US AND CANADA

Photo Credit; Getty Images

The Kennedy Center In Washington DC is seeking one million dollars in damages from veteran musician Chuck Redd after he cancelled a long running Christmas Eve concert in protest over the addition of President Donald Trump’s name to the venue. The dispute has drawn national attention and reignited debate over politics and the arts at one of America’s most prominent cultural institutions.

Chuck Redd is a respected drummer and vibraphone player who has hosted an annual Christmas Eve performance at the Kennedy Center since 2006. This year’s concert was cancelled shortly after the center’s board voted to rename the venue as The Donald J Trump and John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Redd said he made the decision after seeing the name change appear first on the Kennedy Center website and then etched onto the building itself.

The center’s president Richard Grenell responded sharply. In a letter sent to Redd, Grenell described the cancellation as a political stunt and accused the musician of causing serious financial harm to the nonprofit institution. Grenell claimed the decision resulted in lost ticket revenue and donor support and said the center would seek one million dollars in damages as compensation.

Photo Credit; Getty Images

Nasry Asfura, the conservative candidate explicitly endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump, was officially declared the winner of the Honduran presidential election on Wednesday. The announcement by the National Electoral Council (CNE) comes more than three weeks after the November 30 vote, which was marred by severe technical failures, delays, and aggressive allegations of fraud.

According to the official tally, Asfura secured 40.3% of the vote, narrowly edging out center-right Liberal Party contender Salvador Nasralla, who finished with 39.5%. Rixi Moncada, the candidate for the ruling LIBRE party, placed a distant third. The margin was so razor-thin that officials were forced to manually count nearly 15% of the tally sheets.

"Honduras: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down," Asfura stated on social media. He is set to take office on January 27.

Photo Credit; Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet over the weekend with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Former United States Senator Ben Sasse has announced that he has been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, describing the illness in stark terms as a death sentence. The announcement came in a lengthy and deeply personal message posted on social media, where Sasse spoke openly about his condition, his faith, and his determination to keep fighting.

Photo Credit; Getty Images

In a significant moment for his pontificate, Pope Leo utilized his first Christmas Urbi et Orbi address from St. Peter's Square—a traditional Christmas Day message to Vatican City worshippers—to strongly encourage Ukraine and Russia to secure peace through

direct negotiations, finding the "courage" to do so. Beyond this immediate conflict, he extended his appeal for an end to hostilities across the entire world.

Speaking about Ukraine, the Pope said: "May the clamour of weapons cease, and may the parties involved, with the support and commitment of the international community, find the courage to engage in sincere, direct and respectful dialogue."

Photo Credit; Getty Images

Venezuela has accused the United States of the "greatest extortion" at an emergency session of the UN Security Council in New York.

Washington's seizure of two Venezuelan oil tankers was "worse than piracy," the Venezuelan ambassador to the UN said.

The emergency meeting of the Security Council was called to discuss the seizure of the tankers, which took place off the coast of Venezuela earlier this month.

The US has also said it was pursuing a third Venezuelan oil tanker.

President Trump has accused Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drugs cartel and said gangs had operated with impunity for too long.

On 16 December, Trump ordered a naval blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

The US president has said the US will keep or sell the crude oil it has taken, as well as the vessels themselves.

The US has been building up its military presence in the Pacific and Caribbean Seas in recent months, sending 15,000 troops and a range of aircraft carriers and warships to the area.

It is the largest deployment to the region since the US invaded Panama in 1989, and the stated aim is to stop the flow of fentanyl and cocaine to the US.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

A legal challenge has been mounted against the recent renaming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Democratic US Representative Joyce Beatty has filed a lawsuit, contending that the decision by the Trump-appointed board to change the name to "Trump-Kennedy Center" is illegal, as any official name alteration for the center requires "an act of Congress." Her suit seeks the removal of the former president's name.

Photo Credit; Getty Images

Three inmates who escaped from a jail east of Atlanta, including a murder suspect, commandeered a terrified Lyft driver’s car to reach south Florida before she was rescued and they were captured, according to details revealed in court records.

The driver told FBI agents that the men used a fake name to order the ride, put a rope around her neck from behind her, dragged her into the backseat and threatened to kill her, according to a court affidavit filed late Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press.