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President Volodymyr Zelensky was among the first world leaders to congratulate Donald Trump. Photo: AFP Ukraine appealed to Donald Trump's image as a tough leader in the hope of persuading the returning US president not to abandon its cause in pursuit of peace with Russia. President Volodymyr Zelensky was among the first world leaders to congratulate Trump, who has criticised the scale of US military and financial support for Kyiv and vowed to end the war with Russia quickly without saying how. In a message released shortly after Trump claimed victory on Wednesday, Zelensky said he looked forward to an "era of a strong United States of America under President Trump's decisive leadership". "I appreciate President Trump's commitment to the 'peace through strength' approach in global affai...

By Rachel More and Matthias Williams, Reuters German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, has fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner, right, for opposing his plan to suspend the debt brake again Photo: Abdulhamid Hosbas / Anadolu Agency via AFP Awkward three-way coalition fell apart after years of infighting Chancellor wants confidence vote in January, elections in March Opposition conservatives say country cannot wait that long Crisis comes with economy in dumps, Trump return looming Germany's opposition conservatives urged Chancellor Olaf Scholz to allow a vote of confidence immediately and hold elections in January, the day after his rocky three-way coalition collapsed and plunged the country into political chaos. The coalition fell apart on Thursday (NZT) when years of tensions re...

By Tom Bateman and Mariko Katsumura, Reuters The first snowfall near the summit of Mount Fuji is observed above Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures on 7 November. Photo: AFP / Masahiro Sugimoto Japan's revered Mount Fuji finally regained an iconic snowcap on Thursday, setting a record for the slowest snowfall in 130 years, the meteorological agency said. The mountain reached the annual milestone on Oct. 5 last year, making this year's snowcap the latest to form since 1894, when the phenomenon was first recorded. Staff of the Kofu observatory office, which declares the news every year, saw some snow near the 3776-metre summit of the country's tallest volcano on Thursday morning (Thursday night NZT), the office said. The "first snowfall" on Fuji is defined as the point when all or part ...

By Alexandra Ulmer, Gram Slattery for Reuters Donald Trump delivers his victory speech on US Election Day. Photo: JIM WATSON In the weeks after Vice President Kamala Harris's rapid ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket, Donald Trump's allies and advisers urged him to stay on message. Polls showed Americans trusted the former Republican president more on the economy and immigration than Harris. All he needed to do, they reasoned, was stick to those issues. He didn't. In the final months of the presidential campaign, Trump did it his way: diverging from prepared remarks, resorting to personal attacks, spouting anti-immigrant rhetoric, threatening retribution against rivals and ignoring advice from allies to stay focused on the issues. As Trump sealed the presidential election, win...