
Zelensky willing to swap captured North Korean soldiers for its troops held in Moscow; U.S., Arab mediators make progress in brokering ceasefire, release of hostages in Israel-Hamas war; and 15 nomination hearings scheduled for this week for incoming Trump administration.
1. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has released a video of the first North Korean soldiers captured in Russia’s Kursk region and said Kyiv is willing to swap the prisoners of war for its troops held by Moscow. In a video posted Sunday on Zelenskyy’s Facebook and X accounts, two bedridden and apparently injured North Korean soldiers are questioned by Ukrainian forces through an interpreter. The unnamed soldiers were captured by Ukrainian special operations forces in the past week and were receiving medical care in Kyiv, Zelenskyy wrote. One of the soldiers, with cuts on his lip and a bandage across his face, nodded his head in agreement when asked if he had family in North Korea. He also nodded after being asked if he wanted to return to the North. A second soldier with a bandage on his hand shook his head in disagreement when asked if he knew where he was and if he knew he was fighting against Ukraine.
2. U.S. and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight toward brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but a deal hasn’t been reached yet, officials said Monday. Three officials acknowledged that progress has been made and said the coming days would be critical for ending more than 15 months of fighting that has destabilized the Middle East. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the talks. One of the three officials and a Hamas official said that there were still a number of hurdles to clear. On several occasions over the past year, U.S. officials have said that they were on the verge of reaching a deal, only to have the talks stall.
3. China’s cyber program has already infiltrated critical American infrastructure and is poised to “wreak havoc” at a whim, the outgoing FBI director told “60 Minutes” on Sunday. Christopher Wray, who plans to resign as President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month, described the Chinese government as “the greatest-long-term threat” and the “defining threat of our generation,” due in part to its massive, state-funded cyber program. During the interview with CBS’s Scott Pelley, Wray said Beijing can leverage those programs to target water treatment plants, the electrical grid, natural gas pipelines, telecommunications and other systems. China has already pre-positioned malware to “lie in wait on those networks,” where it can “inflict real-world harm at a time and place of their choosing,” he told “60 Minutes.”
4. Senate leaders have scheduled 15 confirmation hearings this week in an effort to get key members of President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration in place as soon as possible. The activity begins Tuesday, with former Georgia Republican Rep. Doug Collins set to appear before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee for consideration as the next Veterans Affairs Secretary. Collins has received generally positive assessments from Republicans and Democrats and is expected to be easily confirmed for the new role. Other nominees will face a rockier path. Just a few minutes after Collins’ hearing begins, and just one floor away in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, controversial Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth will face questioning from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
5. Russian forces are bypassing a key stronghold in eastern Ukraine that they have fought for months to capture and are focusing instead on cutting supply lines to it, a Ukrainian official said Monday. Russian troops are going around the vital logistics hub of Pokrovsk, where a steadfast Ukrainian defense has kept them at bay, and are taking aim at a highway that leads from there to the central Ukraine city of Dnipro, Maj. Viktor Trehubov, a local Ukrainian army spokesperson, told The Associated Press. That route is crucial for supplies feeding Ukrainian forces in the entire region. Cutting the highway traffic would also severely weaken Pokrovsk.
- News