Category: Middle East

CloseRussian police on scene in aftermath of fatal explosion in MoscowUkraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has hinted at progress on a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, following a “really good conversation” with President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Christmas Day.
“It was a really good conversation: many details, good ideas, that we discussed,” Zelensky said on Telegram on Thursday. “There are some new ideas on how to bring the real peace closer, and it concerns formats, meetings, and, certainly, the timeline.”
The talks come a day after Mr Zelensky unveiled an updated 20-point peace plan. He said it offered the potential withdrawal of Ukraine troops from the east, with the creation of a demilitarised zone in the Donbas region.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the proposal had been brought to Moscow, and was now being analysed.
The peace discussions come as two people were killed after Russia launched more than 130 drones on Ukraine on Christmas nigh..

A CNN panel has identified the Democratic frontrunners for the 2028 presidential election with a new name added to the mix.
While the 2028 election is still three years away, some can’t help but speculate who will end up on the ticket. While there’s been talk about California Governor Gavin Newsom’s rise in popularity thanks to his social media trolling efforts against President Donald Trump and a potential matchup between progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, and Vice President JD Vance, there’s one Democrat some may be overlooking.
Senator Raphael Warnock’s name popped up in a recent panel discussion on CNN’s Inside Politics. Warnock was elected Georgia’s first Black senator in 2021 and has been a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church for about two decades.
On Wednesday, CNN’s Dana Bash had her panel look at the odds of prominent Democrats winning the party’s 2028 presidential nomination based on prediction market company Kalshi.
open image in..

CloseRussian police on scene in aftermath of fatal explosion in MoscowUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has outlined a new peace plan that includes creating demilitarised or free economic zones in eastern Ukraine as a possible route to ending the war.
The proposal offers Kyiv Nato-style security guarantees while insisting any demilitarised zones remain under Ukrainian administration and policing.
Meanwhile, at least three people died in an explosion in southern Moscow at the site where a Russian general was killed earlier this week.
Russian authorities said two police officers were among those found dead. The other was thought to have been a bystander.
Earlier, Ukraine’s military said its forces had pulled out of the embattled eastern town of Siversk near Bakhmut.
“The invaders were able to advance due to a significant numerical advantage and constant pressure from small assault groups in difficult weather conditions,” the General Staff said.
Siversk had a pre-war population of 1..

CloseSanta Claus and his reindeer have set off for their biggest night of the year, with billions of stops to make around the world in less than 24 hours.
After weeks of preparation at the workshop, Father Christmas has departed west from the North Pole, and will visit the South Pacific before passing through Asia, Africa, Europe, and crossing the Atlantic to the Americas.
Every Christmas Eve, Norad – the North American Aerospace Defense Command – provides real-time tracking of Santa’s sleigh as it navigates the skies.
It is a tradition dating back to 1955, after a misprint in a department store advert led a young child to call a Colorado military command center asking to speak to Santa Claus, prompting a festive custom in which Norad answer children’s questions about Santa’s journey.
Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the organisation to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow online – in nine languages – as St Nick swoops along the earth’s meridians.
Stay tune..

Sean “Diddy” Combs’s legal team has filed an 84-page appeal brief, arguing that the music mogul’s conviction and sentencing on prostitution-related charges were unjust.
Combs, 56, was found guilty on two counts of prostitution-related charges and sentenced to 50 months in prison following an eight-week trial in New York earlier this year. Combs — who is now serving out his sentence at a low-security New Jersey prison — was also acquitted of more serious sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.
The court heard weeks of testimony from Combs’s ex-girlfriends and former associates detailing alleged abuse. Several witnesses also described Combs’s drug-fueled sex marathons, referred to as “freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”
Combs’s attorneys have maintained that the sexual encounters described in the case were consensual.
open image in gallerySean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s attorneys have argued his conviction and sentencing was unjust (AFP/Getty)Now, Combs’s attorneys are arguing the court ..

CloseSenior Russian diplomat warns of Russia-Nato clashVolodymyr Zelensky has said that several draft documents have been prepared after a Ukrainian delegation held talks with US counterparts officials over the weekend.
This included a document on US security guarantees in the event of a peace deal with Russia, the Ukrainian president said following the Miami talks.
“They worked productively with envoys of President Trump and several draft documents have now been prepared,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X.
“In particular, these include documents on security guarantees for Ukraine, on recovery, and on a basic framework for ending this war.”
But Moscow, which also sent a delegation for separate talks with US officials in Miami, said the latest dialogue should not be seen as a breakthrough.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called it a “working progress” and that the discussions would continue in a “meticulous” expert-level format.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, said the talks are “going along” but o..

CloseZelensky reports ‘constructive engagement’ in Florida on peace talksVladimir Putin’s top foreign policy official has rejected the latest amendments to a Donald Trump-backed peace plan – despite admitting that he hasn't actually read them.
Yuri Ushakov, who played a key role in drafting the original version of the plan that was widely dismissed as being too pro-Russia, also played down the prospect of a three-way summit between the US, Moscow and Kyiv
“I am sure that the proposals that the Europeans and Ukrainians have made or are trying to make definitely do not improve the document and do not improve the possibility of achieving long-term peace,” Yuri Ushakov said.
The senior Kremlin official said he had not seen the exact proposals and that his criticism was “not a forecast”.
His remarks came after Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida over the weekend with Ukrainian and European negotiators.
“Our shared priority is..

President Donald Trump has criticized the release of thousands of documents from cases against Jeffrey Epstein, warning they could “ruin the reputation” of high-profile figures who were “innocently” photographed alongside the convicted sex offender and “deflect” from his administration’s accomplishments.
In his first public remarks since the Department of Justice started to publish thousands of images and heavily redacted materials, the president said the release of images of former President Bill Clinton and others photographed with Epstein is a “terrible thing.”
“You probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago,” Trump said from his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. “A lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein, but they’re in a picture with him because he was at a party, and you ruin the reputation of somebody.”
Growing pressure from members of Congress t..

Saturday Night Live's cold open mocked President Donald Trump over the heavily redacted Epstein files and his renaming of the Kennedy Center in a scathing Christmas episode.
James Austin Johnson continued his streak as the president and ridiculed the Trump administration over its claim to be the “most transparent in history” after hundreds of pages of the long-awaited documents were redacted when they were partially released Friday by the Justice Department.
Trump only appeared in the tens of thousands of documents a handful of times, and one of the photographs that appeared to show the president was removed by the DOJ Saturday, Democrats said. Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing.
“With regard to files, we're being very transparent,” Johnson’s Trump began. “Because Jeffrey Epstein was a terrible man, and I didn't know him, and I liked him a lot.”
“We released all the files, and I come out looking, frankly, very good,” he parodied. “We had to redact a few sensitive th..

CloseTop Trump administration official defends removal of photos from released Epstein filesLawmakers and Jeffrey Epstein survivors alike continue to press the Trump administration to do more to immediately release its remaining Epstein files.
Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, who led the initial House push to force the files to be released, are threatening to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress, arguing the DOJ has failed to comply with the terms of a November law ordering the files to be made public by this Friday.
The DOJ has acknowledged hundreds of thousands of pages of materials have not been released yet, but it argues it is withholding certain materials to protect the identities of victims.
The continued delays prompted Rep. Robert Garcia of California to call for whistleblowers to come forward about what’s still being withheld.
“What they need to understand is that there are hundreds of FBI agents and others that are good American patriots that have worked..