Afghan Defense Minister Quits, Hands Karzai A Security Headache

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Around 50 European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, will be reassessing their trans-Atlantic relations in the hope that Donald Trump’s second U. S. presidency will avoid the strife and political pitfalls of his first administration. Further compounding an already complicated situation, Germany — Europe’s troubled economic juggernaut — sank into political crisis after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister.

The world will have just over two months to prepare for Donald Trump’s return to the White House, and whatever new foreign policy comes with it. His first presidential term—defined by trade wars, isolationism, and a deep skepticism towards the E. U. and NATO—may seem to offer a preview of what might come in the second.

Key political figures across the globe have begun extending congratulatory messages to former and future U. S. President Donald Trump, who won the presidential election early Wednesday morning. Read More: How Trump Won [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] [video id=yb0xE9vU autostart="viewable"] Here’s what world leaders and key political figures have said so far on social media: Australia “Congratulations to President Donald Trump on his election victory,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese posted on X.

SEDAVI, Spain — Francisco Murgui went out to try to salvage his motorbike when the water started to rise. He never came back. One week after catastrophic flooding devasted eastern Spain, María Murgui still holds out hope that her father is alive and among the unknown number of the missing. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “He was like many people in town who went out to get their car or motorbike to safety,” the 27-year-old told The Associated Press.

KYIV, Ukraine — North Korean troops recently deployed to help Russia in its war with Ukraine have come under Ukrainian fire, a Kyiv official said Tuesday. It is the first time a Ukrainian official has said that Pyongyang’s units were struck, following a deployment that has given the war a new complexion as it approaches its 1,000-day milestone. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “The first North Korean troops have already been shelled, in the Kursk region,” Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation branch of Ukraine’s Security Council, wrote on Telegram.

THULASENDRAPURAM, India — The temple reverberated with rhythmic Sanskrit and Tamil hymns, as a Hindu priest held a flame before the god. As this tiny South Indian village gathered to pray for Kamala Harris, a gaggle of reporters jostled for space and camera angles. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] There’s little to distinguish the village of Thulasendrapuram from any other rural community in Tamil Nadu, except its connection to a woman who could become America’s first leader with South Asian roots. As millions of Americans vote, Harris has people rooting for her from thousands of miles away in a village surrounded by rice paddies and coconut trees, where her mother’s family has ancestral ties.