Polish authorities on Tuesday detained a Defense Ministry official accused of spying for Russian and Belarusian intelligence services in one of the most significant espionage cases to surface within the government since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, officials confirmed.

Norway’s royal family faced renewed turmoil Tuesday after the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit was detained by police on suspicion of assault just days before his trial in Oslo on 38 charges, including the rape of four women, while the crown princess herself faces questions over past contact with late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Netherlands’ incoming coalition government has unveiled a sweeping policy blueprint that includes a so-called “freedom contribution,” requiring households and businesses to pay more in taxes to help finance sharply higher defense spending, while other social programs face cuts.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has laid out his most explicit vision yet for transforming China’s currency into a global reserve, calling for the renminbi to become widely used in international trade, investment, and foreign-exchange markets—and ultimately held by central banks.

The United States will reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18% after President Donald Trump announced a new trade agreement with India following a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The reduced rate marks a rollback from the 25% “reciprocal” tariff imposed last year, along with an additional 25% penalty tied to India’s purchases of Russian oil, the Wall Street Journal reported.

European royal houses have been shaken by fresh revelations from newly unsealed documents linked to the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit faces renewed scrutiny over years of contact with him, and Britain’s royal family continues to grapple with fallout from ties between Epstein and a senior royal.

A Russian drone strike on a bus carrying mineworkers in southeastern Ukraine killed at least 15 people on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said.

President Donald Trump’s promised U.S. military “armada” has now arrived in the Middle East, led by the aircraft carrier strike group centered on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Yet despite the high-profile deployment of naval power and advanced fighter aircraft, U.S. officials say a major American response against Iran may be delayed as the Pentagon focuses on fortifying air defenses across the region, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Rebel authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed Saturday that more than 200 people have died after a landslide collapsed several mines at a major coltan mining site in the troubled east of the war-torn African nation.

Russia and Ukraine say they have briefly halted strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure after U.S. President Donald Trump urged an end to attacks that left many people without power in freezing temperatures. Yet, differences remain over when the U.S.-brokered moratorium will expire.

Israel will immediately sever all contact with three additional United Nations agencies and international bodies, the Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday, expanding a sweeping reassessment of Israel’s engagement with UN institutions.

Israel’s military is moving ahead with an ambitious modernization effort as IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir initiates concrete steps to implement a new five-year strategic plan aimed at reshaping the battlefield of the future.

The Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes Sunday on a site in southern Lebanon that the Lebanese Army had previously declared free of Hezbollah activity, Israeli officials said, citing intelligence assessments that contradicted Beirut’s findings.

The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that it carried out an airstrike in the Zaita area of southern Lebanon, killing a Hezbollah operative involved in drone operations and terror activity along Israel’s northern border.

The administration of Donald Trump has informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it remains committed to securing the return of the final deceased Israeli hostage and to disarming Hamas, but will not make either a precondition for launching phase two of its Gaza peace plan, according to a Times of Israel exclusive.

Questions have been raised about Italian security arrangements after pro-Palestinian protesters physically blocked passengers from boarding a flight to Tel Aviv at Milan’s main airport, forming a human barrier at the gate and delaying the departure for more than two hours.

Israel, Syria and the United States have agreed to establish a new “joint fusion mechanism” aimed at enhancing security coordination, intelligence sharing and military de-escalation, marking the most significant formal cooperation between Jerusalem and Damascus in decades.

Amid congressional outcry over the Trump administration’s military actions in Venezuela, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the moves Wednesday and outlined future plans to U.S. lawmakers.

Several blue states appear set to lose electoral college votes while red states will make sweeping gains, new data from the U.S. Census Bureau suggests.

A driver rammed a vehicle into a side entrance of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s world headquarters in New York City on Wednesday, triggering widespread alarm across the Jewish community and prompting heightened security at houses of worship citywide.

Senate Republicans’ hopes of finishing the government funding process without incident were dashed over the weekend with a second fatal shooting of a protester in Minneapolis.

Some 220 million Americans were on alert Tuesday for extreme cold after a colossal winter storm heaped more snow on the Northeast, kept parts of the South coated in ice, and led to dozens of deaths, authorities said.

A federal judge on Monday heard arguments from the state of Minnesota seeking an emergency halt to the Trump administration’s deployment of thousands of federal immigration agents to the Twin Cities, a sweeping operation that has intensified tensions between state and federal authorities following a fatal shooting involving a Border Patrol agent.

A systematic organization behind riots in Minnesota exposed through leaked group chats is under investigation, says FBI Director Kash Patel.

Tensions remained high Monday in southern Laos after villagers armed with hammers and knives destroyed Christian homes and local authorities tied a pastor to a pole for preaching the Gospel, Christians said.

Tens of thousands of Christians have been celebrating Christmas and the New Year in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, defying concerns about rising Islamic extremism in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

A 14-year-old Christian girl is recovering after being abducted and raped in Pakistan’s Punjab province, according to family members and police.

The murder of a Pakistani pastor has taken a dramatic turn, with police saying his wife and her alleged lover were the “masterminds” behind the killing, which investigators say was carried out by hired assassins.

Christians in Indonesia’s West Java province were weighing their options Sunday after Muslims reportedly formed a human wall to block members of a Protestant church from reaching their Christmas worship service, in an incident that has underscored concerns about Islamic extremism in the Asian country.

Nigeria says it has provided intelligence support to the United States ahead of Christmas Day airstrikes targeting militants linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) group in the country’s northwest, where Christians had been among those suffering from Islamic extremism.

A Christian father of three was murdered in Pakistan’s Punjab province by Muslims over the Christmas holiday because of his faith in Christ, confirmed sources told Worthy News on Friday.