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Biden Nominates Veteran Diplomats for Top State Posts

Wendy Sherman arrives for a meeting on Syria at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva February 13, 2014. (Reuters)
Wendy Sherman arrives for a meeting on Syria at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva February 13, 2014. (Reuters)
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Biden Nominates Veteran Diplomats for Top State Posts

Wendy Sherman arrives for a meeting on Syria at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva February 13, 2014. (Reuters)
Wendy Sherman arrives for a meeting on Syria at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva February 13, 2014. (Reuters)

Democratic President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday nominated US foreign policy veteran Wendy Sherman, a key negotiator of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, to be the No. 2 official at the State Department.

Biden also nominated Victoria Nuland, a retired career foreign service officer who was the top US diplomat for Europe, NATO ambassador and State Department spokeswoman, to be Under Secretary for Political Affairs, effectively the third-ranking US diplomat.

Sherman, who has a masters degree in social work, was the State Department counselor from 1997 to 2001, a period when she was also policy coordinator on North Korea. From 1993 to 1996 she served as assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs.

Because of her association with the Iran deal, which was fiercely opposed by Republicans and some Democrats, Sherman had been expected to face some trouble winning Senate confirmation. However, her path will be easier after Biden’s fellow Democrats won two run-off elections on Jan. 5 that gave them control of the Senate.

Republican President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the international nuclear pact and has been imposing new sanctions on Iran.

Sherman is currently a professor at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a senior counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group, a strategy and commercial diplomacy firm.

Nuland, a former assistant secretary of state for European affairs, served as deputy national security adviser to then-Vice President Dick Cheney from 2003 to 2005 and as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of state from 1993 to 1996.

Biden also nominated one of his long-time foreign policy advisers, Brian McKeon, to be Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. He nominated Bonnie Jenkins to be Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.

And he nominated Uzra Zeya to be Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on Tuesday for Antony Blinken, Biden’s nominee to be Secretary of State.

If confirmed, the nominees announced on Saturday would serve under Blinken.

Philip Gordon, another veteran of the Obama and Clinton administrations, was named Deputy National Security Advisor to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Reuters reported earlier this month that the nominations of Sherman and Nuland were expected, confirming a Politico report.

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World

Iran’s President Says Answer to Attack Would Be Harsh in Apparent Response to Trump Warning

Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025. (AP)
Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025. (AP)
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Iran’s President Says Answer to Attack Would Be Harsh in Apparent Response to Trump Warning

Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025. (AP)
Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025. (AP)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday said his country’s answer to an attack would be harsh, which appeared to be in response to a warning by US President Donald Trump over reconstruction of Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran’s answer “to any cruel aggression will be harsh and discouraging,” Pezeshkian said on the social media platform X.

Pezeshkian did not elaborate, but his statement came a day after Trump suggested the US could carry out military strikes if Iran attempts to reconstitute its nuclear program. Trump made the comment during wide-ranging talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again,” Trump said during a news conference with Netanyahu after their meeting. “And if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully that’s not happening.”

The two leaders discussed the possibility of renewed military action against Tehran months after a 12-day air war in June that killed nearly 1,100 Iranians including senior military commanders and scientists. Iran’s retaliatory missile barrage killed 28 people in Israel.

Trump suggested Monday that he could order another US strike against Iran.

“If it’s confirmed, they know the consequences, and the consequences will be very powerful, maybe more powerful than the last time,” Trump said.

Pezeshkian said Saturday that tensions between the sides already had risen.

“We are in a full-scale war with the US, Israel and Europe; they don’t want our country to remain stable,” he said.

Iran has insisted it is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country, trying to signal to the West that it remains open to potential negotiations over its atomic program.

US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60%, which is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Meanwhile, some of the largest protests in three years entered a third day Tuesday after the country’s currency plummeted to a record low against the US dollar. The head of the Central Bank resigned on Monday.

According to witnesses and videos on social media, rallies took place in Tehran and other cities and towns. Police fired tear gas in some places. Near a market in downtown Tehran, footage showed people pushing back police and security forces and throwing stones at them.

University students also rallied inside campuses on Tehran University and other major universities, witnesses said.

Pezeshkian met a group of businessmen to listen to their demands, media reported.

"The administration will not spare any effort for solving problems and improving situation of the society,” Pezeshkian said. He also assigned Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni for talks with protesters.

The head of the country’s tax department, Mohammad Hadi Sobhanian, also said the government will revise its tax arrangement in favor of businesses, dropping penalties for delay in paying taxes.

The government announced the closure of offices and banks on Wednesday for managing energy consumption during the winter days, to be followed by weekly holidays on Thursday and Friday. Saturday also is a religious holiday in the country.

World

Ukraine Says No Evidence It Attacked Putin Residence

28 December 2025, US, Palm Beach: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump following their talks at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. (Ukrainian Presidency/dpa)
28 December 2025, US, Palm Beach: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump following their talks at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. (Ukrainian Presidency/dpa)
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Ukraine Says No Evidence It Attacked Putin Residence

28 December 2025, US, Palm Beach: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump following their talks at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. (Ukrainian Presidency/dpa)
28 December 2025, US, Palm Beach: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump following their talks at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. (Ukrainian Presidency/dpa)

Ukraine said Tuesday there was no "plausible" evidence it launched a drone attack on one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's residences, accusing Moscow of peddling falsehoods to manipulate talks on ending the war.

Ukraine's allies have expressed skepticism about Russia's claim.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for "transparency", while a French presidential source described the Kremlin's statements as an "act of defiance" against US President Donald Trump's efforts to broker peace.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has called Russia's claim a "complete fabrication", said he would meet with leaders of Kyiv's allies on January 6 in France in a bid to renew peace efforts.

In comments to journalists on Tuesday, the Ukrainian leader repeated his assertion that the attack was faked and called on partners to verify this.

"Our negotiating team connected with the American team, they went through the details, and we understand that it's fake," he said.

The Kremlin said Tuesday it considered the alleged drone attack on Putin's secluded residence in the Novgorod region to be a "terrorist act" and a "personal attack against Putin".

But it said it could not provide evidence for its claim as the drones were "all shot down".

It also said the Russian army had chosen "how, when and where" to retaliate against Ukraine, and that Moscow would now "toughen" its negotiating position in talks to end Europe's worst conflict since World War Two.

Russia has hit Ukraine with an almost daily barrage of drones and missiles for almost four years, killing thousands.

- European leaders rally around Ukraine -

European leaders rallied around Ukraine following Moscow's allegation. Zelensky said a summit of the so-called "coalition of the willing" -- a group of Western countries that have pledged further support for Ukraine -- would take place on January 6 in France.

The summit would be preceded by a meeting of security advisors from the allied countries, Zelensky said on X, adding: "We are planning it for January 3 in Ukraine."

Germany's Merz said on social media that Kyiv's allies were "moving the peace process forward. Transparency and honesty are now required from everyone -- including Russia."

But US President Donald Trump -- who spoke to Putin on Monday -- directed criticism at Kyiv on Monday, despite Ukraine calling the incident staged.

"You know who told me about it? President Putin, early in the morning, he said he was attacked. It's no good," Trump said.

"It's one thing to be offensive because they're offensive. It's another thing to attack his house," the US leader said.

Moscow has not said where Putin was at the time.

The longtime Russian leader's residences are shrouded in secrecy in Russia -- as is much of his private life.

- Secretive residence -

The late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison last year, had published investigations into Putin's luxury lake-side residence in the Novgorod region.

Putin had been increasingly using the residence since the Ukraine war began, as it is more secluded and better protected by air defense installations, according to an investigation by RFE/RL.

Moscow's allegation comes at a pivotal moment for diplomacy to end the war.

Ukraine has said it has agreed to 90 percent of a US-drafted peace plan, but Russia has been hesitant to accept a deal that does not meet its maximalist demands.

Putin has repeatedly said that Russia intends to seize the rest of Ukrainian land he has proclaimed as Russian if diplomacy fails.

Russia's advance in eastern Ukraine picked up pace in autumn, with Moscow's troops seizing more villages with every week since.

Ukraine's navy on Tuesday blamed Russia for drone attacks on two civilian vessels in the Odesa region that Russia has been battering with strikes in the past weeks.

Ukraine on Tuesday also ordered the mandatory evacuation of several villages in the northern Chernigiv region, which borders Moscow-allied Belarus, due to intense Russian shelling.

World

Thousands of Somalis Protest Israeli Recognition of Somaliland

This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP)
This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP)
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Thousands of Somalis Protest Israeli Recognition of Somaliland

This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP)
This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP)

Large protests broke out in several towns and cities across Somalia on Tuesday in opposition to Israel's recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland.

Israel announced on Friday that it viewed Somaliland -- which declared independence in 1991 but has never been recognized by any other country -- as an "independent and sovereign state".

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has condemned the move as a threat to stability in the Horn of Africa. He travelled Tuesday to Türkiye, a close ally, to discuss the situation, AFP reported.

Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Somali capital Mogadishu and gathered at a stadium, waving placards with anti-Israeli slogans alongside Somali and Palestinian flags.

"We will never allow anyone to violate our sovereignty," one attendee, Adan Muhidin, told AFP, adding that Israel's move was "a blatant violation of international law".

Demonstrations also took place in Lascanod in the northeast, Guriceel in central Somalia, and Baidoa in the southwest.

"There is nothing we have in common with Israel. We say to the people of Somaliland, don't bring them close to you," said Sheikh Ahmed Moalim, a local religious leader, in Guriceel.

Somaliland has long been a haven of stability and democracy in the conflict-scarred country, with its own money, passport and army.

It also has a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden that makes it an attractive trade and military partner for regional and international allies.

But Israel's decision to recognize its statehood has brought rebukes from across the Muslim and African world, with many fearing it will stoke conflict and division.

There have been celebrations in Somaliland's capital Hargeisa, with the rare sight of Israeli flags being waved in a Muslim-majority nation.