Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the United States, Israel and Europe are waging a “total war” against Iran. In an interview, he said the aim is to weaken his country. Pezeshkian spoke six months after Israeli and US strikes hit Iranian military and nuclear sites. The attacks followed a 12-day conflict in June. Iran said over 1,000 people were killed. The US later bombed three nuclear sites. Talks on Iran’s nuclear programme then stopped. US President Donald Trump has revived tough sanctions on Iran. (PC: Reuters)

A strong winter storm has disrupted air travel across the United States during the busy holiday period. By Friday night, about 1,600 flights were cancelled and more than 7,400 were delayed, flight tracking data showed. The worst impact was at New York area airports, including JFK, Newark and LaGuardia. Boston, Chicago and Toronto also saw delays. Weather officials issued storm warnings for New York and southern Connecticut, with up to 23 cm of snow expected. Airlines such as JetBlue, Delta and Southwest cancelled hundreds of flights. State leaders urged people to avoid non-essential travel and warned drivers to expect unsafe road conditions. (PC: BBC)

The BCCI has named a 15-member India squad for the 2026 Under-19 World Cup in Namibia and Zimbabwe. Ayush Mhatre will lead the side, with Vihaan Malhotra as vice-captain. Vaibhav Suryavanshi is set for his first World Cup after strong youth form this year. He scored 690 runs in 12 youth one-day games in 2025. The squad also includes Aaron George and wicketkeeper Abhigyan Kundu. India will play New Zealand, USA and Bangladesh in the group stage. The team will tour South Africa for three one-day matches from January 3 before the tournament begins on January 15. (PC: India Today)

Police in Navi Mumbai have arrested a 30-year-old woman for killing her six-year-old daughter at their Kalamboli home. Officers said the woman first tried to claim the child had suffered a heart attack. A police officer found the case suspicious and ordered a special post-mortem. The early report showed signs of airway blockage. After hours of questioning, the woman admitted to strangling the girl, police said. During the probe, she told officers she was upset that the child did not speak Marathi clearly and often spoke Hindi. Police added that the woman wanted a son and was under psychiatric treatment for other problems. (PC: NDTV)

The Election Commission has released Assam’s draft electoral rolls after a Special Revision exercise ahead of the Assembly polls. The state now has 2.51 crore registered voters, not counting about 93,000 doubtful voters, known as D-voters. A total of 10.56 lakh names were removed. Officials said nearly 4.79 lakh deletions were due to deaths, over 5.23 lakh voters had moved from their listed homes, and about 53,600 were marked as similar or duplicate entries. The door-to-door check ran from November 22 to December 20 across over 61 lakh households. Voters can file claims or objections till January 22. (PC: HT)

Three satellite-tagged Amur falcons from Manipur have completed rare long flights from India to Africa in December. Apapang flew about 6,100 km in six days and reached Kenya after crossing the Arabian Sea and the Horn of Africa. Alang covered nearly 5,600 km, with short stops in Telangana and Maharashtra, before landing in Kenya. Ahu flew about 5,100 km to Somalia after halting in Bangladesh. The birds are now moving across parts of southern Africa, including Zimbabwe and Botswana. Scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India are tracking the birds to study routes and support protection of global migration paths.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is travelling to Florida to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss a US-backed 20-point peace plan to end the war with Russia. He will stop in Canada to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney and speak with key allies before the talks. The visit comes hours after Kyiv faced almost 10 hours of Russian missile and drone attacks overnight. One person was killed and 28 were injured, Ukraine’s state emergency service said. Zelensky said the bombardment showed Moscow did not want peace. The plan includes security guarantees and ideas for zones in eastern Ukraine. (PC: BBC)

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an immediate ceasefire to halt weeks of intense border clashes rooted in longstanding territorial disputes, taking effect at 12:00 noon on 27 December 2025. The joint statement from both defence ministers calls for a halt to hostilities across all weapons and fronts, freezing troop movements and allowing displaced civilians to return home. The fighting, marked by artillery exchanges and airstrikes, killed dozens and displaced hundreds of thousands. Both sides also pledged cooperation on demining and combating cybercrime. ASEAN observers and international pressure helped bring about the truce after multiple failed truces.

Hyderabad police have filed a detailed chargesheet in the Pushpa 2 stampede case, naming 23 accused, including Telugu star Allu Arjun, his security team and Sandhya Theatre management, in connection with a deadly crowd surge at Sandhya Theatre in December 2024. A woman died and her young son was seriously injured when an overwhelming crowd rushed during the film’s premiere event due to fans trying to see the actor. The chargesheet accuses organisers of failing to manage crowd control, holding them responsible for the tragedy. Legal proceedings are expected as the court examines the roles of those named.

At the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting attended by Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor, top issues included the new Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act replacing MGNREGA, Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and unrest in Bangladesh. Kharge condemned scrapping MGNREGA, calling VB-G RAM G one-sided and announced a nationwide “MGNREGA Bachao Andolan” from January 5, 2026 to protest its repeal. Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor also criticised the renaming and restructuring of the rural jobs law. (PC: HT)