Iran's supreme leader denied Sunday that militant groups around the region functioned as Tehran's proxies, warning that if his country chose to "take action", it would not need them anyway.

The remarks came after a year in which Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza suffered heavy losses in wars with Israel, and two weeks after the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who had been a key link in Tehran's so-called axis of resistance.

Germans have mourned the victims of an apparent attack in which authorities say a doctor drove into a busy outdoor Christmas market, killing five people, injuring 200 others and shaking the public's sense of security at what would otherwise be a time of joy.

A car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 60 others in what authorities called a deliberate attack.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday dismissed an assertion by Elon Musk that only a far-right party can "save Germany," but said that freedom of opinion "also goes for multibillionaires."

Germany is expected to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Scholz's three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalize the country's stagnant economy.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday that European leaders must acknowledge the need to change their strategy regarding Ukraine.

In comments to Hungary's state broadcaster on Friday, Orbán argued that the current strategy was not working and Russia was advancing on the frontlines. He added that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's victory "has changed the state of the war."

A Ukrainian strike on the Russian town of Rylsk in the Kursk region near the border with Ukraine on Friday killed six people including a child, the local governor said.

"Six people were killed, including a child. Ten victims were taken to the central hospital in Rylsk including a 13-year-old minor," Alexander Khinshtein said on Telegram.

French President Emmanuel Macron faced widespread frustration and anger from residents of Mayotte during his visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago, which is still reeling from the damage of the strongest cyclone to hit the region in nearly a century.

On Friday morning, Macron visited a neighborhood in Tsingoni on Mayotte's main island, where people remain without access to drinking water or phone service, nearly a week after the cyclone.

The leaders of Turkey and Iran met in Cairo at a summit of eight Muslim-majority countries, in their first sit-down since the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

The two countries were on opposite sides of Syria's long-running civil war, with Turkey historically backing Assad's opponents and Iran supporting his rule.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he needed both Europe and the United States on board to secure a durable peace, as he huddled with EU leaders at their final summit before Donald Trump's inauguration.

Trump returns to the White House next month having pledged to bring a swift end to a conflict that NATO says has left more than one million dead and wounded since Russian President Vladimir Putin's 2022 invasion.

European Union leaders insisted on Thursday that no decisions can be taken about the future of war-ravaged Ukraine without its consent or behind the backs of its partners in Europe, barely a month before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Ukraine's position is precarious more than 1,000 days into the war. Russia continues to make gains on the battlefield, pushing the front line gradually westward despite suffering heavy casualties. Ukraine's energy network is in tatters and military recruits are hard to find.