International
Russia announces the capture of the Ukrainian bastion of Kurákhove in the Donestsk region
The Russian Army took the Ukrainian bastion of Kurákhove, in the eastern region of Donestsk, after several months of intense fighting, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported today in a statement.
“As part of the offensive of the units of the South military grouping, the city of Kurákove, the most densely populated urban center of the southwestern region of the Donbas, was totally liberated,” the Russian command said on Telegram.
According to Defense, “for ten years the Kiev regime turned the city into a powerful defensive bastion with a wide network of fire positions and underground tunnels.”
Two months of siege
The city is protected from the north by the Kurákhove dam, “which substantially limited the maneuvering possibilities of Russian assault units,” said the military agency.
In order to defend the city, Ukraine sent a large number of troops, “which included nationalist units and foreign mercenaries, supported with artillery and tanks,” said Defense, according to which the Ukrainian Army concentrated in Kurákhove 26 battalions with more than 15,000 soldiers.
“Thanks to the professional actions of the Russian forces, during the liberation of Kurákhove the enemy lost 80% of his living forces (more than 12,000 people), about 3,000 combat machines, including 40 tanks and other armored vehicles.
During the two months of war actions in Kurákhove, the average daily casualties of the Ukrainian Army ranged between 150 and 180 soldiers between dead and wounded,” according to the Russian report.
An important logistical knot
The capture of this city, an important logistical knot, “made it considerably difficult to supply the rearguard and the Ukrainian military in the Donetsk sector, so that the Kiev regime lost the possibility of bombing the civilian population of Donetsk with its artillery,” Defense explained.
The capture of Kurákhove allows the troops to enter operational space and “increase the speed of the liberation of the territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” added the Russian military command.
The pace of the Russian offensive increased in the second half of last year and, especially from August, territorial losses were increasing month by month.
In November, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost 610 square kilometers of territory or 20.3 square kilometers a day in their clashes with Russian troops.
The greatest territorial losses are recorded in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv.
Explosions near the Zaporiya nuclear power plant
Meanwhile, observers of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) displaced in Ukraine reported last night that they have heard loud explosions near the Ukrainian nuclear power plant of Zaporiya.
In a statement posted on its website, the Vienna-based organization points out that the detonations coincide with reports of a drone attack against the plant’s training center.
This “is another threat to the nuclear safety of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant,” warned Director-General Rafael Grossi.
According to international observers, the intensity of military activities in the vicinity of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, occupied by Russia since March 2022, increased over the weekend.
International
Thirteen kidnapped individuals found alive in Honduras after drug cartel abandonment
At least thirteen people who had been reported missing since June 17, 2024, in the Caribbean region of Honduras have been found alive, according to Miguel Martínez, spokesperson for the Secretariat of Security.
Martínez provided a brief statement confirming that the thirteen individuals—four women and nine men—were discovered “alive at a dock on the shore of a beach in Tela, Atlántida,” near the village of Crique Las Marías.
The group had been abandoned by a criminal organization linked to drug trafficking, which remains under investigation, he added.
Martínez also noted that “intense police pressure” led to the group’s release. They were subsequently taken to the Metropolitan Police Headquarters in Tela, where they received medical attention.
The abduction of these thirteen individuals, who were reportedly taken at gunpoint on June 17 by an armed group arriving by sea at Crique Las Marías, is believed to be connected to the death of a relative of José Rafael Sosa. Sosa, a Honduran national, was extradited to the United States at the request of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on drug trafficking charges.
Sosa, who was arrested on March 5, 2017, in Jutiapa, Atlántida, had been held at the National Penitentiary in northern Tegucigalpa.
International
Trump accuses EU of exploiting the U.S., promises retaliation over tariffs
President Donald Trump has stated that the United States will respond to the European Union’s countermeasures against his new 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, escalating the risk of a broader global trade war.
“Of course, I’m going to respond,” Trump said Wednesday when asked by reporters at the White House if he would take retaliatory action. “The problem is that our country never responded. Look, the EU was created to take advantage of the United States.”
Trump did not specify what measures he would take. The U.S. tariffs on metals, which went into effect Wednesday, have already triggered immediate retaliation from the EU and Canada, prompting other countries to intensify negotiations with the Trump administration in an attempt to remove the import taxes.
The European Commission delivered the strongest response yet to Trump’s latest trade offensive, launching “swift and proportionate countermeasures” on U.S. imports. The EU reinstated countervailing duties from 2018 and 2020 and added a new list of industrial and agricultural products. These measures will impact up to €26 billion (US$28.4 billion) in U.S. exports—matching the economic impact of the U.S. tariffs, according to EU officials.
International
Gal Gadot opens up about her emergency surgery during pregnancy
he 39-year-old actress has confessed that she was terrified when doctors found a blood clot in her brain in February 2024, just before giving birth to her daughter, Ori.
The Hollywood star—who also shares daughters Alma, 13, Maya, 7, and Daniella, 3, with her husband Jason Varsano—opened up about the frightening experience on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: “It was a huge scare. Suddenly, I understood what it really means to be scared to death.”
Gal had been suffering from severe headaches for weeks before finally receiving the correct diagnosis.
She was also “very pregnant” when the symptoms first appeared.
“I had excruciating headaches for three weeks and saw different doctors and neurologists,” she explained.
Initially, medical professionals attributed her headaches to migraines and hormonal changes. However, it was Gal’s mother who convinced her to get an MRI.
“They discovered something terrible, and we were rushed to the hospital. They delivered the baby immediately. I had a thrombectomy,” she shared.
In December, Gal publicly addressed her health scare in an emotional Instagram post.
Best known for her role as Wonder Woman, the actress wrote: “Back in February, during my eighth month of pregnancy, I was diagnosed with a massive blood clot in my brain. I had been suffering from unbearable headaches that left me bedridden for weeks, until I finally underwent an MRI that revealed the terrifying truth. In an instant, my family and I were reminded of how fragile life can be. It was a harsh reality check on how quickly everything can change. In the midst of an already difficult year, all I wanted was to hold on and survive. We rushed to the hospital, and within hours, I underwent emergency surgery. My daughter, Ori, was born in the middle of that uncertainty and fear.”
Thirteen kidnapped individuals found alive in Honduras after drug cartel abandonment
Trump accuses EU of exploiting the U.S., promises retaliation over tariffs
Gal Gadot opens up about her emergency surgery during pregnancy
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