PBS News Hour - World

In our news wrap Wednesday, at least 38 are dead after an Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed in Kazakhstan, Ukraine says Russia launched an extensive missile and drone attack on the country's energy and fuel infrastructure, disrupting heating services for 500,000 people and researchers in Siberia unearthed what may be the best-preserved body of a woolly mammoth ever found. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has brought relative calm in northern Israel, but the road to recovery is long. Tens of thousands have been displaced due to Hezbollah's rocket attacks. Producer Karl Bostic traveled to Metula and Kiryat Shmona along the border with Lebanon to meet families who finally got to visit their homes after 14 months of war. Jeffery Brown has the story. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Scientists have found the beginnings of a young universe that may offer insights into the beginnings of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Geoff Bennett and Miles O'Brien discussed why scientists are excited by the discovery, one that has a little holiday sparkle of its own, so to speak. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

In our news wrap Tuesday, American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide due to a technical issue, a strike by Starbucks employees expanded to some 5,000 baristas, a man accused of setting a woman on fire in the New York City subway was charged with murder, famine conditions are spreading amid Sudan's civil war, and Bill Clinton has been discharged from a Washington, D.C. hospital. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

With the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the scale of his regime's mass killings and executions are coming to light more and more each day. The United Nations said this week the new Syrian government was receptive to receiving help gathering evidence and prosecuting individuals responsible for war crimes. Special correspondent Simona Foltyn reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

New Zealand has long been known for its progressive policies, including efforts to correct and address historical wrongs against its indigenous Māori population. But as Ali Rogin reports, a new right-wing government has reversed many of those policies and triggered mass protests in the Pacific nation. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

In our news wrap Sunday, the U.S. military says an American fighter jet was mistakenly shot down over the Red Sea in a friendly fire incident, Israeli airstrikes killed nearly two dozen people in Gaza, the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany reopened two days after a car plowed into a crowd there, and more than 100 million Americans are expected to travel for the holidays. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

In our news wrap Saturday, Germans are mourning the victims of an apparent attack at a Christmas market, Israel blamed Houthi rebels for a missile attack that injured 16 people in Tel Aviv, world champion skier Lindsey Vonn is back on the slopes after more than five years of retirement, and baseball legend Rickey Henderson died at age 65. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

As the humanitarian crisis affecting children in Gaza continues to deepen, UNICEF says there's also a great need in Lebanon and Syria. John Yang speaks with UNICEF spokesman James Elder about what he saw on a recent trip to the region. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

American diplomats were in Syria for the first time since the U.S. shut its embassy in Damascus in 2012. They met with Syria's new ruler, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and announced the $10 million bounty the U.S. placed on him would be removed. For perspective on the latest developments, Geoff Bennett spoke with Theodore Kattouf, the U.S. ambassador to Syria during the George W. Bush administration. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders