 feet in length and rides on a 123-inch wheelbase, making it the brand’s largest crossover to date . The model is designed with a three-row, seven-seat configuration, targeting family-oriented buyers seeking space, efficiency, and extended electric range. 3.9-second acceleration and extended-range capability The all-electric BYD Great Tang uses the company’s second-generation Blade Battery architecture and is designed to support high-power fast charging for reduced downtime on long trips. In its rear-wheel-drive configuration, the SUV delivers up to approximately 590 miles of CLTC range from a 130.15 kWh battery pack, placing it among the longest-range electric SUVs currently announced in China, CarNewsChina reports . Performance is significantly higher in the dual-motor all-wheel-drive variant, which produces up to 585 kW and can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in about 3.9 seconds . This added performance comes with a trade-off in efficiency , with range reduced to around 528 miles CLTC, though it still remains competitive within the long-range ...