Percy Jackson and the Olympians has added three new actors to its cast. Holt McCallany joins the ensemble of the Disney+ series in season 3 as Atlas. He will appear in a recurring guest role as the pivotal villain and the third season’s primary antagonist. Also joining the cast are David Costabile as Dr. Thorn and Jesse L. Martin as Annabeth’s father, Frederick Chase …
The film The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender will no longer get a theatrical release. Instead, Deadline reports the animated feature will make its debut on Paramount+. The film, which was directed by LaurenMontgomery with Steve Ahn and William Mata, previously had the release date of Oct. 9, 2026. Its voice cast includes Taika Waititi, Geraldine Viswanathan, Dee Bradley Baker, Freida Pinto and Ke Huy Quan …
Two classic characters from the original Star Trek series will make their first appearances in the finale of the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Variety reports the characters Hikaru Sulu and Leonard “Bones” McCoy will appear in the episode, played by actors Kai Murakami and Thomas Jane …
Recruits crawl a designated distance with combat gear under the supervision of instructors during the zero day of basic combined arms training with the 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade at an improvised training ground in Ukraine, on December 12, 2025 (Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform) (Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he believes the U.S. “wants to reach a final agreement,” to end the war in Ukraine, with Kyiv offering its full backing for a peace deal.
“We sense that America wants to reach a final agreement, and from our side, there is full cooperation,” Zelenskyy said. “Ukraine has never been, and will never be, an obstacle to peace.”
Ukraine and Russia continued their nightly exchange of long-range drones overnight into Wednesday. Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that its forces downed at least 195 Ukrainian drones, including five over Moscow region of which two were “flying toward” the capital.
Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya, said flight restrictions were introduced at two of Moscow’s four international airports — Domodedovo and Vnukovo — during the attacks. Restrictions were also put in place at airports in Volgograd, Yaroslavl, Orenburg, Ufa and Orsk, Rosaviatsiya said.
Ukraine’s air force, meanwhile, said Russia launched 116 drones into the country overnight, of which 60 were shot down or suppressed. Forty-eight drones impacted across 19 locations, the air force said.
On Tuesday night, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian repair crews were working to restore power after a major Russian drone and missile strike on Monday night. “Throughout the day, repair crews have been working at energy facilities — putting in maximum effort to ensure that Ukrainians have electricity for Christmas,” Zelenskyy said.
“Of course, the Russians are trying to ruin this holiday, this sacred day, as well. No surprise there,” Zelenskyy added.
At a briefing in Kyiv with journalists on Tuesday, Zelenskyy revealed details of the 20-point peace plan negotiated with the U.S. which is now being reviewed by Moscow.
Zelenskyy told reporters that said all sides were “much closer” to finalizing the documents. Kyiv expects to receive a response from Moscow on Wednesday, Zelenskyy added.
The proposed framework includes security guarantees from the U.S., NATO and European partners, though territorial questions remain unresolved. Under the draft plan, Ukraine would hold a presidential election as soon as possible after any deal is signed.
Zelenskyy said the deal would see Article-5-style security guarantees kick in if Russia attacks the country again, even without Ukrainian NATO membership. Zelenskyy again stressed that Kyiv rejected any ban on joining the alliance — a key Russian demand.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed on recent U.S. contacts.
“We now intend to formulate our future position based on the information received by the head of state and continue our contacts in the very near future through the existing channels that are currently operational,” Peskov said, as quoted by the state-run Tass news agency.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, meanwhile, said Moscow and Washington have “significant similarities” in their positions on a possible settlement.
(GAZA and LONDON) — As Palestinian Christians prepare for their first Christmas without the constant threat of bombardment and attacks after two years of war in Gaza, rare scenes of color, glitter and light can be spotted in a city that is mostly covered with rubble and collapsed buildings.
With the fragile ceasefire broadly holding more than two months since the first phase went into effect, the small remaining Palestinian Christian community in Gaza hopes for long-lasting peace as they practice holiday traditions like putting up Christmas trees and baking pastries.
“This year, Christmas is not just a religious ritual but celebrating a new beginning that we all work towards, which is the beginning of peace and stability in the region,” Mousa Ayyad, coordinator of Princess Basma, a Christian center in Gaza, told ABC News last week while standing by a Christmas tree decorated with ornaments and lights.
The center is located inside Al-Ahli Hospital, the only Christian hospital in Gaza, and provides vital rehabilitation for children.
“You must prepare the atmosphere for the children, and continue to welcome happiness into your home, even if you aren’t at your home and you are displaced,” Ayyad said.
Over 80% of all structures in the Gaza Strip have been damaged as of Oct. 11, according to a United Nations assessment.
The Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, remains standing, though has signs of damage.
Since the war broke out between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist group that launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, almost half of the Christian population in Gaza has left the strip and at least 23 Palestinian Christians have been killed, according to the Holy Family Church. About 500 people in the community are still in Gaza, with the majority of those currently sheltering in the church, according to the Holy Family Church.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, led his first prayer in Gaza following the ceasefire during Mass at the Holy Family Church on Sunday, in what he called a “new phase.”
Amid modest decorations and damaged walls, Pizzaballa led the first communion for several children and baptized a baby, continuing a pastoral tradition he has upheld during each Christmastime visit to Gaza.
Pizzaballa said during a press conference on Sunday that he has witnessed “a desire for a new life” in Gaza, but that “all the problems are still on the table: housing, schools, hospitals, the condition of life and poverty are catastrophic.”
“At the same time, we saw that the resilience of these people is what, at the end, will prevail,” he said, describing Palestinians’ steadfastness as a lesson to the world.
George Messaqo, an 11-year-old displaced Christian who attended the Mass, told ABC News that he feels “very happy” this Christmas, though his joy was tinged with longing.
“Before the war, Christmas was more beautiful,” he said. “There were more people, all our relatives and loved ones, and the atmosphere was warmer.”
George said his aunt was killed during the war and other family members now live abroad.
“We only communicate through video calls,” he said. “I wish to see our friends, relatives and loved ones again, and to live in peace.”
If you’re not careful, you can find out that it’s not clocking to you that you haven’t been standing on business by knowing all of the cultural trends that happened this year. That’s why we’re going over the memes, viral moments and trend-setting sensations that dominated the cultural landscape of 2025:
No one could get enough of Labubus this year. The collectible plush toys, which were created by Hong Kong illustrator Kasing Lung, are fluffy monsters with pointy teeth, large ears and a playful look on their face. They’re exclusively sold by the retailer Pop-Mart, although knockoff versions of the product, known as Lafufus, also took the world by storm. While most people don’t usually get to pick which color Labubu appears in their blind box, TikTok user Lilzbullzmarbella infamously showed off her gold one. “I have the one and only 24 carat gold Labubu,” she says in a video that went viral.
Here’s one that we’ll do our best to explain, but you may want to consult your youngest family member for more. The phrase 6-7, pronounced six seven, was completely unavoidable this year. YouTuber Cam Wilder posted a video in which a young boy named Maverick Trevillian is seen yelling, “Six seven,” while doing a hand gesture moving upward-facing palms up and down. Video edits of Maverick doing this went viral, and the phrase, which has no fixed meaning, became a meme popular with Gen Alpha.
It was the video we all cringed at but couldn’t look away from. A couple, locked in an intimate embrace, were caught allegedly cheating on their respective spouses while on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert this summer. Former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and its head of human resources, Kristin Cabot, immediately pulled apart from each other just as Coldplay’s Chris Martin said, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.”
A video of Justin Bieber speaking to the paparazzi sparked an internet phenomenon this year. “You’re not getting it. It’s not clocking to you. It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business, is it?” Bieber asks the photographers. The phrase became so popular that Bieber himself referenced it in his SWAG track “STANDING ON BUSINESS.”
Finally, the TikTok audio referred to as “Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday,” which featured an old advertisement for the Jet2 airline mixed with the 2015 song “Hold My Hand” by Jess Glynne, took the world by storm. Everyone was using the cheerful audio to ironically post disastrous videos from vacations gone wrong.
