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Our top stories.

America struck dozens of suspected Islamic state sites across central Syria

in what Pete Hetzeth, the war secretary, said was an operation to, quote, eliminate

IS fighters and infrastructure. It reportedly involved fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery

salvos. Donald Trump had vowed to avenge the deaths of two American soldiers and an interpreter

who were killed on December 13th in Syria

by a lone gunman suspected of being affiliated with IS.

America's Department of Justice began releasing more Epstein files ahead of a congressionally mandated

deadline. The records related to investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex

offender who died in 2019, were published on a government website. Some are heavily redacted

and the DOJ is holding back files it says would compromise active cases. Todd Blanche, the Deputy Attorney General, said more would be published in coming weeks.

Fielding questions at his marathon end-of-year press conference, President Vladimir Putin

claimed that Russian troops were still advancing in Ukraine, seizing the, quote, strategic initiative. Mr. Putin praised Donald Trump's

attempts to end the war, but he also said there would be no peace until the, quote, root causes

of the conflict were addressed. Russia demands that Ukraine cede large chunks of its eastern

...