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The White House will unveil new details on President Donald Trump's planned East Wing ballroom during a hearing early next month, according to a federal commission tasked with reviewing the project, Reuters reported. 

The new ballroom, which Trump has said would cost $400 million and would dwarf the adjacent White House building, has been challenged in court by preservationists, while Democratic lawmakers have called it an abuse of power and are investigating which donors are supporting it.

The National Capital Planning Commission, chartered by Congress to manage planning for Washington-area federal lands, said on its website that the White House will provide an "information presentation" on plans to rebuild the East Wing during a commission meeting on January 8, according to Reuters. 

Coach Hugo Broos said South Africa do not fear Egypt's Premier League contingent, Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush, ahead of their Group B clash in the Africa Cup of Nations on Friday, Reuters reported. 

Manchester City forward Marmoush scored the equalizer against Zimbabwe, before a late strike from Liverpool's Salah secured a 2-1 win in their opening game in Morocco on Monday.

South Africa beat Angola by the same score in their Group B opener thanks to Lyle Foster's screamer, according to Reuters. 

Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo has yet to start a Premier League match this season and has been linked with a loan move in the January transfer window but manager Ruben Amorim says the England midfielder is the future of the club, Reuters reported. 

Mainoo has made 12 appearances this season, with one League Cup start, and is set to miss United's game against Newcastle United later on Friday due to a calf injury.

Amorim said the 20-year-old will have to be patient but he will get his chance in the side, according to Reuters. 

Heavy rain storms across large parts of California triggered floods and mudslides and left three dead as of Christmas night, according to local officials, BBC reported. 

The storms - which were expected to continue through Friday - brought 11 inches (27 cms) of rainfall to some parts of Los Angeles County, prompted evacuations and shut down major roads. 

Emergency responders have had to perform several rescues, including people stuck in vehicles as flood waters rise. California's Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Wednesday in Los Angeles and other southern California counties, according to BBC. 

For weeks now, angry and distressed residents in Indonesia's westernmost province have been raising white flags over, the state's slow response to a series of deadly floods, BBC reported. 

Triggered by a rare cyclone in November, the deluge killed more than 1,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands across the island of Sumatra. In Aceh, the worst-hit province which accounted for nearly half of the deaths, many still do not have ready access to clean water, food, electricity and medical supplies.

In a sign of just how frustrating managing the crisis has become, the governor of North Aceh broke down publicly earlier this month, according to BBC. 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has given a positive assessment of a conversation he had with US envoys on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war, BBC reported. 

Zelensky said Thursday's call with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which lasted nearly an hour, had yielded "new ideas in terms of formats, meetings, and... timing on how to bring a real peace closer".

He spoke a day after giving details of an updated 20-point peace plan, agreed by US and Ukrainian envoys in Florida, according to BBC. 

President Donald Trump has said the US launched a "powerful and deadly strike" against the Islamic State (IS) group in north-western Nigeria, BBC reported. 

In a post on Truth Social, the US president described IS as " terrorist scum", accusing them of "targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians".

He said the US military "executed numerous perfect strikes", without giving any further details. It is unclear what exactly targets were struck and when, according to BBC. 

Ramesh Lekhak, the former Home Minister, has said that he would appear before the inquiry commission formed to investigate into the Gen-Z movement. 

Talking to media persons following a meeting of the Nepali Congress Central Executive Committee at the party office in Sanepa today, Lekhak said that he plans to present himself before the commission on coming Monday. 

"The commission has sent me a letter on Friday requesting my presence for a statement, and I have confirmed that I will attend on Monday," he stated.

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