A massive crash on a highway in Japan kills 1 person and injures 26 as the holiday season starts.


The Gunma prefectural highway police said Saturday that the pileup on the Kan-etsu Expressway started with a collision between two trucks in the town of Minakami, about 160 kilometres (100 miles) northwest of Tokyo.

A 77-year-old woman from Tokyo died, police said. Out of the 26 injured, five were reported to be in serious condition.

The crash of the trucks blocked parts of the expressway, and cars coming from behind them were unable to brake on the snowy surface. More than 50 vehicles were involved in the pileup, police said.

A fire erupted at the far end of the pileup, spreading to more than a dozen vehicles, some of which were completely burned. Nobody was injured from the fire, which was extinguished about seven hours later, police said.

A warning about heavy snow was in effect late Friday, when many Japanese started their year-end and New Year holidays.

Parts of the expressway remained closed for police investigation, removal and cleaning of the wreckage.

The Associated Press

#Turkish authorities say they have arrested suspected IS member planning New Year’s attacks.


#ISTANBUL — Turkish authorities said Friday that they have apprehended a suspected member of the extremist Islamic State group who was planning attacks on New Year’s celebrations.

State-run Anadolu Agency reported that Ibrahim Burtakucin was captured in a joint operation carried out by police and the National Intelligence Agency in the southeastern city of Malatya.

Security officials told Anadolu that Burtakucin was in contact with many IS sympathizers in Turkiye and abroad and was also looking for an opportunity to join the ongoing fighting in conflict zones.

Authorities also seized digital materials and banned publications belonging to IS during the raid of his home.

The arrest was reported a day after Istanbul’s prosecutor’s office said Turkish authorities carried out simultaneous raids in which they detained over a hundred suspected members of the militant Islamic State group who were allegedly planning attacks against Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.

Zelenskyy says meeting with Trump to happen ‘in the near future’

Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks, and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90 per cent ready.”

An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”

The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.

“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.

The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.

“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.

Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.

Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.

In fact, Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas -- an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70 per cent of Donetsk -- the two areas that make up the Donbas.

On the ground, one person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.

Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.

“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.

Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.

Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple the Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”

By Illia Novikov

#Israeli military says it killed a member of Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon.

#JERUSALEM -- The Israeli ‍military said on Thursday that its forces ‍killed a member of Iran’s Quds ‍Force in Lebanon who had been involved in planning attacks from Syria and Lebanon.

The military identified the man as Hussein Mahmoud Marshad al-Jawhari, calling him a key operative ⁠in the force’s unit 840.

He was ‍assassinated in the area of Ansariyeh, the military added in a statement, without giving any further details of his death.

Al-Jawhari “operated under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and ​was involved in terror activities, directed by Iran, against the State of Israel and its security forces," ⁠the statement said.

Syria says senior ISIS leader killed, arrests operative near Damascus

#MOSCOW, December 24. Air defense systems on duty destroyed approximately 132 #Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over Russian Regions between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Moscow time [10 a.m. and 5 p.m. GMT], the Russian defense ministry reported.

"On December 24, between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Moscow time [10 a.m. and 5 p.m. GMT], 132 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted and destroyed by air defense systems on duty: 46 UAVs over the territory of the Belgorod Region, 42 UAVs over the territory of the Bryansk Region, 15 UAVs over the territory of the Kaluga Region, 12 UAVs over the territory of the Moscow Region, 7 UAVs over the territory of the Kursk Region, 4 UAVs over the territory of the Lipetsk Region, 2 UAVs over the territory of the Ryazan Region, 2 UAVs over the territory of the Oryol Region, 1 UAV over the territory of the Tula Region, and 1 UAV over the territory of the Republic of Crimea," the statement said.

Kennedy Center Christmas Eve jazz concert cancelled after Trump name added to building.

As of last Friday, the building’s facade reads The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. According to the White House, the president’s handpicked board approved the decision, which scholars have said violates the law. Trump had been suggesting for months he was open to changing the center’s name.

“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday. Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player who has toured with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, has been presiding over holiday “Jazz Jams” at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William “Keter” Betts.

The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to email seeking comment. The center’s website lists the show as canceled.

President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the center as a living memorial to him. Kennedy niece Kerry Kennedy has vowed to remove Trump’s name from the building once he leaves office and former House historian Ray Smock is among those who say any changes would have to be approved by Congress.

14 countries condemn Israel’s expansion of West Bank settlements: statement. Fourteen countries, including France, Britain, and Germany, condemned on Wednesday Israel’s recent approval of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

“We, States of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom condemn the approval by the Israeli security cabinet of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank,” said a joint statement released by the French foreign ministry.

“We recall our clear opposition to any form of annexation and to the expansion of settlement policies,” it added.

On Sunday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the authorities had greenlit the settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In their statement, the countries stressed such unilateral actions “violate international law” and risk undermining a fragile ceasefire in Gaza as mediators push for the implementation of the second phase of the truce.

The countries urged Israel “to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements”.

They also reaffirmed their “unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution... where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side-by-side in peace and security”.

Israel has occupied the West Bank following a war in 1967.

Excluding east Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, along with about three million Palestinian residents.

Earlier this month, the United Nations said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank -- all of which are illegal under international law -- had reached its highest level since at least 2017.

DOJ sues Illinois’ governor over laws protecting immigrants at courthouses and hospitals.


CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday fired back against a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit over state protections of immigrants from federal arrest at courthouses, hospitals and day cares.

Justice officials filed suit on Monday, claiming new Illinois measures prohibiting detention of immigrants going about daily business at key locations are unconstitutional and “threaten the safety of federal officers,” according to a department statement.

Democrat Pritzker has led the opposition to the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants in Illinois, particularly because of the indiscriminate and sometimes-violent way they’re apprehended. Through a spokesperson, he reiterated that he’s not opposed to taking action on migrants who commit violent crimes and are in the country illegally.

“However, the Trump administration’s masked agents are not targeting the ‘worst of the worst’ — they are harassing and detaining law-abiding U.S. citizens and Black and brown people at daycares, hospitals and courthouses,” spokesperson Jillian Kaehler said.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” which appears to have largely wound down for now, arrested more than 4,000 people. Data on those arrested from early September through mid-October showed only 15% had criminal records, with traffic offenses, misdemeanors or nonviolent felonies comprising the vast majority.

At issue are laws Pritzker signed earlier this month that ban civil arrests at and around courthouses statewide and require hospitals, day care centers and public universities to have procedures for handling civil immigration operations and protecting personal information.

The laws, which took effect immediately, also provide legal steps for people whose constitutional rights were violated during the federal enforcement action in the Chicago area, including $10,000 in damages for someone unlawfully arrested while attempting to attend a court proceeding.

Immigration and legal advocates have applauded the legislation, saying many immigrants were avoiding courthouses, hospitals and schools out of fear of being detained.

Lawrence Benito, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, called the laws “a brave choice” in opposing ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“Our collective resistance to ICE and CBP’s violent attacks on our communities goes beyond community-led rapid response — it includes legislative solutions as well,” he said at the time.

The Justice Department argues that Pritzker and co-defendant Attorney General Kwame Raoul, also a Democrat, violated the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which dictates that federal law is supreme. The lawsuit is part of an effort by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify state and local laws the agency says impede federal immigration operations.

A spokesperson said Raoul and his staff are reviewing the complaint.

“This new law reflects our belief that no one is above the law, regardless of their position or authority,” Kaehler said. “Unlike the Trump administration, Illinois is protecting constitutional rights in our state.”

Christine Fernando And John O’connor, The Associated Press

O’Connor reported from Springfield, Illinois.

The Trump administration is not satisfied with the Rwanda-backed M23's withdrawal from a strategic town in eastern Congo, a senior U.S. official told Reuters, as residents reported persistent clashes nearby on Tuesday.


M23 seized the town of Uvira, near the border with Burundi, on December 10, days after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan leader Paul Kagame met President Donald Trump in Washington and reaffirmed a U.S.-brokered peace deal.

The capture marked the rebels' biggest advance in months, fueling fears of regional spillover from fighting that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands since January.
After U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Rwanda's actions in mineral-rich eastern Congo were violating the peace deal, M23 last week pledged to withdraw to give peace talks a chance.
While most M23 combatants have left Uvira itself, Washington is "not satisfied" that the group has fully withdrawn, the senior U.S. official said.
"There has been some movement, but we don't feel that it really amounts to a complete liberation of the town. We do believe that the M23 continues to be positioned around the city," the official said.

Some M23 fighters remain in Uvira wearing police instead of military uniforms, two residents told Reuters on Tuesday.
Sporadic gunfire was heard on Tuesday morning from hills overlooking the Kalundu neighbourhood, one resident said.
Sources from M23 and the Congolese army blamed each other for the violence in recent days.
Rwanda denies backing M23 and has blamed Congolese and Burundian forces for the renewed fighting. A report by a United Nations group of experts in July assessed that Rwanda exercised command and control over the rebels.
M23 is not party to the Washington-mediated negotiations, but is negotiating separately with Kinshasa in Qatar.

#WAR STRAINS PUBLIC FINANCES, IMF SAYS

The recent fighting has sent over 84,000 refugees into Burundi this month, overwhelming its capacity, the U.N. refugee agency said last week.
About 500,000 people have been displaced in South Kivu province since early December, and the World Food Programme is scaling up aid for 210,000 vulnerable people.

M23's lightning advance this year in North and South Kivu has cost Congo 0.4% of GDP, while exceptional security spending nears $3 billion, IMF mission chief Calixte Ahokpossi told Reuters.
"If (insecurity) continues in the medium term and they have to continue cutting spending, particularly on investment and social programmes, it will have an impact on growth and the future of the country," he said.