Pope Leo XIV prays for peace in Lebanon and the Levant
NewsFeed Pope Leo stopped at one of Lebanon’s most important Christian sites, praying that Saint Charbel helps to resolve differences and bring peace to the region. Published On 1 Dec 20251 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share facebooktwitterwhatsappcopylink Save Adblock test (Why?)
Ukraine seeks to shore up support in Brussels, Paris
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris to bolster support for Kyiv, as Ukrainian and European defence chiefs gathered in Brussels for talks centred around Ukrainian and collective security. The meetings came on Monday amid a diplomatic flurry of activity to end Russia’s almost four-year-old war in Ukraine. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Before the meeting, Macron’s office said the two presidents would discuss the conditions necessary for a “fair and lasting peace”. Speaking to La Tribune Dimanche newspaper on Sunday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the meeting aimed “to move the negotiations forward”. “Peace is within reach, if [Russian President] Vladimir Putin abandons his delusional hope of reconstituting the Soviet empire by first subjugating Ukraine,” he noted. EU ministers Reporting from Brussels, where a meeting of the European Union’s defence ministers, also attended by Ukraine’s Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal, took place on Monday, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Alhelbarra said Kyiv’s European allies wanted to see “an agreement where there’s no notion of part of Ukraine being handed over to Russia as the price they have to pay for a permanent deal”. Alhelbarra added that the bloc is worried about the possibility of a “blanket amnesty”, which would prevent Russian officials from being tried over crimes committed in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said on social media that he had briefed Finland’s President Alexander Stubb on “the signals we have received from the American side”, following a day of talks on Sunday between Ukrainian and American negotiators in Florida. Advertisement The Ukrainian leader also confirmed that he had spoken to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO boss Mark Rutte, saying “these are important days, and much can change”. Zelenskyy has described talks in the United States on Sunday between US and Ukrainian negotiators as “very constructive”, but noted that there were “some tough issues that still have to be worked through”. For Kyiv, it marks progress from US President Donald Trump’s original 28-point peace proposal, which it and its European allies viewed as favourable to Russia. On Sunday, the US president declared on Air Force One that “there’s a good chance we can make a deal”. However, he also said Ukraine has “some difficult little problems”. Two days earlier, Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff and Ukraine’s top negotiator, resigned amid a corruption scandal in the energy sector. More work needed Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, hailed the Florida talks as a success, but added that “there’s more work to be done”. “There are a lot of moving parts, and obviously there’s another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation, and that will continue later this week when Mr Witkoff travels to Moscow,” he said. Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands said the Ukrainians would be happy that Rubio, whom they see as the Trump administration’s most Ukraine-friendly senior official, was currently leading the negotiations. “Because Rubio seems to be driving the car at the moment, things seem to be going OK for the Ukrainians,” Challands said. However, he stressed that caution was needed because of Trump’s unpredictability and because Russia had yet to react to the latest peace plan draft. Sticking to his maximalist demands, Putin has said he will end the war only when Ukrainian troops withdraw from four of its regions Russia illegally annexed in 2022 but does not fully control. “If they don’t withdraw, we’ll achieve this by force. That’s all,” the Russian president said last week. US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, will discuss the latest draft peace agreement with Putin when they meet in the Russian capital on Tuesday afternoon. Russians are generally not enthusiastic about their visit, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova said, reporting from Moscow. “On the one hand, polls show that most Russians really want an end to the conflict as soon as possible,” Shapovalova said. “On the other, there’s not much enthusiasm about Steve Witkoff’s visit,” she added. Advertisement Over on the battlefield in Ukraine, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Monday that its troops had seized the settlement of Klynove in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. The announcement could not be independently confirmed. Deadly attack on Dnipro Elsewhere, at least four people were killed and 40 others injured, 11 critically, in a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Monday, according to Vladyslav Gaivanenko, the acting governor of Dnipropetrovsk region. The strike damaged four residential high-rises and an educational facility in the city centre, Dnipro’s Mayor Borys Filatov said. He also reported that search and rescue operations were ongoing. Russia launched 89 strike and decoy drones overnight on Sunday before the Dnipro attack, with 63 of those shot down or jammed, Ukraine said. The Russian Defence Ministry said it had downed 32 Ukrainian drones overnight across 11 of the country’s regions as well as the Sea of Azov. Adblock test (Why?)
Indonesia races to find missing after massive floods, landslides
NewsFeed More than 1,000 people have died in floods and landslides across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia after days of tropical storms. In North Sumatra, President Prabowo faces mounting pressure to declare a national emergency as aid teams struggle to reach cut-off villages. Published On 1 Dec 20251 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Who was Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar? The Nobel laureate after whom Elon Musk named his son
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made an interesting revelation about his partner, Shivon Zilis, that she is half-Indian and that one of their sons carries the middle name ‘Sekhar’. Speaking on Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, Musk shared that his son’s middle name came from Nobel Prize-winning Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
Bihar Legislative Assembly session begins today, newly elected MLAs highlight key issues
Protem Speaker of the legislative assembly Narendra Narayan Yadav said that the session will start with the address given by him, followed by an oath-taking ceremony of newly elected legislators, starting with the ministers, then the LoP and then the newly elected MLAs.
Tobacco, cigarettes and pan masala to get costlier? Finance Minister moves new excise and cess bills that may…
The Centre has introduced two new bills to levy excise duty on tobacco products and impose a Health Security-National Security Cess on pan masala, replacing the GST compensation cess on sin goods.
From lotus-inspired architecture to aerobridges, Navi Mumbai International Airport to open on December 25, check features, details
The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) will soon become operational as it successfully completed its first passenger simulation test on November 29 and 30. The trial is a major cornerstone of the airport which is scheduled to launch routine commercial flights from December 25.
Delhi-Dehradun Expressway opens for trial, to cut travel time to 2-2.5 hrs; inauguration expected soon
The Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, also known as the Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun Expressway, is one of the much-awaited highway projects. It has been opened for a trial run for commuters on Monday, December 1. Once fully operational, the expressway is expected to reduce the Delhi-Dehradun journey from the usual 6-6.5 hours to 2-2.5 hours.
Good news for UP! Noida to have its own Deer Park, Sunset Safari in…, spread across 32 acres, with 132 deers, other animal species, check details
Beyond fancy restaurants and malls, Noida will now entertain its residents and others with its own Deer Park, and Sunset Safari soon. The Noida authority has taken the initiative to develop this green zone in Sector 91, likely in the next two months as it is set to finalise the agency for the job in a month, officials said on Sunday. It will not only be one of the entertainment zones in Noida but also improve green area.
‘Have not slept in 20 days’: Another BLO dies by suicide in UP, alleges work pressure due to SIR in heartbreaking video
A selfie video has emerged showing Kumar talking about his plight before his death. In the video, Kumar said he had failed to complete assigned work for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. He sought the forgiveness of his family members for “going far from their world.”