Trump hails ‘terrific’ Ukraine peace plan meeting with Zelensky and claims ‘a lot of progress’ made
However, US president says a few ‘thorny issues’ remain

© Reuters
However, US president says a few ‘thorny issues’ remain

© Reuters

© Illustration: Ella Baron/The Guardian

© Illustration: Ella Baron/The Guardian

© Illustration: Ella Baron/The Guardian
Authorities remove beam placed on Christmas Day to recreate Eisbach wave, which vanished in October
A row over the disappearance of a famous river surfing wave in Munich has escalated after authorities removed a beam inserted over Christmas to recreate the attraction.
The Eisbach wave on a side branch of the Isar River had been a landmark in the Bavarian city since the 1980s but it vanished in October after annual cleanup work along the riverbed.
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© Photograph: Leonhard Simon/Reuters

© Photograph: Leonhard Simon/Reuters

© Photograph: Leonhard Simon/Reuters

Online audiences seeking out authentic and passionate voices as antidote to AI-generated content
For years, social media fame has been associated with the red carpet glamour of the Kardashians and Cristiano Ronaldo’s megawatt sporting celebrity, but millions of users globally are increasingly turning their attention to unassuming heroes drawn from everyday life.
TikTok says a range of accounts, from a bird enthusiast to an Italian grandmother and a doubledecker bus fan, have grown in popularity this year as social media users latch on to authentic voices.
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© Photograph: TikTok | omo.oroje

© Photograph: TikTok | omo.oroje

© Photograph: TikTok | omo.oroje
he fire department moved in early Sunday morning

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US president said ‘thorny’ questions over territory have yet to be resolved and expressed sympathy with Russia not wanting a ceasefire
Donald Trump has said a deal to end the war in Ukraine is “closer than ever” but has admitted that “thorny” questions over the future of the eastern Donbas region have yet to be resolved, after a two-hour meeting on Sunday with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida.
Trump said a draft agreement to end the war was nearly “95% done”. “I really think we are closer than ever with both sides,” he said, adding that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, also wants to “see it happen”.
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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© 1966 AP

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Call with European leaders is also slated to take place during meeting
The Ukrainian military said on Sunday that it hit the Syzran oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region in an overnight drone attack.
The strike caused a fire and damages were still being assessed, Kyiv’s General Staff said.
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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Emmanuel Macron leads tributes to actor who became an international sex symbol and later embraced animal rights and far-right politics
Brigitte Bardot, the French actor and singer who became an international sex symbol before turning her back on the film industry and embracing the cause of animal rights activism and far-right politics, has died aged 91.
Paying tribute to Bardot on Sunday, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, wrote on social media that France was mourning “a legend of the century”.
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© Photograph: NANA PRODUCTIONS/REX/Rex Features

© Photograph: NANA PRODUCTIONS/REX/Rex Features

© Photograph: NANA PRODUCTIONS/REX/Rex Features
Italy's most active volcano erupted on Saturday, prompting scientists to issue a red Volcano Observatory notice for aviation, signalling a potential risk for aircraft. Despite the alert, authorities said flights continued operating normally at Catania-Fontanarossa airport, adding that no disruption was expected unless ashfall increased
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© Photograph: Getty Images

© Photograph: Getty Images

© Photograph: Getty Images
Volunteers and neighbours are restoring the century-old homes as an act of defiance against Russia’s assault
Lesia Danylenko proudly showed off her new front door. Volunteers had nicknamed its elegant transom window the “croissant”, a nod to its curved shape. “I think it’s more of a peacock,” she said, admiring its branch-like details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who celebrated with two pavement parties.
It was also an act of resistance against Russia, she explained: “We are trying to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. We’re not afraid of staying in Ukraine. I could have left the country and moved away to Italy or Germany. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our commitment to our homeland.”
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© Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian

© Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian

© Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian
Take this hopeful thought into 2026: the tyrants we endure always falter, and their ‘seismic’ upheavals are usually false dawns
For those who lived through the cold war, the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, was an unforgettable moment. The sinister watch towers with their searchlights and armed guards, the minefields in no-man’s land, the notorious Checkpoint Charlie border post, and the Wall itself – all were swept aside in an extraordinary, popular lunge for freedom.
Less than a month later, on 3 December 1989, at a summit in Malta, US president George HW Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared that after more than 40 years, the cold war was over. All agreed it was a historic turning point.
Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator
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© Illustration: Nate Kitch/The Guardian

© Illustration: Nate Kitch/The Guardian

© Illustration: Nate Kitch/The Guardian
PM Albin Kurti’s Self-Determination party may struggle to win majority after rival parties refused alliance
Voters in Kosovo are casting ballots in an early parliamentary election in the hope of breaking a political deadlock that has gripped the small Balkan nation for much of this year.
The snap vote was scheduled after the prime minister Albin Kurti’s governing Vetëvendosje, or Self-Determination, party failed to form a government despite winning the most votes in a 9 February election.
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© Photograph: Valdrin Xhemaj/Reuters

© Photograph: Valdrin Xhemaj/Reuters

© Photograph: Valdrin Xhemaj/Reuters
President Trump claimed ‘a lot of progress had been made’ in negotiations at Mar-a-Lago in Florida

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As young men face new rules forcing them to indicate their readiness to serve, the Bundeswehr drums up support at a trade show
Sitting in the cramped interior of a Panzerhaubitze 2000 armoured vehicle, Tom, 20, hangs on every word coming from Achim, an officer with the German military, as he breathlessly talks students through the workings of “the most modern tank in the world”.
“What damage would you expect its ammunition to inflict?” Tom asks.
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© Photograph: Lara Ingenbleek/The Guardian

© Photograph: Lara Ingenbleek/The Guardian

© Photograph: Lara Ingenbleek/The Guardian