KIEV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that leaders from Europe and the United States agreed on five principles for the talks with Russia, the Ukrinform news agency reported.
Speaking at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin, Zelensky stressed that Ukraine must be directly involved in the peaceful settlement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. (Ukraine-Russia-Talks)
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JERUSALEM -- Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Wednesday he has approved the construction of 3,401 housing units for settlers in a particularly controversial area of the occupied West Bank.
The homes would be built in the E1 area, a stretch of land east of Jerusalem between the city and the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim. Construction there is seen as especially contentious because it would effectively cut off East Jerusalem from the northern West Bank. Building plans in E1 have been frozen for years, largely due to international opposition. (Israel-West Bank-Settlement)
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JERUSALEM/GAZA -- Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir on Wednesday approved the main framework of a government plan to expand the offensive in Gaza to areas not yet under Israeli control.
The offensive will later target refugee camps in central Gaza and the southern area of Al Mawasi, where most of Gaza's 2.2 million residents have taken shelter, according to a statement by the Israeli military. (Israel-Gaza-Plan)
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WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will submit a crime bill and ask Congress for approval to extend the federal control of the Metropolitan Police Department to address crime in the nation's capital.
"We're going to need a crime bill that we're going to be putting in, and it's going to pertain initially to D.C.," Trump told reporters following an event at the Kennedy Center. "We're going to be asking for extensions on that, long-term extensions, because you can't have 30 days." (US-Trump-Extension) ■
