Japan approves record $785bn budget, boosts defence spending
Japan's cabinet has approved a record-high $785 billion budget for the next fiscal year - including the largest allocation for defence spending ever....
Russian forces have launched attacks on two areas in Ukraine's border Sumy region, where Moscow has established a presence in recent months, according to authorities.
Ukrainian officials say 14 people were injured in the strikes, including a 5-year-old boy.
Previously, the regional military administration reported on Telegram that drone attacks in the town of Putyvl injured 11 people and caused damage to civilian infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Artem Kobzar, mayor of Sumy city to the southeast, said a guided bomb strike injured three people and damaged a residential building, breaking windows and balconies.
Sumy region has been a strategic area in the conflict. Ukrainian forces used it as a launching point for a major incursion into Russia’s Kursk region nearly a year ago. The Kremlin claims Ukrainian troops have been pushed out, and President Vladimir Putin has announced plans to create a buffer zone there.
The Kremlin’s intensified military operations in Sumy are part of a broader campaign in northern Ukraine, which has included missile and drone strikes targeting both military and civilian sites.
Earlier in April 2025, a missile strike on Sumy city resulted in at least 35 civilian deaths and significant destruction of homes and infrastructure, marking one of the deadliest attacks in the region this year.
A majority of Russians expect the war in Ukraine to end in 2026, state pollster VTsIOM said on Wednesday, in a sign that the Kremlin could be testing public reaction to a possible peace settlement as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict intensify.
Military representatives from Cambodia and Thailand met in Chanthaburi province on Wednesday ahead of formal ceasefire talks at the 3rd special GBC meeting scheduled for 27th December.
In 2025, Ukraine lived two parallel realities: one of diplomacy filled with staged optimism, and another shaped by a war that showed no sign of letting up.
It’s been a year since an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people. Relatives and loved ones mourn the victims, as authorities near the final stage of their investigation.
The White House has instructed U.S. military forces to concentrate largely on enforcing a “quarantine” on Venezuelan oil exports for at least the next two months, a U.S. official told Reuters, signalling that Washington is prioritising economic pressure over direct military action against Caracas.
Japan's cabinet has approved a record-high $785 billion budget for the next fiscal year - including the largest allocation for defence spending ever.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 26th of December, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Missile development in North Korea is set to continue over the next five years. The country’s leader Kim Jong Un made the remarks during visits to major arms production facilities in the final quarter of 2025, the state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.
The United States carried out a strike against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria's government, President Donald Trump and the U.S. military said on Thursday.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday announced his support for his son Flavio Bolsonaro’s 2026 presidential candidacy while recovering from a planned hernia operation, which doctors said went smoothly.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment