
Ukraine launches counterattack in Russian border region as Zelenskyy to ask allies for boost in air defenses
CBSN
Ukrainian forces launched a counterattack in the western border region of Kursk, warning that Russia was "getting what it deserves."
Though it was not immediately clear how much Ukraine had advanced in the region, the assault comes at a critical juncture in the nearly three-year conflict with both sides seeking to boost their negotiating hand ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House on Jan. 20.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that he will again call on allies to boost his country's air defenses at a meeting of the Ramstein group in Germany this week.

Former Israeli Defense Minister and opposition lawmaker Avigdor Liberman on Thursday accused Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of authorizing weapons transfers to a criminal gang in Gaza that he likened to the ISIS terrorist group. Netanyahu appeared later in the day to confirm the operation, suggesting it would save the lives of Israeli forces battling Hamas in the Palestinian territory.

Oscar Pistorius, former Olympian convicted of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp's murder, returns to racing
Johannesburg — South African former Olympic and paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius has competed in his first race 12 years after murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius, a double leg amputee who has been free on parole since January 2024, competed in an Ironman triathlon in Durban over the weekend.

Tel Aviv, Israel — Israel has recovered the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages killed and taken in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military and intelligence services said Thursday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the remains of Judi Lynn Weinstein and Gad Haggai were recovered and returned to Israel in a special operation by the army and the Shin Bet internal security agency.

Toronto — At least 33,400 people have been forced to evacuate their homes in three Canadian provinces due to active wildfires that are sending smoke drifting across the border into northern U.S. states and all the way across the Atlantic to Europe. As of Wednesday two deaths were blamed on the blazes.