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EU leaders announced early Friday in Brussels a two-year funding package that will lend roughly $105 billion (about €90 billion) to Ukraine for 2026–27, financed initially through EU borrowing rather than by tapping frozen Russian assets. The move aims to cover roughly two-thirds of an IMF-estimated $160 billion funding shortfall for Ukraine over the next … Read more

Lead: The federal government announced a national gun buyback and tighter firearms rules following the Bondi Beach mass shooting that killed 15 people and injured dozens on Sunday. Authorities say two gunmen opened fire at a Jewish festival on the beach; police have labelled the incident a terrorist act. The accused surviving attacker, 24-year-old Naveed … Read more

In a major fiscal move, EU leaders have approved a €90 billion loan package to support Ukraine, after a plan to repurpose frozen Russian assets proved unworkable. The decision, announced by EU institutions this week, aims to stabilize Kyiv’s finances and sustain public services and defence spending. The package follows months of debate in Brussels … Read more

Lead The Department of Health and Human Services is preparing a proposal to change the recommended childhood vaccine schedule in the United States to include fewer shots, a person familiar with the plans told CNN on December 18, 2025. The source said the draft would bring U.S. guidance closer to recommendations published for Denmark in … Read more

On Dec. 18, 2025, the board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted to adopt the name “Trump-Kennedy Center,” a move announced on Thursday afternoon that could still require congressional approval to become legally binding. The decision followed a board meeting held at the Palm Beach home of casino … Read more

Police and federal authorities are conducting a multi‑state manhunt after two shootings that left three people dead and one suspected assailant later found dead, officials said on December 18, 2025. Law enforcement sources told CBS News investigators are probing a possible link between the mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and the … Read more

ByteDance has signed binding agreements to transfer a majority stake in TikTok’s U.S. operations to a consortium of investors, the company’s CEO told staff on Thursday. The transaction — set to close on 22 January — would place Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX among the new owners while allowing ByteDance to retain a … Read more

Lead: ByteDance has reached binding agreements to transfer majority ownership of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a consortium of U.S. and global investors, CEO Shou Zi Chew told staff on Thursday. The transaction, which is scheduled to close on 22 January, would resolve a multiyear U.S. push to force a sale over national security concerns. Under … Read more

Lead: On Thursday, December 18, 2025, the President signed S. 1071—the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026—into law in Washington, D.C. The measure authorizes FY2026 appropriations chiefly for Department of Defense programs and military construction, Department of Energy national security activities, intelligence programs, and Department of State work. It also supports a military … Read more

Disney conducted closed screen tests and chemistry readings in London last week as it narrows candidates for the lead roles in a live-action adaptation of its 2010 animated hit Tangled. Several early-career actresses — including Freya Skye, Sarah Catherine Hook, Teagan Croft and Olivia‑Mai Barrett — reportedly read for Rapunzel, while Milo Manheim, Charlie Gillespie … Read more

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee granted a pardon Thursday to country artist Jelly Roll, acknowledging the Nashville native’s journey from drug use and prison to recovery, songwriting and advocacy. The pardon, one of 33 Lee issued as part of his customary holiday clemency decisions, follows a monthslong review and a unanimous, nonbinding recommendation from the state … Read more

Nike’s stock plunged after the company revealed weaker-than-expected sales in China in its latest trading update, undermining investor confidence in the athletic brand’s turnaround plan. The market reaction followed comments from the firm and analysts that flagged slower demand in Greater China, a core growth market. Investors interpreted the update as a setback for Nike’s … Read more

Lead: Authorities on Thursday named a person of interest in the fatal shooting that took place at Brown University last weekend and have launched a search for that individual and a rented car investigators believe may link the campus attack to the separate killing of an M.I.T. professor earlier this week. The Brown attack left … Read more

In December 2025, a team of astronomers announced they have captured the first direct images of debris clouds produced by collisions between large objects orbiting the nearby star Fomalhaut. The events—recorded in 2004 and again in 2023—are interpreted as the aftermath of impacts between planetesimals roughly 60 kilometers across. Observers used long-baseline imaging from the … Read more

Lead On December 18, 2025, the President issued an order directing that federal executive departments and agencies be closed and employees excused from duty on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and Friday, December 26, 2025, the day before and the day after Christmas Day. The order authorizes department and agency heads to keep certain offices open … Read more