Pakistani security forces on December 20 launched an operation to rescue hostages held by local Taliban militants at the Counter-Terrorism Police Center in the northwestern city of Bannu, sources told RFE/RL.
Russian forces pressed their offensive in Donetsk with primary focus on the Bakhmut and Avdiyivka directions, while seeking to recapture lost positions in the Lyman area, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military said on December 20.
The United States and its allies clashed at the UN with Iran and its ally Russia over Western claims that Tehran is supplying Moscow with drones that have been attacking Ukraine.
Russian forces pillaged thousands of valuable artifacts and artworks from two museums, a cathedral, and a national archive in the Ukrainian city of Kherson before withdrawing in early November, Human Rights Watch said on December 20.
The Russian Justice Ministry is seeking the closure of the country’s oldest human rights watchdog, the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG), amid a Kremlin campaign to muzzle criticism of the war in Ukraine.