Trump says Ukraine deal closer but no talks breakthrough

U.S. President Donald Trump said that a deal was closer than ever to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but reported no apparent breakthrough on the flashpoint issue of territory after new talks with the warring countries’ leaders. Mr. Trump, who had promised a peace deal on day one of his nearly year-old presidency, said it would become clear within weeks whether it was possible to end the war that has killed tens of thousands of people since February 2022

Indian officials deny Bangladesh police’s allegations about Hadi’s killers fleeing to Meghalaya

Indian official sources denied the allegation of the Bangladeshi police that the suspects in the killing of Islamist youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi had crossed over from Bangladesh to Meghalaya. The Indian denial came soon after Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police S.N. Nazrul Islam said that two suspects in the December 12 shooting of Mr. Hadi — Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh had crossed into Meghalaya with the help of locals and that two of the local assistants of the suspects were in the custody of Indian authorities.

In a day of reactions to Digvijaya’s remarks on the RSS, Tharoor says Congress’s organisation needs strengthening

Reactions continued from within the Congress on senior leader Digvijaya Singh’s remarks on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), made ahead of the Congress Working Committee meeting held on the party’s 140th foundation day, with some supporting the view that the party’s organisational strength had to be bolstered, and others dismissing it. “The [Congress’s] organisation should be strengthened, there is no doubt,” Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who was seated next to Mr. Singh during a ceremony to mark the party’s foundation day, later said, adding, “But Digvijaya Singh can speak for himself.”

With 97% drop in cases, India to eradicate malaria in short time: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said India has recorded a 97% reduction in malaria cases and the country will be free of the disease in a “short time”. “Thanks to various healthcare related schemes like Ayushman Bharat and Mission Indradhanush, we have recorded 97% reduction in malaria cases and we will be almost free from malaria in a short time. The government has been able to bring down mortality rate in dengue to just 1%. There has been a 25% reduction in maternal mortality,” he said.

Request Sonia Gandhi to return Nehru’s letters to Prime Ministers’ Museum: Shekhawat

Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat urged former Congress president Sonia Gandhi to return the correspondence and documents of the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library, stating that they belonged to the country and not to any individual.

Nepal polls: Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah named PM candidate

Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah was nominated the prime ministerial candidate as he and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) inked a pact to jointly contest the March 5 Nepal elections. The seven-point agreement, reached after overnight marathon negotiations, designates 35-year-old Mr. Shah as the parliamentary party leader and the prime ministerial face, while Rabi Lamichhane will continue as chairperson of the RSP, the fourth-largest party in the dissolved House of Representatives (HoR).

Jairam Ramesh questions Environment Minister; claims Aravalli redefinition will fragment it

Amid a row over the redefinition of the Aravallis, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday (December 28, 2025) posed four questions to Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and claimed that the move will lead to fragmentation and undermining of the geographical and ecological integrity of the entire mountain range.

ECI flags technical issue in 2002 rolls, halts hearings for ‘unmapped’ electors in Bengal

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued fresh instructions to district election officials in West Bengal, directing that voters marked as “unmapped” in the BLO app due to technical issues linked to the digitisation of the 2002 electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise should not be called for hearings, even if such notices have been auto-generated by the system.

Mann Ki Baat: World looking at India with great hope due to ‘youth power’, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (December 28, 2025) said India’s achievements in the field of science, innovations and the expansion of technology have greatly impressed countries across the globe and the whole world is is looking at the country with great hope because of its “youth power”.

French film legend Brigitte Bardot dead at 91: foundation

French film legend Brigitte Bardot, a cinema icon of the 1950s and sixties who walked away from global stardom to become an animal rights protector, has died aged 91, her foundation said on Sunday (December 28, 2025). Bardot had rarely been seen in public in recent months but was hospitalised in October and in November released a statement denying rumours that she had died. The foundation did not say when or where she died.

President Murmu undertakes submarine sortie at Karwar naval base

President Droupadi Murmu visited the Kadamba Naval Base in Karwar on Sunday (December 28, 2025). She under took a sortie in the INS Vagshir submarine. She became the second President of India to travel in a submarine by sailing in a submarine.

Open Merit students cancel Srinagar protest after NC’s Ruhullah, PDP’s Parra, Iltija ‘placed under house arrest’

Students from the Open Merit category in Kashmir on Sunday (December 28, 2025) cancelled a sit-in protest in Srinagar over “unfair reservation quota”. The decision came after several political leaders, including National Conference’s Aga Syed Ruhullah, Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Waheed-ur-Rehmaan Parra, and Iltija Mufti, were allegedly placed under house arrest and student leaders detained.