Meghan Markle has today released the clearest image yet of Archie and Lilibet in a new family portrait posted on Instagram.

The Duchess of Sussex, 44, shared the image of herself and Harry with their children with the caption: ‘Happy Holidays! From our family to yours’.

Harry, 41, is shown with his hands cupped protectively around Archie’s head. Father and son are staring at one another lovingly, both with smiles on their faces.

Next to them on a bridge is Meghan and Lilibet. The Duchess is bent down to rest her forehead against her daughter’s while holding both her hands.

In dappled California sunshine, Lilibet’s face is covered by her strawberry blonde hair, which comes down to her shoulder blades. Archie is wearing jeans with a jumper or cardigan. His little sister is in a light blue dress, long white socks and gold shoes.

The photo was one of a number of carefully choreographed new glimpses of the young prince and princess on Friday.

Around two hours earlier the Sussexes published a Happy Holidays video on their website – again featuring the six-year-old and four-year-old.

In the film Archie and Lilibet are shown helping their father push a trolley of food made to feed the poor in California on Thanksgiving this year – but again their faces are hidden.

Meghan follows them and the trays of cookies, while dancing a jig of joy at charity Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles.

The Sussexes also simultaneously released their own ‘holiday card’ – but unlike last year, their children are not featured. 

Meghan, 44, and Harry, 41, are shown holding hands and smiling in the snow at the Invictus Games in Canada in February. There is no mention of Christmas in either release, instead they used the more American words: ‘We wish you a very happy holiday season and a joyful new year’.

Meghan has released this new family portrait on Instagram to mark the start of Christmas, although she used the word ‘holidays’

A new glimpse of Archie (left in yellow) and Lilibet (right in tartan) as they push a trolley of food for the poor on Thanksgiving in a Happy Holidays video released by their parents today

The Sussexes have also released their Christmas card

Both King Charles and the Prince and Princess of Wales used the phrase ‘Happy Christmas’ in their 2025 cards, which appeared on Thursday.

The Sussex film and card were revealed as the couple announced that their Archewell Foundation will be renamed Archewell Philanthropies – five years after it was founded following Megxit.

In yet another personal rebrand, the couple say the charity name change marks a moment to expand their mission globally, with Archie and Lilibet.

Their Happy Holidays film, set to upbeat music, stars the couple and their two young children. 

It also shows Meghan and Harry on their controversial trip to support victims of the LA fires and their work supporting families whose children have taken their lives due to online hate.

The Sussexes’ pseudo-royal trips abroad to Nigeria and Colombia in 2024 also feature, along with their new logo for Archewell Philanthropies.

It ends with the message: ‘On behalf of the Office of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and Archewell, we wish you a very happy holiday season and a joyful new year.’

It was released less than 24 hours after the Prince and Princess of Wales sent out their annual Christmas card featuring a new portrait of the future king and queen with George, Charlotte and Louis. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been famously private about their children, Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four – obscuring their faces in photos published online or only sharing pictures of them from behind.

Today’s video is more of the same.

Meghan and Harry’s trip to meet those caught up in the LA fires makes the holidays video

The Duchess of Sussex addresses women at an Archewell Foundation event

Meghan and Harry’s trip to Colombia in 2024 also features

The Sussex film and card were revealed as the couple announced that their Archewell Foundation charity will be renamed Archewell Philanthropies. The statement said that the couple ‘and their children’ will broaden their work globally

The Duchess of Sussex had previously shared an insight into her family’s life in California , including a rare peek at Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s features at the start of November on Instagram.

While Meghan usually obscures her children’s faces by only photographing them from behind, over Halloween the prince and princess could be seen more clearly in a video taken on an outing to a pumpkin patch.

However, a source claimed recently that Prince Harry is not happy with Meghan’s recent ‘social media displays’. 

Harry and Meghan set up the Archewell Foundation, which follows the mission statement ‘Show up, do good’, after stepping down from their royal duties and moving to Los Angeles in 2020.

Now it will be known as Archewell Philanthropies.

This year, the charity has advocated for safer digital spaces and the responsible development of artificial intelligence (AI).

It has also funded support for children affected by conflict in Gaza and Ukraine.

The Archewell Foundation takes its name from ‘arche’, the ancient Greek work meaning ‘source of action’, and ‘well’, symbolising ‘a plentiful source or supply, a place we go to dig deep’.

The Prince and Princess of Wales released a new family photograph for their Christmas card

The 2025 Christmas card for King Charles III and Queen Camilla was released on December 6

A spokesman for Harry and Meghan said: ‘This next chapter allows Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to broaden their global philanthropic efforts as a family, with meaningful reach and maximum impact, grounded in the same values, partnerships, and their commitment to show up and do good.’

Royal commentator Phil Dampier said of the name change: ‘Archewell Philanthropies? Sounds like a chemists. They have truly gone bonkers. Sorry, even more bonkers’.

Founded in 2020, the Archewell Foundation is the hub of the Sussexes’ philanthropic focus. 

Last year, it gave a total of £1,026,240 to charitable causes, and received £4,183,892 in grants – largely from one cash injection of £3,947,148, understood to have come from Fidelity Charitable, a US-based fund that also donated £789,415 the previous year.

The remaining income came from five anonymous individuals.

In February 2025 the Mail revealed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have donated more than half a million dollars to Democrat-linked gurus, funds and charities.

Their Archewell Foundation handed £502,300 ($632,000) to individuals and groups that would likely frustrate Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticised the couple and recently called Meghan ‘terrible’.

The largest single payment, $250,000 (£199,000), went to a charity run by Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley, Archewell’s tax documents in the US showed.

Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie helped bake cookies with their parents before Thanksgiving in a social media post last month. Today’s video shows a little more from that event at Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles

Meghan Markle posted a sweet image of Lilibet to her Instagram to celebrate Day Of The Girl in early October

Princess Lilibet and  Prince Archie could be both be seen in the back of a video shared by Meghan of Harry carving a pumpkin earlier this year

And multiple six-figure sums were handed to one of the Democratic party’s go-to PRs who claims to be an expert in online ‘integrity’ and countering ‘disinformation’.

While their charitable work echoes their previous royal roles, ⁠critics have accused the couple of trading off the family brand for commercial ventures.

In August, the couple’s media company, Archewell Productions, announced it had agreed ‘a multi-year, first-look deal’ for its TV and film projects with Netflix.

The ‍couple have already produced ⁠a number of projects for the streaming service including a documentary about their relationship and problems with the royal family, while recently it has broadcast Meghan’s lifestyle show ‘With Love, Meghan’

The charity’s name change was revealed hours after it emerged that Harry and Meghan have quietly auctioned access to themselves to the highest bidder as a way of raising money.

It’s said tickets to attend a dinner with the Sussexes go for around $100,000 (£75,000) a plate, as they use the company CharityBuzz to raise funds for their charity Archewell.

Up to now the charity has relied on anonymous wealthy donors, which has allowed them to make grants to their selected good causes.

Last night, a spokesman for Archewell confirmed: ‘We have partnered with numerous fundraising partners over the years and CharityBuzz has been one of them.’

A source explained that Archewell had used the company to support a fundraising dinner on World Mental Health Day.

CharityBuzz has raised $650 million (£485million) for charity since opening 20 years ago and has run charity events with George Clooney, Beyonce and Sir Paul McCartney.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s charity, the Archewell Foundation, will be renamed Archewell Philanthropies as it marks five years since being founded after Megxit

Paying to have dinner with – or access to – a working member of the Royal Family is seen as a no-no and one of Fergie’s many solecisms was to offer access to the then prince Andrew for cash. 

However, the Sussexes haven’t been working royals since Megxit.

The access to Harry and Meghan appears not to have been advertised on the company website, so may have been offered privately to ‘high rollers’ who have previously paid to rub shoulders with celebrities.

A source said of their association with CharityBuzz: ‘People will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to have dinner with them.’

Current offers include having dinner with Better Call Saul actor Bob Odenkirk for $10,000 (£7,500) and platinum tickets to attend the Grammy awards for $50,000 (£37,000).

Meanwhile, sources reveal change is afoot at the Archewell Foundation, with talk of staff ‘restructuring’.

The spokesman commented: ‘Yes, we are making some Archewell changes, and we’ll be sharing exciting developments regarding how we will deliver our philanthropic work moving forward, when we choose to. We look forward to communicating more in due course.’

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Legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said it might take the club 10 to 11 years to win the Premier League title again, but Ruben Amorim remains optimistic

Ruben Amorim responded to Sir Alex Ferguson’s prediction(Image: Sky Sports)

Ruben Amorim has insisted that Manchester United won’t need 10 or 11 years to challenge for the Premier League title, like Sir Alex Ferguson has predicted. United have not won the Premier League since Ferguson claimed his 13th league title in 2013 and have been struggling for consistency ever since their legendary boss retired.

Amorim could only lead United to 15th in the top flight in his debut campaign, with defeat in the Europa League final compounding a miserable start to life in the Old Trafford dugout. They currently sit sixth in the Premier League table following a summer of investment, but remain inconsistent.

Their 4-4 draw against Bournemouth on Monday showed improvements in attack following the £200million spend on Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, but also their leaky defence.

Ferguson remains a regular at Old Trafford and has been keeping a close eye on their development under Amorim, who has now been in charge for over a year and has won 23 of his 59 matches.

READ MORE: Kobbie Mainoo told to ‘get out’ of Man Utd amid transfer talk as agreement reachedREAD MORE: Ruben Amorim hits out at ‘entitled’ Man Utd players in brutal response

“He (Amorim) is a good personality. It is not easy,” Ferguson told Press Box PR. “I remember looking back on my own time there, starting off when Liverpool were the bee’s knees. They were a fantastic club winning the European Cup four times and all that, but then it took them 31 years to win the league again.

“We are now in the same situation. It could be 10 years, could be 11 years, because of that cycle. It has to be thought out carefully and we have to make sure the recruitment is going to be better than what it was.”

United face Aston Villa in the league on Sunday and Amorim was asked about Ferguson’s prediction in his pre-match press conference. “He understands football more than me, especially English football,” Amorim said. “I think we are not (going to) take that long to win a league.

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson gave his honest thoughts on where the team is(Image: Ash Donelon, Manchester United via Getty Images)

“I don’t know which manager is going to be here, but I truly believe that we can fight for the title in the next years. I think it’s not going to take so many years, but you never know.”

Amorim also responded to Kobbie Mainoo’s half-brother wearing a ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo’ t-shirt at Old Trafford on Monday in a post that went viral on social media. “No, it was not Kobbie that wore the t-shirt,” Amorim said when asked if he’d spoken to the midfielder about it.

“He is not going to start because of the t-shirt, but he is not going to the bench because of the t-shirt. He is going to play if we feel that he is the right guy to play. That is not an issue.

“I am used to (it). I am here for a year. It’s not new, so we have to deal with that, but I am not going to do something to Kobbie because someone in his family is doing something.”

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Ukrainian military successes and Russian narratives clashed this week, as Moscow’s assertion of inevitable victory flew in the face of facts on the ground.

Ukraine steadily took back control of almost all of its northern city of Kupiansk after isolating Russian forces within it, belying Russian claims to have seized it.

Russian forces were also unable to dislodge Ukrainian defenders from the eastern city of Pokrovsk to back up Moscow’s claims of total control.

And Moscow attempted to deny Ukraine’s successful use of an underwater unmanned vehicle to severely damage a Kilo-class submarine, despite visual evidence.

Ukrainian forces operating in the northern Kharkiv region said they had cut Russian logistics to Kupiansk, surrounded a vanguard of 200 Russians inside it, and cleared Russian forces out of forests north of the city on December 12.

Geolocated footage showed Ukrainian forces advancing in the city the following day and taking back the southern suburb of Yuvileynyi, pushing Russian troops to the northern and western suburbs.

The Russian position had become more precarious by Monday. Ukrainian forces said they prevented reinforcements from entering the city through a gas pipeline, a tactic Russia had used in the siege of Chasiv Yar, and the isolated Russian troops were being supplied solely by drone. Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces were still repelling Russian attacks on Friday.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence insisted it had control of the situation. “Units of the Zapad Group of Forces exercise reliable control over all districts of liberated Kupiansk,” it said on Monday, claiming that Ukraine’s efforts to enter the city from the south were being suppressed.

“The only thing that can be said for sure is that the Russian Armed Forces are still holding part of the centre and north of Kupiansk, but most of it is already either in the grey zone or under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” wrote a Russian military reporter on the Telegram messaging app.

On Wednesday this week, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskii, Ukraine’s Army commander-in-chief, told a Ramstein-format of Ukraine’s allies that his forces had taken back 90 percent of Kupiansk. At the same time in Moscow, Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov was telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that “the enemy is unsuccessfully trying to regain” the city.

“The Russian Defense Minister, Belousov, continues to lie that Russia controls Kupiansk,” wrote Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, on Telegram. “In reality, most of the city is controlled by the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which are continuing to clear it of Russians. However, all of Putin’s officials, from [commander-in-chief Valery] Gerasimov, who was the first to lie about controlling the city, to Belousov, continue to lie in the presence of Putin himself.”

Contrary to the available evidence, Belousov also insisted that Russia had seized Pokrovsk, which Russia calls Krasnoarmeysk, and was on the cusp of vanquishing neighbouring Myrnohrad, which Russia calls Dimitrov. Both towns are in the eastern Donetsk region, and are almost surrounded by Russian forces to the north, south and east.

“Russian soldiers continue to inflict fire damage on Ukrainian troops in Dimitrov, the last stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Krasnoarmeysk agglomeration,” Belousov told Putin.

But Syrskii told allies that Ukrainian forces had regained about 16 square kilometres (6 square miles) in the northern part of Pokrovsk and 56sq km (22sq miles) west of the city. “Logistics in Myrnograd are complex, but the operations continue,” he wrote.

Russia had claimed complete control over Pokrovsk on December 2 and was sticking to its story.

(Al Jazeera)

Submarine and oil refinery explosions

A third point of contention was Ukraine’s successful use of an underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV) to strike a Russian Kilo-class submarine on Monday (December 15), in what is considered the first such attack in military history.

Video of the Russian fleet at anchor in the port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea shows a huge explosion in the stern section of the submarine.

Ukraine’s State Security Service later claimed credit for the attack.

However, Russia’s Defence Ministry said: “Not a single ship or submarine as well as the crews of the Black Sea Fleet stationed in the bay of the Novorossiysk naval base were damaged as a result of the sabotage.”

The ministry published footage of what it said was the attacked submarine, in which it appeared undamaged above the surface, but the video did not show the stern section.

Ukraine’s long-range strikes against Russia scored other successes, on which Russia did not comment.

Ukraine struck the oil refinery in Yaroslavl, northeast of Moscow, on December 12. On Sunday, Ukrainian drones struck the Afipsky refinery in Krasnodar Krai and the Uryupinsk oil depot in Volgograd, causing explosions in both locations. They also struck the Dorogobuzhskaya power plant in Smolensk.

A Ukrainian Presidential Press Service photo shows President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he awards a serviceman of the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during his visit to the front-line town of Kupiansk on December 12, 2025 [Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters]

United States and Ukrainian negotiating teams met for two days in Berlin on Sunday and Monday. Russian officials said they would be briefed next week on the results of those talks.

But even as it claimed to be interested in ongoing peace negotiations, Russia clearly signalled that it plans to continue aggressive operations next year.

“The key task for the next year is to maintain and increase the pace of the offensive,” said Belousov in Putin’s presence on Wednesday, at an expanded meeting of the Defence Ministry Board.

“It wasn’t us who started the war in 2022; it was the destructive forces in Ukraine, with the support of the West – essentially, the West itself that unleashed this war,” Putin said. “We are only trying to finish it, to put an end to it.”

Putin said “the goals of the special military operation will certainly be achieved,” and “Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands by military means,” suggesting there was little room for compromise on Moscow’s side.

Putin’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov signalled the same thing in an interview with ABC on Tuesday. He said Europe and Ukraine expected a “deep and very wrong” revision of Russian peace proposals, and ruled out conceding seized Ukrainian land.

“We are not able in any form to compromise on this, because it would be, in our view, a revision of a very fundamental element of our statehood, set forth through our constitution,” Naryshkin said.

(Al Jazeera)

Russian losses outpace recruitments

Russia has attempted to give the impression that it has inexhaustible manpower with which to prosecute the war it started in Ukraine.

Belousov said almost 410,000 Russians volunteered for military service, exceeding expectations for 2025.

That translates to 32,800 per month. “Data from the Ukrainian General Staff on Russian losses indicate that Russian forces suffered an average of 34,600 casualties per month between January and November 2025 – suggesting that Belousov’s recruitment numbers are not quite replacing Russian losses,” wrote the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested most of these casualties were deaths. “[Putin] spends around 30,000 soldiers’ lives on the front every month. Not wounded – 30,000 killed each month… We have drone footage confirming these deaths,” he told Dutch parliamentarians.

Syrski also doubted Russian recruitment quotas were sufficient.

“The number of Russian troops has long been around 710,000,” he wrote on Telegram. “However, the enemy has not been able to increase this figure, despite active recruitment in Russia, because our soldiers are ‘reducing’ the number of occupiers by a thousand every day through deaths and injuries.”

(Al Jazeera)



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‘Not clear’ who was behind cyber-attack

Good morning.

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October, according to trade minister Chris Bryant.

Details of the hack emerged on Friday in a report by the Sun that claimed a Chinese hacker group was behind the cyber-attack.

The Sun named Storm 1849 as the Chinese cyber gang responsible for the breach, which it said was understood to possibly include tens of thousands of visa details.

The group has been “accused of targeting politicians and groups critical of the Chinese government”, the newspaper said.

However, when asked if China was behind the attack, Bryant said: “That’s not entirely clear.”

“There certainly has been a hack at the FCDO and we’ve been aware of that since October,” Bryant told Sky News.

“Some of the reporting has, I think, been a bit more speculation than accurate.”

He added, “We’re fairly confident that there’s a low risk of any individual actually being affected by this.”

A government spokesperson told the Guardian: “We have been working to investigate a cyber incident. We take the security of our systems and data extremely seriously.”

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• The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October. Details of the hack emerged on Friday in a report by the Sun that claimed a Chinese hacker group was behind the cyber-attack. The Sun named Storm 1849 as the Chinese cyber gang responsible for the breach, which it said was understood to possibly include tens of thousands of visa details. However, when asked if China was behind the attack, trade minister Chris Bryant told broadcasters it was “not clear” who perpetrated the attack and cautioned against speculation. The minister also said that risk to “any individual” from this cyber-attack was low.

• A review found that the BBC’s editing guidelines do not need to be altered in the wake of controversy surrounding the edit of a Donald Trump speech. The US president is seeking up to $10bn (£7.5bn) in damages in response to the BBC’s editing of a speech he made before the 2021 attack on the Capitol.

• Russian president Vladimir Putin told his annual end-of-year press conference that US president Donald Trump was right to sue the BBC over edited clips of his speech.

• Rachel Reeves said the UK’s support for Ukraine remains “iron-clad” as she welcomed a European deal to provide billions more in financial support for Kyiv. The chancellor said she was “pleased” a deal had been reached, adding: “The UK’s support for Ukraine remains iron-clad. “We will work with partners to urgently consider options to ensure that Ukraine gets the funding it needs.” Meanwhile, the UK has given its final warning to Roman Abramovich to release £2.5bn from the oligarch’s sale of Chelsea FC to give to Ukraine, telling the billionaire to release the funds within 90 days or face court action.

• Reform UK held on to a seat on Cornwall council in a byelection after a turbulent time for the party in the county. Reform’s Heinz Wolfgang Glanville was elected as the new member for St Columb Minor and Colan with 408 votes despite a flurry of resignations and suspensions as well as public infighting that many said undermined Reform’s authority in the county.

• Reform-run Kent council was accused of trying to block scrutiny after it refused, for more than five months, to produce evidence that it had saved more than £40m by cancelling two environmental projects that did not exist yet.

• The UK government borrowed more than expected in November according to official figures. For more in Business news:

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The Electoral Commission has voiced concern about the prospect of further delays to local elections, saying capacity constraints are not a legitimate reason to postpone long-planned polls.

Some 63 council areas due to hold elections in May could postpone them until 2027 after some told ministers they lack the capacity to reorganise in time, the government said.

It comes as Labour’s plans to scrap two-tier authorities and merge them into single unitary councils by 2028 are implemented.

But Vijay Rangarajan, the Electoral Commission’s chief executive, said the move caused “unprecedented” uncertainty and could damage public confidence. He said:

We are disappointed by both the timing and substance of the statement. Scheduled elections should as a rule go ahead as planned, and only be postponed in exceptional circumstances.”

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BBC editing guidelines can remain unaltered in wake of Trump edit, review says

The BBC’s editing guidelines do not need to be altered in the wake of controversy surrounding the edit of a Donald Trump speech, a review has found.

The US president is seeking up to $10bn (£7.5bn) in damages in response to the BBC’s editing of a speech he made before the 2021 attack on the Capitol.

The scandal unfolded earlier this year after a leaked memo, written by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, highlighted concerns that the speech had been selectively edited.

In the Panorama programme, a clip from Mr Trump’s speech on January 6 2021 was spliced to show him saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol … and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

After an initial review of the Prescott report in October, the BBC’s director of editorial complaints and reviews, Peter Johnston, conducted a more detailed review of the Panorama programme, Trump: A Second Chance?.

General view of Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in central London. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

In his report, published on Friday, Mr Johnston said:

I was asked to look at the editorial guidelines on use of editing. I do not believe any changes are required, but we will ensure these lessons are reinforced.

More actions had been taken than acknowledged in Michael Prescott’s document and since this was made public we have also dealt with some remaining issues.

The key unresolved issue in the document was the editing of President Trump’s 6 January speech in the Panorama programme.

This has now been publicly acknowledged as an error of judgment and it has been made clear that the edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action.

A separate review of the Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC) outlined areas the BBC would “fix” including an effort to make the EGSC “more strategic – focused on major areas of current and emerging editorial risk.”

The BBC will also “adopt a new approach so individual editorial queries are dealt with promptly at the right level in the organisation, and to ensure that potential systemic issues are considered for deeper editorial review.”

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Rachel Reeves said the UK’s support for Ukraine remains “iron-clad” as she welcomed a European deal to provide billions more in financial support for Kyiv.

The European Council agreed on Thursday to provide an interest-free loan worth 90 billion euros (£78.8bn) to support Ukraine’s military and economic needs over the next two years.

The chancellor said she is “pleased” a deal had been reached, adding: “The UK’s support for Ukraine remains iron-clad.

“We will work with partners to urgently consider options to ensure that Ukraine gets the funding it needs.”

Meanwhile, the UK has given its final warning to Roman Abramovich to release £2.5bn from the oligarch’s sale of Chelsea FC to give to Ukraine, telling the billionaire to release the funds within 90 days or face court action.

Prime minister Keir Starmer told the House of Commons the funds from Abramovich, who is subject to UK sanctions, would be converted into a new foundation for humanitarian causes in Ukraine and that the issuing of a licence for the transfer was the last chance Abramovich would have to comply.

A general view outside Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea FC, on 19 December 2025 in London, England. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 13.34 CET

Putin says Trump is right to sue BBC over speech edit

Russian president Vladimir Putin told his annual end-of-year press conference on Friday that US president Donald Trump was right to sue the BBC over edited clips of his speech.

Trump sued Britain’s publicly owned broadcaster for at least $10bn in damages over edited clips of a speech that made it appear he directed supporters to storm the US Capitol.

The BBC apologised to him last month, but rejected his demands for compensation and disagreed there was a “basis for a defamation claim”.

Trump’s legal team accused the BBC of defaming him by “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech”.

A BBC spokesperson said: “As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case.”

They added: “We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”

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UK imposes sanctions on perpetrators of violence against Syrian civilians

The UK government imposed sanctions on Friday on individuals and organisations it said were “linked to violence perpetrated against civilians in Syria”, including some who financially supported former president Bashar al-Assad’s government.

The government measures were targeted at individuals involved in coastal violence in Syria in March, as well as historic violence committed during the country’s civil war, the statement said.

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WH Smith will try to take back as much as £7m in bonuses from former executives after it said the UK’s financial watchdog had launched a formal investigation into a devastating accounting error linked to its US business.

Almost £600m was wiped off the books to paperclips retailer’s stock market value overnight in August after it identified errors with accounting for supplier income and provision for lost stock going back to 2023 in its North American arm.

Last month its chief executive, Carl Cowling, stepped down in the wake of the scandal.

On Friday the company said it would be “applying malus and clawback to recover overpaid bonuses” from Cowling, and its former finance director Robert Moorhead, after the restatement of profits in its 2023 and 2024 financial year.

It confirmed the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority had launched a formal investigation into the company’s compliance with UK listing, disclosure and transparency rules.

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Updated at 12.15 CET

Responding to news of the FCDO hack, Conservative shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel shared a Telegraph report that said the hack was Chinese and wrote on X:

“China undermines our security, institutions and democracy but Labour is failing to protect Britain from China’s foreign interference in our country.

“Starmer kowtows to China at every opportunity and cannot be trusted to protect our national interest.”

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Updated at 12.00 CET

Reform accused of blocking scrutiny of claim it saved £40m

Reform-run Kent council has been accused of trying to block scrutiny after it refused, for more than five months, to produce evidence that it had saved more than £40m by cancelling two environmental projects that did not exist yet.

Polly Billington, a Labour MP in Kent, first requested background to the claim via a freedom of information (FoI) request in July. She said the subsequent delay had not been explained and seemed to show the council was embarrassed at what the documents would show.

Kent county council said it rejected any suggestion of a cover-up, and that it planned to release the information to Billington, the East Thanet MP, later this week.

Read more of the exclusive report:

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UK borrowed more than expected in November amid pre-budget pressure

Richard Partington

The UK government borrowed more than expected in November, official figures show, amid pressure on the economy before chancellor Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed public sector net borrowing – the difference between spending and income – was £11.7bn last month, £1.9bn less than in the same month a year earlier.

In the first snapshot since the November budget, the reading was above City predictions of a £10bn deficit.

The figures come a day after the Bank of England cut interest rates for a sixth time since August last year, easing some of the pressure on borrowers, in a pre-Christmas boost for the UK’s struggling economy.

Elliott Jordan-Doak, a senior UK economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, said the higher-than-expected November borrowing figure showed it was “only a matter of time before fiscal worries begin to dominate the news flow again” after Reeves’s budget.

“The public finances remain weak. Reeves has staked much fiscal credibility on chunky tax increases in the back end of the forecast period. But we think today’s figures further illustrate the shaky foundations of that gamble.”

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Reform holds on to seat in byelection

Jamie Grierson

Reform UK have held on to a seat on Cornwall council in a byelection after a turbulent time for the party in the county.

The result shows support remains for Nigel Farage’s party in Cornwall despite a flurry of resignations and suspensions as well as public infighting that many said undermined Reform’s authority in the county.

Reform’s Heinz Wolfgang Glanville was elected as the new member for St Columb Minor and Colan with 408 votes, beating independent candidate John Fitter with 325 votes.

The byelection was called after Reform UK member for the division, Christine Parsonage, resigned for medical reasons. She had come under heavy criticism for living more than 40 miles away from the division.

After May’s local elections, Reform had the most seats in the county but was unable to form an administration. However, following several resignations the party no longer holds that title and is now the second biggest party by seats on the council to the Liberal Democrats, who rule in a coalition with independents.

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‘Not clear’ who was behind cyber-attack

Good morning.

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was hacked in October, according to trade minister Chris Bryant.

Details of the hack emerged on Friday in a report by the Sun that claimed a Chinese hacker group was behind the cyber-attack.

The Sun named Storm 1849 as the Chinese cyber gang responsible for the breach, which it said was understood to possibly include tens of thousands of visa details.

The group has been “accused of targeting politicians and groups critical of the Chinese government”, the newspaper said.

However, when asked if China was behind the attack, Bryant said: “That’s not entirely clear.”

“There certainly has been a hack at the FCDO and we’ve been aware of that since October,” Bryant told Sky News.

“Some of the reporting has, I think, been a bit more speculation than accurate.”

He added, “We’re fairly confident that there’s a low risk of any individual actually being affected by this.”

A government spokesperson told the Guardian: “We have been working to investigate a cyber incident. We take the security of our systems and data extremely seriously.”

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A Uganda prison officer has been sacked for criticising the government on TikTok, in a rare move authorities said amounted to “gross indiscipline”.

Lawrence Ampe had been under investigation over social media posts accusing senior government officials of corruption, human rights abuses and mistreatment of lower-ranking prison officers.

“The standing orders don’t allow a public officer to participate in politics, which he is doing even now,” prisons spokesman Frank Baine told the BBC, saying Ampe was sacked for “politicking in the wrong forum”.

The opposition has condemned the move, describing it as evidence of “systemic oppression” and double standards within the security sector.

The officer shared the dismissal letter on his TikTok account with the caption: “I’m finally out free to support truth.”

In another video, Ampe urged Ugandans not to worry about how he would survive without a job, saying: “What we are doing is not all about money but about liberating our nation.”

He said he was using his TikTok account, which has more than 100,000 followers, to expose senior government officials who are involved in corruption and misusing their power, and to tell Ugandans how to love their country.

The officer has also used his social media accounts to promote election campaign videos for opposition leader Bobi Wine, a pop star-turned-politician, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.

Bobi Wine is seeking to unseat President Yoweri Museveni in the 15 January elections, as the long-serving leader aims to extend his nearly 40-year rule.

In a statement, the Prisons Council said it had “resolved to dismiss” Ampe last Tuesday and ordered him to hand over all state property in his possession.

Mr Baine said Uganda’s laws did not allow public servants to participate in politics.

“We have put him in the right forum to do his politicking,” the prisons spokesman told the BBC, adding that Ampe did not show remorse when he appeared before the Prisons Council.

The BBC has reached out to Ampe for comment.

Last month, the Uganda Prisons Service said it was investigating Ampe for his self-made TikTok videos on various subjects, cautioning officers against using social media to express political opinions.

It cited laws that prohibited public officers from communicating with the media on “issues related to work or official policy” without permission from authorising seniors.

‎Despite the warning, Ampe reportedly continued uploading political videos, leading to further disciplinary proceedings.

Bobi Wine defended Ampe, saying he was using social media to “expose corruption, abuse of power, oppression of lower ranking officers and other evils within the Uganda Prisons Service”.

He said the officer’s dismissal reflected double standards, noting that other security officials, particularly in the military, routinely appear in the media expressing partisan support for President Museveni’s leadership without facing disciplinary action.

The government has previously been accused of restricting people’s ability to criticise the actions of the state or its officials.

The US government in a 2023 report said Uganda had restricted internet freedom through the use of criminal punishments.

Rights groups also regularly denounce the Ugandan authorities over violations of human rights and the freedom of expression.

Last July, a 24-year-old man was sentenced to six years in prison for insulting the president and the first family on a TikTok video. He had pleaded guilty and asked for forgiveness.

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Uganda is a country defined by its youth. A majority of its population is under 35, yet political power remains concentrated among leaders who have governed for decades.

That contradiction took center stage during The 77 Percent Street Debate, where young politicians, activists and analysts questioned whether Uganda’s political system allows meaningful youth participation.

Uganda’s parliament has more than 550 members, but only five seats are reserved for youth representatives, a fraction that panelists said does not reflect the country’s demographics.

While the constitution recognizes the youth as a “special interest group,” critics argue that the acknowledgement limits their influence rather than expands it.

“We are under a military regime that has intentionally structured the young people into a corner,” one participant said, reflecting a view shared by several speakers who described the political environment as restrictive.

Uganda’s January election faces systemic hurdles

Uganda is a constitutional republic that regularly holds elections and the next general election is scheduled for January 15, 2026. President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, is running for reelection.

Lawyer and former presidential aspirant Yvonne Mpambara described her failed attempt to contest the presidency as an example of systemic barriers faced by young leaders without deep financial or political networks.

“We feel the system was not transparent in terms of what the clear criteria for determining who gets nominated is,” Mpambara said, adding that her campaign struggled to meet nomination requirements, including collecting signatures from supporters nationwide amid a heavy security presence.

“There was a lot of security on the ground that was sabotaging efforts in terms of stealing supporter forms, in terms of stealing files,” Mpambara explained. After losing thousands of signatures, she said the Electoral Commission dismissed her complaint.

“They still frustrated us and didn’t give us a clear criteria for why they’re not endorsing us.”

Youth need more than political ambition

Youth leader Churchill Santamu said ambition alone is not enough to survive Uganda’s political process. “You have the ambition, you have the zeal, you have the knowledge, you have the support, but you don’t have the technical help to continue,” Santamu said.

Political researcher and commentator Yusuf Serunkuma argued that Uganda’s governance system prioritizes political continuity over openness.

“We live under modern autocracy,” he said. “What you’re witnessing is efforts geared towards sustaining the status quo, not meant to open up for young people.”

Uganda: Bobi Wine’s strategy to win the presidency

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Serunkuma said election laws, including costly nomination processes and organizational requirements, tend to favor long-established politicians. “The criterion is designed for those who have been active for the last five years,” he said.

The role of money and violence

Several speakers said money and violence further narrow political space. They argued that campaigns are costly and that young people are often mobilized during elections without gaining real decision-making power.

“Young people have been weaponized in this political landscape,” one participant said.

Claims that youth lack the maturity to govern were widely rejected, with Santamu arguing that leadership ability is not age-dependent. “Maturity is entirely bestowed upon the person,” he said. “The system itself is crippled in its own mandate.”

Ugandan authorities often revert to force to quell protestsImage: Dai Kurokawa/dpa/picture alliance

Young women face additional challenges. Despite affirmative-action seats for women in parliament, panelists said younger women rarely rise to national prominence. “When they see a gap above and they try to rise up, the system is set up such that they never break through,” one speaker said.

President Museveni’s dominance in Uganda

Panelists also discussed how decades of leadership under President Museveni have shaped public perceptions of authority.

“If you ask any particular random Ugandan you meet on the street and you ask them who our leader is,” Mpambara said, “you’ll be sure the majority are describing Museveni.”

President Yoweri Museveni, 81, in power since 1986, is seeking relectionImage: SIMON MAINA/AFP/Getty Images

As the debate turned to solutions, views diverged. Some called for reforms to campaign financing, stronger institutions and civic education. Others argued that bigger political change is needed.

“Our problems are not technical,” Serunkuma said. “Our problems are political.”

One lingering question captured the uncertainty facing Uganda’s next generation. “Why should the slightly older people be the custodians of that power?” one speaker asked. “What happens when they die? Who is going to lead when they’re gone?”

This article was adapted from a DW 77 Percent Street Debate. You can find more such debates here

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Thousands of people gathered as Bondi Beach reopened days after a mass shooting targeting Jews at a Hanukkah celebration left 15 dead and dozens injured.

The commemoration began with thousands of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder on the sand before forming an enormous circle in the ocean, signifying solidarity among Sydney’s residents and support for the Jewish community, The Associated Press reported.

Police reopened parts of Bondi Beach on Thursday, just five days after the attack. Additionally, as questions emerge over the Jewish community’s safety as well as fears of backlash against Muslims, armed police officers were stationed outside of synagogues and mosques in Sydney on Friday, according to the AP.

At Bondi Beach, surfers took to the water for a paddle-out, a ceremony commonly held when a surfer dies that involves participants sitting on boards as tributes are made and some splash and cheer. A large crowd gathered for the paddle-out at Bondi as Jews prayed on the beach and others gathered to watch the scene, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

AUSTRALIA MOVES TO TIGHTEN GUN LAWS AFTER HANUKKAH MASS SHOOTING LEAVES 15 DEAD AT BONDI BEACH

Surfers and swimmers head out to the ocean as a tribute following Sunday’s shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Steve Markham, File/AP Photo)

The attack has spurred a sense of unity, particularly as stories about heroes of the day come to light, such as that of Ahmed al Ahmed, a Syria-born Australian Muslim store owner, who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen. Al Ahmed was shot and wounded by the other assailant.

In a video posted on social media, al Ahmed said Australia is “the best country in the world” before raising his fist and chanting “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie,” according to the AP.

Following the tragedy, Australians showed their unity by setting a national record for blood donations, the AP reported. Nearly 35,000 donations were made and more than 100,000 appointments booked since Monday, according to the AP, which cited Lifeblood, a branch of the Australian Red Cross.

People visit a floral tribute outside the Bondi Pavilion following Sunday’s shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Steve Markham/AP Photo)

ISRAELI KNESSET MEMBER SAYS AUSTRALIAN OFFICIALS ‘DID NOTHING’ AMID RISE OF ANTISEMITISM BEFORE SYDNEY ATTACK

The iconic footbridge at Bondi Beach where the shooters were seen carrying out the attack has become a place for tributes to the victims. Beside a chalk drawing of a menorah and an Australian flag, is a drawing of a bumblebee, a symbol memorializing the youngest victim of the attack, 10-year-old Matilda.

Australian Opposition Leader Sussan Ley visited the site and walked across the footbridge.

“I wasn’t prepared for the feelings that hit me when I crossed the bridge,” Ley told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I saw that bridge on television the night that it happened, and like all Australians, I was in shock and horror.”

“Then I heard directly from people who sheltered under that bridge and saw the gunmen, and will never be able to walk through this part of Bondi again without all of those feelings coming back,” she added.

People walk past a memorial drawn on the wall of a walking bridge as a tribute following Sunday’s shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Steve Markham/AP Photo)

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Australian Olympians Jessica Fox, Ian Thorpe and Steve Solomon, along with other athletes, visited the memorial and laid flowers, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

“Moments like this, coming in together, connecting, vowing for change, vowing for improvements and prosperity as a community and a country, is what gives us hope to put on the uniform as we have today,” Solomon, who is Jewish, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Fox, who is also Jewish, became emotional at the site and said, “It shouldn’t take a tragedy to bring people together.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

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NEED TO KNOW

• Laura Zitzelberger was an animal lover who devoted 36 years of her life to caring for birds and other animals
• In 2011 the non-smoker was diagnosed with a lung disease caused by allergens commonly found in birds
• She eventually needed a lung transplant and was forced to give up her beloved pet parrot and her life’s work

A lifelong animal lover, Laura met her husband, Tom Zitzelberger, while carving pumpkins at the Toledo Zoo in 1989. Laura worked at the zoo’s panda exhibit and then joined a coworker who started the wildlife rehab Nature’s Nursery. “I said, ‘I have to be a part of that,’ recalls Laura, who is now 63 and lives in Grand Rapids, Ohio.

Laura enlisted Tom, who had become her boyfriend, to help build bird enclosures for the wildlife rescue.

Laura spent 36 years working with every species of bird, from hummingbirds to eagles. But her love for animals didn’t stop there.

Laura and Tom Zitzelberger when they got engaged on Halloween in 1991.

Laura and Tom Zitzelberger when they got engaged on Halloween 1991

“There were many nights when I came home from work that there were wild baby animals in our house that were being nourished or cared for,” says Tom, 61. “We’ve had skunks in our house, ravens, opossums, woodchucks, crows, owls. Anything that’s native to Ohio, we pretty much had at our house.” And she adored her parrot Rueben.

But in 2008, Laura developed a chronic cough. Her pulmonologist couldn’t figure out what was wrong. “He told me I had just gotten into the habit of coughing, and that’s why I coughed. I said, ‘I think I need a new pulmonologist.’ ”

Her new doctor did a lung biopsy in 2011 and determined she had chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis, an allergy that causes inflammation in the lungs. It had led to scarring.

Laura Zitzelberger and a coyote named Rue, an education animal, December 2017.

Laura Zitzelberger 

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis can be caused by 300 different allergens, according to the American Lung Association. Birds are one of them.

And since the first line of treatment is to eliminate the allergen, Laura had a problem.

“My pulmonologist called me and said, ‘This is good news: You just have to get rid of your pet and quit your job.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’ve had my pet parrot 23 years. And this isn’t really a job, it’s kind of who I am,’ ” Laura, who was serving as Nature’s Nursery’s operations director at the time, says.

“That wasn’t good news to me.”

Laura Zitzelberger with her beloved pet parrot, Reuben in May 2018.

Laura Zitzelberger 

Tom remembers hearing the doctor’s advice. “I thought he was insane — because he obviously didn’t know her and her passion for animals,” Tom says. “All the animals that she cares for are basically her kids,” he told the doctor.

The suggestion of saying goodbye to Reuben, the red-lored Amazonian parrot Laura and Tom adopted when they got married, seemed impossible, not to mention her life’s work caring for wildlife.

But after a long search, they found new owners for Rueben and gave him a tearful goodbye.

Laura Zitzelberger and a duck named Rudy in October 2014. “My mom was dying and I went to Nature’s Nursery to get some comfort.”.

Laura Zitzelberger 

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As her health deteriorated, she worked fewer hands-on hours with the animals. She did more work remotely, like managing the rescue’s Facebook page and returning phone calls that came into the rescue after hours. Although she missed her former duties, she knew she was doing the right thing. “I finally realized I had to make it a priority to take care of myself or I wouldn’t be able to help any animals — or the organization — in any way.” Still, it took several years to find a new executive director to run the rescue, which helps between 3,500 and 3,800 animals every year. “If I had just walked away, it probably would have just closed down,” she says.

Laura Zitzelberger and Einstein, a screech owl in August 2022.

Laura Zitzelberger 

But even that sacrifice didn’t help. “My breathing kept getting worse,” Laura says.

In late 2021, Laura’s pulmonologist told her she needed to get on the lung transplant list. She was placed on the list in May 2023.

By November, she was on 60 liters of oxygen. “I was hooked up to two oxygen concentrators and dragging a tank behind me with a mask, just to do things like take a shower or even move about the house,” she says.

She was so sick that she could no longer live at home. “I wasn’t able to breathe, I couldn’t get enough oxygen there,” she says. She was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic right before Thanksgiving in 2023.

“I was so blown away by her,” says Dr. Marie Budev, 57, medical director of the Lung and Heart/Lung Transplant Program at the Cleveland Clinic. “She was one of those people, when you first met her, you just instantly loved her.”

“She would always say, ‘I bet there are people sicker than me.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, there are people that are sicker than you, but you are sick,’ ” Dr. Budev recalls. “I don’t think there was a doubt by the time she met us that she needed the transplant.”

Laura with her best friend Angel Slaman and her boyfriend John Chastain on Christmas Day, 2023.

Laura Zitzelberger 

Laura was at the top of the lung transplant list, but because she was only 5 feet tall and 110 lbs., many available lungs were too big for her body. “I needed lungs from somebody my size or smaller,” she explains.

After several weeks in the hospital waiting for available lungs, doctors were worried she might not survive. They even discussed putting her into a coma or on an ECMO machine,

One Friday night in December 2023, she remembers sitting in the ICU and posting on Facebook, “I need everybody to help me manifest some lungs because I’m getting down to the wire,” she recalls.

“I wasn’t afraid of death,” she says. “The thing that bothered me most when I thought about possibly not making it was that I was going to die in the hospital and not at home with my pets.”

Two days later, on Sunday, she got the good news: “We’ve got lungs for you.”

Laura Zitzelberger in early December 2023, while she was waiting for transplant. Friends came to visit with their children.

Laura Zitzelberger 

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She called her husband who rushed to the hospital, which is two hours from their home. “On his way to Cleveland Clinic, he and got stopped by a police officer because he was speeding. And she said, ‘Did you know you were speeding?’ He said, ‘Well, my wife just found out she’s getting lungs at the Cleveland Clinic.’ And she said, ‘Okay, well, get on your way, but be careful,’ ” Laura recalls.

On December 12, 2023, she had a double lung transplant. After three weeks in the hospital, she was allowed to return home. But she could no longer work in person at the rescue center. These days, she considers herself retired.

Laura Zitzelberger and her husband in August 2021.

Laura Zitzelberger 

“I’m not in the building anymore, which is really hard for me – because when we started 36 years ago, it was in my friend’s backyard, and my big dream was that someday we would have a facility and nature center that could be open to the public,” she says. “We finally achieved that goal, and I can’t be there.”

But she still answers the phone for the rescue after hours, trains volunteers and runs the non-profit’s social media.

And even though she misses animals with all her heart, she knows she can never go back to her old ways. “It would be disrespectful to the person who donated the lungs, to their family,” she says. “I’m not going to do anything that I know would compromise these lungs.”

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By SABRINA PENTY, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER

Updated: 08:40 EST, 19 December 2025

Vladimir Putin has backed Donald Trump over the US President’s $10 billion lawsuit of the BBC over a Panorama documentary which edited his speech before the January 6 riot.

The Russian leader insisted ‘Trump is right’ when asked about it during his annual and wide ranging end-of-year press conference.

President Trump has followed through on his threat of legal action by filing claims at a federal court in Miami for $5 billion in damages for defamation plus the same amount for violating trade practices to equal $10 billion in total.

Putin also praised Trump’s ‘sincere’ and ‘serious’ efforts to end the Ukraine war and likened Europe’s leaders to ‘robbers’ following a failed plan to use frozen Russian assets.

The Russian president boasted the EU’s plan fell through because they feared the ‘grave consequences’ of taking Russia’s money.

Putin also told the nation he is ‘ready and willing’ for peace talks with Ukraine but doesn’t feel the Ukrainians are prepared and that Russian troops are close to making gains across the battlefield.

The backdrop of Putin’s speech shows a massive map of Russia which noticeably includes the outline of Crimea as well as four Ukrainian regions annexed in 2022; Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Follow the latest updates from Putin’s end of year press conference below:

Watch: Student proposes during Putin press conference… and invites him to wedding

One Russian took the opportunity during his question to Vladimir Putin to propose to his partner.

Kirill Bazhanov, a 23-year-old student wearing a red bow ​tie and a flower in his buttonhole, proposed live on air to his girlfriend Olga, who he said was watching on TV.

He invited Putin to the wedding, before asking a question about financial support for young families.

Putin’s demands for peace in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin uses his major annual press conference to cement his power and air his views on domestic and global affairs.

This year, the news conference took place against the backdrop of a peace plan in Ukraine put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Despite the extensive diplomatic push, Washington’s efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

Let’s remind ourselves what Putin is calling for:

• He wants all the areas in four key regions captured by his forces, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognised as Russian territory.
• Putin has also insisted that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces haven’t captured yet. Kyiv has publicly rejected this demand.
• The Kremlin has also insisted that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO and warned that it wouldn’t accept the deployment of any troops from members of the military alliance members and would view them as ‘legitimate target.’
• Putin also has repeatedly said Ukraine must limit the size of its army and give official status to the Russian language – demands he has made from the outset of the conflict.

Russia-Ukraine war spreads to the Med as Kyiv strikes ‘shadow fleet’ tanker with drones

Ukraine has struck a Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker with drones in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, Kyiv revealed today.

The cargo ship was sailing in an undisclosed location around 1,243 miles from Ukraine’s borders when it was hit in a ‘new, unprecedented special operation’, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine said.

The source claimed that the tanker, called the Qendil, had ‘sustained critical damage and cannot be used for its intended purpose’.

The explosive attack on the empty vessel was the first of its kind in the Mediterranean – representing a dangerous development in the near four-year war between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian news agency RBC-Ukraine published dramatic footage, purportedly showing the tanker being struck with explosives.

Estimated to include up to 1,000 ships, which frequently change their flags and whose ownership is unclear, Russia’s shadow fleet has enabled Moscow to keep exporting its crude oil for much-needed revenue despite curbs on exports.

Russia will retaliate to attacks on vessels in the Mediterranean after Ukrainian strike

Putin commented on a Ukrainian strike on a Russian tanker on Friday morning, stating that Moscow will retaliate.

The strike was the first time Ukrainian drones hit a Russian tanker in the Mediterranean Sea, some 1,000 miles away from Ukraine.

Putin said that Russia usually responds with ‘much stronger strikes’ against Ukraine and warned that a threat to blockade Russia’s city of Kaliningrad would ‘lead to unseen escalation of the conflict’.

‘Can we break out the booze?’: Putin press conference hit with rogue messages

Sarcastic messages briefly flashed up on the big screen ‌in the hall where Vladimir Putin was holding his annual press conference and phone-in earlier today.

‘Not ​a direct line, but a ​circus,’ said one such ​comment.

Another, using Putin’s first name and patronymic, read: ‘Vladimir Vladimirovich, it’s ⁠Friday already, can we break out the booze?’

The ​rogue comments appeared ‍on screens showing ​incoming text messages intended for Putin at the marathon annual event, for which ordinary Russians are encouraged to submit ‍questions.

The ‍Kremlin did not immediately comment on their appearance at what is a meticulously planned and choreographed press conference watched by millions of Russians. ⁠Putin did not refer to them.

One message, alluding to the state of Russia’s economy, asked ⁠why ordinary Russians were worse off than people in Papua New Guinea.

Another, referring to Putin’s governing United Russia party, said: ‘Looking at life ‍in the country, ⁠it is strange that (it) wins a majority in elections! Maybe elections are a fiction?’

Macron – Europe will have to re-engage with Putin if US talks fail to broker peace

Europe will have to re-engage in direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin if the latest US-led efforts to broker a Ukraine peace deal founder, French President Emmanuel Macron said today.

European leaders wary of Putin’s future military ambitions have smarted at their exclusion from peace talks led ​by President Donald Trump’s administration, compelled instead to shore up Ukraine’s negotiating positions from the ​sidelines.

‘Either a robust and lasting peace is reached, ​with the required (security) guarantees,’ Macron told reporters in Brussels, ‘or we will need in the weeks ahead to find ways for Europeans to re-engage in a fulsome dialogue with Russia, and in complete ⁠transparency.’

Russia has no intention of attacking Europe, Putin insists

The Russian president said Russia would be ​ready to stop ​the war ​in Ukraine immediately if ⁠it received guarantees of ​its ‍security ​and that Moscow had no intention of attacking ‍Europe.

Putin also told his annual end-of-year press conference that Russia ⁠was open for cooperation “on equal ⁠terms” with the West.

‍

Putin backs Trump’s $10billion BBC defamation lawsuit

Putin said Trump was right in filing a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC after the broadcaster edited clips of a speech by the president that made it appear he directed supporters to storm the US Capital.

The BBC has apologised to Trump and has said it will defend the case.

Trump is ‘making serious efforts’ to stop the war in Ukraine, says Putin

Putin praised Donald Trump for “making serious efforts” to end the conflict in Ukraine.

“As I have said repeatedly, I think he is doing so in an absolutely sincere manner,” he said about the US president.

His remarks about Trump come as the US president has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end nearly four years fighting following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

But Washington’s efforts to end the conflict have seemingly run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Putin accuses NATO of breaking promises about expansion

Putin said Russia had cooperated with NATO, but that ‘the promises that were given to us about non-expansion were false’.

“There were certain waves of NATO expansion… this caused our concern in the past and causes us concern now.”

Putin has frequently blamed the military alliance’s expansion in Ukraine for its invasion.

What is Putin’s end of year conference?

Since 2001, Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a press conference at the end of the year.

He typically uses it to field dozens of questions on everything from nuclear weapons to the price of eggs.

Some are posed by journalists and others by ordinary Russians, who can submit them online or by phone.

The Kremlin said it had received more ⁠than 2.6 million questions in advance.

It styles the event as a demonstration of Putin’s openness to respond to questions on any topic, and his willingness to respond to the concerns of citizens.

Putin says ‘ball in court’ of West and Kyiv on Ukraine talks

Putin said that the “ball” to end the war in Ukraine was in the West’s and Kyiv’s court, and denied that Moscow was dragging out negotiations and turning down proposals on the almost four-year conflict.

“The ball is entirely and fully on the court of the head of the Kyiv regime and its European sponsors,” Putin said, adding that Moscow had accepted some “compromises” in a US-proposed deal.

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Vladimir Putin backs Donald Trump over $10 billion BBC lawsuit as he insists US President ‘is right’ to sue broadcaster over Panorama edit: Live updates

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Lisa Villegas, a Career & Communication Strategist, has shared one question be be wary of when you’re having a 1:1 with your manager. She took to Instagram to dish out her advice

Samantha Bartlett Assistant Editor, Social News

13:42, 19 Dec 2025

Lisa says the question feels supportive but is actually evaluative (stock image)(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Many people may be thinking about getting a promotion or changing jobs in the new year, and if that’s you then you may want to listen up. A career’s expert has shared one question be be wary of when you’re having a 1:1 with your manager. However, the question may also be asked by a hiring manager to potential job seekers also.

Lisa Villegas, a Career & Communication Strategist, took to her Instagram page to share a reel with her advice, and fans were loving it, as it racked up more than 1,000 likes. The reel saw Lisa smiling into the camera as overlay text read, ‘If your manager asks this in your 1:1, be careful how you answer.’

Lisa then named the question, which was, ‘What do you think you need to work on?’

The expert then wrote: “This isn’t a casual conversation, even though it sounds like one. Be strategic.”

Following up in the caption, she added: “This question feels supportive… conversational even! It sounds like self-reflection. It feels like your manager wants to help. But it’s actually evaluative.

Content cannot be displayed without consent

“Here’s what most people don’t realise – Managers don’t remember every detail of your performance,

they remember patterns.

“When you say, ‘I need to be more confident’, what gets remembered is: she lacks confidence.”

Lisa then gave a real-life scenario, saying that if there were two strong performers and one promotion available, leadership may ask the manager which one is ready.

She then wrote: “Your manager recalls: ‘She mentioned she’s still working on confidence.’

“That doesn’t mean you’re not capable. It means someone else feels clearer.”

Instead, Lisa recommended people framed growth around skills and scale instead of self-doubt.

She suggested swapping, ‘I need to speak up more’, for ‘I’m sharpening how I bring forward recommendations earlier in discussions’.

Instead of saying, ‘I struggle with executive presence’, Lisa recommended telling the manager, ‘I’m focused on communicating at a more decision-ready level as scope increases’.

She added: “Same honesty. Very different signal.

“Don’t let what feels like a casual conversation stall your well deserved promotion!

“Interviews don’t stop once you’re hired… every conversation is an opportunity to communicate your value.”

People were loving the advice, as one person told Lisa: “This reframing changes how self-reflection is perceived at work.”

While another added: “Self-reflection and controlling what you can control are the real flex, plus with a good attitude, gets you where you need to go!”

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