International News from Saturday, December 13th, 2025

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko freed 123 prisoners on Saturday including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava after two days of talks with an envoy for President Donald Trump, a US statement said.

The death toll from floods and landslides that struck three provinces on Indonesia's Sumatra Island has exceeded 1,003, with 218 people still missing, according to the latest data released Saturday by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, fresh from a meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin, said he hopes to discuss a Ukraine-Russia peace plan with US President Donald Trump, adding that "peace is not far away".

Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa and the surrounding region suffered major blackouts on Saturday after a large overnight Russian attack on the power grid across the country.

Two people were killed overnight in a Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian city of Saratov, regional governor Roman Busargin said on Saturday.

Thailand's leader vowed to keep fighting on the disputed border with Cambodia as fighter jets struck targets on Saturday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he had brokered a ceasefire.