CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP [file picture]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has awarded US first lady Melania Trump a state honour for her role in helping to organise a humanitarian evacuation from a frontline town last week, according to a decree published on Wednesday.
The presidential decree, dated November 2, cited her "significant personal contribution" to humanitarian support for Ukraine and her work to help Ukrainian children, including those deported or forcibly moved from Russian-occupied territory.
The award - the Order of Princess Olga, 1st class - honours women who have made exceptional contributions in spheres including science, education, culture and charitable work.
Ukrainian officials have said Melania Trump played a pivotal role in organising the six-day ceasefire to evacuate civilians from the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian town of Oleshky, which concluded on Sunday.
It was the longest local pause in fighting since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Nearly 800 people were evacuated, Melania Trump said.
US Vice President JD Vance distanced himself from President Donald Trump's war on Iran on Wednesday, blaming it for Republicans' election losses that handed Democrats control of both chambers of Congress.
Nearly 90 million forcibly displaced people are living in countries increasingly exposed to climate-related droughts, floods and extreme heat, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.
Nationwide demonstrations in France unfolded largely peacefully, despite some clashes with police in Paris and Lyon, on Thursday during a one-day strike by some public sector workers in a renewed challenge to President Emmanuel Macron.
A British doctor who tested positive for Ebola while working on the epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo returned to Britain on Thursday, with health authorities saying the risk of the deadly disease spreading to the wider public remains low.
Two Egyptian army officers, including a high-ranking border guard officer, were killed during a military crackdown on illegal gold mining along Egypt's southern border with Sudan, a military spokesperson said on Thursday.