Ukraine is insisting on a target strength of 800,000 troops for its military under a revised version of the US peace plan to end the almost four-year-long war with Russia. "That is the real strength of today's army, and it has been agreed with the military," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists in Kiev on Thursday.

Legal expert Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz warns that Israel’s draft bill for the Haredi community may entrench societal divisions and worsen long-term challenges for the economy and military. Regardless of what happens with the current draft bill to regulate conscription for the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community, a situation in which an entire population group, which is projected to grow, remains apart and does not contribute enough to society and the economy, is unsustainable, attorney Shlomit Ravi

EU member states agreed on Thursday to create a legal basis for the use of Russian state assets for Ukraine by majority vote, so as to permanently prevent the funds from being returned to Russia, the Danish EU presidency announced. This means countries such as Hungary will not be able to veto future EU sanctions decisions extending the current freeze on Russian assets held in the bloc.

More than a million people were left without power Thursday and dozens of flights were cancelled, a day after a cyclone triggered gale-force winds in Brazil's economic capital Sao Paulo, authorities said.This left more than two million people without electricity, 1.2 million of whom had yet to see their power restored almost 24 hours later.

Nemo, last year's Eurovision winner, said Thursday he was returning the 2024 trophy in protest over Israel's continued participation, which has already prompted five countries to pull out."But Israel's continued participation, during what the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry has concluded to be a genocide, shows there's a clear conflict between those ideals and the decisions the EBU is making.

The people were under constant observation while inside Gaza, the IDF assured. The suspects were then handed over to the Israel Police for processing.

“I couldn’t just sit there and continue to argue and see they’re not changing their minds,” Haskel told the Post about the marathon discussions on the bill taking place in the Knesset. After three days on the road and over 80 kilometers on foot, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel (New Hope) spoke to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday about her march this week in protest of the government’s haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft bill, which she said endangers Israel’s future.

The mission reportedly failed to identify Mengistu, and also did not detect Hamas' preparations for an attack, sources familiar with the matter told KAN. The IDF carried out a special mission to locate Ethiopian Israeli Avera Mengistu on October 6, 2023, a day before the October 7 massacre, according to a report by Israeli public broadcaster KAN News on Wednesday.

Bali’s reign as the ultimate tropical paradise is facing serious competition as savvy travelers discover equally stunning destinations without the crowds, inflated prices, and overtourism that now plague Indonesia’s famous island. American Express Travel’s latest ... Read more

A source in the Security Service of Ukraine told Business Insider that Kyiv has attacked three tankers since late November.

Germany's Cabinet has approved draft legislation aimed at further reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport fuels, Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said on Wednesday. The bill updates the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Quota, or GHG, and is intended to implement EU requirements.

Sheikh Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, also drew the diplomats’ attention to the crimes committed against Druze women in the attacks on Sweida and the nearby Druze villages. The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) was presented with evidence that Syrian Druze women were sexually assaulted during the recent waves of attacks committed by Damascus-backed militia groups in southern Syria.

A genetic mutation that carries a 90% cancer risk has been passed on by an unwitting sperm donor to dozens of children, a Europe-wide investigation has revealed.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed into effect a law that reinforces protective measures for women who are victims of gender-based violence, a move welcomed by feminist activists although they also demand more funds for prevention. The introduction of the law comes at a time of anger in Brazil over record cases of violence against women and a series of high-profile incidents that shocked the country and sparked widespread demonstrations on Sunday. The law, published in Brazil

Plotters misjudged the national mood and Benin's neighbours learnt from past errors, says analyst Paul Melly.

France’s lower house of parliament narrowly approved on Tuesday a key health care budget bill, offering the minority government some relief from political turmoil at the cost of suspending President Emmanuel Macron's flagship pension reform. With no majority at the National Assembly, centrist Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu offered to put the reform on hold as a concession to the Socialists, who voted for the bill. The move aims to prevent his fragile minority government from being toppled.

The complaint further criticized Israel Police, noting that officers were present at the scene, but did not intervene when the display was presented. Likud filed an official police complaint on Tuesday, alleging “incitement to murder the prime minister” after a display resembling a severed head of Benjamin Netanyahu was placed outside the Tel Aviv District Court during his testimony on Tuesday.

The United Nations chief called on Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Tuesday not to prosecute detained U.N. personnel and to work “in good faith” to immediately release all detained staff from the U.N. and foreign agencies and missions. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the referrals of the U.N. personnel to the Houthis' special criminal court and called the detentions of U.N. staff a violation of international law, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

If the budget is not approved by the end of March, the close of the fiscal year, the Knesset will automatically dissolve, and new elections will be called. The Shas Party will not vote in favor of Israel’s 2026 state budget unless the Finance Ministry “restores eligibility for haredi families to receive the food-voucher program," Shas Party chairman Arye Deri announced on Monday.

It had become a familiar scene in West Africa. A group of soldiers appeared on state television in Benin on Sunday to claim they had seized power. Just two weeks earlier, soldiers seized power in another West African country, Guinea-Bissau, after a closely contested presidential election.

Captain Daniel Perez was murdered during the October 7 massacre. His remains were returned to Israel on October 13, 2025.

FADC Chairman Boaz Bismuth said he pushed to approve the extension after Defense Minister Israel Katz said it was necessary for the country's national security. The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday extended the emergency draft order for 280,000 IDF reservists until January 1.

Speaking in Rome at a conference for PM Giorgia Meloni's party, former hostage Rom Braslavski described the “horror” he witnessed on October 7 and the torture he endured in Gaza captivity. Former hostage Rom Braslavski recounted the "horrors" of seeing murdered Israelis during the October 7 massacre at a speech to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party's conference on Sunday.

Underwater archaeologists announced they had discovered the ancient wreck of an ancient Egyptian pleasure boat off the coast of Alexandria.

The 2026 budget passed its first test, yet the battles over defense, taxes, and reforms expose a government more focused on managing crises than shaping policy. Israel’s state budget for 2026 passed its first hurdle on Friday, receiving approval from the government in the annual high-stakes process, which could potentially trigger early elections.

Patrice Talon says the situation is "totally under control" not long after explosions were heard in Cotonou.

Notably, Germany opposed various sanctions proposals in the EU. It is one of the few countries Israel can count on to at least abstain from one-sided UN General Assembly resolutions.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is set to begin his inaugural visit to China on Monday, six weeks after he was forced to delay the trip when he was unable to secure enough meetings with key leaders in Beijing amid tensions over Taiwan. During talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, Wadephul is expected to address Chinese restrictions on rare-earth exports, which have made life difficult for European businesses who rely on the resources for manufactu

The soldier and bereaved families spoke on the necessity of equal conscription amid the IDF's manpower shortage. Bereaved families and a wounded soldier spoke on the urgency of equal conscription to Israel’s military during a session of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sunday, as lawmakers debated advancing the bill to enforce haredi (ultra-Orthodox) conscription to the IDF.

Israel's Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir has declared that the troops' pullback line in Gaza is the new border between Israel and the Palestinian territory. During a visit to forces in northern Gaza on Sunday, he said the so-called "yellow line" was the new border, a forward defensive line for Israeli border communities and also an attack line.