Blinken has spent much of the last month-and-a-half deeply engaged on the Gaza crisis, making two trips to the Middle East. Now, amid signs that a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas due to expire on Monday may be extended, Blinken is departing for Brussels for a NATO foreign ministers meeting.

Southern Ukraine and Russia continue to be battered with storms with both experiencing widespread power cuts, mass flooding, traffic chaos and destruction.

Russian forces are ready to storm the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, attempting to advance on all sides after weeks of fighting. Russian troops have been pressing land and air-based attacks on Avdiivka, since mid-October as the focal point of their slow-moving push through eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

After nearly two years of missile, rocket, and drone attacks, Russian and Ukrainian air defenses are both being stretched.