World

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed Kyrylo Budanov as the new head of the presidential office of Ukraine. Budanov, head of the Ukrainian military intelligence service, now fills one of the posts that became vacant in the wake of a corruption scandal in the upper echelons of power in Kyiv. His predecessor, Andrii Yermak, resigned at the end of November. Budanov is already the third chief of staff under Zelenskyy. It is considered a powerful post; Yermak accompanied the president to important international meetings, including negotiations on ending Russia's war against Ukraine. The first soldier to head the office This marks the first time a soldier has headed Zelenskyy's presidential office. As head of the secret service, Budanov is one of the most popular political figures in the country,...

Operations at airports across Greece were put on hold for safety reasons on Sunday, the country's civil aviation authority (HCAA) said, with the suspension partly lifted in the early afternoon Greek state TV said unspecified issues affecting radio frequencies prompted the suspensions. HCAA said there had been problems at the main communications center for air traffic controllers. State broadcaster ERT said airport arrivals and departures were suspended at 9:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT). It said flights were ​being diverted to neighboring countries. 'No cyberattack' Air traffic controllers used alternative frequencies to allow some flights to take off and land in the afternoon, the president of the controllers' association, Panagiotis Psarros, told ERTNews. He said, however, that he ...

More than 30 people were killed in northern Nigeria when gunmen attacked Kasuwan Daji village in Kabe district of Niger state, police said Sunday. "Over 30 victims lost their lives during the attack, and some persons were also kidnapped. Efforts are ongoing to rescue the kidnapped victims," police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said. The attackers opened fire on the community, burned homes and the local market, and looted shops for food during the raid on Saturday evening. Residents say the death toll may exceed 40, with many still missing, including children abducted during the attack. Nigeria's kidnapping crisis The gunmen are also believed to have carried out raids that began Friday in the nearby villages of Agwarra and Borgu. "Women and children were not spared," said Dauda Shakulle,...

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has been captured as part of a US military operation and brought to New York to face a series of charges related to drug trafficking and weapons possession conspiracies.  The Trump administration’s unilateral action to extract Maduro from his country — an operation dubbed "Operation Absolute Resolve" — reportedly involved the use of 150 aircraft to strike locations in northern Venezuela, including the capital Caracas. Some reports suggest 40 people have died as a result of the US strikes. The operation has been both welcomed and condemned by observers. While many foreign policy and international law experts have said the removal of Maduro — widely seen as an illegitimate leader following a 2024 election that independent observers said he lost, and a r...

The leaders of Denmark and Greenland on Sunday called on US President Donald Trump to stop threatening to take over Greenland. The appeals come after Trump again insisted that the US needs to control the resource-rich Arctic territory for national security, a day after US forces attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro. In an interview on Sunday with The Atlantic magazine, Trump said: "We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense." He added that the island is "surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships." On Sunday evening, Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that the US needs Greenland "from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it." What did the leaders of Denmark and Greenland say? In a statement, Danish Prime...

US President Donald Trump and a top Iranian security official traded threats Friday as protests spread across parts of Iran. Trump warned on Truth Social that "if Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters," the US would intervene, adding, "We are locked and loaded." He made the remarks as human rights groups said several people had been killed by security forces in Iran's biggest protests since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations. Ali Larijani, a former parliament speaker and current secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, accused the US and Israel of fueling the demonstrations. He warned that Washington's intervention would lead to chaos across the region. "The people of the US should ...

After four years as a military leader, Mamadi Doumbouya now holds a fresh mandate as Guinea's president following his resounding victory in this week's election. Doumbouya came to power in the West African nation in a 2021 military coup that ousted President Alpha Conde.   He initially vowed not to stand for the presidency, but reversed course after a new constitution in September lifted a ban on elected posts for military officers and extended presidential terms from five years to seven years.   "It is the good old military regime, but they have changed the clothing to make it look civilian in nature," Adib Saani, a foreign policy and security analyst at the Jatikay Center for Human Security and Peace Building in Accra, Ghana, told DW. Despite his reservations, Saani said the election...

Finnish authorities have arrested two people as they continue to investigate damage to an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland. The two were part of the crew aboard the cargo vessel, Fitburg, which is suspected of damaging a cable linking Helsinki, Finland, and Tallinn, Estonia. Authorities placed two other crew members under travel bans as part of the ongoing investigation and had begun ‌questioning ⁠all crew members. "The interviews have clarified the course of events and the different roles of the crew members," Detective Chief Superintendent Risto Lohi of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. Fitburg was sailing from Russia to Israel The Fitburg was en route from St. Petersburg, Russia, to the port of Haifa, Israel, when the incident o...

At a press conference on Friday, Valais canton Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud said investigators were interviewing witnesses and would review video evidence to determine whether a bar that went up in flames in the early hours of 2026 had the correct fire safety procedures and emergency exits. Officials have not said whether the bar had the two escape routes required under Swiss fire and building codes — or whether those exits were usable at the time of the fire.  Some Swiss media reports suggest that the bar's basement area may have had only one access and exit route, which could have made evacuation extremely difficult in a panic situation. However, at the press conference on Friday, Pilloud gave no further details about the number of escape routes or whether they met safety requirem...

Unrest is continuing in Iran, with protesters calling for a change of government. US President Donald Trump has threatened Iran's regime and Israel's spy agency, the Mossad, has expressed support for protesters. It is unclear what impact the protests will have. The economically motivated demonstrations have been smaller than the last major uprisings, brutally repressed, in Iran in 2022. There have been few overt reactions from Iran's allies, neighbors and enemies in the Middle East. But, given the level of involvement Iran has in the internal politics of many countries int he region, there's no doubt that leaders are watching carefully — some likely with concern, others potentially sensing opportunity should protests weaken Iran's government. Saudi Arabia, UAE: 'Frenemies' for stability...