Russia

CUPRIJA - Serbian PM Milos Vucevic said on Thursday he would not rule out potential external influence on current developments in Serbia.

The 50,000-year-old remains of a baby mammoth uncovered by melting permafrost have been unveiled to the public by researchers in Russia's Siberia region who call it the best-preserved mammoth body ever found.

Nicknamed Yana, the female mammoth weighs more than 100 kilograms and is 120 centimeters tall.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Wednesday an "inhumane" attack from Russia, which launched over 170 missiles and drones, knocking out power in several regions on Christmas Day and killing an energy worker.

A handout photo made available by the press service of the Ministry for Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan shows emergency specialists working at the crash site of a passenger plane near Aktau, Kazakhstan, 25 Dec. 2024.

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Marko Djuric met with the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors to Belgrade, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko and Sergei Malinovsky, on Wednesday and thanked them for their countries' principled position on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia as well as for the support on the Kosovo-Metohija issue.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 25.

The meeting focused on enhancing cooperation in various fields. It was followed by Fidan's discussions with Ali Mohammed Hammad Al Shamsi, the secretary-general of the UAE Supreme National Security Council.

A passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines crashed near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, the Kazakh Transport Ministry reported on Wednesday. The aircraft, an Embraer 190, was traveling from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia's Chechnya region, before it went down approximately three kilometers from the city.

A passenger aircraft with 110 people on board crashed on Christmas Day near Aktau, Kazakhstan.

Christmas revellers around the world donned red and white Santa hats, offered meals to the homeless and lit candles on Wednesday, as Pope Francis launched observation of the global holiday with a sombre mass in the Vatican.

Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed regional defense and security issues, especially Syria, in a phone call on Tuesday, Türkiye's Defense Ministry said on X.

Güler and Austin also discussed bilateral ties during the call, the ministry added.