Ukraine war: We retook 6,000 sq km from Russia in September, says Zelensky
Ukrainian forces have seized even more territory from Russia as they continue their counter-offensive, the country's president has said, BBC reported.
Volodymyr Zelensky said troops have now retaken more than 6,000 sq km (2,317 sq miles) from Russian control in September, in the east and the south.
The BBC cannot verify these figures.
Russia has admitted losing key cities in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, in what is seen by some military experts as a potential breakthrough in the war.
Moscow describes its troop withdrawal from the region in recent days as a "regrouping" with the aim of focusing on the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in Ukraine's east.
That claim has been ridiculed even in Russia, with many social media users there describing the stated pull-out as "shameful".
And the BBC's James Waterhouse said it was the most significant Russian military retreat since its failed campaign near the capital Kyiv in late March.
Speaking later on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ukrainian forces had made "significant progress" in their counter-offensive, but added that it was too early to predict the outcome.
"The Russians maintain very significant forces in Ukraine as well as equipment and arms and munitions. They continue to use it indiscriminately against not just the Ukrainian armed forces but civilians and civilian infrastructure as we've seen," Mr Blinken said, according to BBC.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. Russia still holds about a fifth of the country.
In his late video address on Monday, President Zelensky said: "From the beginning of September until today, our warriors have already liberated more than 6,000 sq km of the territory of Ukraine - in the east and south".
The counter-offensive appears to have been rapid. Last Thursday, President Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had retaken 1,000 sq km, but by Sunday that stated figure had tripled to 3,000 sq km.
Mr Zelensky thanked several of Ukraine's brigades involved in the counter-offensive, describing their fighters as "true heroes".
He did not reveal which Ukrainian cities and villages had been liberated.
Russia's military earlier admitted that its troops had to leave the key cities of Balakliya, Izyum and Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region. Russia now controls only a small eastern part of the region.
Significant - albeit slower - advances by Ukrainian troops have also been reported in the southern Kherson region, which borders with Crimea - a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has insisted that military operations in Ukraine will continue "until all the tasks that were initially set" have been fulfilled, BBC reported.
Russia says its forces have been carrying out strikes in those areas retaken by Ukraine in recent days.
Valerii Marchenko, mayor of Izyum, told the BBC the Ukrainian army was in his city and the state flag had been raised.
The military is now engaged in cleaning up the war-torn city and Ukrainian forces are searching for Russian soldiers potentially hiding in people's houses.
Mr Marchenko said that after "about 10 days", residents who had to flee the city would be able to return "safely".
Russia has been accused of targeting civilian infrastructure in revenge for setbacks on the battlefield.
A wave of missile strikes on Sunday caused massive power cuts across north-eastern Ukraine, leaving tens of thousands of people without electricity and running water for several hours, according to BBC.
Taoiseach: Queen's death 'reminder to nurture UK-Ireland relations'
Queen Elizabeth's death is a reminder to the UK and Ireland that they need to "proactively nurture the relationship", the Taoiseach (Irish PM) told the BBC.
Micheál Martin noted the monarch's trip to Ireland in 2011 was a "watershed moment" for relations between the two.
It was the first trip by a British sovereign to the independent state and saw the Queen greeted by large crowds.
It was a diplomatic success, and left the Irish with a "fondness" for the Queen, Mr Martin said.
Her passing, he added, had left him with a sense of "deep sadness" - but also with hope for the future relationship between the UK and Ireland, which has come under strain amid the British government's plan to scrap parts of the post-Brexit trade deal it agreed with the EU.
"I would like to think that the visit of Queen Elizabeth II first of all to Ireland, her passing would give us all time for reflection, and will remind us of the need to proactively nurture the relationship between Britain and Ireland to enhance it in the time ahead," the Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) said during an interview with the BBC's Fergal Keane.
The sight of the Irish flag at half-mast above City Hall spoke to the genuine affection of Cork people for Queen Elizabeth. Inside a book of condolence was filled with messages praising the Queen as a "healer" and "peacemaker".
One hundred years ago Cork was at the centre of the insurgency which pitted guerrillas of the Irish Republican Army against the forces of the British Crown. Following an IRA ambush in 1920, parts of the city - including the original City Hall - were destroyed by police and soldiers, BBC reported.
Two Lord Mayors who died in the conflict are commemorated by statues outside City Hall. One was assassinated by undercover police. His successor died on hunger strike in a British jail.
Yet by the time she arrived in Cork in 2011 it seemed sure that largescale political violence had ended on the island of Ireland. The Troubles in Northern Ireland had been brought to an end by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and violent activism was confined to small dissident Republican groups.
The Queen's visit signalled a closeness between the two countries after years of careful negotiation and compromise.
It saw the Queen speak a few words in Irish - a language once banned under British rule - at a state dinner in Dublin Castle, the former seat of British power in Ireland, and lay a wreath in Dublin's Garden of Remembrance - a park dedicated to Irish people who fought against the British.
It was her bowing her head in the Garden of Remembrance which struck Mr Martin in particular.
"It was a great, great gesture - more than a gesture, an act - that really meant a lot to people, and I think what it really said was, A hundred years on, we all must mature and evolve and have that generosity of spirit which allows us to look back on history in a much more informed, non-prejudicial way."
However, he pointed out that King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, had also played a role with his own visit in 1995, and then again in 2002 and 2015. He noted on the final visit, the King had made "again a very generous speech remembering all who had died". The Royal Family, he pointed out, had suffered their own hurt with the killing of Lord Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh's uncle, in an IRA bombing, according to BBC.
"All of that has helped the cause of reconciliation - the basic idea we have a lot in common now," he added.
"He was there long before many, in terms of wildlife, biodiversity and climate change. That to me is leadership - in terms of pointing people in the right direction to protect future generations."
Nepal, China sign six-point MoU on inter-parliamentary cooperation
A six-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) on inter-parliamentary cooperation has been signed between Nepal and China on Monday.
Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota and Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, signed the MoU at the Parliament building in New Baneshwor this evening.
Both the countries have agreed to respect each other’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and respect each other’s freely chosen social system and development paths and support each other’s core interests and important concerns.
According to the agreement, both sides have agreed to give priority to high-level visits and exchange of contacts between the Legislature of Nepal and the People's Republic of China.
Chinese Speaker Li had arrived in Kathmandu on a four-day visit to Nepal on Monday.
He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka on Tuesday.
The Chinese leader will pay a courtesy call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Wednesday.
Speaker Sapkota, Chinese leader Li hold meeting in New Baneshwor
Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota and Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, the Chinese speaker, held a meeting on Monday.
The duo held the meeting at the Baneshwor-based Parliament building.
“Respected Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China Li Zhanshu, who is on a Nepal visit, held a meeting. They held the meeting at the Tilicho Hall in New Baneshwor,” Speaker’s Secretariat said.
The Chinese leader arrived in Kathmandu on a four-day visit to Nepal this afternoon.
During his stay in Nepal, he is scheduled to pay courtesy calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
