Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says officials are expected to hand their latest peace proposals to United States negotiators on Wednesday. The Ukrainian leader also says a presidential election could be held in Ukraine within three months if balloting could be made safe during wartime. His comment came after U.S. President Donald Trump called for a ballot. Zelenskyy told reporters late Tuesday that he is “ready” for an election but would need help from the U.S. and possibly Europe to ensure security for a vote to happen. He suggested that Ukraine could be ready to hold balloting in 60 to 90 days if that proviso is met.

Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia is showing no signs of stopping. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in both countries and have sought refuge in temporary shelters. A Thai military spokesperson on Wednesday reported about 400,000 people have been evacuated and around 700 schools closed. Cambodia has evacuated more than 127,000 villagers. Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has vowed to continue fighting. Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen has promised a fierce response. The conflict follows a skirmish Sunday that derailed a ceasefire U.S. President Donald Trump had promoted to end similar fighting in July over territorial claims.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has welcomed a groundbreaking social media ban for children under 16 as families taking back power from tech giants. The ban took effect on Wednesday.  Albanese has acknowledged the challenges of implementation but emphasized the importance of protecting children. Platforms, including Facebook and TikTok, face hefty fines if they fail to comply. Australia's eSafety Commissioner will monitor compliance and report by Christmas on whether the ban is working. Some children have found ways to bypass the restrictions, but officials warn they will eventually be caught. The ban has sparked debate, with some families concerned about negative impacts.

Chinese gaming and social media giant Tencent Holdings has withdrawn from Paramount Skydance Corp.'s bid to buy Warner Bros Discovery. A revised filing by Paramount with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows the Chinese company has dropped its $1 billion financing commitment for the takeover bid. Paramount said the Chinese company's participation in the bid had raised the possibility that its bid might be subject to a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS. The filing said that three Middle Eastern foreign sovereign wealth funds that are part of Paramount's bid had agreed to give up a right to participate in Warner Bros' management to avoid additional scrutiny.

Authorities say Grammy-nominated singer Jubilant Sykes was stabbed to death at his home in Santa Monica, California, and his son was arrested on suspicion of murder. Police say officers responding to a 911 call Monday night found the 71-year-old Sykes with critical stab wounds. He died at the scene. The victim’s 31-year-old son was arrested at the home. Police recovered a weapon and the investigation is ongoing Tuesday. Sykes was nominated for best classical album at the 2010 Grammy Awards for “Bernstein: Mass,” in which he performed the Celebrant role.

Archaeologists have uncovered the longest remains of an ancient wall that once encircled Jerusalem during the time of Hanukkah. The excavation was completed last week. It reveals a section of the Hasmonean wall foundation built a few decades after the Hanukkah story. This wall is almost 50 meters long and 5 meters wide and once held taller structures than the current Old City walls. Experts believe the wall was purposefully dismantled, possibly due to a ceasefire agreement in 132 or 133 BC between Jewish king John Hyrcanus I and Hellenistic King Antiochus the Seventh. The findings will be part of a new museum exhibit.

Pope Leo XIV is insisting that Europe must have a role in any Ukraine peace deal. And he is criticizing what he says is the Trump administration’s effort to “break apart” the long-standing U.S.-European alliance.Leo spoke to reporters Tuesday after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Castel Gandolfo, his vacation home south of Rome. The American pope said they discussed the need for a cease-fire and the Vatican’s efforts to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children taken by Russian authorities.Leo was asked about the U.S. peace proposal and the seeming sidelining of European powers in the process. Leo insisted that Europe’s role was crucial to any deal.

Democrat Eileen Higgins has won the Miami mayor’s race over a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump. Higgins on Tuesday became the first Democrat in nearly 30 years to be elected Miami mayor. Her win gives Democrats a boost in one of the last electoral battles ahead of the 2026 midterms. Higgins spoke frequently in the Hispanic-majority city about Trump’s immigration crackdown, saying she has heard of many people in Miami who were worried about family members being detained. She beat Trump-backed candidate Emilio Gonzalez, a former city manager.

Federal agents have used pepper spray to disperse a crowd in a heavily Somali neighborhood in Minneapolis. This happened Tuesday during a identification checks amid the Trump administration's crackdown on the community. City Council Member Jamal Osman is a Somali American who witnessed the confrontation. The community has been on edge since President Trump announced the end of Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in the state. It's unclear how many have been detained or asked for documents. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials says no arrests were made Tuesday but provided no further details.

A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday refused to step aside as requested by President Donald Trump’s former attorney who faces felony forgery case related to the 2020 election  in the battleground state. The judge also refused to cancel a Monday preliminary hearing for Trump’s former attorney, who also previously worked as a judge in the same county where he is being prosecuted, and two other former Trump associates. The three former Trump aides face 11 felony charges each in relation to their roles in the 2020 fake elector scheme. They are: Jim Troupis, who was Trump’s attorney in Wisconsin in the 2020 election; Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who advised the campaign; and Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day operations in 2020.

The U.S. Justice Department has withdrawn from an agreement with Houston to curb illegal dumping in Black and Latino neighborhoods. The move is part of the Trump administration's dismantling of environmental justice initiatives around the country. Federal authorities quietly ended the monitoring this year along with a similar settlement in Alabama. The Houston agreement aimed to address illegal dumping of trash and waste in certain neighborhoods. It included federal monitoring and community outreach. Critics say the decision is short-sighted and neglects affected communities. Environmental justice advocates argue that President Donald Trump's administration doesn't understand the impact on these communities.

A.J. Hinch has mastered the art of smiling and sidestepping the one question he keeps hearing at the MLB winter meetings. The Detroit Tigers manager has no interest in discussing the possibility of losing his ace, Tarik Skubal, this winter. Instead, Hinch wants to talk about Skubal’s chance to chase another Cy Young Award. Skubal is entering his final season under team control, and the Tigers have not dismissed the possibility of a trade. The left-hander’s agent, Scott Boras, said he is open to listening to extension offers from Detroit, but also painted a bleak picture of the club without its ace.

The Justice Department has challenged a court order that complicated efforts to seek a new indictment against former FBI Director James Comey by making a trove of evidence off-limits to prosecutors. An order issued over the weekend by a federal judge in Washington barred the Justice Department at least temporarily from accessing computer files belonging to Daniel Richman, a close Comey friend and Columbia University law professor who prosecutors see as a central player in any potential case against the former FBI director. Prosecutors moved Tuesday to quash that order, calling Richman’s request for the return of his files a “strategic tool to obstruct the investigation and potential prosecution.”

Hundreds of Nicaraguans caroled the Virgin Mary at flower-and-light-filled altars set up in church parking lots as well as the back of vehicles on the streets of Miami to mark the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The exuberant early December celebration called “gritería” is especially poignant this year during the ongoing crackdowns on religion groups in Nicaragua as well as on immigrant communities in the United States. Many of the people who set up altars, and those who visited, say they did so as a promise to the Virgin, to express gratitude or to ask for protection both in the United States and for their families in Nicaragua.

The author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott revealed $7.1 billion in donations to nonprofits in 2025 Tuesday, marking a significant increase in her annual giving from recent years. Scott acknowledged donating $2.6 billion in 2024 and $2.1 billion in 2023. The gifts this year bring her total giving since 2019 to $26.3 billion. Scott acknowledged the donations in an essay on her website. Scott’s donations have captured the attention of nonprofits and other charitable funders because they come with no strings attached and are often very large compared to the annual budgets of the recipient organizations