Vladimir Putin was dealt a blow with Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk oblast but his forces ended the year with momentum in the Donbas.

While Russia is mass-producing machinery at state-owned industries, Ukraine has spawned hundreds of entrepreneur-led defense startups by slashing regulation and cutting taxes.

Ukraine's membership of NATO is "achievable", but Kyiv will have to fight to persuade allies to make it happen, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukrainian diplomats in a speech on Sunday. Ukraine has repeatedly urged NATO to invite Kyiv to become a member.

The Ukrainian energy network has been so battered by Russian attacks that officials are seeking out new options to prevent a crisis, like renting floating power plants and scavenging scrapped ones from the region.

Lithuania’s national opera house had stopped showing Tchaikovsky’s 1892 masterpiece in solidarity with Ukraine over the war with Russia. Then a new minister expressed fondness for the Russian composer,

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said that European leaders must acknowledge the need to change their strategy regarding Ukraine.

For the world, 2024 was riven by conflict on two fronts. As the year ends, Gaza is in shambles and tens of thousands are dead.

In 2024, the world's central banks were finally able to start lowering interest rates after largely winning the battle against inflation without sparking a global recession

Cadbury has held it consistently since 1854, surviving under six different monarchs until King Charles III’s decision last week.

Trump's picks include Elbridge Colby, who opposes Ukraine's NATO membership but supports tougher sanctions on Moscow, and Michael Duffey, who froze military aid to Kyiv in 2019.