Bloc officials have given no timeline for Ukrainian accession, insisting it should adopt major reforms, Dmitry Kuleba has suggested

EU membership could sweeten the realization that Ukraine has lost territory – particularly regarding Donbass – if the trade-off ends the fighting with Russia, former Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has said.

In an interview with Ukrainskaya Pravda published on Monday, Kuleba offered his take on Vladimir Zelensky’s idea of holding a referendum on territorial concessions ahead of any peace deal with Russia. Moscow has insisted that Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions are integral parts of Russia as they voted to join the country in referendums in 2022.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also dismissed the referendum idea as a plot by Kiev to buy time, stressing that Russia wants “peace, not a ceasefire,” and calling a truce “a breather” and “another deception” on the part of Ukraine.

Kuleba argued that Zelensky understands that whatever deal he eventually strikes with Moscow must be “sold” to Ukrainian society, adding that opinion polls can vastly diverge from what people say “in the streets and in kitchens.”

“If people are told, ‘Here is what we have to give up, but this will stop everything, and here is what we will get in return – a strong army, billions for reconstruction, and EU membership,’ then, forgive me for expressing a heretical thought, I think this is something that society would be ready to accept,” he said.

The EU, however, has given no timeline for Ukrainian accession, with senior officials stressing that membership can come only after sweeping reforms. Brussels has said Kiev must meet strict conditions, including overhauling the judiciary, strengthening the rule of law, and tackling endemic corruption.

Kuleba also insisted that any peace deal should not state that Ukraine is renouncing the territory “forever.” He added that a referendum would be the only way to give such a settlement durable legitimacy, warning that simple ratification in parliament could be repudiated by new parties after elections.

Russia is in control of more than 80% of Donbass overall. President Vladimir Putin has stressed that Moscow will ultimately push Ukrainian troops from the region either through diplomacy or military means.

A local resident was allegedly coerced into collaborating with Kiev through a financial scam

A Ukrainian plot to blow up a railroad bridge in Russia’s Urals has been thwarted, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Monday.

The planned attack reportedly targeted one of three railroad bridges in the key transport hub of Chusovoy in Perm Region, 1,250 km east of Moscow.

Ukrainian agents scammed the collaborator into transferring around $4,400 in savings to accounts they controlled, then convinced him that “testing” anti-terrorist preparedness would help recover the funds, the FSB said.

By the time Russian security raided his residence, the suspect had produced 10 kilograms of homemade explosives and obtained other bomb components, including a web camera to monitor the bridge and remotely time the explosion. The man, who is in his mid-50s, faces a possible life sentence for attempted terrorism, the FSB said.

Russian investigators have blamed the Ukrainian government for a number of plots targeting civilian infrastructure, including coordinated bombings of two bridges last year. One of the attacks caused a deadly passenger train derailment in Bryansk Region, killing the engineer and six passengers and injuring over 100 people.

A $12.5 billion aviation project in Bishoftu aims to handle 110 million passengers annually by 2030, officials say

Ethiopia has begun construction of an international airport, expected to open by 2030 and become Africa’s largest.

Ethiopia’s state-owned carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, officially commenced construction on the $12.5 billion Bishoftu International Airport (BIA) on Saturday, in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and airline executives.

BIA “will be the largest aviation infrastructure project in Africa’s history,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on X, adding that “the first phase of the airport will handle 60 million passengers per year, with an ultimate master plan capacity of 110 million passengers annually.”

The airport will include four runways and parking space for up to 270 aircraft, which vastly exceeds the capacity of the current main international airport, Addis Ababa’s Bole International, with around 25 million passengers per year.

The airport site is located 40 km southeast of Addis Ababa at an altitude of 1,910 meters, which offers “optimal conditions” for handling origin-destination and transit passengers, Abiy said.

Funding for the airport will come from a mix of sources, including Ethiopian Airlines, international financiers, and the African Development Bank. According to the airline’s Infrastructure Development and Planning director, Abraham Tesfaye, the national carrier will contribute around 30% of the project’s cost, while the remaining funding will be provided by lenders.

The project follows several other large infrastructure and industrial initiatives launched in Ethiopia in recent months. In October, Abiy Ahmed officially announced two major industrial projects in the southeastern city of Gode – a urea fertilizer plant and an oil refinery.

In September, Ethiopia inaugurated the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, Africa’s largest hydroelectric facility, with a generation capacity of up to 5.15 gigawatts.

Unveiling the design of Bishoftu International Airport.
Africa’s Global Gateway redefined. #FlyEthiopian pic.twitter.com/pRb0koBNkA

— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) January 10, 2026

The US president has urged Havana to strike a deal with Washington “before it is too late”

US President Donald Trump has said Cuba will no longer receive Venezuelan oil and money, warning the island to do a deal with Washington “before it’s too late.”

Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela and a major beneficiary of its subsidized oil, has seen supplies from the OPEC nation dry up since early January. Shipping data show no crude cargoes have left Venezuelan ports for the island since President Nicolas Maduro was abducted by American forces, as a strict US-led oil blockade brought deliveries to a halt.

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, adding that “Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela.”

“I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” he added.

Dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban security personnel were killed in the US raid earlier this month, after which Trump said Cuba was “ready to fall,” citing the island’s deep economic crisis and warning that Havana would struggle to endure without subsidized Venezuelan oil.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel rejected Trump’s threat, saying Washington had no moral authority to impose a deal on Havana. “Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation. Nobody dictates what we do,” Diaz-Canel wrote on X on Sunday, adding that the island had been under US attack for decades and would defend itself if necessary.

Caracas and Washington meanwhile are reportedly moving forward on a $2 billion deal under which Venezuela would supply up to 50 million barrels of crude to the US, with proceeds held in Treasury‑supervised accounts.

Senior Trump officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have made clear they believe that the US intervention in Venezuela could push Cuba to the brink. American rhetoric toward Havana has sharpened in recent weeks. The US has kept a comprehensive trade embargo on the Caribbean nation since the 1960s. While the Obama and Biden administrations took steps to normalize relations, Trump reinstated Cuba on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The US president has said he wants to prevent Russia and China from ‘taking over’ the Danish island

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Denmark’s defenses of Greenland are “two dog sleds,” renewing his push for the European NATO member to relinquish its sovereignty over the island.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump claimed that Russia or China could take over the Danish territory at any moment.

“Greenland – basically their defense is two dog sleds,” he said. “In the meantime, you have Russian destroyers and submarines and China destroyers and submarines all over the place. We’re not going to let that happen.”

Since the 19th century, a number of US officials have argued that the Arctic island, which already hosts a US military base, should become American territory. After Trump reiterated his interest in acquiring Greenland early in his second term on national security grounds, Copenhagen said it would bolster its defenses by adding dog sled patrols and purchasing two more Arctic inspection vessels to supplement Greenland’s aging fleet of four.

Media reports noted at the time that there were 12 dog sled units. The autonomous Danish territory is largely ice-covered, with settlements and infrastructure mostly confined to coastal areas.

Nordic nations have dismissed Trump’s claims about purported Russian and Chinese threats to Greenland, saying no military activity has been detected in the area in recent years, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

“It is simply not true that the Chinese and Russians are there. I have seen the intelligence. There are no ships, no submarines,” a senior European diplomat told the newspaper.

Earlier this month, the US military raided Venezuela to abduct President Nicolas Maduro. According to Trump administration officials, the operation was partly intended to reinforce Washington’s hegemony in the Western Hemisphere and counter Russian and Chinese influence in South America.

Beijing opposes any attempts by the African state’s breakaway region to “collude” with Taiwan in seeking independence, Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said

China will continue to support Somalia in safeguarding its national sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said.

The minister made the commitment during a telephone conversation with his Somali counterpart, Abdisalam Abdi Ali, on Sunday, according to an official statement.

The talks came after Israel signed a declaration on December 26 recognizing Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, as a sovereign state. West Jerusalem became the first and only country to recognize the region, which has been self-governing since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991. The Israeli government’s move has faced widespread criticism, with the African Union calling for its immediate revocation.

On Sunday, the Chinese foreign minister reiterated Beijing’s opposition to any attempts by Somaliland to “collude” with Taiwan in seeking “independence.”

He said that in response to “changes in the international situation,” China will strengthen its cooperation with Somalia in areas such as security, defense, and trade, while also advancing the strategic partnership between the two countries.

“The two countries have always respected and supported each other, and the China-Somalia strategic partnership will not be affected by temporary events,” Wang stated.

In response, Somalia’s foreign minister thanked China for supporting the East African country in “opposing all acts of separatism and terrorism, and helping Somalia achieve national stability and development.”

Wang was set to visit Somalia as part of his annual New Year tour of Africa, but the trip was postponed due to what the Chinese Embassy described as a “schedule change” and “friendly negotiations.”

The diplomat visited Tanzania and Ethiopia, ending his six-day trip with a final stop in Lesotho. On January 8, he launched the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa to strengthen cooperation and promote a “brighter future” for relations between Beijing, Africa, and the Global South.

China has maintained its position as Africa’s largest trading partner for 16 straight years. In 2024, trade with African countries reached a record $295.6 billion, a 4.8% increase from the previous year, the Ministry of Commerce reported last May.

Tzachi Braverman was questioned for 13 hours on suspicion of obstructing justice

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, has been detained and questioned by police over alleged attempts to interfere with a probe into the leak of a classified document to German tabloid Bild.

Braverman’s questioning lasted around 13 hours on Sunday, the Times of Israel reported. He was released on restrictive conditions including a 15-day ban on attending the Prime Minister’s Office and a 30-day ban on leaving the country.

The restrictions could delay Braverman’s entry to the post of Israeli ambassador to the UK, for which he was approved last year.

In September 2024, Bild published a top-secret military intelligence paper, presenting it as proof that Palestinian armed group Hamas was not interested in reaching a hostage deal with Israel.

Netanyahu’s former spokesman, Eli Feldstein, who was arrested in October 2024 and charged with leaking the paper to the tabloid, said in an interview last month that the prime minister supported the attempts to use the document to reinforce the public argument that more pressure on Hamas was needed.

Feldstein also claimed that Braverman was aware of a covert probe into the Bild leak months before it made headlines and had assured him that he would be able to “shut it down.”

According to Channel 12, the two had a brief face-to-face during the chief of staff’s questioning on Sunday. Braverman’s lawyer later said his client “answered all the investigators’ questions, and denied every invented version of events put forward by the defendant [Feldstein].”

Netanyahu’s Likud party called Braverman’s interrogation a “campaign of persecution” and a “phishing attempt” against the prime minister and his allies.

Opposition Democrats party lawmaker Gilad Kariv argued that anyone who believes that the chief of staff could have acted without Netanyahu’s approval is “living in an illusion,” insisting that the prime minister himself should be interrogated rather than Braverman.

The Bild scandal comes amid a sharp decline in support for Netanyahu’s government, with a poll published by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) in late December suggesting that it is trusted only by a quarter of Israeli Jews and just over 17% of Israeli Arabs.

Stocks could run out before the heating season ends if withdrawals continue at the current pace, analysts warn

Gas storage levels in Germany have hit a historic low for this time of year due to rapid depletion amid a cold snap, ZDF reported over the weekend, citing industry experts. They warned that stocks could run out before the heating season ends if withdrawals continue at the current pace.

According to the report, gas levels at the country’s underground storage facilities are now far lower than at the beginning of 2025 – around 50% compared to around 77% 12 months ago. Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data shows levels have dropped by around 13% over the past four weeks.

If depletion continues at the same rate, storages could be just 5% full by March, Stefan Dohler of Oldenburg-based supplier EWE told the outlet.

“I don’t want to sound the alarm, but I want to point out that the current fill-level situation is as bad as it was at the beginning of 2022,” he warned, referring to one of the lowest points in German energy reserve history, when storage levels were critically low.

Industry experts attribute the rapid withdrawals to colder-than-normal weather that arrived in late December, driving heating demand above typical January levels.

“With a current fill level of less than 52%, gas storage levels are at a historic low,” Sebastian Heinermann, Energy Storage Initiative’s managing director, told the outlet. Timm Kehler, a board member of the Association of Gas and Hydrogen Industry, echoed the warning, saying “gas storage levels are significantly below the long-term average.”

While Germany has grown more reliant on costlier LNG imports via sea terminals, experts warn they can only cover around 16% of demand from November to March. Dohler called for stronger government action, including a national gas reserve, to secure the supplies.

Russian energy giant Gazprom earlier noted that storage withdrawals this season are proceeding faster than usual across the entire EU. Last week, it warned that the bloc could face shortages as storage levels fell below 60%.

The EU has sharply cut Russian energy imports, once around 40% of its consumption, after imposing sanctions over the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Germany was among the most dependent, with Russia previously supplying 55% of its gas.

Moscow has condemned the EU’s energy sanctions, arguing that the bloc is sacrificing energy security and industrial competitiveness for political aims.

Slovakia will not get involved in the conflict with Russia either financially or militarily, senior officials have confirmed

Senior officials in Slovakia have ruled out any military or financial involvement in the Ukraine conflict, according to a new policy agreement announced on Saturday.

The governance roadmap was presented at a press conference by President Peter Pellegrini, Parliamentary Chair Richard Rasi, and Prime Minister Robert Fico, the three highest-ranking officials in Slovakia, who are linked to the three parties forming the current government.

Bratislava will maintain its pledge not to provide military aid to Kiev against Russia, Pellegrini confirmed. Neither will it deploy troops to Ukraine or participate in a European Commission-proposed loan to cover Ukraine’s budget deficit, he added.

“I wouldn’t like to see Slovakia running around like a wounded deer in this crisis that the European Union is experiencing, and becoming a victim of the significant shifts that may occur in Europe,” said Fico, a vocal Euroskeptic, citing energy security as a major national risk. He urged unity within the ruling coalition amid geopolitical turbulence.

Last month, EU leaders agreed to borrow €90 billion ($105 billion) against the bloc’s common budget to support Kiev, but the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia opted out of the scheme. All three are led by politicians who question Brussels’ approach to the Ukraine conflict.

The funding plan was a fallback after the EU failed to agree on a proposal to use immobilized Russian sovereign assets to finance Ukraine – a move opponents viewed as legally dubious and highly risky.

The bloc’s leadership has instructed member states not to buy Russian energy as part of its pressure campaign against Moscow. High domestic energy prices have exacerbated the economic slowdown gripping leading EU economies.

US President Donald Trump has sought to acquire the island and has not ruled out the use of force

Russia and China pose no threat to Greenland, a senior Danish lawmaker overseeing security has said, as US President Donald Trump seeks control over the Arctic island.

Trump has long called for the US to acquire Greenland – an autonomous territory under Danish sovereignty – to deter Russia and China. He has not ruled out the use of force. The US president’s statements have triggered a rift between the US and European NATO members, who have rallied behind Denmark, arguing that “Greenland belongs to its people.”

On Sunday, Rasmus Jarlov, the chair of Denmark’s parliamentary defense committee, sparred with security expert Velina Tchakarova, who claimed that European nations that do not take the “threat” from Russia and China seriously “have not been paying attention to what was happening in the Arctic in the last ten years.”

Jarlov wrote on X, without clarifying who he was referring to: “I am head of the defense committee in Denmark… I get all relevant information about it. I can assure you that your fantasies about a big threat from China and Russia against Greenland are delusional. You are the threat. Not them.”

Russia, whose western border lies more than 3,000 km from Greenland, has provided few comments on Trump’s push to acquire the island, only insisting that the wishes of Greenland’s population be respected. Polling suggests that there is little appetite in Greenland to join the US. Moscow has also dismissed speculation that it has plans to attack Western countries as “nonsense.”

China has denied that it seeks to control Greenland and pushed back against Trump’s rhetoric. After Trump claimed that Greenland is “covered with Chinese ships,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing urges the US “to stop using the so-called ‘China threat’ as a pretext for itself to seek selfish gains.”

On Saturday, the Daily Mail reported that Trump has ordered his generals to draw up a plan for a potential invasion of Greenland, with sources warning that it could lead to “the destruction of NATO from the inside.”

Beijing is reportedly hesitant to transfer technology to Reliance Industries

India’s Reliance Industries has halted plans to manufacture lithium-ion battery cells after it failed to secure technology from a proposed Chinese partner, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Chinese lithium iron phosphate supplier Xiamen Hithium Energy Storage Technology Co., which was in talks with Reliance to license the required technology, has withdrawn from the plan, the media outlet said, citing anonymous sources.

China announced curbs on rare earths and related technologies in October 2025, including permanent magnets, batteries, and battery components, as well as processing technologies, after trade tensions with the US.

The development has prompted Reliance to refocus on assembling battery energy storage systems (BESS), or containers for its own renewable power projects, according to the Bloomberg report.

“You will note that BESS manufacturing, battery pack manufacturing, and cell manufacturing have always been part of our energy storage plans and we are progressing well in their execution,” a Reliance spokesperson told Bloomberg via email.

In August, Reliance had told shareholders that its battery gigafactory would start in 2026.

Beijing is reportedly working on a deal with Washington on heavy rare-earth magnets and related technologies and is unwilling to provide supplies to India without assurances that they will not be diverted to the US, the Economic Times (ET) reported in October.

New Delhi had not yet agreed to the request, according to the ET report.

India’s energy storage market is expected to reach about 87 gigawatts of power capacity by 2035 – more than 300 times what was installed in 2024, according to Bloomberg estimates.

Lithium is critical for EV batteries and energy storage. China dominates in the extraction or processing of many critical minerals, accounting for over 60% of global processing of cobalt, lithium, and manganese – three minerals that play a major role in batteries.

The US president’s rhetoric will hamper his plans to acquire the Arctic island from Denmark, Rand Paul has said

US President Donald Trump’s threats to use military force to acquire Greenland could derail any chance of a negotiated deal, Republican Senator Rand Paul has said.

Trump has argued that the US should control Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, citing security concerns and the need to counter Russia and China. He has not ruled out the use of force, alarming European NATO members who have rallied behind Denmark.

In an interview on ABC News’ ‘This Week’ aired on Sunday, Paul warned that Trump’s rhetoric would alienate Greenland’s population and undermine US diplomacy.

“But let’s say you wanted to buy Greenland – and I’m not disputing that that might be something we might want, to buy Greenland – you don’t get there by angering and denigrating the people who live there and saying, ‘We’re going to march the Marines in and take [it] if you don’t sell it to us,’” Paul said. “It doesn’t make them very willing to sell [to] us.”

Paul added that threatening force would likely have the opposite effect. “So really, if your goal is somehow, we’re going to rattle the saber and then they’re going to sell it to us, I think it’s having the opposite effect,” he said.

On Sunday, Trump reiterated his intention to take control of the island “one way or another.”

“I’d love to make a deal – it’s easier – but we’re going to have it,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Last week, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that a US attack on a fellow NATO member would amount to the end of the bloc. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK have said Greenland’s future should be decided by Denmark and the island’s population alone.

Tehran has reportedly issued a protest after an anti-government activist tore down its flag

Iran has summoned the British ambassador in Tehran after its flag was torn down from the embassy in London, several Iranian government-linked outlets have reported.

The incident occurred on Saturday when members of the Iranian diaspora gathered outside the embassy in Kensington to show support for the protests in Iran. An activist climbed the wall, removed the Islamic Republic’s flag, and displayed Iran’s pre-1979 royal flag, featuring a lion and Sun, from the balcony above the main entrance.

The royal-era flag is often used by Iranians abroad to protest the Islamic government. The embassy later restored the flag, posting on X: “Iran’s flag is flying high.”

The moment Spiderman tore down the Islamic Republic flag at Iran's embassy in London, and raised the lion and sun flag 💪

pic.twitter.com/2C2QSavLl6

— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) January 10, 2026

The British ambassador was summoned after “the Iranian Embassy in London was disrespected by displacing the Iranian flag,” the semi-official IRNA News Agency reported, citing the Foreign Ministry. Alireza Yousefi, the director-general for Western Europe at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, delivered a “strong protest” to the UK diplomat.

The UK Foreign Office denied that Ambassador Hugo Shorter was formally summoned, with ITV citing sources as saying he only “had a meeting” at the Foreign Ministry. London police said officers made arrests for aggravated trespass and assault on an emergency worker following the incident.

The protests in Iran began on December 28 after the national currency collapsed, triggering sharp increases in food and staple prices. Demonstrations quickly escalated into riots and clashes with security forces, reportedly resulting in hundreds of deaths.

The incident occurred at a demonstration against the Islamic government in Tehran

A truck drove into an anti-Iranian government protest in Los Angeles, reportedly injuring several people.

The incident occurred in Westwood, where a crowd had gathered to show solidarity with the protests in Iran, which erupted last month over soaring inflation and escalated into riots. 

Videos from the scene show people screaming and running as a white U-Haul truck drove through the street. One person was seen on top of the vehicle as it moved.

After the truck stopped, an angry crowd attacked it, smashing the windshield and side windows. Some tried to strike the driver with flagpoles before police intervened.

A local ABC affiliate reported that the crowd pulled a man from the truck, and police appeared to take him into custody, though no arrests were officially reported.

Several people were injured. Two were evaluated by paramedics but declined hospitalization, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

The truck displayed several signs, including one reading: “No Shah. No Regime. USA: Don’t Repeat 1953. No Mullah,” apparently referring to the 1953 CIA-backed coup that toppled Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.

The warning came after President Donald Trump expressed support for anti-government protesters in the country

Iran will conduct preemptive strikes on US and Israeli targets if it detects an imminent attack, Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said.

The warning comes after US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for the protests in Iranian cities triggered by soaring inflation and an economic downturn.

“Let those who threaten Iran be warned. Any attack on Iran will make both the occupied territories, all military centers and bases, and American ships in the region legitimate targets,” Ghalibaf said on Saturday.

“We do not limit ourselves to responding only after an attack and will act based on objective signs of a threat, so that no one makes miscalculations that will lead them to disaster,” he added.

Trump has said the US would “help” the protesters if the government continues to crack down on riots sweeping the country. “You better not start shooting, because we’ll start shooting too,” he said. Netanyahu has also expressed support for the protesters.

According to the New York Times, Trump has been briefed on military options, including strikes on non-military targets in Tehran, though a final decision has not been made. The US and Israel previously struck Iran in June 2025, targeting military sites and nuclear facilities.

The unrest, the worst in recent years, erupted across Iran on December 28 after the national currency collapsed, driving sharp increases in food and staple prices. Protests escalated into clashes with police, attacks on government buildings, and calls by some demonstrators for the restoration of the monarchy. The authorities responded by imposing nationwide internet and phone shutdowns.

More than 200 people have been killed, according to Time magazine, citing a doctor in the capital. Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that rioters killed at least 25 civilians and six security personnel, injuring 120 others.

He told the media that the US-made jet was brought down by an S-300 air defense missile system

A Russian commander has said his S-300 air defense battery shot down a US-made F-16 fighter jet operated by Ukraine.

In an interview aired on Russia 1 TV on Sunday, the commander, identified by the callsign ‘Sever’, told journalist Vladimir Solovyov that the US-supplied aircraft was “the most interesting target” his unit has encountered.

He said the battery fired two missiles at the F-16, with the first damaging the aircraft and the second “delivering the final blow.”

“It took us a lot of time to prepare for this operation. We were tracking it and anticipating it. The enemy boasted that these planes were indestructible. As it turns out, they fall out of the sky just like the rest,” Sever said. He did not say when the incident occurred.

Ukraine began receiving F-16s in August 2024 and has since confirmed the loss of four in combat.

According to Business Insider, Kiev has officially received 44 of the 87 jets promised by its European backers.

The UK and Germany are reportedly discussing options to dissuade the US from claiming the Arctic island from Denmark

The UK and Germany are drawing up plans aimed at preventing US President Donald Trump from seizing Greenland, Bloomberg and The Telegraph reported over the weekend.

Trump has long argued that the US should control the Danish self-governing island, citing its strategic position and the need to counter the influence of Russia and China in the Arctic. His stance has put him at loggerheads with several European NATO members, who have rallied behind Denmark.

Berlin and London are seeking to ramp up NATO’s presence in the region to undercut Trump’s security argument. A German proposal involves a joint NATO mission dubbed ‘Arctic Sentry’, Bloomberg reported, citing officials familiar with the discussions. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is expected to discuss the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week.

“I want to discuss on my trip how we can best bear this responsibility in NATO,” Wadephul told journalists on Sunday.

According to The Telegraph, British officials have also met with their counterparts from Germany and France in recent days to draw up plans for a possible NATO mission in Greenland. The proposals were discussed at a NATO meeting on Thursday, the paper said.

Options suggested by London include military exercises, intelligence sharing, targeted defense spending, and a full-scale troop deployment to Greenland, The Telegraph added, noting that the planning remains at an early stage.

Trump stated on Saturday that the US would acquire Greenland “whether they like it or not,” warning that he would do this “the hard way” if necessary. While media outlets have said the US is considering purchasing the island and offering its residents financial incentives, the White House has not ruled out the use of force.

On Sunday, the Daily Mail reported that Trump ordered senior commanders to draw up plans for a potential invasion of Greenland. Several European officials, including Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, have warned that a military attack on a fellow NATO member would render the alliance obsolete.

At least 42 security personnel have died during the ongoing unrest, according to local news agencies

Iran has declared three days of mourning to honor the victims of the deadly nationwide riots, which it called a “battle” against the US and Israel, the semi-official Iranian Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.

The worst protests in recent years shook Iran starting in late December, sparked by the sharp devaluation of the rial and the escalating economic crisis in the heavily sanctioned nation.

The unrest quickly spread to multiple cities, with arson and clashes resulting in numerous deaths among both Iranian security forces and civilian bystanders, according to local reports. Time magazine has said at least 200 people were killed, while Iranian state media put the toll in the dozens, including a similar number of security personnel who died during the riots.

“The Iranian nation has experienced firsthand how the urban terrorist criminals committed ISIS-like violence,” the Iranian government announced, according to Tasnim. “To this day, such violence has not been seen except in the behavior of the American-trained ISIS.”

Earlier on Sunday, President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the US and Israel of interfering in the unrest. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed the claim, sharing a graphic video showing crowds attacking police officers, beating them to death and setting their bodies on fire.

“Does this look like a ‘protest’ for FREEDOM? Or the exact kind of scenes that the US Administration would NEVER tolerate within its own borders?” he wrote in a post on X.

A total nationwide internet blackout was imposed last week, which was still in effect as of the time of writing. Just days earlier, a social media account associated with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency openly supported the riots and claimed it had operatives embedded in the crowds.

US President Donald Trump has also egged on the protests and alluded to military intervention.

The US president has turned his ire on the Caribbean island nation just days after his forces kidnapped Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro

US President Donald Trump has someone in mind to be the next leader of Cuba – his secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

On Sunday, Trump reposted an image of an X post that jokingly claimed that the top US diplomat would be made the president of the Caribbean island.

“Sounds good to me!” Trump responded on Truth Social.

In a follow-up message, he accused Cuba of subsisting on oil money from Venezuela.

The latter country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, was kidnapped by US special forces last week following months of pressure from Washington, after which Trump demanded “total access” to the South American nation’s oil. A number of Cubans in Maduro’s personal security team were killed in the raid.

In his Truth Social post, Trump confirmed that “most of those Cubans are DEAD” and the US will now “protect” Venezuela and urged Havana to “make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”

Just hours later, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel decried Washington’s assumed moral superiority and accused it of “attacking” Cuba for 66 years.

“Those who turn everything into a business, even human lives, have no moral authority to point fingers at Cuba on anything, absolutely anything,” he wrote on X.

The island nation’s “severe economic shortages” are the fault of “the draconian measures of extreme strangulation that the US has been applying to us for six decades,” he said.

Washington has maintained a comprehensive trade embargo of the Caribbean nation since the 1960s. While the Obama and Biden administrations took steps to normalize relations, after his reelection last January, Trump reinstated Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.