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World Leaders Welcome Macron's French Election Win

French President and La Republique en Marche (LREM) party candidate for re-election Emmanuel Macron (R) holds his fist in the air as he holds Brigitte Macron’s hand after his victory in France’s presidential election, at the Champ de Mars in Paris, on April 24, 2022. AFP
French President and La Republique en Marche (LREM) party candidate for re-election Emmanuel Macron (R) holds his fist in the air as he holds Brigitte Macron’s hand after his victory in France’s presidential election, at the Champ de Mars in Paris, on April 24, 2022. AFP
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World Leaders Welcome Macron's French Election Win

French President and La Republique en Marche (LREM) party candidate for re-election Emmanuel Macron (R) holds his fist in the air as he holds Brigitte Macron’s hand after his victory in France’s presidential election, at the Champ de Mars in Paris, on April 24, 2022. AFP
French President and La Republique en Marche (LREM) party candidate for re-election Emmanuel Macron (R) holds his fist in the air as he holds Brigitte Macron’s hand after his victory in France’s presidential election, at the Champ de Mars in Paris, on April 24, 2022. AFP

World leaders rushed to congratulate France's centrist President Emmanuel Macron on his re-election and defeat of far-right leader Marine Le Pen in elections Sunday.

Here are some of the main reactions according to AFP:

- European Union -"I am delighted to be able to continue our excellent cooperation," tweeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"We can count on France for five more years," European Council President Charles Michel wrote on Twitter.

- United States -"France is our oldest ally and a key partner in addressing global challenges," US President Joe Biden tweeted. "I look forward to our continued close cooperation -- including on supporting Ukraine, defending democracy, and countering climate change."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also congratulated Macron.

"We look forward to continuing close cooperation with France on global challenges, underpinning our long and enduring Alliance and friendship," he wrote.

- Germany -Chancellor Olaf Scholz said French voters "have sent a strong vote of confidence in Europe today. I am happy that we will continue our good cooperation".

- Britain -Prime Minister Boris Johnson called France "one of our closest and most important allies" and said he looked forward "to continuing to work together on the issues which matter most to our two countries and to the world".

- Ukraine -President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has spoken with Macron several times since Russia's invasion on February 24, called Macron a "true friend of Ukraine".

"I wish him further success for the sake of the (French) people. I appreciate his support and I am convinced that we are moving together towards new common victories," he wrote in both Ukrainian and French.

- Russia -Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote in a telegram: "I sincerely wish you success in your state activities, as well as good health and well-being," according to a statement from the Kremlin.

- Algeria -President Abdelmadjid Tebboune congratulated Macron on his "brilliant" victory and invited him to visit Algeria soon "to intensify and broaden" relations which have been fraught in recent times between France and its neighboring former colony.

- China -China President Xi Jinping said he would "like to continue working with President Macron to maintain diplomatic relations based on independence, mutual understanding, foresight and mutual benefit". according to a readout from state broadcaster CCTV.

- Australia -Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Macron's victory was a "great expression of liberal democracy in action in uncertain times".

"We wish you and France every success, in particular your leadership in Europe and as an important partner to Australia in the Indo-Pacific," he tweeted, using an alternative name for the Asia-Pacific region.

In November, Macron accused his Australian counterpart of lying over a multi-billion-dollar submarine contract that Canberra scrapped without warning.

- Canada -Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was "looking forward to continuing our work together on the issues that matter most to people in Canada and France -- from defending democracy, to fighting climate change, to creating good jobs and economic growth for the middle class".

- India -Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated his "friend" on being re-elected and said "I look forward to continue working together to deepen the India-France Strategic Partnership."

- Japan -Tweeting in French, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wrote: "We will strengthen our close cooperation with President Macron in various areas, such as the Indo-Pacific region and the Russian aggression against Ukraine."

- Italy -Prime Minister Mario Draghi described Macron's victory as "great news for all of Europe".

- Spain -"The citizens have chosen a France committed to a free, strong and fair EU. Democracy wins. Europe wins," tweeted socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. "Congratulations Emmanuel Macron."

- Belgium -Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said French voters had made a "strong choice", opting for "certainty and Enlightenment values".

- UN bodies -UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi sent his "warm congratulations" and said his organization would continue to count on Macron's support on the European and world stage "as humanitarian challenges and refugee crises become more serious and complex every day".

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he looked forward to "continuing the important partnership" with France "for a healthier, safer, fairer world".

- Ireland -Prime Minister Micheal Martin hailed Macron's "principled and dynamic leadership" as "important not only for France, but for Europe".

- Switzerland -President Ignazio Cassis said he looked forward to "continuing our good collaboration," stressing the close ties between the two neighboring countries.

- Sweden -Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson sent her "warmest congratulations".

"Let's continue our close cooperation -- bilaterally and for a competitive, green and resilient European Union," she tweeted.

- African Union -African Union Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat congratulated Macron over "his brilliant re-election", saying he hoped to continue building "mutually beneficial relations between Africa and France".

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World

6.5-magnitude Quake Shakes Mexico City

People wait outside their homes and buildings after an earthquake in Mexico City, Mexico, January 2, 2026. REUTERS/Henry Romero
People wait outside their homes and buildings after an earthquake in Mexico City, Mexico, January 2, 2026. REUTERS/Henry Romero
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6.5-magnitude Quake Shakes Mexico City

People wait outside their homes and buildings after an earthquake in Mexico City, Mexico, January 2, 2026. REUTERS/Henry Romero
People wait outside their homes and buildings after an earthquake in Mexico City, Mexico, January 2, 2026. REUTERS/Henry Romero

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake shook Mexico City and southwestern Guerrero state on Friday, sending people rushing into the streets but causing no serious damage, according to preliminary reports.

President Claudia Sheinbaum was forced to evacuate the presidential palace during her regular morning press conference, along with the journalists in attendance, when the earthquake alert sounded.

The Seismological Service said that the earthquake's epicenter was situated 14 kilometers (nine miles) southwest of San Marcos, in the southern state of Guerrero, about 400 kilometers from Mexico City.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck around 8:00 am east of Acapulco, a major port and beach resort.

Sheinbaum said there were no immediate reports of major damage in either Mexico City or Guerrero.

Mexico, which is situated between five tectonic plates, is one of the world's most seismically active countries.

Karen Gomez, a 47-year-old office worker living on the 13th floor of an apartment building in Mexico City, told AFP she was roused from her sleep by a street siren.

"I woke up in terror. My cellphone alert said it was a powerful earthquake."

Norma Ortega, a 57-year-old kindergarten director, living in a 10th-floor apartment, said she could feel her building shake.

"I got a terrible fright."

The center of Mexico City is built on the muddy subsoil of what was once the bed of a lake, making it particularly vulnerable to earthquakes.

Those most strongly felt usually originate off Guerrero state on the Pacific coast.

On September 19, 1985, an 8.1-magnitude earthquake devastated a vast swathe of Mexico City, leaving nearly 13,000 dead, mostly in the city, according to official figures.

In 2017, also on September 19, a 7.1-magnitude quake killed 369 people, also mostly in Mexico City.

Early warning systems, including smartphone apps, have been developed to warn Mexico City residents of strong quakes and urge them to reach safety.

The city has also installed loudspeakers on lampposts to broadcast the alerts.

World

Zelenskyy Names Ukraine's Head of Military Intelligence as his New Chief of Staff

Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, attends the press conference 'Ukraine, Year 2025' in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 February 2025 (reissued 02 January 2026), amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO
Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, attends the press conference 'Ukraine, Year 2025' in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 February 2025 (reissued 02 January 2026), amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO
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Zelenskyy Names Ukraine's Head of Military Intelligence as his New Chief of Staff

Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, attends the press conference 'Ukraine, Year 2025' in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 February 2025 (reissued 02 January 2026), amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO
Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, attends the press conference 'Ukraine, Year 2025' in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 February 2025 (reissued 02 January 2026), amid the Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday appointed the head of Ukraine's military intelligence as his new chief of staff, a move that comes as the US leads a diplomatic push to end Russia's nearly 4-year-old invasion.

In announcing the appointment of Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs to focus on security issues, developing its defense and security forces, and peace talks -- areas that are overseen by the office of the president, The Associated Press reported.

Zelenskyy had dismissed his previous chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, after anti-corruption officials began investigating alleged graft in the energy sector.

Budanov, 39, is one of the country’s most recognizable and popular wartime figures. He has led Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, known by its acronym GUR, since 2020.

A career military intelligence officer, he rose through the defense establishment after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. He also took part in special operations and intelligence missions linked to the fighting with Moscow-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine before the full-scale invasion of February 2022. He reportedly was wounded during one such operation.

Since the full-scale invasion. Budanov has become a prominent face of Kyiv’s intelligence effort, regularly appearing in interviews and briefings that mix strategic signaling with psychological pressure on Moscow. He has frequently warned of Russia’s long-term intentions toward Ukraine and the region, while portraying the war as an existential struggle for the country's statehood.

Under Budanov, the GUR expanded its operational footprint, coordinating intelligence, sabotage and special operations aimed at degrading Russian military capabilities far beyond the front lines. Ukrainian officials have credited military intelligence with operations targeting Russian command structures, logistics hubs, energy infrastructure and naval assets, including strikes deep inside Russian territory and occupied areas.

His appointment to lead the office of the president marks an unusual shift, placing a serving intelligence chief at the center of Ukraine’s political and diplomatic coordination. Zelenskyy has framed the move as part of a broader effort to sharpen the focus on security, defense development and diplomacy.
“Kyrylo has specialized experience in these areas and sufficient strength to achieve results,” Zelenskyy said.

Budanov said on Telegram his new position is "both an honor and a responsibility — at a historic time for Ukraine — to focus on the critically important issues of the state’s strategic security.”

Russian authorities said Friday the death toll from what they called a Ukrainian drone strike on a cafe and hotel in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region rose to 27. Kyiv strongly denied attacking civilian targets.

Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman of Russia's main criminal investigation agency, the Investigative Committee, said those killed in the village of Khorly, where at least 100 civilians were celebrating New Year's Eve, included two minors, while 31 people were hospitalized.

A spokesman for Ukraine’s General Staff, Dmytro Lykhovii, denied attacking civilians. He told Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne on Thursday that Ukrainian forces “adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law” and "carry out strikes exclusively against Russian military targets, facilities of the Russian fuel and energy sector, and other lawful targets.”

He noted that Russia has repeatedly used disinformation and false statements to disrupt the ongoing peace negotiations.

The Associated Press could not independently verify claims made about the attack.

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Wednesday that he, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner had a “productive call” with the national security advisers of Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine “to discuss advancing the next steps in the European peace process.”

The US efforts has faced a new obstacle earlier this week, when Moscow said it would toughen its negotiating stand after what it said was a long-range drone attack against a residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in northwestern Russia early Monday.

Kyiv has denied attacking Putin’s residence, saying the Russian claim was a ruse to derail the negotiations.

In his New Year’s address, Zelenskyy said a peace deal was “90% ready” but warned that the remaining 10% — believed to include key sticking points such as territory — would “determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe, how people will live.”

New overnight attacks Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russia struck a residential area of Kharkiv with two missiles Friday, Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram page, adding that Moscow's forces "continue the killings, despite all the efforts of the world, and above all the United States, in the diplomatic process.”

At least 15 people in the eastern city were injured, according to regional administration head Oleh Syniehubov.

Earlier Friday, Russia conducted what local authorities called “one of the most massive” drone attacks at Zaporizhzhia. At least nine drones struck the city, damaging dozens of residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure but causing no casualties, according to Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional administration.

Overall, Russia fired 116 long-range drones at Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s air force, with 86 intercepted and 27 striking their targets.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 64 Ukrainian drones overnight in multiple Russian regions.

The Russian city of Belgorod was hit by a Ukrainian missile, according to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov. Two women were hospitalized after the strike, which shattered windows and damaged an unspecified commercial facility and a number of cars in the region that borders Ukraine, he said.

World

A Building Under Construction Collapses in Nairobi, Leaving an Unknown Number of People Trapped

Members of The Disaster Response Battalion (DRB) of the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) gather at the site of a 16-storey building under construction that collapsed, as search and rescue operations begin with possible casualties still unconfirmed, in the South C neighborhood of Nairobi, on January 2, 2026. (AFP)
Members of The Disaster Response Battalion (DRB) of the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) gather at the site of a 16-storey building under construction that collapsed, as search and rescue operations begin with possible casualties still unconfirmed, in the South C neighborhood of Nairobi, on January 2, 2026. (AFP)
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A Building Under Construction Collapses in Nairobi, Leaving an Unknown Number of People Trapped

Members of The Disaster Response Battalion (DRB) of the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) gather at the site of a 16-storey building under construction that collapsed, as search and rescue operations begin with possible casualties still unconfirmed, in the South C neighborhood of Nairobi, on January 2, 2026. (AFP)
Members of The Disaster Response Battalion (DRB) of the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) gather at the site of a 16-storey building under construction that collapsed, as search and rescue operations begin with possible casualties still unconfirmed, in the South C neighborhood of Nairobi, on January 2, 2026. (AFP)

A multi-story building under construction in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, collapsed Friday, leaving an unknown number of people trapped.

Rescue workers are digging through the rubble. The building was in an area of Nairobi known as South C, according to the Kenya Red Cross, and local media say it was a 16-story structure.

“A multi-agency response team is on site managing the situation,” the Kenya Red Cross said in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from authorities on the likely cause of the collapse or the number of victims. The toll is not expected to be high, The Associated Press said.

Building collapses are common in Nairobi, where housing is in high demand and unscrupulous developers often bypass regulations or simply violate building codes.

After eight buildings collapsed and killed 15 people in Kenya in 2015, the presidency ordered an audit of buildings across the country to see if they were up to code. The National Construction Authority found that 58% of the buildings in Nairobi were unfit for habitation.