Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his recent phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, marking the first direct communication between the two leaders in two years. This conversation has ignited a firestorm of accusations from Kyiv, with officials claiming that Scholz has effectively opened a “Pandora’s box” in the ongoing quest for peace in Ukraine. The call, which took place amid shifting dynamics in…

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Kyiv would like to end the war with Russia next year through “diplomatic means” as both countries prepare for President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. In an interview with the Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne, Zelenskyy said he is certain that the war will end “sooner” than it otherwise would have once Mr. Trump becomes president. “It is certain that the war will…

A fire tore through a neonatal intensive care unit in a hospital in northern India, killing 10 newborn babies and injuring 16 others, authorities said. The fire occurred late Friday at a hospital in Jhansi city in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. Officials said the blaze spread quickly through the ward, where 55 infants were being treated. 45 babies were rescued and are receiving medical care, said Bimal Kumar Dubey, a…

Caroline Leavitt, a 27-year-old former campaign aide for Donald Trump, has been appointed as the new White House press secretary. This makes her the youngest person to hold this position in the history of the United States, unseating Nixon administration’s press secretary Ron Ziegler who was 29 when he served from 1969 to 1974. Leavitt previously served in Trump’s first administration as assistant press secretary and launched a congressional campaign…

Ukraine Authorities said Friday it had arrested an army officer accused of passing information about secret military operations to Russia.The SBU security services said the accused, a lieutenant colonel, was recruited by Russia before its 2022 invasion and “activated” earlier this year “to pass on plans for the Defence Forces’ combat operations behind enemy lines.”The officer, a commander of a unit in Ukraine’s special operations forces, faces life in prison…

Dallas police are investigating after a Southwest Airlines flight was struck by a bullet as it was preparing to depart from Dallas Love Field Airport in Texas Friday evening, authorities said. The bullet apparently struck the right side of the plane just under the flight deck as the plane was taxiing for takeoff from Dallas to Indianapolis just before 10 p.m., according to Southwest Airlines. No injuries were reported and…

Trump’s border czar pledges “shock and awe” deportations on day one, targeting millions of undocumented immigrants in a crackdown aimed at securing borders and reducing crime. Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has promised a dramatic start to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, pledging a “shock and awe” approach to mass deportations on the first day of the new administration. Homan, recently named Trump’s…

Pete Hegseth, the Army veteran turned Fox News host selected by President-elect Donald Trump to be defence secretary during his second term, was investigated for an alleged sexual assault in 2017, officials in Monterey, California, confirmed. In response to multiple public record requests to the city, including one from CBS News, officials released a public statement late Thursday evening about a 2017 police investigation into Hegseth. The statement from the…

At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of Friday morning, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the Aragon region, told reporters. According to the Spanish news website, Diario Sur, a further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza. They…

Moscow’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov does not expect any change in U.S. policy towards Russia or Ukraine under incoming president Donald Trump because all U.S. governments have an interest in weakening Russia. “They feel comfortable when they weaken Russia and its influence,” Lavrov said in an interview with Russian state television. Russia has repeatedly accused the United States of supporting the war in Ukraine mainly to weaken Moscow. “Ultimately, everything…

A Russian military court on Thursday sentenced a woman to eight years in jail for criticising the Ukraine offensive online and calling for the assassination of President Vladimir Putin, state media reported. Moscow has opened hundreds of criminal cases against those who oppose the Ukraine campaign under strict censorship laws ushered in at the start of the conflict. Russia’s second western district military court found Anastasia Berezhinskaya, 43, guilty of…

A man carrying explosives died in a blast as he attempted to attack Brazil’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, police said, days before the country hosts the G20 summit. Brasilia vice governor, Celina Leao said preliminary information suggested it was a “suicide”, and came seconds after an explosion in a nearby car that the man was seen getting out of. “This citizen approached the Federal Supreme Court, tried to enter, failed,…