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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Israel's president to grant him a pardon during his long-running corruption trial that's bitterly divided the country.

In a statement Sunday the prime minister's office said that Netanyahu had submitted a request for a pardon to the legal department of the Office of the President. The president's office called it an "extraordinary request," carrying with it "significant implications."

Netanyahu is the only sitting prime minister in Israeli history to stand trial, after being charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases accusing him of exchanging favors with wealthy political supporters. He has not yet been convicted of anything.

The request comes weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump urged Israel to pardon Netanyahu.

In a videotaped statement, Netanyahu said the trial has divided the country and that a pardon would help restore national unity. He also said the requirement that he appear in court three times a week is a distraction that makes it difficult for him to lead the country.

Netanyahu's request consisted of two documents — a detailed letter signed by his lawyer and a letter signed by Netanyahu. They'll be sent to the justice ministry for opinions and will then be transferred to the Legal Advisor in the Office of the President, which will formulate additional opinions for the president.

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For more than four centuries, people believed it had vanished.

But after being discovered in a Paris townhouse, a painting from the 17th century Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens sold Sunday at the Osenat auction house in Versailles for 2.3 million euros ($2.7 million).

The painting, titled Christ on the Cross, was completed in 1613 but soon vanished from public view. For centuries, its existence was known only through engravings, printed reproductions made by other artists. Its whereabouts remained a mystery until the auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat uncovered it in September 2024 during a routine inspection of a Paris home he was preparing to sell.

"It is a masterpiece," Osenat told the French wire agency AFP shortly after making the discovery, adding the artwork was in "very good condition."

Still, Osenat had doubts that what he stumbled upon was so uniquely valuable. It was initially believed the piece was produced from one of the many Rubens workshops. The painter had set up a large studio where he collaborated on pieces with a team of assistants.

Yet Osenat says he had a hunch that maybe this piece was not like all other pieces.

"I did everything I could to try and have it authenticated," Osenat told the Associated Press.

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The Venezuelan government has responded defiantly to the heightened pressure by the US government, including Donald Trump’s recent statements on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed in its entirety.

In a statement, the Venezuelan government said Trump’s comments are a “colonialist threat” against their sovereignty and violate international law. The government also said it demanded respect for its airspace and would not accept foreign orders or threats.

Trump on Saturday, in a Truth Social post said: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”

Due to Trump’s announcement, all migrant deportation flights were “unilaterally suspended”, the Venezuelan government added. Deportation flights to Venezuela have been a significant point of contention for the Trump administration, as it continues to engage in its mass deportation program.

The US defense department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

US strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean have been under way for months, along with a US military buildup in the region, and Trump has authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela.

The president told military service members this week that the US would “very soon” begin land operations to stop suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers.

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John McAuliff, a 33-year-old small business owner and former civil servant, was one of the more unlikely Democrats to win election to Virginia’s legislature this month, after a campaign in which he could, at times, come off a bit like a Republican.

McAuliff was among the 13 Democrats elected to the legislature in Virginia’s elections earlier this month, as part of a blowout victory for the party that gives it firm control of the southern state’s government. Along with wins in New Jersey, California and elsewhere, the results put some wind back into Democrats’ sails nationwide, a year after their drubbing at the hands of Donald Trump and the Republicans.

The northern Virginia district of subdivisions, farmland and quaint little towns that he sought to represent had not elected a Democrat to the house of delegates in decades, so McAuliff would go door to door on an electric scooter, informing those who answered his knocks that he was running “to preserve their way of life”. He repudiated the term “woke” and decried the “chaos” coming out of Washington DC, an hour-plus drive away.

What he talked most about was a specific grievance in line with the focus on affordability many Democrats are taking these days, but with a unique twist: the deleterious effects of datacenters and their impact on electricity bills.

“Most of the year I spent knocking on the doors of folks we didn’t think were Democrats – either independents or Republicans, and once in a while, a Democrat. And so they would start to shut the door in my face,” McAuliff said.

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A Thanksgiving weekend storm system brought over a foot of snow and strong winds across the US midwest and thunderstorms across the south, as 53 million people from South Dakota to New York were under winter weather alerts.

Over the weekend, ahead of one of the busiest travel days of the year on Sunday, a 45-car pile-up occurred on interstate 78 in Indiana and a Delta Air Lines plane skidded off the runway in Des Moines, Iowa, during landing.

No serious injuries were reported from the car pile-up in Indiana, which was reported around 11.30am local time on Saturday, according to Indiana state police.

“Folks, if you can stay home, stay home,” said Sergeant Matt Ames. “People just need to drive smart when the snow starts falling, reduce your speed, make sure you’re buckled up, and let’s just all be safe out there.”

Des Moines airport recorded 10.9in (28cm) of snow through midnight on Sunday, the highest two-day snowfall for Des Moines since January 2024. No injuries were reported from the plane incident, which is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Several areas of Iowa reported over a foot of snow on Saturday, with parts of Illinois, including Chicago, recording 5in and counting.

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An Israeli lawyer has alleged that his Palestinian client is being tortured and sexually assaulted in custody, saying the abuse intensifies each time he visits the detainee.

Speaking in an interview with a known journalist, Samira Mohyeddin, lawyer Ben Marmarelli said his sole client, a Palestinian political prisoner, is subjected to severe mistreatment by Israeli authorities, including repeated sexual violence.

“It’s gotten to the point where he asks me not to come anymore because every time I come, they rape him,” Marmarelli said.

He added that sexual assault, while alarming, is only one part of a broader pattern of abuse. 

“I want to say something about the rape. Everyone talks to me about the rape like it’s the big issue. The rape is not the big issue. The rape is the least of his problems,” he said. “The issue is the conditions of the prisoners, and the rape is just one of the many pieces of the puzzle, which is Israel torturing the Palestinian prisoners.”

Marmarelli said his client has shown him “boot marks on his back,” deep marks on his wrists from tight handcuffs, and “bruises all over his body.” According to him, the sexual assaults occur “once every few weeks” and appear to coincide with his visits.

“Palestinian political prisoners don’t get any visits for years. Their only connection to the outside world is a lawyer’s visit,” he said.

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A ceasefire was reached between Tel Aviv and Beirut on Nov. 27, 2024, after more than a year of attacks against the backdrop of the Gaza war. Over 4,000 people were killed, and 17,000 others were injured in the attacks.

Under the ceasefire, the Israeli army was supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon this January, but instead only partially pulled out and continues to maintain a military presence at five border outposts.

In a report, the Alma Research and Education Center found that 699 airstrikes were launched by the Israeli army across Lebanon over the past year on claims of targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.

According to the report, 47% of the airstrikes hit south of the Litani River, and 38.4% north of it. The Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon was targeted by 13% of the attacks, while the remaining 1.6%, which corresponds to 11 strikes, hit the capital Beirut, and its surrounding areas.

The majority of the attacks occurred in the first months of the ceasefire, with an average of 51 strikes per month.

The Israeli institute found that December 2024 and March 2025 recorded the highest number of airstrikes.

The report claimed that 218 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the Israeli attacks.

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President Trump is set to pardon a former Honduran president who had been sentenced to prison for drug trafficking, he announced on social media Friday.

“I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday.

In June 2024, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was given a prison sentence of 45 years due to over 10 years of collaboration with drug traffickers on getting cocaine into the United States, according to The Associated Press.

Hernández, who spent eight years as Honduras’s leader, was arrested by officials in February 2022, according to Reuters. 

Trump’s comments about Hernández also came alongside larger commentary on the Honduran presidential election, which is set for Sunday.

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