British police said on Tuesday that comedian and actor Russell Brand had been charged with a new count of rape and another of sexual assault. The new charges – authorized by the Crown Prosecution Service – related to two women and followed five charges made in April involving four other women: two counts of rape, one of indecent assault and two of sexual assault, going back more than two decades. Brand, 50, will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on January 20 in relation to the new charges. A trial on the earlier charges is scheduled to begin at Southwark Crown Court on June 16. Reuters has attempted to reach Brand for comment. Russell Brand pleads not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges Brand pleaded not guilty in May to the five original charges. Once a well-known broadcaster in Britain and a former husband of US pop singer Katy Perry, he has denied having non-consensual sex. After the original charges were announced, he said he had been a fool and a sex addict in his younger days but “what I never was, was a rapist.” The original investigation began in September 2023 after allegations were reported by Channel 4 TV's “Dispatches” show and The Sunday Times newspaper.

Letter to former US gymnastics team doctor postmarked three days after Epstein's death A disturbing letter that appears to have been written by Jeffrey Epstein and sent to Larry Nassar, the US Olympics gymnastics team doctor convicted of sexual abuse, is included the latest batch of Epstein-related documents released by the US government. “As you will know by now, I have taken the ‘short route' home,” the letter, which appears to have been signed from Epstein to Nasser, reads. We shared one thing … our love & caring for young ladies and the hope they reach their full potential.” Donald Trump, who was president at the time of this writing, has repeatedly denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein's criminal activities and any wrongdoing. It was found by investigators in the jail mail room weeks later after it was returned from a prison in Arizona and marked “no longer at this address”. It is unclear if Epstein and Nassar had any relationship. Nassar, the former doctor for the US gymnastics team and Michigan State University, is currently serving a 60-year federal sentence on charges of child sexual abuse images. At trial, more than 150 women – including Olympic gold medalists Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney – said he sexually abused them. The document comes as questions continue to swirl around Epstein's death in custody, with his brother, Mark Epstein, continuing to maintain that the sex offender was murdered in his cell. It has also been suggested that Epstein blamed his former friend Donald Trump for his 2019 arrest on sex-trafficking charges, which came more than a decade after he was granted immunity from prosecution under a 2007 Florida state plea deal where he pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor. To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.

The US government warned of “untrue and sensationalist” claims after documents released in the Epstein files accused Donald Trump of rape. The Department of Justice said some documents released on Tuesday were “unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they would have been weaponised against President Trump already”. The driver says he overheard a phone conversation in 1995 by Mr Trump in which he discussed “abusing some girl” while mentioning the name “Jeffrey”. The driver then claims his ex-partner told him she was raped by Mr Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. The White House has been accused of orchestrating a “cover-up” to protect Mr Trump, with earlier releases containing little to no mention of the president and heavy redactions. Notes on the recollections of a former member of Epstein's household staff also describe how the individual would “wipe and sanitise massage tables” on a “weekly” basis and how he “fought” with Epstein once when Epstein didn't have a pen by his night table with a light as “required”. The November 2021 document appears to be notes recorded by federal prosecutors or their colleagues. A “booklet” was discussed by the former member of staff which contained rules for how the household should be run. remembers seeing this manual for the first time when a duchess from England came. “This document was a booklet provided to [redacted] by this lady who was hired by [Jeffrey Epstein] and [Ghislaine Maxwell].” The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received an anonymous tip in 2020 alleging that Jeffrey Epstein helped organise “pedophilia… for Prince Andrew”, writes Poppy Wood. It said: “Pedophilia organized by JE for Prince Andrew. Epstein was not known to own properties in the Bahamas or Brazil, but owned a house on Little Saint James in the US Virgin Islands – more than a five hours' flight away from the Bahamas. Mrs Giuffre alleged that Epstein forced her to have sex with the then-prince on several occasions in 2001 when she was 17. Jeffrey Epstein once planned for two prominent figures — former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley and former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers — to oversee his estate in the event of his death, the new tranche of documents shows. The material, published this week by the United States Department of Justice, includes multiple drafts of Epstein's will spanning several years. These show that the disgraced financier revised his estate plans repeatedly, at one point naming Staley and Summers among those responsible for administering his affairs. In a 2012 draft, Staley appeared only as a “successor executor”, meaning he would step in if others were unable to act. In later versions dated 2013 and 2014, he was listed as a full executor. Summers was named as a successor executor in the 2014 document. Neither man appears in what seems to be Epstein's final will from 2019. Epstein comitted suicide in a New York jail in August that year while awaiting trial on federal child sex trafficking charges. The files also show that Staley celebrated Epstein's release from jail after the latter was convicted of procuring an underage prostitute. Writing to Epstein in 2010, Staley wrote: “Happy new year. Please know that I am a friend forever.” Lawyers for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor were assured that any FBI interview with him would not be recorded, a memo of a conversation suggests, writes Fiona Parker. Notes that appear to be taken from a telephone conference with a counsel for the then-Duke of York in January 2020. It is not known which individuals sent or received the email, but the subject is entitled “notes from t/c with counsel to Prince Andrew”.“prosecutors and also two primary FBI agents” were listed below an “introductions” heading. Under a head, “how does such an interview ordinary work?”, notes read: “[N]ot recorded, not videotaped or audiotaped; instead, agents take notes (and of course counsel can take notes as well). “[T]he interview is not formally under oath, there's no swearing-in, but it is a crime in the U.S. to knowingly lie to federal law enforcement officers.” The notes continued: “Subject matter we are interested in is, broadly, the nature and scope of client's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and his associates, including professional associates, staff, and personal relationships, including Ghislaine Maxwell.” Emails show agents attempting to identify the passport holder, noting that a man with the same name — originally from Austria and later residing in Southampton, New York — appeared to have lived for a period in Saudi Arabia, matching details listed on the passport. Investigators discussed verifying the individual's date of birth and contacting him directly to establish why a foreign passport in his name, but with Epstein's photograph, was found inside Epstein's safe. Emails in the Epstein files reveal a victim impact statement submitted in December 2020 to Alison J. Nathan, opposing Maxwell's application for bail. “I write this not only on behalf of myself, but all of the other girls and young women who were victimized by Maxwell,” the victim wrote, adding that Maxwell had sexually abused her as a child and must be held accountable in court. Drawing on her own experience, the victim said she believed Maxwell to be “a psychopath”, arguing that her abuse of multiple children and young women demonstrated a “disregard for and violation of the rights of others”. The victim warned that Maxwell was “willing to harm others if it benefits her” and “quite capable” of doing so again if released, adding that she had shown no remorse for her role in procuring victims for Epstein. As the world sifts through the latest dump of files for more details about Jeffrey Epstein's circle of associates, Donald Trump has only one thing on his mind in Palm Beach, writes The Telegraph's Rob Crilly. He has stepped up pressure on Venezuela, faces continuing questions about a cost of living crisis, and has seen once-loyal Members of Congress become obstructions to his programme. US lawyers believed there were “various factual inaccuracies” in Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's accounts during their probe into Epstein, newly released emails show. The internal communications came during a public row between the former duke and US prosecutors over his cooperation with their requests for an interview. Andrew's legal team had released a statement before the June 2020 email in which they said he had on “at least three occasions this year offered his assistance as a witness” to the Department of Justice. An unnamed lawyer from New York told Geoff Berman, the former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, on June 8 2020: “Geoff – as discussed, I've put together a short proposed statement responding to the press release issued by Prince Andrew's counsel this morning. “If we do issue something in response, as you'll see, I would recommend we keep it short and forward looking, rather than trying to rehash all of the various factual inaccuracies in his account of the past.” Emails released this week show that the Metropolitan Police contacted the FBI last month to ask whether there were any active investigations linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his association with Epstein. In a Nov 10 email, a detective chief inspector said the Met was “reviewing” allegations that the former duke sought information about Virginia Giuffre through his protection officers, alongside claims related to human trafficking and Epstein flight logs involving trips to the UK. The officer noted that a colleague had previously worked with the FBI in 2021 on cases involving Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. They reference an alleged incident in which Hillary Clinton was seen “drunk”, and claim they were once set up for “the bombing in Oklahoma City” – an apparent confusion with the 1995 Unabomber attack. Without additional context, it is difficult to give these claims any more weight than that of an anonymous hoaxer wasting the authorities' time. It also strains credulity that Mr Trump would have spoken so openly about alleged crimes in a setting where he could be overheard by a driver he did not know. There is a danger for the president in material like this being released without filtering. It may generate headlines alleging he raped a woman alongside Epstein. But there is also a danger for the media. Reporting such material as a serious allegation, without further corroboration, risks backfiring — handing ammunition to those who argue that the Epstein files are unreliable, and that their release muddies rather than clarifies the truth.

Tips include flushing rat, squirt soap into toilet or if the rat is too large close toilet lid and call pest control experts Residents in Washington state have been told to be aware of unwanted festive visitors before Santa comes down the chimney – rats coming up from the toilet. Health officials in Washington warned that recent flooding in the state “may sweep rodents into the sewer systems”. In a Facebook post, the Seattle and King county public health department wrote: “If a rat visits your toilet, take a deep breath and follow these tips,” before outlining the steps to take if a rodent emerges from your commode. Unsurprisingly, the first tip provided is: “Try to stay calm. That might not be easy under the circumstances.” The Facebook post advises people to flush the rat down the toilet or squeeze washing up liquid into the toilet to grease the reviled furry mammal's path back into the sewer. If the rat is too large to be vanquished this way, the health officials say, residents should close the toilet lid and call a pest control company. Presumably, using other places of convenience would be advisable if caught short in the meantime. Rats are surprisingly strong swimmers and can hold their breath for several minutes, meaning that, along with their tenacity and ability to squeeze into small spaces, they can easily enter someone's home via the toilet. Such a scenario, a nightmare for people with musophobia, is more common in older buildings with dilapidated pipes following heavy rainfall. Washington state has been dealing with some of its worst ever flooding this month, with several days of torrential rain causing thousands of people to be evacuated as floodwater inundated homes, washed away roads and triggered landslides.

As we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation, your support is urgently needed. The US Department of Justice on Tuesday released a new batch of documents related to the criminal investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — along with a disclaimer aimed at exonerating President Donald Trump, who is mentioned numerous times in the latest disclosures. The DOJ insisted that “the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.” Among the latest batch of documents released by the DOJ was a letter purportedly written by Epstein in prison to fellow convicted sex offender Larry Nassar in which he claimed that Trump “shares our love of young, nubile girls.” An internal DOJ email from 2020, meanwhile, states that Trump flew with Epstein on his private plane at least eight times between 1993 and 1996, which was more than had been previously known. On two occasions, Trump and Epstein shared flights with two people whom the DOJ described as “possible witnesses” in a criminal case against Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime Epstein accomplice who is serving a prison sentence for conspiring to help him sexually abuse minors. “Bizarre defensive post from DOJ saying if allegations of Trump had any credibility they would've been ‘weaponized' against him,” he wrote in response. “But… if they had credibility, then pursuing them, by definition, wouldn't be weaponization.” “Technically, this tweet is coming from our government,” he wrote. Walsh's sentiment was echoed by Rep. Nellie Pou (D-NJ), who argued that “the US Department of Justice shouldn't be acting like the White House's personal law firm.” Trump's past relationship with Epstein has come under greater scrutiny in recent months, and the New York Times last week published a lengthy report detailing the two men's years of friendship. The report emphasized, however, that “none have accused Mr. Trump himself of inappropriate behavior.” December is the most critical time of year for Truthout, because our nonprofit news is funded almost entirely by individual donations from readers like you. We are up against a far-reaching, wide-scale attack on press freedom coming from the Trump administration. 2025 was a year of frightening censorship, news industry corporate consolidation, and worsening financial conditions for progressive nonprofits across the board. We can only resist Trump's agenda by cultivating a strong base of support. The right-wing mediasphere is funded comfortably by billionaire owners and venture capitalist philanthropists. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day. To confront Trump's fascism in 2026 we will need significant resources. So, we have an ambitious goal — to raise $133,000 by December 31.

Warning: This post contains language readers may find disturbing. The letter does not explicitly name Trump, but instead refers to “our president.” The message appears to have been sent in August 2019, the same month Epstein died by suicide. Authorities have not accused Trump of any wrongdoing or charged him with any crimes in connection with Epstein. “Dear L.N.,” the letters reads, “As you know by now, I have taken the ‘short route' home. We shared one thing … our love and caring for young ladies and the hope they'd reach their full potential. Our President also shares our love of young, nubile girls.” The letter makes another lewd reference to Trump's treatment of women. While not referencing this specific letter, the Justice Department released a statement saying some of the documents released “contain untrue and sensationalist claims” against the president. “To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.” The envelope was sent from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City to Nassar, who was listed as an inmate at a federal prison in Arizona. The letter was postmarked three days after Epstein died. Prison staff are authorized to read and inspect outgoing mail, which can cause delays. It's not clear why Epstein's letter was permitted by prison officials to be sent and why it was delayed. CNN previously reported that while he was jailed, Epstein sent a letter to Nassar — although the contents of the letter were not disclosed. It was discovered by prison officials investigating Epstein's suicide weeks after his death. It is not known if Nassar and Epstein had a relationship. The FBI in 2020 requested from its laboratory a handwriting analysis be done to compare the letter to other writings from Epstein, according to another document posted on Tuesday from the DOJ. It did not say what the lab concluded. Nassar, the longtime doctor for the USA gymnastics team and Michigan State University, is serving a 60-year sentence in federal prison on child pornography charges. More than 150 women and girls publicly told a court he sexually abused them. The envelope, addressed to Larry Nassar at 9300 S. Wilmot Road, Tucson, Arizona, 85756, a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility, was marked as “return to sender,” as the addressee was “no longer at this address.”

As we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation, your support is urgently needed. Please make a year-end gift to Truthout today. Around August of each year, when temperatures swell in the Great Lakes region, wild rice — or manoomin in the Ojibwe language — begins to flower. Rice stalks can grow as high as 10 feet in the shallow waters, and to harvest, sticks and poles are used to knock seeds loose into boats or canoes. But those ricing waters are under threat as the Canadian oil transport company Enbridge looks to reroute its controversial pipeline, Line 5, through prime harvesting areas. Now, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, one of six Ojibwe bands in northern Wisconsin, has filed a lawsuit against the United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, to stop construction. Earthjustice says the pipeline will cross waterways that flow onto the Bad River Reservation and leaks would threaten the watershed and ecosystem, needed for wild rice harvesting and fishing. Line 5 has operated for more than 70 years and has become a major legal battle for multiple tribal nations in the Great Lakes region. “Oil and gas contribute to pollution in a number of ways, and the Trump administration is focused on energy dominance,” said Gussie Lord, a member of the Oneida Nation and an attorney at Earthjustice. Environmental assessments allow for faster review, while environmental impact studies are more thorough and require more time and resources to evaluate a project's impact. They also allow for consultation with tribal nations to determine if a project violates treaty rights, cultural resources, or access to clean water. In neighboring Michigan, Enbridge is also up against tribal nations and state officials in order to operate a nearly 5-mile pipeline segment under the Great Lakes to replace a 72-year-old section of Line 5. This month, a federal judge blocked Michigan from enforcing an order to shut the pipeline down, ruling that pipeline safety is a matter of federal responsibility, not states. Shortly after, seven tribal nations withdrew from discussions, citing the federal government's failure to engage with tribal governments. “Until the permit is signed, USACE has not engaged in a judicially reviewable final agency action,” a spokesperson for Enbridge said. Gussie Lord of Earthjustice said litigation is going to be an uphill battle, but adds that the Bad River Band believes it's their responsibility to protect the area's watershed and environment. December is the most critical time of year for Truthout, because our nonprofit news is funded almost entirely by individual donations from readers like you. So before you navigate away, we ask that you take just a second to support Truthout with a tax-deductible donation. We are up against a far-reaching, wide-scale attack on press freedom coming from the Trump administration. 2025 was a year of frightening censorship, news industry corporate consolidation, and worsening financial conditions for progressive nonprofits across the board. We can only resist Trump's agenda by cultivating a strong base of support. The right-wing mediasphere is funded comfortably by billionaire owners and venture capitalist philanthropists. We've set an ambitious target for our year-end campaign — a goal of $133,000 to keep up our fight against authoritarianism in 2026. Please take a meaningful action in this fight: make a one-time or monthly donation to Truthout before December 31. If you have the means, please dig deep. Miacel Spotted Elk is an Indigenous affairs reporting fellow at Grist. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day. To confront Trump's fascism in 2026 we will need significant resources. So, we have an ambitious goal — to raise $133,000 by December 31. Please make a tax-deductible donation now to support nonprofit journalism.

Serbia strongly supports US President Donald Trump's peace plan for Ukraine and proposes that the parties involved hold talks in Belgrade, Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Duric said. "Peace in Ukraine is the most pressing problem for Europe," he said in an interview with Der Spiegel. "We strongly support US President Donald Trump's peace plan and all other initiatives that may put an end to hostilities." "Belgrade can serve as a venue for talks. Apart from that, we are known as hospitable and tactful hosts," he emphasized. US representatives held separate consultations with the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Florida over the past weekend. After the meetings, US Vice President JD Vance said, "The breakthrough that I do feel that we've made is that all of the issues are actually out in the open." In turn, US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff described his discussions with the Russian delegation led by special presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev as "productive and constructive." Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said Dmitriev would brief President Vladimir Putin on his talks in Miami as soon as he returns to Moscow. The Ukrainian side was represented in Florida by Ukrainian Security Council Secretary Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Andrey Gnatov.

Around 100 Russian soldiers entered the village of Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast and attempted to advance toward the settlement of Riasne, Viktor Tregubov, head of the Joint Forces communications department, told Suspilne on Dec. 23. "Russian units are currently consolidating their positions in the southern part of Hrabovske. Ukrainian forces are trying to dislodge them from their positions. The attack by Russian forces was "sudden," according to Tregubov. Tregubov added that settlements located directly on the Russian border, where Russian territory can be reached on foot, can only be reliably secured if Ukrainian forces establish a control zone extending several kilometers into Russia. Hrabovske lies on the border with Russia's Belgorod Oblast. Soldiers from Russia's 36th Brigade abducted 52 civilians from the village, including children, and took them to Russia — an act that constitutes a war crime. Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from Siversk, Donetsk Oblast, the General Staff announced on Dec. 23. The General Staff added that Russian forces advanced because of its "significant numerical superiority" and "constant pressure from small assault groups in difficult weather conditions." Enemy units are being blocked to prevent their further advance," the General Staff said. Designed for area bombardment, it has a range of 20–40 km (12–25 miles), is operated by a crew of 3–5, and can quickly redeploy after firing. Ukraine has returned a group of children, aged 9 to 16, from the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin announced on Dec. 23. Prokudin did not specify the number of children, but said they had "gone through threats, searches, and interrogations." Among those rescued was a 9-year-old girl whose family had long feared leaving the occupied territory because her father is a former Ukrainian soldier. Another was a 16-year-old girl who lived under constant Russian strikes and was threatened by Russian military and Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers after taking a photo of a destroyed building near her home. All the children who returned to Ukrainian-controlled areas are now receiving psychological support, as well as assistance with paperwork and finding housing, according to Prokudin. Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU) on Dec. 23 revealed details of several alleged "mobilization evasion schemes" it had uncovered, leading to the arrest of eight ringleaders who now face up to ten years each in prison. In Poltava Oblast, the SBU arrested a 48-year-old former law enforcement officer who ran a scheme obtaining fake medical certificates from neurologists he was "familiar" with. "As the investigation established, draft evaders were first registered as 'inpatients' in local medical institutions, and then they were given fictitious discharge papers with serious diagnoses," the SBU said. Other schemes were not quite as imaginative — one in Odesa involved a man disguised as a military officer simply transporting people in the trunk of his car, while another involved issuing camouflage clothing and sending people along a long forest trail. At least 4 people have been killed and 26 others injured in Russian attacks against Ukraine over the past day, local authorities reported on Dec. 23. Russia launched 635 drones, 35 Kh-101 and Iskander-K cruise missiles, and three Kinzhal hypersonic missiles at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said. At least thirty-nine drones made it through, striking 21 locations. Debris from intercepted missiles and drones was found at eight locations, and three Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles failed to reach their targets, with their crash sites still being identified. Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin also reported one death and one injury on the morning of Dec. 23 following Russian drone attacks. In Zhytomyr Oblast, Russian strikes killed one child and injured five other people overnight on Dec. 23, according to the local military administration. Three others, including a girl, were injured in overnight Russian strikes, the local military administration said. In the city of Kyiv, five people, including a child, suffered injuries due to Russian strikes, Ukraine's Emergency Service said. In Donetsk Oblast, one person suffered injuries in a Russian attack against the city of Kostiantynivka, according to Governor Vadym Filashkin. The mass Russian attack overnight on Dec. 23 also triggered widespread power outages across Ukraine, leaving Rivne, Ternopil, and Khmelnytskyi oblasts almost completely without electricity, the Energy Ministry said. Russian strikes caused power outages for consumers in Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Kharkiv oblasts as well. Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities prompted the emergency shutdown of Zaporizhstal, one of Ukraine's largest metal producers, the company said. Russia has lost around 1,199,280 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Dec. 23. According to the report, Russia has also lost 11,446 tanks, 23,792 armored fighting vehicles, 70,966 vehicles and fuel tanks, 35,331 artillery systems, 1,576 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,263 air defense systems, 434 airplanes, 347 helicopters, 93,166 drones, 28 ships and boats, and two submarines. Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth alongside President Donald Trump looks on, at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club on Monday. The U.S. military said Monday that it had conducted another strike against a boat it said was smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one person. In a social-media post, U.S. Southern Command said, “Intelligence confirmed the low-profile vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” Southern Command provided no evidence that the vessel was engaged in drug smuggling. A video posted by U.S. Southern Command shows splashes of water near one side of the boat. Some strike videos even had visible rocket-like projectiles coming down on the boats. Trump threatens Maduro as U.S. steps up Venezuela campaign At least 105 people have been killed in 29 known strikes since early September. The strikes have faced scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists, who say the administration has offered scant evidence that its targets are indeed drug smugglers and say the fatal strikes amount to extrajudicial killings. Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following. © Copyright 2025 The Globe and Mail Inc. All rights reserved.

The Canadian stock index was subdued on Tuesday, ​as advances in financial stocks ‍were offset by losses in metal mining shares, while investors assessed domestic and U.S. economic data. ET, taking a breather after Monday's milestone of surpassing 32,000 for the first time. Wall Street also drifted sideways as U.S. Treasury yields climbed following stronger-than-anticipated third-quarter ⁠GDP figures. “The economy's lack ‍of momentum reinforces our view that markets have gotten ‍ahead of themselves in terms of ‌pricing in interest rate hikes for next year,” ⁠said Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics. Money ​markets are predicting the Bank of Canada will maintain the current interest rate before potentially increasing it by 25 basis points, likely in July 2026. On the TSX, heavyweight financial sector was up 0.5 per cent, ​outperforming peers. Nevertheless, the Canadian benchmark remains on track for its strongest annual performance since 2009, with mining and gold sub-indexes more ⁠than doubling in value this year. Brian Madden, chief investment ⁠officer at First Avenue Investment Counsel, attributed gold's performance to multiple factors, including ‌central banks diversifying reserves into gold, persistent geopolitical tensions and the diminishing opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets as markets anticipate Federal Reserve rate cuts. Among share moves, Strathcona Resources plunged 24.7 per cent after the oil and gas producer ‌provided an update on capital structure. U.S. stocks are holding near their record levels Tuesday following updates that showed the economy grew sharply during the third quarter, but inflation remains high and consumers are losing confidence. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66 points, or 0.1 per cent. A majority of stocks with the S&P 500 were losing ground, but the market was being bolstered by several big technology stocks. They are among several companies with outsized valuations that tend to have more impact on the broader market's direction. Novo Nordisk jumped 8.9 per cent after U.S. regulators approved a pill version of the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, the first daily oral medication to treat obesity. Wall Street is getting the latest economic updates during an otherwise quiet holiday-shortened week. Economic growth has been occurring at the same time that inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank's 2 per cent target. The job market is also slowing, adding another layer of concern to whether the central bank should continue cutting interest rates. Wall Street expects the Fed to hold rates steady at its upcoming meeting in January. Consumer spending and confidence has been a shaky amid worries about high prices, especially with a wide-ranging U.S. trade war that could drive prices for many goods even higher. The latest update from business group The Conference Board showed that consumer confidence fell in December to its lowest level since tariffs were rolled out in April. Meanwhile, retail sales have been weakening, with consumers growing more cautious. Consumers have become more targeted in their buying during the holiday shopping season, according to Visa's Consulting and Analytics division. From Nov. 1 through Sunday, cash and credit card sales rose 4.2 per cent, which is less than the 4.8 per cent increase during the same period a year ago. Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following. © Copyright 2025 The Globe and Mail Inc. All rights reserved.

At least three people have been killed, and 12 others injured in a massive Russian missile and drone attack on multiple oblasts of Ukraine overnight on Dec. 23. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia launched more than 650 drones and over three dozen missiles targeting "the entire infrastructure of life." Ukraine's Energy Ministry said that emergency power outages have been implemented in several regions across the country amid Russia's targeting of energy infrastructure. Ukraine's Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov said during a briefing on Dec. 23 that as a result of the attack Ukraine's nuclear power plants have been forced to reduce their generation capacity. Russian strikes damaged thermal power plants facilities operated by Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, the company said in a statement, the seventh such attack since October. Zaporizhstal, one of Ukraine's largest steel makers, was completely cut off from power, which led to an emergency shutdown of production, its press service said. In Zhytomyr Oblast, the attack killed a four-year-old child, and injured five people, Vitaliy Bunechko, head of the Zhytomyr Oblast Military Administration, reported. In Kyiv Oblast, one person was killed and three others injured, Governor Mykola Kalashnyk reported. Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko said that four people were injured in the city's Sviatoshynskyi district, where a five-storey apartment building was damaged. In Khmelnytskyi Oblast, one person was killed, Governor Serhii Tiurin said. "This Russian strike sends an extremely clear signal about Russia's priorities." Lviv Oblast Governor, Maksym Kozytskyi, said that Russia attacked a critical energy infrastructure facility in the region. In Odesa Oblast, energy, port, transport, industrial, and residential infrastructures were damaged, Governor Oleh Kiper reported. Explosions also were reported in the western communities of Burshtyn and Rohatyn, both located in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, as well as on the outskirts of the city of Cherkasy, public broadcaster Suspilne reported. Poland scrambled its fighter jets and put ground-based air defense and radar detection systems on alert in response to the attack, the country's armed forces said. The attack comes as President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Ukrainians should brace for mass Russian missile and drone strikes over the Christmas period. "This Russian strike sends an extremely clear signal about Russia's priorities. An attack ahead of Christmas, when people simply want to be with their families, at home, and safe," Zelensky said. "An attack carried out essentially in the midst of negotiations aimed at ending this war. Putin still cannot accept that he must stop killing. Despite multiple rounds of negotiations, the fate of ongoing peace talks remains uncertain amid Moscow's refusal to budge from its maximalist demands in Ukraine.

Since its founding in 1922, Foreign Affairs has been the leading forum for serious discussion of American foreign policy and global affairs. The magazine has featured contributions from many leading international affairs experts. Since the cease-fire began on October 10, Israel has released almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and Hamas has returned all living hostages as well as most of the bodies of those killed, in keeping with the Trump administration's 20-point peace plan. Plans for a more extensive resolution, however, are stalled, and the relations between Hamas and Israel today are characterized by limited but persistent conflict, not progress toward peace. Israel's policies, Hamas's refusal to lose more power, and the Trump administration's poor attention span are likely to foil the peace proposal's more ambitious plans for Gaza's rehabilitation. Fundamentally, further progress depends on the creation of an International Stabilization Force to police Gaza, disarm Hamas, and eventually train a new, vetted, non-Hamas Palestinian police force that would assume control over Gaza. At the same time, a technocratic and apolitical Palestinian government would emerge to govern Gaza, reporting to what U.S. President Donald Trump has called a “Board of Peace,” which would be officially headed by Trump and run on a day-to-day basis by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The U.S. military has created a Civil-Military Coordination Center in Israel to monitor the cease-fire and disbursement of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Senior U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and senior adviser (and Trump's son-in-law) Jared Kushner, have visited Israel in recent weeks to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to the cease-fire agreement. But the vagueness surrounding statements and plans for important next steps to improve security; the Trump administration's reluctance to take a bigger, more direct role in Gaza's reconstruction; and the hesitation from potential partners to offer greater support to such efforts all make it less likely that the more aspirational parts of the Trump plan—namely, disarming Hamas and creating a new Palestinian government in Gaza—will be implemented soon, if ever. As this limited fighting continues, 90 percent of the population in Gaza remains displaced, with 1.5 million people needing emergency shelter assistance. Despite Israel's promise to allow 600 trucks of aid per day to enter Gaza, the United Nations has reported that the daily figure has averaged less than 120. Heavy rainfall and cold weather have added to Gazans' misery. This status quo—marked by improvised policies, hasty U.S. efforts to put out fires, and ongoing civilian suffering—may seem unstable. Yet something like the current situation may represent Gaza's future: limited but persistent violence and mini crises rather than progress toward development, peace, and greater stability. Establishing a long-term stabilization force is one of the most vital tasks for progress toward peace, but it will also be one of the most difficult. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, has assured his cabinet that Israel will hold veto power over which countries are part of the force. So have other U.S. partners, despite their often supportive rhetoric. Even sympathetic Arab and Muslim states have hesitated, recognizing that on the ground, such a force would suppress Palestinians on behalf of Israel—political poison for their governments, especially if there is no clear path to a Palestinian state that might justify their cooperation with Israel in the short term. Still others seek a UN mandate for the overall effort, which would be difficult to achieve given China and Russia's opposition, which they are employing to showcase support for Palestinian sovereignty and hostility to U.S. influence in the Middle East. Even if boots could be put on the ground, counterinsurgency is difficult, particularly in an urban environment, and requires aggressive rules of engagement, skilled forces, and a willingness to take casualties—a rare combination in the best of circumstances. Demilitarizing Gaza and disarming Hamas are similarly challenging tasks. The Trump plan calls for ensuring that Hamas's weapons are “permanently beyond use” and that, in general, all “military, terror, and offensive infrastructure” is destroyed. Shortly after the cease-fire began, for example, Hamas attacked members of the powerful Doghmush clan—a large family centered primarily in Gaza City that has fought against Hamas and, according to various media outlets, worked with Israel to do so—to ensure that the clan, and other Gazans, knew that Hamas was still in charge. Outside states are also not eager to reconstruct Gaza. The Trump administration has promoted ambitious visions of what a future Gaza would look like, proposing as one of its 20 points an “economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza . Continued fighting, even if low level, will frighten away investment and reconstruction funds. Language about “technocrats” or a “reformed” Palestinian Authority masks the reality that there is currently no obvious or even plausible alternative to Hamas rule or direct Israeli military occupation, the two realities in Gaza today. Hamas has already begun repairing its damaged reputation among Gazans simply by being the only credible force that can provide basic law and order. Israel does not seek a return to full-scale fighting. As the war dragged on, Israel's military operations suffered diminishing returns, a problem compounded by the accumulating damage to its international reputation. Right-wing Israeli leaders oppose any deal that benefits the Palestinians in general, believing that Palestinians should not “win” in any way because of October 7. And Israelis are broadly suspicious of the Palestinian Authority. At an operational level, this means Israel would be hesitant to pass off security to an International Stabilization Force, let alone Palestinian forces, unless it were fully confident that the force would suppress Hamas—a confidence that may never come. Although these Israeli attitudes may not prompt the resumption of outright war, they are likely to lead to regular Israeli strikes on Gaza in the future. If Hamas openly consolidates power in parts of Gaza, it is plausible that Israel would try to kill the Hamas leaders who emerged, to ensure the group remained on its back foot. Hamas, like Israel, does not want a return to full-scale fighting, but it, too, has strong incentives to carry out limited acts of violence. Hamas's particular excuses for the recent attacks on the IDF may be plausible, as local commanders may at times strike on their own. When the time comes to implement the aspects of the Trump plan that would greatly weaken Hamas's power and destroy it as a political actor, Hamas is also likely to violently resist, both for ideological reasons, given that it still seeks to control Gaza and the Palestinian national movement, and out of fear that rival Palestinians would take revenge if Hamas could not defend itself. Hamas attacks on the IDF and the inevitable massive Israeli response would, in turn, discredit any technocratic or Palestinian Authority government, revealing its inability to protect Gazans and making it more likely that such a government would be seen as a collaborator. This would be a political win for Hamas even if its leaders, and Gazans in general, suffered from the Israeli retaliation. Today, Israeli forces vigilantly patrol the yellow line laid out by the cease-fire, shooting at Gazans who try to cross it—killing dozens—and building physical barriers with concrete blocks to mark it. It is easy to see how such a temporary line could become semipermanent. Amid this reality, some U.S. efforts to promote reconstruction have already been dashed. But this proposal stalled almost immediately in the face of difficult questions about whether Palestinians in these communities could cross freely between parts of the strip respectively controlled by Israel and Hamas. The effort, which remains in limbo, is a warning that even seemingly benign proposals have political consequences that one or both sides might oppose. Over time, international attention to Gaza will fade, particularly if limited violence does not become massive and if the humanitarian situation is miserable rather than catastrophic. As scrutiny recedes, pressure on both sides to make painful concessions will diminish, and Israel will face lower potential diplomatic costs for military strikes. As the parade of senior U.S. visitors suggests, the Trump administration is proud of its role in creating a cease-fire and would like to make Gaza a success story. It would also involve Washington deploying U.S. troops as part of a stabilization force or cajoling capable allies into participating. And without such near-constant efforts by the United States, Israel and Hamas are likely to settle into an uneasy relationship that avoids all-out war but is nevertheless characterized by constant conflict, a lack of reconstruction in Gaza, and little or no political progress toward lasting peace. Why the Lessons of Ukraine Don't Apply to a Conflict With China Our editors' top picks, delivered free to your inbox every Friday. * Note that when you provide your email address, the Foreign Affairs Privacy Policy and Terms of Use will apply to your newsletter subscription. Our editors' top picks from the week, delivered on Friday. * Note that when you provide your email address, the Foreign Affairs Privacy Policy and Terms of Use will apply, and you will receive occasional marketing emails.