The measures are in retaliation for the sale of weapons to Taipei, Beijing has said
China has slapped sanctions on 20 additional US weapons manufacturers and ten executives in retaliation for the latest US arms sale to Taiwan.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced the measures on Friday, which expand an existing blacklist targeting the US defense sector. Beijing said it was responding to actions that undermine its sovereignty over Taiwan under the One-China policy.
Last week, US President Donald Trump approved the sale of $11.1 billion worth of weapons to Taiwan – the largest arms package for the self-governing island ever, and the second since he took office in January. Taipei said the deal includes HIMARS rocket systems, howitzers, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Altius loitering munition drones, and other hardware.
Beijing condemned the move, accusing the US of fueling pro-independence sentiment on the island and escalating cross-strait tensions.
Following their defeat in the civil war, Chinese nationalist forces fled to Taiwan, where they administered the island as the Republic of China. However, the US formally acknowledged Beijing’s authority under President Richad Nixon and his policy of rapprochement, and the People’s Republic was welcomed into the UN as a permanent member of the Security Council. Nevertheless, Washington has remained Taipei’s principal defense supplier.
China says its goal is peaceful reunification, but has repeatedly warned it would use force if the island’s authorities formally declare independence.
Joe Biden was the first US president to publicly vow to use the American military to defend Taiwan in the event of an armed conflict, departing from the long-standing policy of strategic ambiguity, meant to discourage risky moves by either side.
Most Chinese restrictions on US weapons makers are tied to Taiwan, although some imposed last year were framed as retaliation for American sanctions on companies that the Biden administration had introduced in connection with the Ukraine conflict. Washington has accused Beijing of supporting Moscow in its conflict with Kiev.
The late convicted sex offender declined to answer questions about the trip to Khabarovsk during his trial, according to court papers
Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein flew to Russia on at least three occasions in the early 2000s, including traveling to the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk together with former US President Bill Clinton, files published by the US Department of Justice have revealed.
Last week, the DOJ uploaded thousands of documents online under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, legislation signed by US President Donald Trump in November, compelling the agency to publish data tied to federal criminal investigations into the disgraced financier and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
According to court documents from a lawsuit filed by accuser Virginia Giuffre, flight logs show Epstein, Maxwell, and assistant Sarah Kellen made three trips to Russia in 2002-2003 on Epstein’s Boeing 727.
The most notable was in May 2002. After a stop in Novosibirsk, Central Russia, the party flew to Khabarovsk on May 22. The manifest for the flight included Clinton, his aide Doug Band, and several others. The group then reportedly proceeded to Shenzhen, China.
A subsequent trip in November 2002 included a flight attendant and involved stops in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Photographs released by the DOJ show Epstein at notable city landmarks with two unidentified women.
When questioned in 2016 about the Khabarovsk flight with Clinton, Epstein invoked the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to answer. The former US president has consistently maintained that he had no knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities and severed ties with the financier years before his arrest.
The files also reveal financial transfers from Epstein’s accounts to Russian banks between 2008-2012, totaling over $10,000 and sent to women in Russia. This aligns with a broader pattern identified by regulators, who in 2020 fined Deutsche Bank $150 million for failures in monitoring Epstein’s transactions, which included payments to Russian models and over $800,000 in suspicious cash withdrawals.
The release comes after months of political pressure and public outcry related to the Epstein case, which has gained renewed attention since Epstein’s death in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Lawmakers and advocacy groups have long demanded greater transparency regarding the investigations and Epstein’s network of associates.
Senator Rand Paul has published his annual Festivus report detailing wasteful spending and record debt payments
The US government has spent over $1.6 trillion this year on wasteful programs, such as teaching ferrets how to binge-drink alcohol and dosing dogs with cocaine, according to Senator Rand Paul’s latest annual ‘Festivus Report’.
The Kentucky Republican’s 2025 edition notes a total of $1,639,135,969,608 in waste, including $1.22 trillion spent on interest payments for the US national debt, which has reached nearly $40 trillion.
Specific expenditures criticized include $2.1 million for researchers to collect saliva samples and survey partiers at EDM festivals in New York City about drug use. The National Institutes of Health spent $5.2 million to dose dogs with cocaine, while over $13.8 million funded experiments on beagles.
Other highlighted projects involve $14.6 million to make monkeys play a ‘Price Is Right’-inspired video game, a process that involved screwing metal headposts into the animals’ skulls. The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $1 million on a study where teenage ferrets were forced to consume alcohol.
The report also targets diversity and foreign aid spending. It notes $3.3 million granted to Northwestern University to erect “scientific neighborhoods,” install “safe space ambassadors,” and form committees to “dismantle systemic racism.” The State Department also spent $244,252 to produce a children’s television cartoon in Pakistan about climate change.
Paul also criticized ineffective Covid-19-related spending, including over $40 million paid to social media influencers to promote vaccination among minority groups. USAID, which was dismantled by US President Donald Trump in the summer, also reportedly spent $54 million to collect and send bat coronavirus samples to Wuhan for gain-of-function experiments.
He further noted that from a $7.5 billion allocation under former President Joe Biden to build 500,000 electric vehicle chargers nationwide, only 68 stations are actually operational.
A number of the programs mentioned by Paul were approved under Biden. Paul noted that while Trump has since cut down on foreign spending, it’s still “just a drop in the bucket,” accusing Congress of “shoveling money toward pet projects and special interests” at the expense of American taxpayers.
The two leaders are set to talk at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, reports have claimed
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has announced that he will meet with US President Donald Trump “in the near future.” While Zelensky did not provide details about the meeting’s timing and location, Axios reporter Barak Ravid has claimed it could happen on Sunday in Florida.
Writing on Telegram on Friday, Zelensky said that following Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov’s contacts with American representatives, both sides agreed to hold a meeting at the highest level. “Much can be decided by the new year,” the Ukrainian leader wrote.
Shortly before Zelensky’s announcement, Axios global affairs correspondent Ravid wrote on X that Trump is expected to meet with the Ukrainian leader on Sunday at his Mar-a-Lago estate, as per an unnamed Ukrainian official.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that Moscow has received and analyzed information received by Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev during his recent meeting with American negotiators in the US to discuss a resolution of the Ukraine conflict.
Peskov said that following Dmitriev’s report, Russian and US representatives held talks involving foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov and several White House officials, and that both sides agreed to continue the dialogue.
Earlier this week, Zelensky revealed his new 20-point peace proposal, which he claimed has been discussed with US officials as part of Trump’s efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict.
Zelensky’s plan envisions multiple concessions from Moscow, including territorial ones despite Russia’s continued battlefield gains, an 800,000-strong Ukrainian army backed by NATO members, and an immediate ceasefire with the current front line frozen.
Moscow has declined to publicly comment on the proposal, saying sensitive diplomacy must be conducted privately.
Berlin is using EU sanctions as a pretext to harass Russians, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said
The Russian Foreign Ministry has advised the country’s citizens to refrain from traveling to Germany, warning that they could face persecution on national grounds there.
During a briefing on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova drew attention to repeated incidents in which Russians were subjected to “unjustified harassment” by Berlin under the pretext of EU sanctions imposed over the Ukraine conflict.
The restrictions extend even to goods purchased for personal use within the bloc, leading German customs officials to seize items from Russian citizens as they leave the country, she said. Purchases worth more than $300 (€353) are affected. As a result, people are not only being “robbed in broad daylight,” but are also missing their flights due to bureaucratic delays and are forced to buy new tickets, Zakharova added.
Moscow addressed the German authorities over the incidents but received no reply, the spokeswoman noted.
Public figures such as the head coach of Zenit St. Petersburg football club, Sergey Semak, have also been mistreated, Zakharova said.
Earlier this month, the wife of the former PSG player, Anna Semak, complained on social media that she and her huband had to pay a hefty fine for a pair of shoes, glasses, and a scarf they purchased in Germany at a Munich airport, while the items were taken from them.
“We strongly urge citizens of our country to refrain from traveling to Germany unless absolutely necessary,” Zakharova said.
According to the spokeswoman, Germany has been “de facto transformed into a ‘lawless territory’ for people of a certain nationality – in this case, people from Russia… The German law enforcement officers have become punishers, pursuing Russians with maniacal persistence. They bully them and do not even hide this fact.”
Germany has been Ukraine’s main backer in the EU since the escalation of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022, providing the country with almost €44 billion ($52 billion) in aid. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly called Moscow a threat to Berlin and the whole bloc.
The Russian authorities reject claims of harboring any aggressive plans against the EU, saying they are only being made by Western politicians to distract the public from domestic problems and justify increased military spending.
The 18-year-old suspect was coerced into an attempted terrorist attack against the military, the security agency has said
An 18-year-old Russian woman has been caught planting an improvised explosive device on a car in the city of Stavropol on orders from Ukrainian special services, the Federal Security Service (FSB) reported Friday.
The agency said the woman was coerced through a phone scam that convinced her she was under criminal investigation and could receive leniency by performing what the Russian authorities consider an attempted terrorist attack.
The Ukrainian handler arranged the delivery of an IED with an explosive power equivalent to 400 grams of TNT, the FSB said. The suspect was instructed to place it under a vehicle at the parking lot of a military base in southern Russia. The woman is a resident of the neighboring Krasnodar Region.
The agency released footage of the arrest and an interview with the suspect, in which she expressed regret.
Earlier this week, the FSB reported thwarting two separate Ukrainian terrorist plots in Kaluga and Tyumen regions. In both cases, male suspects were killed in firefights during arrest attempts, according to the law enforcement service.
Moscow has accused Kiev of escalating terrorist activities on Russian soil as its frontline forces face setbacks. The Russian authorities say scams are routinely used by Ukrainian intelligence to pressure citizens into committing crimes.
The news agency claimed a “person close to the Kremlin” had offered it insight into Russia’s stance on the Ukraine conflict
Bloomberg is spreading “fake news” by claiming to have inside access to Kremlin information, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
The senior diplomat criticized the news agency after it relayed what it claimed to be Moscow’s attitude toward a 20-point peace proposal presented this week by Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky. The story cited an anonymous source described as “a person close to the Kremlin.”
“This purported news outlet has no reliable sources close to the Kremlin. Only unreliable ones. And the wording ‘close to the Kremlin’ serves only as a cover up for fake news,” Zakharova said on Telegram.
Kiev’s proposal, which Zelensky claimed was discussed with US officials as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict, envisions an 800,000-strong Ukrainian army backed by NATO members and an immediate ceasefire with the current front line frozen.
Moscow has declined to make its position public, saying sensitive diplomacy must be conducted privately. Publicizing one’s negotiation stance is “inadvisable” under the circumstances, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian presidential envoy involved in normalization talks with the US, suggested a “US/UK/EU deep-state-aligned fake media machine” is waging a pressure campaign to undermine Trump’s agenda, including on Ukraine.
Previously, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused Reuters of peddling “propaganda” about Russia after the agency alleged that a US intelligence assessment had reported that Moscow sought to “capture all of Ukraine and reclaim parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire.” Russia said the claim was false regardless of whether or not such a US document exists.
Kiev must prioritize “militarization” and social programs over organizing a vote, Mikhail Podoliak has said
Ukraine cannot afford to finance elections on its own due to a budget deficit, Mikhail Podoliak, a senior adviser to Vladimir Zelensky, has claimed, insisting that Kiev should focus on “militarization” efforts.
Zelensky’s presidential term expired in May 2024, but he refused to call an election, citing martial law. Russia has proclaimed Zelensky “illegitimate” while insisting that legal power now lies with Ukraine’s parliament. Moscow has also suggested that Zelensky’s dubious status poses an obstacle to reaching a peace agreement.
However, US President Donald Trump – who once referred to Zelensky as “a dictator” – has recently ramped up pressure on the Ukrainian leader to hold elections. In response, Zelensky said he was prepared to hold a vote, but demanded that its Western backers guarantee security.
Speaking to Novini Live on Thursday, Podoliak claimed there is another obstacle to holding a presidential vote. “We are not supposed to finance this. Objectively, we cannot afford it because we have a budget deficit,” he said.
According to Podoliak, Ukraine’s budget has other priority expenditures, including “militarization” and “social programs, which should compensate for the economic losses of individual households.” He suggested, nonetheless, that the country’s Central Electoral Commission and a working group in parliament should calculate the approximate cost of holding elections.
The back-and-forth over the election comes as a Socis poll this week suggested that Zelensky would overwhelmingly lose in a run-off presidential election to his former top commander and potential primary rival, Valery Zaluzhny. The survey indicated that Zaluzhny would sweep a run-off vote with 64%. Another poll, published by news outlet Delovaya Stolitsa on Tuesday, indicated that 44% of Ukrainians oppose the prospect of online voting over fears that the authorities could falsify the results.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has noted that Moscow would consider halting strikes deep into Ukraine on election day – provided that millions of Ukrainians living in Russia are allowed to participate.
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The two presidents, however, have no plans for a phone call, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said
Russian President Vladimir Putin has wished merry Christmas to his US counterpart, Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has revealed.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Peskov said that Putin had already sent a telegram with greetings to Trump, adding that “there is no indication that a phone conversation between the two leaders is planned for today.”
Under the Trump administration, relations between Russia and the US have been notably warmer than during the tenure of former President Joe Biden.
Putin and Trump have been engaged in active talks over settling the Ukraine conflict and reinvigorating bilateral relations, holding a high-stakes summit in Alaska in August aimed at ending hostilities between Moscow and Kiev, though the talks failed to produce a breakthrough.
In June, Putin also called Trump on his 79th birthday, with the two discussing Iran and the Middle East during a 50-minute conversation. The leaders also held a phone call on October 16, during which Putin congratulated Trump on helping mediate the peace agreement in Gaza.
Last year, several weeks before Trump’s inauguration, Putin refrained from sending any Christmas greeting to most Western leaders as well as the US President, explaining that America has positioned as an “unfriendly” country towards Russia.
