Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The United States has committed an additional $1 billion in lethal assistance for Ukraine as the Biden administration seeks to surge weapons to Kyiv ahead of an uncertain future for the embattled ally.

Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Stellantis has recalled more than 317,000 of its Ram pickup trucks due to potentially deadly brake problems, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced.

Dec. 8 (UPI) -- President-Elect Donald Trump said he plans to launch efforts to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, impose tariffs on foreign countries and pardon some of the people convicted in the Capitol intrusion.

Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Israeli forces have seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, whose rule by Syrian President Bashar Assad ended with takeover by rebels.

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Syrian rebels said Saturday they have captured the strategically important city of Homs and are now on the doorstep of the capital of Damascus as they pressed a lightning assault on the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Protesters are demanding "justice" for Honey, a black bear who was euthanized at a New York state-licensed animal refuge after enduring what they called inhumane conditions.

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Five years after it was nearly destroyed by fire, French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday hosted a glittering ceremony attended by world leaders to celebrate the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Jose Goyos of West Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday was sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiring to defraud Medicare of $67 million for medically unnecessary genetic testing.

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Elon Musk's xAI artificial intelligence company on Saturday rolled out a free beta version of its Aurora image generator, capable of producing photo-realistic pictures upon request.

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- An English translator and anticolonial activist who championed the United Nations resolution that ended Algeria's war of independence from France blasted Israel's war in Gaza at a documentary screening Friday.