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Lautaro Martinez scored to give Inter Milan an important 1-0 win at Atalanta on Sunday, sending his side into the New Year at the top of Serie A, Reuters reported. 

Inter lead a tightly contested league table on 36 points, one clear of city rivals AC Milan and two ahead of Napoli.

Marcus Thuram appeared to have fired Inter into the lead just before the interval, but the goal was ruled out after an offside by Martinez in the build-up, according to Reuters. 

Cristiano Ronaldo said his passion for the game remains undimmed and that he is still motivated to reach his target of 1,000 career goals after the Portuguese forward was named Best Middle East Player at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai on Sunday, Reuters reported. 

Ronaldo's double for Saudi side Al-Nassr on Saturday took his tally to 956 goals for club and country, and with the 40-year-old set to play on for "one or two more years" his target looks achievable.

"It’s hard to continue playing, but I am motivated,” he said after receiving the award for the second consecutive year, according to Reuters. 

China's military moved army, naval, air force and rocket force units around Taiwan on Monday (Dec 29) for ⁠its "Justice Mission 2025" drills, aimed at testing combat readiness and delivering a "stern warning" against moves toward Taiwanese independence, Reuters reported. 

The Eastern Theatre Command announced the drills will involve live-fire exercises on Tuesday, in a statement containing a graphic demarcating five zones surrounding the island that will be under sea and air space ⁠restrictions for 10 hours from 8.30am.

This marks China's sixth major round of war games since 2022 after then-US House Speaker ⁠Nancy Pelosi visited the self-governed island, and follow a rise in Chinese rhetoric over Beijing's ‍territorial claims after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo, according to Reuters. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen a test launch of long-range strategic cruise missiles and called for the “unlimited and sustained” development of his country’s nuclear combat forces, according to state media, Aljazeera reported. 

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Monday that Kim expressed satisfaction as the cruise missiles flew along their orbit, set above the sea west of the Korean Peninsula, and hit their target.

The launch, which took place on Sunday, was the latest event Kim attended, in a flurry of activity by the North Korean leader to underscore the country’s military and economic progress before a key party congress expected to be held in early 2026, according to Aljazeera. 

At least 13 people died and almost 100 were injured after a train derailed in Mexico's south-western Oaxaca region, the Mexican navy said, BBC reported. 

The train, which was travelling between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, was carrying 241 passengers and nine crew members.

A total of 98 were injured, of whom 36 were being treated in hospital, the navy said, according to BBC. 

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky said progress had been made to end the Ukraine war during Florida talks but the US president admitted the problem of territory remained "unresolved".

While both the US and Ukrainian presidents described the talks as "great", Trump said "one or two very thorny issues" remained outstanding - most notably on the issue of land, BBC reported. 

Addressing reporters at Mar-a-Lago, Zelensky said they had come to an agreement on "90%" of the 20-point peace plan, while Trump said a security guarantee for Ukraine was "close to 95%" done.

The UK is to impose visa restrictions against people arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo after its government failed to agree to measures allowing the return of illegal migrants and foreign national offenders, BBC reported. 

Ministers say the DRC has not made changes required under the toughening up of the UK's asylum rules announced in November.

Fast-track visa processes will no longer apply to people from the country, while the Home Office said VIPs and politicians would no longer get preferential treatment when coming to the UK, according to BBC. 

The number of executions in Iran in 2025 is set to more than double compared to the amount which took place across the country in 2024, BBC reported. 

Norwegian-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group told the BBC it had verified at least 1,500 executions up until the start of December, adding that many more have taken place since.

Last year, IHR was able to verify 975 executions - although the exact number is never completely clear as Iranian authorities do not give official figures, according to BBC.