Talks on guarantees for Ukraine. U.S. and European leaders committed to work toward providing a “legally binding commitment” to defend Ukraine in the case of a future attack, European leaders said in a joint statement yesterday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as unnamed U.S. officials, told reporters that Washington had offered security guarantees akin to those in NATO. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the current talks represent “the opportunity for a genuine peace process.”
Probe of Australia attack. “Early indications” suggest the two attackers who killed fifteen people in Sydney over the weekend were inspired by the self-declared Islamic State, Australia’s federal police commissioner said today. She added there was no evidence that other people were involved in the attack but that the investigation remained in its early stages.
New Delhi’s air pollution. More than two hundred flights were canceled and fifty trains delayed in New Delhi, officials said yesterday, as the city experienced its worst air pollution levels in weeks. Last month, air pollution sparked rare protests in the city. Its smog levels worsen in the winter, when nearby farmers clear land with fires. India’s Supreme Court is due to hear a case tomorrow that argues authorities are not doing enough in response.
Washington’s war on drugs. Trump declared illegal fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals to be weapons of mass destruction in an executive order yesterday. He directed agencies to probe and prosecute fentanyl trafficking, and to consider devoting military resources to the problem. Separately, the United States and Paraguay yesterday signed a security agreement that Washington said would tighten military and economic cooperation and help fight drug trafficking. Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced it bombed three alleged drug boats in the Eastern Pacific.
FBI probes bomb plot. Federal officials yesterday said they arrested four left-wing activists in a probe, alleging that the activists had planned a New Years Eve attack on two California companies. Authorities opened the investigation in part because Trump had instructed the FBI to pursue left-wing extremist groups in the United States, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California said.
India’s charges on Kashmir. India’s anti-terrorism agency charged two Pakistan-based militant groups—Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Resistance Front—and six individuals for an April attack in Kashmir that killed twenty-six people and sharply escalated regional tensions. Two of the people charged are in Indian government custody, and three are deceased. The charges say that Pakistan’s government supports terrorism against India; Islamabad has repeatedly denied this in the past, but did not immediately comment on the latest charges.
Iranian laureate beaten. Iranian security forces beat Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi on the head and neck after detaining her last Friday, according to a post attributed to her family on Mohammadi’s social media account. Mohammadi told her family she had been accused of cooperating with Israel, the post said; the charge can carry the death penalty. Iranian authorities did not respond to a New York Times request for comment; they told state media that Mohammadi’s rights were being respected.
Trump’s appeal for Jimmy Lai. Trump said yesterday that he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider releasing Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, who was convicted this week on multiple conspiracy charges. Trump did not specify when his conversation with Xi occurred. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on social media yesterday that he echoes Trump’s call to release Lai.
