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21 People Wounded after Russia Strikes Apartment Blocks in Ukraine’s Kharkiv

Ukrainian police officers work at the site of a shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late 20 September 2024, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV
Ukrainian police officers work at the site of a shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late 20 September 2024, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV
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21 People Wounded after Russia Strikes Apartment Blocks in Ukraine’s Kharkiv

Ukrainian police officers work at the site of a shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late 20 September 2024, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV
Ukrainian police officers work at the site of a shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late 20 September 2024, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV

Russian strikes hit high-rise apartment blocks in Ukraine’s city of Kharkiv, leaving dozens wounded in a second consecutive nighttime attack this past week.
The bombs fell Saturday night on the district of Shevchenkivsky, north of the center of Kharkiv, the second largest city, local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. Nine residential buildings sustained varying degrees of damage, including 16- and nine-story blocks, he added.
Twenty-one people were wounded, including an 8-year-old, according to Syniehubov and Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, The Associated Press said.
The attack came after another late Friday that wounded 15 people, including a 10- and 12-year-old, as Russian airstrikes hit three Kharkiv neighborhoods, Terekhov said.
According to Ukrainian officials, KAB-type aerial glide bombs were used in both attacks, a retrofitted Soviet weapon that has for months laid waste to eastern Ukraine.
Russia also launched 80 Shahed drones and two missiles at Ukraine overnight into Sunday, the Ukrainian air force said. Ukrainian air defense shot down 71 drones, and another six were lost on location due to electronic warfare countermeasures, the statement said.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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World

EU Top Diplomat Urges ‘More European’ NATO as Trump Upends Ties

European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas arrives for an informal meeting of the members of the European Council in Brussels, Belgium, 22 January 2026. (EPA)
European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas arrives for an informal meeting of the members of the European Council in Brussels, Belgium, 22 January 2026. (EPA)
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EU Top Diplomat Urges ‘More European’ NATO as Trump Upends Ties

European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas arrives for an informal meeting of the members of the European Council in Brussels, Belgium, 22 January 2026. (EPA)
European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas arrives for an informal meeting of the members of the European Council in Brussels, Belgium, 22 January 2026. (EPA)

Europe must step up efforts on defense and play a bigger role in NATO as US President Donald Trump has "shaken the transatlantic relationship to its foundation", EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Wednesday.

"Let me be clear: we want strong transatlantic ties. The US will remain Europe's partner and ally. But Europe needs to adapt to the new realities. Europe is no longer Washington's primary center of gravity," Kallas told a defense conference in Brussels.

"This shift has been ongoing for a while. It is structural, not temporary. It means that Europe must step up -- no great power in history has outsourced its survival and survived."

Trump rocked European allies this month by threatening to seize Greenland from NATO and EU member Denmark -- before eventually backing off.

The crisis -- the latest to buffet ties since his return to power a year ago -- has reinforced calls for the continent to cut its decades-long reliance on NATO's dominant military superpower for protection.

Kallas remained clear-eyed that NATO remains the bedrock of European security.

She said EU efforts should "remain complementary" to those of the alliance, but insisted Europe needed to play a bigger role.

"Especially now, as the US is setting its sights beyond Europe, NATO needs to become more European to maintain its strength," she said.

"For this, Europe must act."

European countries have already ramped up defense budgets since Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago, and agreed last year to massively hike NATO's spending target under pressure from Trump.

The EU last year also launched a raft of initiatives that it says could see its members plough an additional 800 billion euros into defense.

Washington meanwhile has said it wants European allies to take over more responsibility for the conventional defense of the continent as US focus switches to other threats like China.

"The risk of a full-blown return to coercive power politics, spheres of influence and a world where might makes right, is very real," Kallas said.

She insisted Europe "must acknowledge that this tectonic shift is here to stay. And to act with urgency."

Kallas' comments come after NATO chief Mark Rutte told EU lawmakers to "keep on dreaming" if they thought Europe could defend itself without the United States.

In a Monday address to the bloc's parliament, Rutte insisted that Europe would have to double its spending targets to afford the "billions and billions of euros" it would cost to replace the US nuclear umbrella.

The head of the Western military alliance also warned that if Europe tried to build its own forces to replace the United States in NATO then it would play into Russian leader Vladimir Putin's hands.

"Putin will love it. So think again," Rutte said.

Instead he urged the EU to use its traditional strengths to generate funding and cut regulation to help the defense industry grow.

World

Türkiye Urges US to Resolve Iran Disputes One by One, Says Tehran Ready for Nuclear Talks

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a press conference with his French counterpart in Ankara, on January 27, 2026. (AFP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a press conference with his French counterpart in Ankara, on January 27, 2026. (AFP)
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Türkiye Urges US to Resolve Iran Disputes One by One, Says Tehran Ready for Nuclear Talks

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a press conference with his French counterpart in Ankara, on January 27, 2026. (AFP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a press conference with his French counterpart in Ankara, on January 27, 2026. (AFP)

Türkiye's foreign minister on Wednesday urged the US to resolve its disputes with Iran "one by one" instead of through a sweeping deal, saying this would avoid humiliating ​Iranian officials, and added that Tehran was ready for talks on its nuclear program.

US President Donald Trump said last week that Washington had an "armada" heading toward Iran but hoped he would not have to use it, as he renewed warnings to Tehran against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear program.

Tehran brutally cracked down on ‌anti-government protests earlier this ‌month, leading to the death ‌and ⁠arrest ​of ‌thousands of people. Officials blamed the unrest on "armed terrorists and rioters" linked to Iran's foes, the United States and Israel. Rights groups describe the protests as the biggest since the 1979 revolution.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reiterated that Türkiye opposed any foreign intervention or attack on Iran, saying it ⁠would be "wrong to start the war again."

"My advice always to the American ‌friends: close the files one by one ‍with Iranians. Start with ‍nuclear, close it, then the other, then the other," ‍Fidan said.

"If you put them as a package all of them, it will be very difficult for our Iranian friends to digest," he said. "It sometimes might seem humiliating for them. It ​will be very difficult to explain to not only themselves, but also to the leadership."

In June, the United ⁠States struck Iran's nuclear facilities amid heightened regional tensions with Israel over the war in Gaza. Talks on Tehran's nuclear program, which it says is for peaceful purposes, have made little progress.

Türkiye, a NATO member that shares a border with Iran, has said it reached out to both US and Iranian officials. Ankara has said Tehran must be allowed to handle its domestic issues on its own, warning that any destabilization would exceed the region's capacity to manage ‌at this time.

Fidan has also said Israel was still looking to attack Iran.

World

North Korea to Soon Unveil ‘Next-Stage’ Nuclear Plans, Kim Says

A photo released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C), accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae (R), overseeing a test-fire of a large-caliber multiple-rocket launcher system at an unknown location in North Korea, 27 January 2026. (EPA/KCNA)
A photo released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C), accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae (R), overseeing a test-fire of a large-caliber multiple-rocket launcher system at an unknown location in North Korea, 27 January 2026. (EPA/KCNA)
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North Korea to Soon Unveil ‘Next-Stage’ Nuclear Plans, Kim Says

A photo released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C), accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae (R), overseeing a test-fire of a large-caliber multiple-rocket launcher system at an unknown location in North Korea, 27 January 2026. (EPA/KCNA)
A photo released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C), accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae (R), overseeing a test-fire of a large-caliber multiple-rocket launcher system at an unknown location in North Korea, 27 January 2026. (EPA/KCNA)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will unveil plans to bolster his nuclear forces at an upcoming ruling party meeting, state media reported Wednesday, after a missile launch he said would bring "excruciating mental agony" to his enemies.

The landmark congress of North Korea's ruling Workers Party is expected in the coming weeks and is its first in five years.

Kim has ordered the "expansion" and modernization of the country's missile production ahead of that meeting.

Overseeing a ballistic missile test on Tuesday, Kim said the party congress "will clarify the next-stage plans for further bolstering up the country's nuclear war deterrent", the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Kim, accompanied by senior North Korean officials as well as his young daughter, watched the test-firing of a "large-caliber" multiple rocket launcher that fired four missiles, KCNA said.

"The result and significance of this test will be a source of excruciating mental agony and serious threat to the forces that attempt to provoke a military confrontation with us," Kim said.

While acknowledging that development of the rocket launcher system had "not been plain sailing", Kim said the test was "of great significance in improving the effectiveness of our strategic deterrent".

Photos released by state media showed Kim and his daughter, who analysts believe is called Ju Ae, watching the missile launch.

The rockets "hit a target" in waters 358.5 kilometers (222.7 miles) away, according to the North Korean leader.

The ballistic missiles were fired toward the Sea of Japan, with two missiles landing outside the country's Exclusive Economic Zone, Japanese state news agency Jiji Press had reported, citing defense ministry sources.

Lee Ho-ryung, principal researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, told AFP the upcoming congress would likely see Kim announce "that the goal is now to maximize nuclear operational prowess".

"Kim Jong Un has used past party congresses to stress the completion of the country's nuclear capability, and this time he is expected to declare that such capability has now reached its peak," she said.

- Second test in January -

The test was Pyongyang's second of the month, following a volley of missiles fired hours before South Korea's leader headed to China for a summit.

It followed a high-level visit to Seoul by the Pentagon's number three official, Elbridge Colby, who hailed South Korea as a "model ally".

Ties between the United States and South Korea, longstanding treaty allies, were forged in the bloodshed of the Korean War.

Washington still stations 28,500 troops in South Korea as a deterrent against the nuclear-armed North.

"Pyongyang may have been signaling to Washington that it possesses response capabilities on an entirely different level from those of countries such as Venezuela," Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.

Last month, Kim bashed Seoul's push to develop its own nuclear-powered submarines with the United States, calling it a "threat" that "must be countered".

During his first term, US President Donald Trump met with Kim three times, in an effort to reach a denuclearization deal.