Trump Says Honduras 'Trying to Change' Presidential Election Outcome

Presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the National Party of Honduras arrives to hold a press conference after the general election, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, December 1, 2025. REUTERS/Leonel Estrada
Presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the National Party of Honduras arrives to hold a press conference after the general election, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, December 1, 2025. REUTERS/Leonel Estrada
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Trump Says Honduras 'Trying to Change' Presidential Election Outcome

Presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the National Party of Honduras arrives to hold a press conference after the general election, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, December 1, 2025. REUTERS/Leonel Estrada
Presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the National Party of Honduras arrives to hold a press conference after the general election, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, December 1, 2025. REUTERS/Leonel Estrada

Donald Trump on Monday accused election officials in Honduras of "trying to change" their presidential election outcome, in a race where the US president has voiced support for right-wing candidate Nasry Asfura.

Hondurans are awaiting results in the November 30 vote, but election officials have said it's too close to call after a preliminary count.

"Looks like Honduras is trying to change the results of their Presidential Election. If they do, there will be hell to pay!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Asfura and Salvador Nasralla were practically tied in the latest vote count on Monday, with both holding just under 40% of the vote in a tight race beset by problems with the results website.

Around midday in Honduras, the electoral authority's website showed Asfura - the conservative National Party candidate - leading Liberal Party candidate Nasralla by just 515 votes. It was not clear how many votes had been counted due to problems with the electoral portal. Rixi Moncada, of the ruling LIBRE Party, was well behind in third with 19% of the vote.

Nasralla posted on X that internal projections put him ahead with 44.6%.
"We are not declaring ourselves the winners, just projecting the results that will be fed into the CNE (electoral body) in the next hours," he said in the post.

Members of the National Party criticized Nasralla for not waiting until final results had been released by the electoral authority.

CNE President Ana Paola Hall, in a post on X, called for calm amid the technical tie and asked for patience as the count continues.

Asfura's lead has narrowed significantly since the first preliminary results were released on Sunday evening.

Whichever candidate wins the most votes will govern the country between 2026 and 2030. There is no second round of voting.

Outgoing President Xiomara Castro reposted on X a message from her husband, former President Manuel Zelaya, calling for vigilance while "awaiting the final count, with 100% of the presidential ballots tallied."



Kremlin Says Russia Is Toughening Its Stance on Ukraine After Drone Attack

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) chairs a meeting to discuss Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine, as Defense Minister Andrei Belousov (2-R) sits nearby, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 29 December 2025. (EPA/Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) chairs a meeting to discuss Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine, as Defense Minister Andrei Belousov (2-R) sits nearby, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 29 December 2025. (EPA/Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool)
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Kremlin Says Russia Is Toughening Its Stance on Ukraine After Drone Attack

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) chairs a meeting to discuss Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine, as Defense Minister Andrei Belousov (2-R) sits nearby, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 29 December 2025. (EPA/Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) chairs a meeting to discuss Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine, as Defense Minister Andrei Belousov (2-R) sits nearby, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 29 December 2025. (EPA/Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool)

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that a Ukrainian drone attack on a presidential residence in ​the Novgorod region would toughen Russia's position on a possible peace deal to end the fighting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has dismissed the Russian accusations as "another round of lies" aimed to justify additional attacks against Ukraine and to ‌prolong the ‌war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov ‌noted ⁠Ukraine's ​denial of ‌the drone attack - and said that many Western media were playing along with Kyiv's denial.

"This terrorist action is aimed at collapsing the negotiation process," Peskov told reporters. "The diplomatic consequence will be to toughen ⁠the negotiating position of the Russian Federation."

The Russian military, ‌he said, knew how ‍and when ‍to respond.

"We see that Zelenskiy himself is ‍trying to deny this, and many Western media outlets, playing along with the Kyiv regime, are starting to spread the theme that ​this did not happen," Peskov said. "This is a completely insane assertion."

Peskov declined ⁠to say where Putin was at the time of the attack, saying that in light of recent events such details should not be in the public domain.

When asked if Russia had physical evidence of the drone attack, he said air defenses shot the drones down but that the question of wreckage ‌was for the defense ministry.


Russia Urges Restraint as Trump Warns Iran of Possible Strike

Iranians drive past an anti-Israeli billboard carrying a sentence in Persian reading "We are ready, are you ready?" hanging at Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran, 24 December 2025. (EPA)
Iranians drive past an anti-Israeli billboard carrying a sentence in Persian reading "We are ready, are you ready?" hanging at Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran, 24 December 2025. (EPA)
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Russia Urges Restraint as Trump Warns Iran of Possible Strike

Iranians drive past an anti-Israeli billboard carrying a sentence in Persian reading "We are ready, are you ready?" hanging at Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran, 24 December 2025. (EPA)
Iranians drive past an anti-Israeli billboard carrying a sentence in Persian reading "We are ready, are you ready?" hanging at Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran, 24 December 2025. (EPA)

The Kremlin on Tuesday said it was ​necessary to develop a dialogue with Iran and urged all parties to refrain from escalation after ‌US President ‌Donald Trump ‌said ⁠Washington ​would ‌support another massive strike on Iran.

Flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump suggested on Monday ⁠that Tehran may be ‌working to ‍restore ‍its weapons programs after ‍a US strike in June. Iran denies it has a nuclear ​weapons program.

Moscow has cultivated closer ties ⁠with Tehran since the start of its war in Ukraine, and this year signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran.


Russia’s Nuclear-Capable Oreshnik Missiles Have Entered Active Service, Moscow Says

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, Russia's Oreshnik missile system is seen during a training in an undisclosed location in Belarus. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, Russia's Oreshnik missile system is seen during a training in an undisclosed location in Belarus. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
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Russia’s Nuclear-Capable Oreshnik Missiles Have Entered Active Service, Moscow Says

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, Russia's Oreshnik missile system is seen during a training in an undisclosed location in Belarus. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, Russia's Oreshnik missile system is seen during a training in an undisclosed location in Belarus. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russia’s nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system has entered active service, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday, as negotiators continue to search for a breakthrough in peace talks to end Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Troops held a brief ceremony to mark the occasion in neighboring Belarus where the missiles have been deployed, the ministry said. It did not say how many missiles had been deployed or give any other details.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier in December that the Oreshnik would enter combat duty this month. He made the statement at a meeting with top Russian military officers, where he warned that Moscow will seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands in peace talks.

The announcement comes at a critical time for Russia-Ukraine peace talks. US President Donald Trump hosted Zelenskyy at his Florida resort Sunday and insisted that Kyiv and Moscow were “closer than ever before” to a peace settlement.

However, negotiators are still searching for a breakthrough on key issues, including whose forces withdraw from where in Ukraine and the fate of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the 10 biggest in the world. Trump noted that the monthslong US-led negotiations could still collapse.

Putin has sought to portray himself as negotiating from a position of strength as Ukrainian forces strain to keep back the bigger Russian army.

At a meeting with senior military officers Monday, Putin emphasized the need to create military buffer zones along the Russian border. He also claimed that Russian troops were advancing in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine and pressing their offensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Moscow first used the Oreshnik, which is Russian for “hazelnut tree,” against Ukraine in November 2024, when it fired the experimental weapon at a factory in Dnipro that built missiles when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.

Putin has praised the Oreshnik’s capabilities, saying that its multiple warheads, which plunge toward a target at speeds up to Mach 10, are immune to being intercepted.

He warned the West that Moscow could use it against Ukraine’s NATO allies who've allowed Kyiv to use their longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia.

Russia’s missile forces chief has also declared that the Oreshnik, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, has a range allowing it to reach all of Europe.

Intermediate-range missiles can fly between 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles). Such weapons were banned under a Soviet-era treaty that Washington and Moscow abandoned in 2019.