Col. Yevgeny 'Eugene' Vindman talks about where Russia has faltered in attacking Ukraine

Associated Press
A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden's clemency list
A nonprofit leader who supports at-risk New Orleans youth. A social worker who fosters animals. A counselor and recovery coach who volunteers at organizations that fight sexual assault and domestic violence.
AFP
Kremlin praises Trump, pounds Ukraine in massive attack
The Kremlin said Friday that US President-elect Donald Trump's opposition to Ukraine's use of US weapons to hit Russia "fully aligned" with Moscow's position, hours after it launched a massive aerial barrage on Ukraine."The statement fully aligns with our position, with our view on the reasons for escalation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
AFP
Markets diverge as China economic pledges disappoint
Stock markets diverged Friday as traders were disappointed by China's latest boosts to its beleaguered economy and looked ahead to a key US Federal Reserve meeting next week."While the markets still anticipate a rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week, the likelihood of a move in January has dropped," said Patrick Munnelly, partner at broker Tickmill Group.
Reuters
Broadcom rallies on forecast for booming AI chip demand
The company was on track to add around $120 billion to its market value of $843 billion, based on premarket share movements, as it also forecast revenue for the first quarter above Wall Street estimates on Thursday. Broadcom has become a go-to supplier for big technology companies looking to reduce their dependence on pricey, supply-constrained AI processors made by front-runner Nvidia by developing their own advanced custom chips. CEO Hock Tan said on Thursday he expected the AI market to present a revenue opportunity between $60 billion and $90 billion for fiscal 2027, adding that Broadcom had won two major hyperscaler customers, which refers to large cloud firms.
Reuters
Dutch court rejects bid to stop arms exports to Israel
A Dutch court on Friday rejected a bid by 10 pro-Palestinian NGOs to stop the Netherlands exporting weapons to Israel and trading with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. The Hague district court stressed that the state has some leeway in its policies and courts should not rush to step in. The plaintiffs, citing high civilian casualties in Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, had argued that the Dutch state, as a signatory to the 1948 Genocide Convention, has a duty to take all reasonable measures at its disposal to prevent genocide.
Reuters
Defence minister orders Israeli troops to prepare to spend winter on Mount Hermon
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has ordered Israeli troops to prepare to stay over the winter on Mount Hermon, a strategic location overlooking Damascus, adding to signs that Israel's presence in Syria is set to continue for a prolonged period. "Due to what is happening in Syria - there is enormous security importance to our holding on to the peak of Mount Hermon," a statement from Katz's office said on Friday. The order suggests that Israeli troops who moved into a buffer zone inside Syrian territory as well as a "few additional points" following the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad's government are likely to remain.
Reuters
Exclusive-Trump transition recommends scrapping car-crash reporting requirement opposed by Tesla
The Trump transition team wants the incoming administration to drop a car-crash reporting requirement opposed by Elon Musk’s Tesla , according to a document seen by Reuters, a move that could cripple the government’s ability to investigate and regulate the safety of vehicles with automated-driving systems. Musk, the world's richest person, spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars helping Trump get elected president in November. Removing the crash-disclosure provision would particularly benefit Tesla, which has reported most of the crashes – more than 1,500 – to federal safety regulators under the program.
TODAY
Spouses with combined age of 202 become world’s oldest newlyweds
Spouses with combined age of 202 become world's oldest newlyweds
Reuters
US data has Fed striding toward rate cut next week, and tip-toeing into 2025
Investors view it as a near given that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point at its Dec. 17-18 meeting, with more attention focused on policymakers' new economic projections released alongside the decision. Those projections will include an updated look at how much further Fed officials think they will reduce rates in 2025 and perhaps into 2026, an exercise that will have to account for data in the meantime showing stickier-than-expected inflation, a healthy labor market, a U.S. election result that could shift the global trade and immigration landscape, and ongoing geopolitical risks. With so much to assess, a multitude of new risks, and a lot of uncertainty, many analysts expect the collective messaging from the central bank's policy statement on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference and the updated projections to be somewhat hawkish - with the Fed perhaps closer to a rate-cut stopping point, or at least very reluctant to commit to many more reductions in borrowing costs, than it was just a few months ago.
Reuters
Assad's final hours in Syria: Deception, despair and flight
Bashar al-Assad confided in almost no one about his plans to flee Syria as his reign collapsed. Hours before he escaped for Moscow, Assad assured a meeting of about 30 army and security chiefs at the defence ministry on Saturday that Russian military support was on its way and urged ground forces to hold out, according to a commander who was present and requested anonymity to speak about the briefing. Assad told his presidential office manager on Saturday when he finished work he was going home but instead headed to the airport, according to an aide in his inner circle.
CNN
This family spends months at sea exploring the deep ocean
Ghislain Bardout and Emmanuelle Perie-Bardout, founders of ocean exploration organization Under the Pole, take their children on wild and remote expeditions to investigate the ocean’s “twilight zone.”
Yahoo Finance
The Fed can't just be 'data dependent' in 2025 — it needs to be 'policy dependent'
Fed Chair Jay Powell has taken great pains to avoid politics. But with myriad potential government policies that could affect inflation, the central banker will be forced to once again pay attention not just to the data, but to politics and fiscal policy.
CBS News
Here's when, where the Geminid meteor shower will be visible during peak
One of the best meteor showers of the year is about to peak. Here's how to watch and where you can catch the Geminids.
CBS News
When you can see the Cold Moon, 2024's final full moon
December's full moon, known as the Cold Moon, is the last full moon of 2024. Here's when it peaks and why it's called the Cold Moon.
Reuters
German liberals to side with government on tax relief bill, letter shows
Germany's Free Democrats (FDP), which moved into opposition with the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition last month, will support legislation to offset the burden of inflation on taxpayers, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Friday. While still in government, the liberal FDP had pushed for an adjustment in taxation to prevent a creeping effect on wages hit by high inflation, arguing that price pressures were eating into people's take-home pay. "We understand your letter to mean that you are serious this time," FDP leader Christian Lindner and parliamentary faction head Christian Duerr wrote in response to a plea by Scholz to help his now-minority government pass the legislation.
AFP
Vindicated by Yoon's martial law, S. Korea's conspiracy theorists vow backing
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's dark claims of communist infiltration when declaring martial law last week may have seemed to many like a throwback to the Cold War.They have long spread unsubstantiated claims that South Korea's voting system has been infiltrated and compromised by these communist forces -- claims alluded to by Yoon during his declaration of martial law.
CNN
University of Michigan DEI administrator fired over alleged antisemitic comments plans to take legal action, attorney says
An administrator with the diversity, equity and inclusion office at the University of Michigan was fired Tuesday after she was accused of making antisemitic remarks – and now she plans to pursue legal action against the school, her attorney said.
CNN
Overtourism has hit Santa’s village, say Finnish locals
Tourism is booming in the Finnish town of Rovaniemi, known as the home of Santa Claus. However, not everyone is happy about the onslaught of Christmas visitors.
AFP
Taiwan says Chinese ships have left, signalling drills over
Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signalling the end of a massive maritime exercise, Taiwanese authorities said Friday.As Chinese ships returned to China on Thursday, Taiwan's military and coast guard closed emergency response centres set up in response to the huge maritime mobilisation.
AFP
Six rare giant catfish surface in Cambodia
Conservationists in Cambodia on Friday celebrated the discovery of six highly endangered Mekong giant catfish in the critical Southeast Asian waterway plagued by illegal fishing, habitat loss and plastic waste.Besides overfishing and plastic pollution, the Mekong River Basin has been degraded by upstream dams and climate change, which have had a major impact on water levels in the critically endangered catfish's aquatic home.

Latest Stories