Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the US has offered to create a “free economic zone” in the contested Donbas region of eastern Ukraine in a bid to push a peace deal over the line.

The Donbas – an industrial and coal-mining area primarily made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – has become one of the key sticking points in the US-proposed peace plan.

The first draft of the plan, widely leaked last month, stipulated that Ukraine must withdraw from areas of the Donbas it currently controls, thought to be a minority portion, as a condition for peace.

Image:
Donald Trump meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in February. Pic: Reuters

Ukraine considered that point “unacceptable”, and Mr Zelenskyy has spent the last few weeks drafting a response to the plan that removed “obvious anti-Ukraine points”.

After a series of meetings with Ukraine’s European allies, including a trip to London to meet Sir Keir Starmer on Monday, Zelenskyy said on Thursday that he’d sent Washington a revised peace plan, whittled down to just 20 points.

The new US proposal envisions Ukraine withdrawing from its territory in the Donbas without the Russians advancing, creating a neutral zone.

But Zelenskyy poured cold water on the plans as he briefed journalists in Kyiv.

Image:
Rescuers work after a Russian air strike in Sumy region, Ukraine. Pic: Reuters

“Who will govern this territory, which they are calling a ‘free economic zone’ or a ‘demilitarised zone’ – they don’t know,” he said.

“If one side’s troops have to retreat and the other side stays where they are, then what will hold back these other troops, the Russians? Or what will stop them disguising themselves as civilians and taking over this free economic zone? This is all very serious.

“It’s not a fact that Ukraine would agree to it, but if you are talking about a compromise then it has to be a fair compromise.”

Sky News military analyst Michael Clarke gave an ominous assessment of the proposal, saying it left “no physical solution” to resolve the problem of future attacks.

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49:17

Michael Clarke assesses the state of the war in Ukraine

He said: “If Ukraine gives up the fortress cities in the Donbas, the only security they can have is by being heavily armed and being backed by their allies in some way.”

“The only thing that would stop Russia is deterrence: the knowledge that either the European forces were sitting in Ukraine ready to fight for them, which is hard to imagine at the moment, and even harder to imagine that they are backed up by American forces.”

Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Service Institute, was similarly sceptical.

“The general view is that the Russians will be too tempted to… try and come back for more,” he told Sky News.

He added that “some kind of temporary ceasefire” might work, but it would require “the Europeans to demonstrate they can put their forces where their mouth is in terms of a reassurance force”.

Amid this backdrop there was a meeting today of the coalition of the willing – the 34-strong bloc of nations pledged to support Ukraine against Russian aggression, of which Britain is a part.

Read more:
Analysis: Russia may exploit death of British soldier in Ukraine
Russia sending Ukrainian children to ‘abusive’ camp in North Korea

There was agreement to continue to fund military support, “progress on mobilising frozen Russian sovereign assets”, and an update from Zelenskyy on Russia’s continued bombardment of his country, according to Downing Street.

Afterwards, Zelenskyy said the bloc was working to ensure any peace deal contains “serious components of European deterrence”.

Image:
A Ukrainian serviceman in combat practice in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. Pic: Reuters

He added: “It is important that the United States is with us and supports these efforts. No one is interested in a third Russian invasion.”

He also addressed growing pressure from the US for an election in Ukraine, saying “there must be a ceasefire” before the country can go to the polls.

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Zelenskyy’s term expired last year, but wartime elections are forbidden by law in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the tone tonight from the White House was one of impatience, with Trump’s team saying he wouldn’t attend further meetings until there’s a real chance of signing a peace deal.

“The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war, and he is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting,” said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

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Twenty states had challenged the end of the programme, meant to make localities more resilient to natural disasters.

Published On 11 Dec 202511 Dec 2025

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A federal judge has said the administration of United States President Donald Trump acted unlawfully in ending a programme aimed at helping communities become more resilient to natural disasters.

The Trump administration had targeted the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) programme as part of a wider effort to overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

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But on Thursday, US District Judge Richard Stearns ruled that the administration lacked the authority to end the grant programme. The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by 20 states, the majority led by Democrats.

Stearns said the administration’s action amounted to an “unlawful executive encroachment on the prerogative of Congress to appropriate funds for a specific and compelling purpose”.

“The BRIC program is designed to protect against natural disasters and save lives,” Stearns wrote, adding that the “imminence of disasters is not deterred by bureaucratic obstruction”.

Stearns had previously blocked FEMA from diverting more than $4bn allocated to BRIC to other purposes.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell was among the plaintiffs praising the decision.

“Today’s court order will undoubtedly save lives by preventing the federal government from terminating funding that helps communities prepare for and mitigate the impacts of natural disasters,” she said in a statement.

BRIC is the largest resiliency programme offered by FEMA, designed to reduce disaster-related risks and bolster efforts to recover quickly.

The programme is emblematic of efforts under FEMA to take preventive measures to prepare for natural disasters, as climate change fuels more extreme weather across the country.

According to the lawsuit, FEMA approved about $4.5bn in grants for nearly 2,000 projects, primarily in coastal states, over the last four years.

Upon taking office for his second term, Trump initially pledged to do away with FEMA, with the agency sitting at the crossroads of the president’s climate change denialism and his pledge to end federal waste.

Trump has since softened on his position amid pushback from both Republican and Democratic state lawmakers. He has said he plans to reform the agency instead.

In November, acting FEMA head David Richardson stepped down from his post. That came amid internal pushback over Richardson’s lack of experience and cuts to the agency.

In a letter in August, nearly 200 FEMA staffers warned the cuts risked compounding future disasters to a devastating degree.

Upon taking on the role in May, Richardson threatened he would “run right over” anyone who resisted changes to the agency.

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Mengchen Zhang, Jack Lau and Ankur ShahBBC Global China Unit and Eye Investigations

BBC

Warning: This report contains details of physical and sexual abuse and discussion of suicide.

Baobao’s heart still races when she smells soil after morning rain.

It takes her back to early military drills behind locked gates – and the constant fear that marked every one of her days at Lizheng Quality Education School.

For six months, aged 14, she barely left the red and white building in a remote Chinese village where instructors tried to “fix” young people whose families considered them rebellious or problematic.

Students who failed to comply were beaten so severely they could not sleep on their backs or sit down for days, she says.

“Every single moment was agonising,” says Baobao, now 19 and speaking under a pseudonym for fear of retribution.

She says she considered suicide, and knows other students who attempted it.

‘Raped and beaten’

A BBC Eye investigation has uncovered multiple allegations of physical abuse in the school and others in the same network, and cases of young people being abducted and taken to the institutions.

Corporal punishment has been banned in China for decades, but we have collated testimony from 23 former students who say they were beaten or forced to do extreme amounts of exercise. One says she was raped, and two others, including Baobao, say they were sexually assaulted or harassed, all by instructors.

Undercover filming has exposed how staff pose as authorities to forcibly transfer young people to their institutions.

Thirteen students say they were abducted, with parental consent, by employees pretending to be police or officials.

The accounts – from interviews by the BBC World Service, statements gathered by activists, police reports and state media – relate to five schools. These are part of a network of at least 10 schools, all of which have been run by – or have close links to – a military veteran called Li Zheng.

Baobao says every single moment at the school was “agonising”

The centres are part of a booming industry promising anxious parents that military-style discipline will resolve concerns over young people’s disobedience, internet addiction, teenage dating and depression, as well as gender and sexual identity. Some parents even send over-18s, who are legally adults.

A series of abuse allegations have made headlines in China in recent years, in both Li Zheng schools and others.

In a few cases, arrests have been made or institutions shut down, but schools can be quick to reopen with different names or in different locations because the sector has been difficult to regulate. The BBC understands that Mr Li was arrested earlier this year, but we have discovered his associates have recently opened a new school.

Companies and individuals involved in the network could either not be reached or declined to comment. The Chinese embassy in the UK told the BBC all educational institutions are required to comply with regulations.

‘Deeply offensive’ body search

Baobao says her mother took her to the Lizheng Quality Education School in Hunan province when she began skipping classes, triggering rows which made their already difficult relationship worse.

Her mother left while she was being shown around the school, she says, and she then realised she was not allowed to leave: “They said if I behaved well, I might be able to get out.”

Baobao initially tried to kick and punch the instructors, she says, but decided to comply when they tried to restrain her with her own shoelaces. Later, she was searched. She describes the way this was done as sexual assault. “I found it deeply offensive… she touched all my sensitive areas.”

She says her mother paid about 40,000 yuan ($5,700; £4,300) for six months at the institution, and she was not given any academic lessons. Few disciplinary schools offer these, and some that do charge extra for them.

The school is still operating, now known as Quality Education for Teenagers, with around 300 students, aged eight to 18.

Undercover footage was filmed there earlier this year by a woman posing as a parent considering enrolling her fictional 15-year-old son. She said he was smoking, dating and driving her car.

She was shown locked gates on staircases, metal grilles along open-air corridors and CCTV monitoring dormitories where children rest, get changed and shower.

Filmed undercover, a staff member says Quality Education for Teenagers uses a “white lie” when it takes students to the school

A staff member told her it would take at least six months to improve the teenager’s behaviour, but under a “three-year warranty” she could send him back paying for just food and accommodation if he reverted to his old ways.

She was told not to tell him about the new school. “When we arrange pick-ups, we tell a white lie,” the staff member said.

She explained instructors impersonating officials from the “internet regulator” would say they needed him to help with an investigation, and take him to the centre. “If this fails, several instructors will simply restrain him and carry him to the vehicle,” she said.

Another former student, Zhang Enxu, now aged 20, says she had a similar experience when she was taken to a different school in the network.

Then 19, she had left home, frustrated with her parents’ refusal to accept her transgender identity and her decision to live as a woman – she was registered male at birth. She says she had returned for a family visit to her grandmother’s grave, when three men claiming to be police appeared, saying her details had been used in fraud.

“They forcibly dragged me into the car. My parents stood by as I was taken away,” she says.

Enxu says she was beaten and raped at the disciplinary school she was taken to at the age of 19

She was taken to Shengbo Youth Psychological Growth Training School in Hunan where she says she was beaten, leaving her with hearing loss in one ear, and later raped.

In the undercover footage from the school Baobao attended, a staff member says there are no beatings: “We change the behaviour of youngsters with military training and counselling.”

But Baobao and Enxu describe a very different experience.

“Corporal punishment is ever-present,” says Baobao. “If your dance routines or military boxing lack precision, or are poorly executed, you will be punished.”

She said the instructors would use a pipe, raising it overhead before “bringing it down with force” on her classmates. “Where they hit you would turn black. You get severe bruising.”

Videos obtained and verified by the BBC, that were filmed at another of Li Zheng’s schools, show instructors raising a rod high and striking students’ hands.

Enxu says the students were forced to do “enormous” amounts of physical training. She said instructions to carry out exercises like push-ups “might start at a thousand repetitions”.

She also says she was attacked in her dormitory by an instructor on night duty: “He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me to the floor, then he sexually assaulted me.”

Enxu’s parents were sent videos of her at the school taking part in drills and counselling sessions

Baobao says she considered trying to kill herself, but realised she would be caught in the hours it would take her to die.

She says one of her classmates did attempt to take her own life, but instead of taking her to hospital, the instructors tried to flush her stomach themselves.

Both Baobao and Enxu describe counselling sessions where little understanding was shown.

Enxu’s sessions were videoed for her parents, who she says had paid 65,800 yuan ($9,300, £7,000) for six months. “Be a happy, healthy, positive boy. All right?” she is urged. “You’re a boy, do what boys do… just be happy.”

Baobao says that when she told the counsellor she wanted to end her life, the response was: “If you were going to die, you wouldn’t be sitting here in front of me.”

“Is that something a caring person would say? Are they even human?” she asks.

Both students wondered how their parents could have decided to subject them to the experience.

Enxu’s mother wept as she told the BBC the family had been “deceived” by the school’s promises: “Not only did you swindle someone out of their money, but you also tore their family apart, causing a breakdown in their relationship.”

Footage obtained by the BBC that was filmed at one of Li Zheng’s schools shows an instructor hitting a student on the hand

Social pressure to have academically successful children plays a major role in parents’ decisions – particularly among urban middle-class families – to send their children to disciplinary schools, says Dr Yichen Rao, an anthropologist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

He has studied internet addiction centres for young people in China, and says lack of support in the school system, anxiety, and conflict within the family can combine to make parents “feel that they have no other choices”.

Baobao’s mother declined to comment. Her daughter says she can now “understand both sides”: “I think she was brainwashed by the slogans used to sell the school. She was desperate for me to become more obedient… to be the daughter she always wanted.”

Baobao managed to leave after feigning an eye problem. Her mother simply said “let’s turn the page”, leaving her angry and confused, she recalls.

Viral letters

Enxu’s ordeal ended after a month. Her friends realised she was missing and contacted the police, who then located her and shared a video of her at the school. Her friend Wang Yuhang identified the school by asking in online groups about the green uniform she was wearing.

Enxu discreetly documented her experience in letters that were smuggled out and posted online. They went viral and as public pressure grew, the police intervened and she was allowed to leave.

Twelve days later, authorities announced Shengbo school was closing, but made no reference to the abuse Enxu alleged, saying, however, that the school had violated administrative regulations.

She says the police later told her Li Zheng had been arrested, accused of involvement in organised crime. The police did not respond to BBC requests for information about Enxu’s case and Mr Li. The local education department have also not responded.

Secret filming

Undercover footage shows students doing military-style drills at a new school set up by former employees of Li Zheng schools

Mr Li keeps a relatively low public profile. The BBC has analysed his network and found it operates disciplinary schools across four provinces through a complex set of companies registered to him or his close associates.

He founded his first centre in 2006 and has owned four different education companies at different times.

The website of one of his organisations says he is a graduate of a Chinese Air Force academy in southern China, and worked as a “director of training” and “senior psychological counsellor” at several schools from 2007.

On local television in Hunan province, he once spoke about nurturing young people with “love and patience”.

Chinese authorities have intervened before, following allegations about schools in the network.

An instructor at a different Li Zheng school was detained by police in 2019 after allegations he had beaten students with water pipes.

Also, according to Chinese media reports, the school Baobao attended was ordered to stop admissions after a student suicide in 2020. She was there at the time and says it continued to operate over that period. It changed its name soon afterwards.

Mu Zhou, an Australia-based volunteer who has been helping document allegations of abuse, says “whenever there’s public outcry, he [Li Zheng] would alter the name or change the legal representative”. He also says students are bussed between different sites to avoid inspections.

‘Huge profits’

Two undercover researchers recently visited what may be the latest addition to the Li Zheng network.

Posing as investors in the Hong Kong education sector, the researchers set up a meeting with three former employees of Li Zheng schools, in a new school they have set up in Fujian.

“The profits in this industry are huge,” Li Yunfeng, the director of counselling at the new school, told them. He outlined how the business model could work in Hong Kong, suggesting fees of at least $25,000 (£19,000) per student annually.

He declined to disclose the name of their boss, but said he was “a veteran”.

He appeared to distance himself from the network, however, telling the undercover researchers: “There were some incidents. The parents lodged a complaint. The group… though not formally dissolved yet, it’s teetering on the brink of collapse. That’s why I stepped out.”

Secret filming

Li Yunfeng told undercover researchers the previous group was “on the brink of collapse” but he is helping open a new school

The BBC was not able to reach Li Zheng, Li Yunfeng and other schools and companies linked to Li Zheng and his associates for comment, despite multiple attempts.

The staff member who provided a tour of the Quality Education for Teenagers school declined to comment. The education department which oversees the school could not be reached, despite multiple attempts.

Regulating these disciplinary centres is difficult. Some are not registered as schools. The responsibility is split between local education, civil affairs and market regulation authorities, a Chinese lawyer familiar with lawsuits against such institutions, who did not wish to be named, told the BBC.

Dr Rao says that with no centralised regulation over the disciplinary schools, the responsibility tends to fall to local government.

He describes it as a “shadowy industry that the state just tolerates”, adding that the state may not wish to give it legitimacy by providing regulation or guidelines.

But, he adds, there is a “spectrum” of schools, with some incorporating psychotherapy for students and training for parents, or disciplining staff who carry out corporal punishment.

The Chinese embassy in London said the government “attaches great importance to the lawful operation of educational institutions and the protection of minors”. It says all educational institutions “are required to comply with relevant laws and regulations”.

‘Terribly sad’

Enxu and her friend Wang want to see all disciplinary schools shut down. They work to gather video evidence of abuse and abduction, believing this is crucial to get the police to investigate, sometimes posting it online.

Wang often receives requests from students. He has helped with the logistics of escape attempts and by pressuring schools to allow students to leave.

Baobao never returned to education, which she says makes her feel “terribly sad”. She now makes a living through online streaming and gaming, but believes she might have gone to university if she had not been sent to the Lizheng Quality Education School.

“These schools are essentially scams,” she says.

“The prevailing educational ethos is one of violence begetting violence… the very concept is fundamentally flawed,” she says, adding that they “simply shouldn’t exist”.

Details of organisations offering information and support with mental health, distress or despair, or sexual abuse or violence, are available at BBC ActionLine.

Additional reporting by Alex Mattholie and Shanshan Chen

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The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published the list of sanctions on Thursday that included three nephews of Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.

It is the latest move by the US in its ongoing political conflict with the Venezuelan regime and it comes a day after it seized an oil tanker off the country’s coast.

Known in Venezuela as the ‘narco-nephews’ for their involvement in drug trafficking,Franqui Flores, Carlos Flores and Efrain Campo have all been denied access to any property or financial assets held in the US, and US companies and citizens can now be penalized for doing business with them.

Panamanian businessman Ramon Carretero, six firms and six Venezuela-flagged ships accused of transporting Venezuelan oil, were also included in the sanctions list.

The Treasury Department alleged that Carretero has had business dealings with Maduro’s family and has also facilitated oil shipments on behalf of the Venezuelan government.

What the Treasury statement said

“Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury is holding the regime and its circle of cronies and companies accountable for its continued crimes,” he added.

Flores and Campo had been jailed for years in the US on narcotics convictions. Flores had already been sanctioned in July 2017, but he was removed from Treasury’s list in 2022 during the Biden administration, during an effort to promote negotiations for democratic elections in Venezuela.

US plans more tanker seizures, sources say

Meanwhile, sources familiar with the matter said the US was preparing to seize more oil tankers from Venezuela.

Wednesday’s tanker seizure was the first of its kind of an oil cargo or tanker from Venezuela, and it comes as the Trump administration has led a large military buildup in the Caribbean.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters she did not comment on the reports of future actions on oil tankers, focusing instead on the sanctions package.

“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world,” Leavitt said.

A reduction or halt in Venezuelan oil exports would certainly strain the Maduro government’s finances.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar

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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro warned that his country must “stand like warriors… ready to smash the teeth of the North American empire” on Wednesday, a moment that coincided with the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.

Maduro delivered the remarks while holding the sword of Simón Bolívar at a rally where video showed him singing and dancing to a recording of American singer Bobby McFerrin’s late-80s hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Maduro told supporters that Venezuelans must stay alert as tensions with Washington escalate.

“In these times, things have to be different, but we must always stand like warriors, women and men,” he said in a translated interpretation. “With one eye wide open – and the other one too – working, producing, building, keeping everything running, and ready to smash the teeth of the North American empire if necessary, from Bolivar’s homeland.”

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the U.S. had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, sharply escalating tensions with Caracas. The tanker was taken for allegedly transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER MACHADO REAPPEARS IN NORWAY AFTER MONTHS IN HIDING

Maduro issues a fierce warning after the U.S. seizes a tanker near Venezuela, triggering accusations of piracy and intensifying a rapidly escalating standoff. (Reuters and APTN)

Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry condemned the move in an official statement, calling it “a brazen robbery and an act of international piracy” and accusing Trump of openly pursuing a plan to “take Venezuelan oil without paying anything in return.”

The ministry said the action fits into what it described as a longstanding U.S. effort to plunder the country’s natural resources and compared the episode to the loss of Citgo Petroleum Corp., which Caracas claims was seized through “fraudulent judicial mechanisms.”

The statement argued that “the true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela” have nothing to do with migration, drug trafficking, democracy, or human rights, insisting “it has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy.”

MADURO BRANDISHES SWORD AT RALLY AS HE RAILS AGAINST ‘IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION’ AMID RISING TENSIONS WITH US

Maduro issues a fierce warning after the U.S. seizes a tanker near Venezuela, triggering accusations of piracy and intensifying a rapidly escalating standoff. (Reuters and APTN)

It also accused Washington of using the tanker incident to distract from what it described as the failure of political efforts in Oslo by groups seeking Maduro’s removal.

Caracas urged Venezuelans to “remain firm in defense of the homeland” and called on the international community to reject what it described as “vandalistic, illegal, and unprecedented aggression.”

The government said it will take its complaint to all available international bodies and vowed to protect the country’s sovereignty and control over its energy assets, declaring that “Venezuela will not allow any foreign power to attempt to seize from the Venezuelan people what belongs to them by historical and constitutional right.”

MARCO RUBIO SAYS TRUMP WILL NOT BE ‘SUCKERED’ BY MADURO LIKE BIDEN

Maduro issues a fierce warning after the U.S. seizes a tanker near Venezuela, triggering accusations of piracy and intensifying a rapidly escalating standoff. (Reuters and APTN)

Tensions between the two countries have grown following months of U.S. maritime strikes that Washington says targeted vessels used by drug traffickers to transport narcotics.

Reuters has reported that more than 80 people have been killed since September, and a separate Reuters report detailed heightened surveillance and security crackdowns in coastal communities affected by the strikes.

Late last month, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro appeared at a mass rally in Caracas holding the sword of Simón Bolívar as he warned supporters to brace for “imperialist aggression,” delivering a defiant address after Trump said the U.S. will “very soon” begin stopping suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers on land.

BONDI SHARES HEART-POUNDING FOOTAGE OF US SEIZING VENEZUELAN OIL TANKER IN RARE ACTION LAST SEEN IN 2014

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was questioned about the U.S. seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. (Planet Labs PBC/Handout via Reuters )

Trump said he had not ruled out sending U.S. troops to Venezuela as part of the administration’s crackdown on criminal networks tied to senior figures in Caracas. “No, I don’t rule out that, I don’t rule out anything,” he said.

He also left room for potential talks. “We may be having some conversations with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out. They would like to talk,” Trump told reporters over the weekend.

Since early September, U.S. strikes across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have destroyed dozens of vessels. U.S. officials say many were linked to Venezuelan and Colombian criminal groups.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Maduro appeared at last month’s rally holding the sword of Simón Bolívar, the 19th-century independence leader regarded as the liberator of much of South America. He told supporters the country was facing a decisive moment.

Fox News’ Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.

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NEED TO KNOW

• Bad Bunny slipped and fell on stage during a concert in Mexico City
• After the Grammy winner’s fall, the crowd helped him finish singing “Efecto”
• Bad Bunny is set to headline the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show on Feb. 8, 2026

Bad Bunny took a fall in Mexico City, but his fans had his back.

During his Wednesday, Dec. 10 concert in the capital of Mexico, the Grammy winner, 31, was dancing across the stage while singing “Efecto,” when he appeared to slip and fall.

Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, sat on the stage for a few moments after his tumble, but his fans helped keep the concert’s momentum going as they belted out the lyrics until he got back to his feet, as seen in fan videos from the event.

After a few moments, Bad Bunny stood up and resumed singing, while also giving a shout out to the Mexico City crowd.

The “Tití Me Preguntó” singer’s tumble comes two months before he takes the stage at the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show on Feb. 8. Bad Bunny was confirmed as the 2026 headliner in September, during a game between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers.

At the time, the musician shared a video on Instagram featuring him wearing a straw hat and sitting on a goal post at the beach as the waves crashed behind him. “Super Bowl LX. Bay Area. February 2026. #AppleMusicHalftime,” he captioned the announcement.

He also posted about the show on X, writing, “I’ve been thinking about it these days, and after discussing it with my team, I think I’ll do just one date in the United States.” His comment was in reference to his decision not to tour the U.S. for his Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour, due to President Donald Trump cracking down on immigration via the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Bad Bunny on Dec. 10 in Mexico City.

 Alfredo ESTRELLA / AFP via Getty

The choice of Bad Bunny as the Halftime headliner has received criticism from some conservatives due to the Puerto Rican singer only performing songs in Spanish. He addressed the criticism when he hosted Saturday Night Live in October.

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“I’m very happy, and I think everyone is happy about it — even Fox News,” he joked as clips spliced together from the network’s shows were edited to say, “Bad Bunny is my favorite musician, and he should be the next president.”

“But really, I’m very excited to be doing the Super Bowl, and I know that people all around the world who love my music are also happy,” Bad Bunny said, then he added in Spanish, “Especially all of the Latinos and Latinas in the world here in the United States who have worked to open doors. It’s more than a win for myself, it’s a win for all of us. Our footprints and our contribution in this country, no one will ever be able to take that away or erase it.”

He concluded his monologue, “If you didn’t understand what I just said. You have four months to learn.”

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Sunrise host Natalie Barr has slammed Health Minister Mark Butler in an on-air clash over controversial travel perks for politicians.

It comes after Communications and Sports Minister Anika Wells referred herself to the parliamentary expenses authority following revelations that she repeatedly billed the public purse for chauffeured cars and family travel.

The flights were all claimed under ‘family reunion’ rules, which allow politicians to claim three business-class airfares a year for family members to join them while they are travelling on official business.

Barr opened the segment with a blunt reality check about the spending.

‘Have you seen what the public is saying?’ she asked Butler.

Butler claimed the public sympathised with politicians who don’t get to spend much time with their families due to the demands of the role.

‘I think they recognise that these jobs are tough on families, but any rules around trying to keep families together from time to time, of course, have to be reasonable. And they have to be used in a sensible way.’

Barr fired back: ‘They are not saying that, Mark. They’re actually saying that it stinks.’ 

Nat Barr unleashed at Albanese government health minister Mark Butler about travel allowances

Albanese brushed off questions about whether travel perks were too generous, but didn’t shut the door on reforms to the system 

In recent days, Barr said she’s been flooded with hundreds of messages from viewers who believe the spending doesn’t pass the ‘pub test’ during a cost-of-living crisis. 

Butler said that it wasn’t up to the government to decide whether the system needed tightening, pointing instead to the independent authority tasked with overseeing parliamentary entitlements.

‘I think having the independent authority take the opportunity to look at these rules and provide advice… would give the public some assurance,’ he said.

Barr pushed harder, reminding him that the Parliamentary Business Resources Act of 2017, the very law governing these entitlements, was created and voted on by politicians themselves.

‘If politicians wanted to change this, you actually could. Do you think that’s a good idea?’ she asked.

Butler said he would welcome a full review, not just into individual claims referred by Wells, but into whether the entire system genuinely meets the test of being reasonable and used sensibly.

‘We would welcome those recommendations, and if they have to be enacted through legislation, then I’m sure that’s what we would do.’

With more politicians being roped into the spiralling expenses furore, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said she was happy to consider changes to the rules, but urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to investigate whether Wells breached the ministerial code of conduct.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley called for a formal probe into the ‘family reunion’ allowance

‘She needs to step aside while this review happens,’  Ley told 2GB radio on Thursday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese brushed off questions about whether travel perks were too generous, but didn’t shut the door on reforms to the system.

‘We’re aware that issues are there and that taxpayers have a right to expect value for money,’ he told reporters in Canberra.

‘It’s important … that I don’t influence that from the top.’

Politicians are allowed to claim travel expenses if their official duties are the ‘dominant purpose’ of the trip.

This means they can still attend other, non-political events, as long as their parliamentary duties are the main focus of their travel.

Asked if her husband should be able to enjoy big sporting games, Wells said the family travel guidelines weren’t new.

‘No one expects any forgiveness for the political class. I understand that,’ she said.

‘Yes, I always think about how this is going to look to people when we make decisions about when we use the family travel entitlement.’ 

Wells charged taxpayers almost $1000 for a chauffeur for seven hours the day she attended the Australian Open in 2023 and more than $1200 for nine hours the day of the NRL and NRLW grand finals in 2022, according to the parliamentary expenses register.

The minister had her electorate office fitted with a secure communications facility in October 2024 when she was Sports and Aged Care Minister, despite a similar room being about a 20-minute drive away.

The minister also spent $3000 on flights and allowances for her husband and children to join her at Thredbo in June 2024 while she attended meetings with Paralympics Australia and Adaptive Festival organisers.

Wells first came under fire over flights for herself and two others that cost almost $100,000.

She flew to New York during the United Nations General Assembly, where she promoted the Albanese government’s world-first social media ban for under-16s.

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Mohamed Salah has been publicly encouraged to join MLS by commissioner Don Garber, with the Liverpool star’s future at Anfield unclear following his interview hinting at an exit

Mohamed Salah faces an uncertain future at Liverpool(Image: PAUL ELLIS, AFP via Getty Images)

Mohamed Salah is facing calls to reject the Saudi Pro League amidst ongoing speculation about his future at Anfield. The Egyptian has found himself on the bench for the Reds’ Premier League matches against Leeds United, Sunderland and West Ham United in recent weeks.

Following a thrilling 3-3 draw with the latter last weekend, Salah gave a surprise interview to reporters at Elland Road, revealing a rift with head coach Arne Slot. In the interview, he also suggested that this weekend’s match against Brighton & Hove Albion could be his last for Liverpool.

He is due to leave for the Africa Cup of Nations next week, which will run until mid-January, should Egypt advance deep into the tournament. However, it remains uncertain whether the 33-year-old will return to play for the Reds in the second half of the season.

READ MORE: Liverpool could repeat £25m transfer trick as FSG ‘closing in’ on Celtic signingREAD MORE: Liverpool star Mohamed Salah told to apologise as Gary Lineker raises suspicions

Following the player’s explosive interview, numerous links with foreign clubs have resurfaced over the past week. Those only increased after he was not involved as Liverpool defeated Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

The Saudi Pro League has long been considered as Salah’s most likely landing spot when he eventually ends his Anfield career. However, Major League Soccer has recently emerged as a viable alternative, with The Athletic reporting this week that a move to the United States is possible.

Part of the appeal stems from Egyptian-British billionaire Mohamed Mansour owning San Diego FC, which could make it a natural destination for Salah. The club, established in 2023, finished first in the Western Conference during the 2025 MLS campaign.

Mo Salah faces an uncertain future at Liverpool following his comments after the draw against Leeds United(Image: Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

MLS commissioner Don Garber has now openly urged Salah to cross the pond, despite the enormous financial rewards on offer in Saudi Arabia. He pointed to Barcelona and Bayern Munich icons Lionel Messi and Thomas Muller as proof of the league’s rising stature.

Garber said: “Obviously, if [Salah] ever decides to come to Major League Soccer, we’d welcome him with open arms. I’d say he should reach out to Leo [Messi] and reach out to Thomas Muller and see how happy they’ve been and how successful they’ve been and how much they’ve really embraced being in Major League Soccer.”

Don Garber has spoken about Mohamed Salah potentially moving to Major League Soccer(Image: Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)

Messi arrived at Inter Miami as a free agent in the summer of 2023 after his stint with Paris Saint-Germain. Earlier this month, the Argentine played and provided two assists against Muller’s Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS Cup final, guiding his team to a 3-1 triumph.

Salah will link up with his Egypt squad next week, with their Africa Cup of Nations opener scheduled for 22 December against Zimbabwe. South Africa and Angola complete the group as the Pharaohs aim to win the tournament for the first time since 2010.

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The US will not “stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas”, the White House has warned, after American forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.

Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters she would not speak about future ship seizures, but said the US would continue to follow Donald Trump‘s sanction policies.

“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world,” she said.

Image:
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt briefing the press. Pic: Reuters

The US is gearing up to intercept more ships, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

One source said several more sanctioned tankers had been identified by the US for potential seizure.

Two of the people said the US Justice Department and Homeland Security had been planning the seizures for months.

American forces were monitoring vessels in Venezuelan ports and waiting for them to sail into international waters before taking action, one source added.

It comes after a crude oil tanker, named Skipper, on Wednesday was stormed by US forces executing a seizure warrant.

The ship left Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between 4 and 5 December after loading about 1.1 million barrels of oil, according to satellite info analysed by TankerTrackers.com and internal shipping data from Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

Image:
A still from a video of US forces seizing a Venezuelan oil tanker, posted by Pam Bondi. Pic: X/@AGPamBondi

The real reason for Donald Trump’s Venezuela exploits

Ed Conway

Economics and data editor

@EdConwaySky

Donald Trump wants you to know that there is one leading reason why he is bearing down militarily on Venezuela: drugs.

It is, he has said repeatedly, that country’s part in the production and smuggling of illegal narcotics into America that lies behind the ratcheting up of forces in the Caribbean in recent weeks. But what if there’s something else going on here too? What if this is really all about oil?

In one respect this is clearly preposterous. After all, the United States is, by a country mile, the world’s biggest oil producer. Venezuela is a comparative minnow these days, the 21st biggest producer in the world, its output having been depressed under the Chavez and then Maduro regimes. Why should America care about Venezuelan oil?

For the answer, one needs to spend a moment – strange as this will sound – contemplating the chemistry of oil…

Read more

US attorney general Pam Bondi said on X, formerly Twitter, that the ship was “used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran”.

“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations,” she added.

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Ms Leavitt said that “the United States does intend to get the oil” that was onboard the vessel.

The government in Caracas, led by dictator Nicolas Maduro, branded the ship’s seizure a “blatant theft” and an “act of international piracy”.

Read more:
Analysis: Is this what the beginning of a war looks like?
The US-Venezuela crisis explained
Why tanker seized by US was ‘spoofing’ its location

The US has been ramping up the pressure on Mr Maduro and is reporting considering trying to oust him. It has piled on sanctions, carried out a military build-up in the southern Caribbean, and launched attacks on suspected drug vessels from Venezuela.

Now America has issued new sanctions targeting Franqui Flores, Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, and Carlos Erik Malpica Flores – three nephews of Mr Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores – as well as on six crude oil tankers and six shipping companies linked to them.

Image:
Skipper. Credit: TankerTrackers

By seizing oil tankers, the US is threatening Mr Maduro’s government’s main revenue source: oil exports.

The sources said the US was focusing on what’s been called the shadow fleet – tankers transporting sanctioned oil to China, the biggest buyer of crude from Venezuela and Iran.

They said one shipper had already temporarily suspended three voyages transporting six million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil.

“The cargoes were just loaded and were about to start sailing to Asia,” a source said.

“Now the voyages are cancelled and tankers are waiting off the Venezuelan coast as it’s safer to do that.”

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the United States is pushing for Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the Donetsk region to establish a “free economic zone” in the Kyiv-held parts of eastern Ukraine that Moscow wants to control.

Zelenskyy confirmed on Thursday that his country had presented the US with a 20-point set of counter-proposals for peace amid discussions on security guarantees with top US officials, making it clear that any territorial concessions would have to be put to a referendum in Ukraine.

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list of 3 itemsend of list

“They see it as Ukrainian troops withdrawing from the Donetsk region, and the compromise is supposedly that Russian troops will not enter this part of … region. They do not know who will govern this territory,” said the Ukrainian president.

He said that Russia had referred to the proposed buffer area as a “demilitarised zone” and that the US team was describing it as an “economic free zone”.

“I believe that the people of Ukraine will answer this question. Whether through elections or a referendum, there must be a position from the people of Ukraine,” he said.

Zelenskyy is under mounting US pressure to secure a deal with Russia, with reports that US President Donald Trump wants an agreement by Christmas. The general peace plan includes the 20-point framework and separate documents on security guarantees and on rebuilding Ukraine.

The full details of the framework, which revises a US draft seen as heavily weighted in Russia’s favour, have not been released. Zelenskyy said the main issues of contention were control of the Donetsk region in the Donbas, and future governance of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian control.

Zelenskyy pushed back against the idea of a unilateral withdrawal of troops from the Donetsk, where Ukraine controls one-fifth of the territory. “Why doesn’t the other side of the war pull back the same distance in the other direction?” he said, adding there were “a great many questions” still unresolved.

After talks on Thursday with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and special envoy Steve Witkoff, the Ukrainian president said that security guarantees were “among the most critical elements for all subsequent steps.

The document on security guarantees would, he said, have to provide “concrete answers” on actions that would be taken if “Russia decides to launch its aggression again”.

Today, we have had a constructive and in-depth discussion with the American team on one of the three documents we are currently working on – the one on security guarantees. The U.S. was represented by Secretary Marco Rubio @SecRubio, Secretary Pete Hegseth @SecWar, @SteveWitkoff,… pic.twitter.com/gztUJHBOqn

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 11, 2025

‘Conflict is at our door’

On Thursday, NATO chief Mark Rutte warned that Russia could be ready to use military force against the alliance within five years, urging members to “rapidly increase defence spending and production”.

“Conflict is at our door,” he said in a speech in Berlin. “We are Russia’s next target. I fear that too many are quietly complacent. Too many don’t feel the urgency. And too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now.”

In other developments, Ukraine’s allies in the so-called Coalition of the Willing discussed progress on mobilising frozen Russian sovereign assets during a virtual meeting on Thursday, according to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office.

The European Commission is pushing to tap some 200 billion euros ($232bn) of Russian central bank assets immobilised in the bloc after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine to provide Kyiv with much-needed funding.

The sanctions freezing the Russian funds currently require unanimous renewal twice a year, leaving them vulnerable to a veto from Hungary, the EU country closest to Russia.

But a majority of ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 nations agreed on Thursday on a way of keeping Russian funds frozen as long as required without the need for renewal every six months.

The idea, which still needs formal approval by the finance ministers meeting on Friday, is not a done deal. Belgium, which, as the home of Euroclear – the organisation holding most of the funds, fears legal or financial retribution from Moscow.

Trump has largely sought to sideline European nations from the peace process, preferring to deal directly with Moscow and Kyiv in shuttle diplomacy led by special envoy Witkoff and, lately, his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

On Thursday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who met Rutte in Berlin, said further talks with the Americans were planned this weekend, and an international meeting on Ukraine could happen at the start of next week.

Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Audrey MacAlpine said Merz and Rutte “agreed that Ukraine was closer to a ceasefire than has ever been”.

“They also agreed that any territorial concessions to be made by Ukraine must be approved by Kyiv, and that in any peace negotiations moving forward, that European leaders must be involved,” she said.

The White House said Trump would send a representative to talks in Europe this weekend if there was a real chance of signing a peace agreement.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US president was “extremely frustrated with both sides” and “sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting”.

Russia claims to hold ‘strategic initiative’

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who wants to portray himself as negotiating from a position of strength, claimed on Thursday in a call with military leaders that Russian armed forces were “fully holding the strategic initiative” on the battlefield.

In 2022, Russia claimed to formally annex the Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, despite not having full control over them. Putin has said that Moscow is ready to fight on to seize the land it claims if Kyiv does not give it up.

Lieutenant General Sergei Medvedev told Putin on Thursday that troops had taken the city of Siversk in the Donetsk region, where fighting has been fierce in recent months.

The claim was denied by the Ukrainian military’s Operation Task Force East unit, which said Russia was “trying to infiltrate Siversk in small groups, taking advantage of unfavourable weather conditions, but most of these units are being destroyed on the approaches”.

The task force also said Ukrainian forces were holding the northern districts of Pokrovsk, a key former logistics hub in Donetsk that Russian commanders said came under Moscow’s control last month.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian long-range drones hit a Russian oil rig in the Caspian Sea belonging to Russian oil company Lukoil, according to a report by The Associated Press, citing an anonymous official in the Security Service of Ukraine.

The rig reportedly took four hits, halting the extraction of oil and gas from more than 20 wells, according to the official. Russian officials and Lukoil made no immediate comment.

Ukraine also launched one of its biggest drone attacks of the war overnight, halting flights in and out of all four Moscow airports for seven hours.

Zelenskyy told the Coalition of the Willing meeting that a ceasefire was needed for elections to be held in Ukraine. The leader, whose term expired last year, is facing renewed pressure from Trump to hold a vote.

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