Russia carried out a “massive” overnight attack on several Ukrainian cities, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, a day after he warned of strikes over the Christmas period.

Japan took the final step to allow the world’s largest nuclear power plant to resume operations with a regional vote on Monday, a watershed moment in the country’s return to nuclear energy nearly 15 years after the Fukushima disaster.

An Ecuadorean court has sentenced 11 of 17 soldiers to more than 34 years in prison over the forced disappearance of four boys aged 11 to 15 during security operations in the South American nation’s largest city, Guayaquil, one year ago.

A Russian general has been killed in a car bombing in Moscow, officials have said.

The US Coast Guard is in “active pursuit” of another vessel in international waters near Venezuela, an official has told the BBC’s US partner CBS News, as tensions in the region continue to escalate.

A manhunt is under way after a shooting at a tavern in South Africa left nine people dead and another 10 injured.

Mourners and community members on Sunday (December 21) gathered at Bondi Beach, laying flowers and paying respects as Australia marked a National Day of Reflection for victims of a mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at the seaside location one week ago.

The U.S. military launched large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria on Friday (December 19) in retaliation for an attack on U.S. personnel, U.S. officials said.

The U.S. Justice Department released a new trove of documents from its investigations into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday (December 19) , bowing to pressure from lawmakers who forced their disclosure with a new law.

President Donald Trump on Friday (December 19) defended an increase in the unemployment rate in the U.S., stating that “100% of our new jobs are in the private sector” after cuts in the public sector.

The Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka was on edge on Friday (December 19), with the offices of several newspapers still reeling from a night of protests, triggered by the death of popular youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an order directing the loosening of federal regulations on marijuana, a move that could further reverse decades of tough-on-weed policy.