The silent black-and-white surveillance camera video of the Russian missile attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro was brief but chilling: Six huge fireballs pierced the darkness and slammed into the ground at astonishing speed. Within hours of the Nov. 21 attack on the military facility, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the rare step of speaking on national TV to boast about the new, hypersonic missile. He warned the West that its next use could be against Ukraine’s NATO allies who allowed Kyiv to use their longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia.

The results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election rattled the country and sent shockwaves across the world — or were cause for celebration, depending on who you ask. Is it any surprise then that the Merriam-Webster word of the year is “polarization”? “Polarization means division, but it’s a very specific kind of division,” said Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s announcement.

Almost exactly seven years ago, President Vladimir Putin stood with Russian troops at their air base in Syria and proudly declared victory over “terrorists” in that country as part of the Kremlin’s military intervention to prop up the government of Bashar Assad amid a civil war. This weekend, those hard-won gains seemed a distant memory. Assad hastily fled to Moscow as his power crumbled during a lightning offensive by rebels that his main international allies, Russia and Iran, were unable to stem. The Kremlin’s failure to prevent Assad’s swift downfall has exposed limits of Russia’s power and dented its international clout at a pivotal stage of its war in Ukraine.

Israeli officials on Monday dismissed a Qatari report claiming significant advancements in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas for a temporary ceasefire that would include a hostage exchange. “These reports are not true,” the Hostage Affairs Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office stated in a message to the families of Israeli captives. “We continue to work tirelessly to bring the hostages home, while maintaining strict information security regarding the matter. We recommend relying exclusively on information from official sources.” The denial followed a report from the London-based, Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news outlet, which claimed that negotiations had reached an advanced stage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he’s open to the potential deployment of Western troops in Ukraine to guarantee the country’s security as part of a broad effort to end the almost three-year war with Russia. The deployment would be a step toward Ukraine joining NATO, Zelenskyy said in a post on his Telegram channel. “But before that, we must have a clear understanding of when Ukraine will be in the European Union and when Ukraine will be in NATO,” Zelenskyy said. His proposals tread a delicate diplomatic path amid international efforts to find a way of ending Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II at a time when Russia has gained an upper hand in the fighting. U.S.

A Jewish man was seriously injured Monday afternoon after being stabbed in the neck on President Street in Crown Heights. Crown Heights Hatzolah paramedics quickly arrived at the scene, providing immediate medical care before transporting the victim to Kings County Hospital in serious condition. The suspect, described as a white male, fled the scene following the assault, and police are actively searching for him. Developing. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Omnicom is buying Interpublic Group in a stock-for-stock deal that will create an advertising powerhouse with combined annual revenue of almost $26 billion. The New York City agencies have had a hand in iconic marketing campaigns like “Got Milk” for the California Milk Processor Board, “Priceless” for Mastercard, “Because I’m Worth It” for L’Oreal and “Think Different” for Apple. The combined company will be worth more than $30 billion. Shareholders of The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. will receive 0.344 Omnicom shares for each share of Interpublic common stock that they own. Omnicom shareholders will own 60.6% of the combined company and Interpublic shareholders will own 39.4% after the transaction is complete.

A man with a gun thought to be similar to the one used in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was taken into police custody Monday for questioning in Pennsylvania, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The man is being held near Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 233 miles  west of New York City, the official said. He also had a gun, silencer, four fake IDs and other items “consistent” with what authorities were looking for in the case, sources said.