Ugandans have criticised an agreement with United States President Donald Trump’s administration to receive deportees from the US, questioning the lack of approval from the East African country’s parliament and suggesting the deal is a means to ease political pressure on President Yoweri Museveni.

After facing sanctions from Washington that have targeted many government officials, including the parliamentary speaker, “Museveni will be happy” to transact with the US, said Ibrahim Ssemujju, a lawmaker who is a prominent opposition figure. “He will be asking, ‘When are you bringing them?’”

Ugandan officials have released few details about the agreement although they have stated that they prefer to take deportees of African origin and do not want people with criminal records.

However, the country is being pushed as a deportation location for high-profile detainee Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man and an El Salvador native charged with human smuggling.

Abrego Garcia has become the face of Trump’s hardline anti-immigration policies. He has an American wife and children, has lived in the US state of Maryland for years and has been under protected legal status since 2019 when a judge ruled he could not be deported to El Salvador because he could be harmed in his home country.

He was detained on Monday by immigration officials in Baltimore. The US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Abrego Garcia “is being processed for removal to Uganda”.

He already has been deported as one of more than 200 people the Trump administration sent this year to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison as part of Trump’s crackdown on refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers in the US. His case remains a major flashpoint for the Trump administration in its anti-immigration crackdown. Department of Justice lawyers admitted that the Salvadoran citizen had been wrongly deported due to an “administrative error”.

Abrego Garcia was severely beaten and subjected to psychological torture in the El Salvador prison, his lawyers say.

‘The whole scheme stinks’

Without parliamentary oversight, “the whole scheme stinks,” said Mathias Mpuuga, until recently the leader of the opposition in Uganda’s Parliament.

He said the agreement with the US left him “a little perplexed” because Uganda is struggling to look after refugees fleeing conflicts in neighbouring countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Sudan.

The agreement, some Ugandans said,  makes sense only as a matter of “economic expediency” for the Ugandan government. But it remains unclear precisely what Ugandan authorities are getting in return for accepting deportees. Analysts speculated that Uganda is seeking better trade deals and wants to be in Trump’s good books.

Okello Oryem, the deputy minister in charge of international relations, told The Associated Press news agency that such a deal was “complete rubbish”. He made the comments a day before his permanent secretary confirmed an agreement was in place to accept individuals who are “reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin”.

Negotiators for Uganda are believed to have been reporting directly to Museveni, who has been in power in the country for four decades and who, human rights groups said, oversees a government that conducts unlawful killings, arrests of opposition members and attacks on journalists.

For much of his time in power, Museveni was widely seen as a strong US ally, especially for his support of counterterrorism operations in Somalia when he deployed troops there to fight the al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab.

But his stock in Washington has seen steep falls in recent years. Former President Joe Biden’s administration piled pressure on his government over corruption, LGBTQ rights concerns and other rights abuses, and a growing list of Ugandan officials faced sanctions.

Uganda’s LGBTQ community is facing intensified persecution after the enactment of a harsh anti-gay law two years ago, according to a report released in May by Human Rights Watch, which said Ugandan authorities have “perpetrated widespread discrimination and violence” and “spread misinformation and hatred against LGBT people” since the 2023 law was enacted.

In addition to Speaker Anita Among, a key ally of Museveni’s, Ugandan officials sanctioned by the US include the current prisons chief, a former police chief, a former deputy army commander and former government ministers.

For Museveni, the deal with the US to accept deportees is desirable “for political and perhaps economic reasons”, said Marlon Agaba, the head of a leading anticorruption group in Uganda.

The deal eases pressure on Museveni and may come with trade opportunities, said Agaba, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda.

“The Trump administration is about deals, about deal-making, and any strongman would welcome that,” he said.

In July, the US deported five men with criminal backgrounds to the Southern African kingdom of Eswatini and sent eight more to South Sudan. Rwanda has also said it will receive up to 250 deportees from the US.

The head of a Malagasy king killed by French troops during a colonial-era war has been formally returned to Madagascar.

The handover of King Toera’s skull – and those of two other members of his court – took place at a ceremony at the culture ministry in Paris.

The skulls had been brought to France at the end of the 19th Century and stored at the Museum of Natural History in the French capital.

It is the first use of a new law meant to expedite the return of human remains from collections in France.

“These skulls entered the national collections in circumstances that clearly violated human dignity and in a context of colonial violence,” French Culture Minister Rachida Dati is quoted by the AFP agency as saying at the ceremony.

In August 1897, a French force sent to assert colonial control over the Menabé kingdom of the Sakalava people in western Madagascar massacred a local army.

King Toera was killed and decapitated: his head sent to Paris where it was placed in the archives of the Museum of Natural History.

Nearly 130 years later pressure from the king’s descendants as well as the government of the Indian Ocean nation has opened the way for the skull’s return.

There is no DNA proof that the skull is King Toera’s – tests carried out several years ago were inconclusive. Ultimately it was a traditional Sakalava spirit medium who confirmed the skull was that of the monarch.

Madagascar’s Culture Minister Volamiranty Donna Mara, who also gave a speech at the handover, said the return of skulls was a “significant gesture”, AFP reports.

“Their absence has been, for more than a century… an open wound in the heart of our island,” she said.

It is not the first time human remains from the colonial era have been given back by France.

Most famous was the South African woman cruelly nicknamed the “Hottentot Venus” who had once been put on display in Europe and whose body was taken home in 2012.

But this is the first return under a recent law which makes the process much easier.

It is estimated that at the Museum of Natural History alone there are more than 20,000 human remains brought to France from around the world for supposedly scientific reasons.

When President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ivan Chenin left his comfortable life as a student in Moscow to deliver aid as a volunteer to the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics of eastern Ukraine, which Russia now claims as its “new territories”.

After returning from a trip to the occupied areas of Ukraine last year, Chenin jumped further into the fray, enlisting in the Thunder Cascade volunteer unit.

“I served as an operator of a reconnaissance UAV [drone],” Chenin told Al Jazeera.

“My duties included surveillance and reconnaissance of enemy territory. If a target was detected, I reported to the commander, after which we controlled it. Then the artillery or missile systems worked.”

Chenin is one of nearly half a million people who took on a military career in Russia last year, whether as contract soldiers or members of volunteer units.

While Ukraine struggles with manpower to the point that recruitment officers are accused of dubiously detaining young men off the street, Russia, for now, does not appear to have this problem.

In March, Putin claimed at a meeting that Russia is recruiting new servicemen at twice the rate Ukraine is.

Ukrainian officials in Kyiv said in April that the Russian military plans to increase its grouping in Ukraine by 150,000 soldiers this year. Earlier this month, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Vadym Skibitsky, stated that “the Russian Federation’s recruitment plans are being fulfilled by at least 105 to 110 percent each month”, putting it well on track to fulfil its quotas by the end of the year.

‘Reduced casualties’

The British Ministry of Defence says more than a million Russian soldiers have been killed in wartime – a toll that is impossible to independently verify, given that Russia keeps these statistics secret, but is consistent with other estimates by Western intelligence agencies and think tanks.

But according to Oleg Ignatov, senior Russia analyst at Crisis Group, one reason behind Russia’s swelling number of troops is that it is now suffering fewer losses.

“This is explained by a change in tactics,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Russia has almost stopped using heavy equipment on the battlefield because it is highly vulnerable to drones. The last time Russia used heavy equipment on a large scale was during the Kursk operation in winter,” he added, referring to Ukraine’s counterattack in western Russia.

“Russia has not attacked with large groups of soldiers for a long time. Russia uses small groups, sometimes one or two people, to gradually infiltrate Ukrainian army positions under the cover of drones and artillery. This reduces casualties.”

There are also other factors at play.

In the first year of the war, thousands of young men eligible for military service fled towards neighbouring countries such as Georgia and Mongolia. Police patrolled subways and raided accommodation housing migrants to round up potential draftees.

These fears of being press-ganged have now largely dissipated.

“In reality, since November 1, 2022, there is no call-up for mobilisation,” said a human rights lawyer from Appeal to Conscience, a collective that helps eligible recruits avoid military service.

“At the same time, the mobilisation period is ongoing and has not been lifted; that is, those who are mobilised and already serving cannot quit until the end of mobilisation. Since 2022, instead of conscripting for mobilisation, the regions have been given the task of recruiting contract soldiers. Only those recruited under contract can … participate in the war.”

The lawyer added that the confusion is exploited by unscrupulous recruiters who tell their targets that, since conscription is still in place, they are obliged to sign a contract. There have been cases where conscripts have had contracts signed on their behalf, which is illegal in Russia.

Others are attracted by the generous salaries.

Last year, Putin signed a decree that offered new contract soldiers a welcome bonus of 400,000 roubles (roughly $4,970) from the federal government. Local authorities were encouraged to at least double that sum, plus provide a minimum monthly salary of 204,000 roubles ($2,500) and additional perks such as assistance with loans. For those down on their luck or from poorer, underdeveloped rural areas, the offers are attractive.

“One way or another, the most vulnerable to recruitment for a contract are people suffering from poverty, as well as those who have come to the attention of the police, for example, those who … are caught for petty thefts and other crimes,” the lawyer, who requested anonymity, continued.

“Also vulnerable to recruitment and coercion to serve under a contract are labour migrants, foreign citizens or new citizens. It is clear that the poorer and more [economically] depressed the regions are, the more they suffer from recruitment.”

A significant portion of Russia’s front-line forces are fighting for something even more alluring than money: freedom. Throughout the war, prisoners, including those convicted of murder and rape, have been let loose from their cells, issued a rifle and sent to fight in Ukraine.

Seen as disposable, they were ordered to storm Ukrainian positions in human wave assaults in battles, such as the fierce fighting in Bakhmut in mid-2023, where Russian forces were accused of war crimes. If they survived, they returned to Russia as free men and were embraced as heroes worthy of redemption.

But rehabilitation is not always successful: recidivism is a problem among veterans, emboldened by the fact that if they are caught again, they can simply re-enlist.

Last year, the government expanded the scheme to include those awaiting trial or merely under investigation.

“On average, 50 people leave [prison] colonies in a single stream, about once a week, so you can imagine the scale of the outflow,” estimated Ivan Chuviliaev, spokesman for Go By The Forest, an organisation that helps soldiers avoid mobilisation.

Partly as a result, Russia’s once-massive prison population has plummeted by 120,000 in the past two years to a record low of 313,000, according to a report in the Moscow daily MK in February. Correctional facilities around the country are now closing.

But these tactics are not always necessary. A survey earlier this year by the independent pollster Levada showed 75 percent of the Russian public supporting the war; recruits such as Chenin are drawn by patriotism.

“The first and most important thing is love for the motherland. Everything else is secondary,” he said.

“All the guys I served with were real Russians in the broadest sense of the word, because they went to war at the call of their hearts. I especially remember my Buryat brother in arms – for me, he is an example of true brotherhood and loyalty.”

A huge manhunt is under way for a “heavily armed” male suspect after two Australian police officers were shot dead and one injured in an ambush at a property in a small rural town in Victoria state.

Police described the situation in Porepunkah in the Australian Alps – some 300km (186 miles) north-east of Melbourne – as an “active incident” with hundreds of personnel deployed to find the suspect.

Officers were attacked as 10 of them attended the property to serve an arrest warrant, which Australian media said was for historical sex offences.

Police say the suspect escaped into the bush alone and on foot after the shooting. Officers are still trying to locate the man’s wife and children.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said 10 officers went to the property on Tuesday at about 10:30 local time (00:30 GMT).

He described officers being fired upon by a heavily armed offender, saying two colleagues – a 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable – were “murdered in cold blood”.

A third officer was seriously injured and airlifted to hospital.

The state police chief said all the available resources were being used in the manhunt for a “dangerous” suspect, and urged locals to stay indoors.

“[Our] priority is to arrest him and bring safety and security to this community,” the officer said.

He added that the suspect was believed to have been on his own at the time of the shooting, and that police “are still looking to locate his partner and two children, but he was not seen to head into the bush with them”.

Mr Bush did not confirm the nature of the raid that officers were executing at the property.

Footage from the scene earlier on Tuesday showed dozens of police deployed to Porepunkah and a police helicopter circling in the area.

The town, home to about 1,000 people, is part of the Alpine Shire local government area.

In a statement, Alpine Shire Council Mayor Sarah Nicholas paid tribute to the officers, extending “thoughts, love and unwavering” support to their families.

“Today has been a day of deep sorrow and shock for our community… We are grieving together,” she said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan both praised the police officers for their bravery.

Local resident Emily White told the BBC she and her guests had been sheltering in a caravan park that she owned.

“I think reality really set in – that this is a really, really horrible situation,” Ms White said.

“We’re such a small community, and we’ll leave our cars unlocked, and we’ll leave our front doors open. Nothing like this ever happens.”

Reports in the Austalian media say the alleged gunman is a self-declared “sovereign citizen” – which refers to someone who falsely believes they are not subject to Australian laws and government authority.

Called SovCits for short, these people have been a presence in the nation for decades, according to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

The police say they are mostly harmless but there has been a resurgence of the beliefs in recent years – in part fuelled by mistrust in authorities which has been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.

In its 2023 briefing note, the AFP said the movement had “an underlying capacity to inspire violence”.

Gun crime is relatively rare in Australia, which has some of the world’s strictest gun regulations.

Decked out with a new buzz cut, the world no 2 was in sparkling form against towering Reilly Opelka of the US.

Carlos Alcaraz is sporting a new buzz cut at the US Open, and while the cropped style is drawing a mixed reaction online, the Spaniard’s spectacular tennis is leaving no room for discussion as he dismantled Reilly Opelka 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the second round.

Having ditched his tousled pretournament look, the second seed made an impressive start on Monday in his quest to secure a second Grand Slam title of the year.

“I’ve got to ask the people if they like the new haircut or not. Did you like it, guys? I think they like it,” Alcaraz said on court in response to a question about whether he was moving faster on court with his new look.

“Today was a really difficult one,” he added.

“He really is a great and a really tough player with that serve. I couldn’t get the rhythm I wanted to get in the match, but I’m really happy with everything.

“The return was one of the best things today. I tried to play my best tennis, tried to be focused on the serve. Overall, I had a really great performance today.”

The 22-year-old, who won the first of his five major trophies in New York three years ago, looked every bit like championship material against the 2.11-metre (6 feet 11 inches) Opelka as he broke for a 3-2 lead and clinched the opening set with ease.

Alcaraz wobbled on serve for the first time in the second set when he sent down consecutive double faults, but Opelka failed to convert both his break point opportunities.

After breaking Opelka in the 11th game, Alcaraz held to love for a 2-0 lead and turned up the heat in the ninth game of the third set, breaking again thanks to a foot fault and a wayward serve by his opponent.

“Nothing depends on you. It always depends on him,” Alcaraz said about the difficulty of playing the towering Opelka.

“The way he serves, the way he plays from the baseline, you just have to be focused, put as many returns as you can in and try to be in the rally and win the points he lets you win.

“It’s just difficult when you play someone who doesn’t let you play your game. It was a very difficult first round.”

Alcaraz held to love to complete the victory and set up a second-round encounter with Italian Mattia Bellucci, who went through after his Chinese opponent, Shang Juncheng, retired during their encounter earlier in the day.