Canada’s House of Commons gave a rousing standing ovation to a Ukrainian veteran who fought in the Second World War – unaware he had served in a Nazi SS unit. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, was sitting in the gallery when he was described as a “Ukrainian hero” and a “Canadian hero” to applause from prime minister Justin Trudeau and president Volodymyr Zelensky. However, leaders were left red face when house speaker Anthony Rota subsequently apologised after it emerged that Hunka served in the 14th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division, a voluntary unit made up mostly of ethnic Ukrainians under Nazi command. In a statement, Mr Rota said that on 22 September “in my remarks following the address of the president of Ukraine, I recognised an individual in the gallery. “I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision to do so.” Mr Rota said that “no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or of my remarks before I delivered them. This initiative was entirely my own, the individual in question being from my riding [district] and having been brought to my attention.” “I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world. I accept full responsibility for my actions,” the speaker said. The Canadian Jewish group CIJA said it was “deeply troubled” that a Nazi veteran had been celebrated, and said “proper vetting is imperative to ensure such an unacceptable incident does not occur again”. The incident came shortly after Mr Zelensky delivered a passionate speech to the Canadian parliament to bolster support from his Western allies. Mr Rota then hailed Mr Hunka as “a Ukrainian Canadian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians” and “a Ukrainian hero and a Canadian hero.” Following the address, Mr Zelensky, who is Jewish and lost family members during the Holocaust, raised his fist in acknowledgement as the veteran saluted. Mr Hunka’s Nazi unit are accused of killing Polish and Jewish civilians, and were visited by SS leader Heinrich Himmler in 1944 who said his men would be “eager” to “liquidate the Poles”. The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said that Mr Rota's remarks ignore “the horrific fact that Hunka served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a Nazi military unit whose crimes against humanity during the Holocaust are well-documented.” Since his invasion in February 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin has repeatedly made unsubstantiatec alims that Ukraine of ‘harbours neo-Nazis’. Read More Putin gives defence chief one month deadline to stop Ukrainian counteroffensive in its tracks Russian airstrikes kill 2 and wound 3 in southern Ukraine as war enters 20th month Russian foreign minister lambastes the West but barely mentions Ukraine in UN speech Trudeau and Zelensky give Ukrainian Nazi war veteran standing ovation in parliament We have a responsibility to defend our citizens, says Canada’s defence minister Leader of Canada's House of Commons apologizes for honoring man who fought for Nazis

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has revealed the messages of encouragement he has offered to Andre Onana following his shaky start to life in England. Onana has begun poorly at Old Trafford but saved a 97th-minute penalty against Kobenhavn.

ChatGPT couldn't have written a better outcome for the lawyers who used the AI chatbot

As the name suggests, The Crooked House, a historic pub in England's West Midlands, has had a distinctive feature.

UFC President Dana White has seemingly quashed rumours that Conor McGregor would make his return to the Octagon in December at UFC 296. “Notorious” hasn’t fought since suffering a broken leg in his second straight loss to Dustin Poirier in 2021, but had seemed confident he would make his return at the end of this year against Michael Chandler. White did not include McGregor, however, when he announced the headline bout for the upcoming UFC 296 event in December, although he did say that more fights were to be announced. In a video on social media, White confirmed that Britain’s Leon Edwards will defend the welterweight title against Colby Covington in the UFC 296 main event in Las Vegas. Covington is a former interim champion. He also revealed that Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka will be the co-main event for UFC 295 in New York in November, as the pair clash over the vacant light-heavyweight title. Pereira is a former middleweight champion, while Prochazka won the light-heavyweight title in 2021 but vacated it due to injury later that year. Irishman McGregor missed the deadline for re-enrollment into the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (Usada) testing pool in July, which made his return this year questionable, given fighters must be in this pool for a minimum of six months before they can fight. Brock Lesnar was famously given an exemption to this rule in 2016 when he returned for UFC 200, but the official UFC-Usada policy states this can only be for “exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair to an athlete”. It now looks like McGregor’s long-awaited return will have to wait until 2024, when his fight with Chandler may precede bouts against Justin Gaethje and Nate Diaz. The 35 year-old’s current gap between fights is the longest since he made his UFC debut in 2013. Read More UFC schedule 2023: Every fight happening this year Khabib coach predicts Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler outcome When is the next UFC event?

Russia congratulates Kim Jong Un amid rumours of a possible meeting between him and Vladimir Putin.

Adolis Garcia smashed a solo home run in the 11th inning to give the Texas Rangers a dramatic 6-5 victory over Arizona on Friday in...

Drew Bowser hit a routine fly that Texas outfielders couldn’t find in the twilight sky, allowing Alberto Rios to score the game-winning run from second, and Stanford edged the Longhorns 7-6 to advance to its third straight College World Series

New Zealand plans to wipe out every last rat, possum and stoat. Can the plan work?

An anti-racism group has called on soccer’s top referee to distance himself from a far-right politician in Poland

Southwest Airlines said on Thursday it was better-prepared to handle upcoming winter weather thanks to the low-cost carrier's

Taylor Swift's ongoing personal and public moments continue to captivate attention, sparking discussions and excitement among fans