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The lawsuit challenges a Health and Human Services declaration last week that bars providers from Medicare and Medicaid.
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Maryland joined 18 states and the District of Columbia Tuesday in a lawsuit challenging a Health and Human Services declaration last week that health care facilities offering gender-affirming care to minors would be barred from Medicare and Medicaid.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oregon, claims that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. exceeded his authority with the Dec. 18 declaration, which would “effectively ban, by fiat, an entire caregory of healthcare.” It also failed to follow proper procedures for promulgating new rules, would interfere with states' rights to run their Medicaid programs and regulate health care and deny care to youth that need it.
“Healthcare decisions should be made by doctors and patients – not by politicians in Washington threatening to destroy providers' careers and spreading fear among transgender youth and their families,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement late Tuesday night.
“This isn't just about following the law – though HHS is clearly violating it. This is about protecting vulnerable young people who deserve the same dignity, respect, and access to medical care as anyone else,” Brown's statement said.
For many of the 20 Democrat-led jurisdictions on Tuesday's lawsuit, like Maryland, it was the second day in a row they had gone to an Oregon federal court to challenge Trump administration policy: A total of 22 jurisdictions sued Monday in an attempt to block the administration's attempt to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Many of the states are now veterans of lawsuit against President Donald Trump and his administration. For Brown, this week's lawsuits were the 47th and 48th against the administration and its policies since January, when Trump returned to office.
The latest lawsuit is a response to Kennedy's declaration on the “Safety, Effectiveness, and Professional Standards of Care for Sex-Rejecting Procedures on Children and Adolescents.” That document declared that health care facilities would be barred from participating in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal programs if they provided gender-affirming care — including puberty blockers, hormonal treatments or surgery — to anyone under age 18.
Part of the declaration states that the methods “for children and adolescents are neither safe nor effective as a treatment modality for gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, or other related disorders in minors.” The declaration also says it supersedes “statewide or national standards of care.”
In a news release with the announcement, Kennedy said it was made in line with Trump's Jan. 28 executive order “protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation.” The release also notes that the Food and Drug Administration has issued warning letters to 12 manufacturers and retailers it says are marketing breast binders to children for treatment of gender dysphoria, and that HHS' Office for Civil Rights is working to reverse a Biden administration policy that categorized gender dysphoria as a disability.
Tuesday's suit claims that Kennedy's declaration would negatively impact transgender youth, affect thousands of hospitals that offer Medicare and Medicaid programs and harm medical profession that provide necessary health care.
“The Kennedy Declaration also purports to establish a standard of care and supersede other standards of care, despite the Medicare statute's clear prohibition against any Federal interference,” according to the suit.
The 41-page suit also discusses policies and protections for transgender youth in each of the state suing. In Maryland, it noted, the Trans Health Equity Act became law in 2023, stating that the state's Medicaid program “shall” cover gender-affirming care that grants lower-income residents access to those procedures. The law also ensures the state provides the care with or without federal funding.
The state Department of Health reports that in 2024, Maryland Medicaid spent $1.7 million to fund more than 1,600 unique office visits for gender-affirming care services. That figure currently includes about $900,000 in federal funding.
“We're standing up against this cruel and unlawful action because every Marylander, regardless of who they are, deserves compassionate, evidence-based healthcare from providers who won't be punished for doing what's right,” Brown said in his statement.
Besides the District and Maryland, other states in Tuesday's suit include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.
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William J. Ford has reported for more than 25 years on local, county and state politics. Before Maryland Matters, he spent nearly 10 years covering municipalities, regional news and occasional news features with sports angles at The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He wrote for Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, and was a reporter for seven years with The Washington Informer, covering local politics and other D.C.-area topics. He often appears on local radio and TV programs to discuss Maryland politics.
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A new study found that vilifying protestors in public and through the media has been key to state repression tactics.
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A new study published this month in the journal Environmental Politics reveals that efforts to repress climate and environmental protest are growing worldwide through a combination of new legislation, novel uses of existing legal processes, police actions, vilification of activists, and both violence and killings. The authors contend that acts of repression are likely to expand and intensify as authoritarian regimes roll back climate policies, with a particular focus on President Donald Trump's actions in office criminalizing protest, increasing police power, and publicly attacking climate and environmental commitments.
The authors say the effects of this “repertoire of repression” are threefold. First, a risk of legal sanctions, carceral punishment, and violence diverts resources from movements and deters environmental action. Second, criminalization delegitimizes climate movements in the public eye by framing them as counterproductive, criminal, or dangerous. And third, that criminalization and enforcement of new legislation diverts attention from climate change by focusing conversations on ‘extremists' and ‘eco-terrorists' opposed to the public interest.
“Underlying all of this, we can see very clearly over the last few years there's been an incessant vilification of climate and environmental activists around the world,” said Oscar Berglund, a co-author of the report. “Media and politicians are very much involved and this kind of vilification feeds into all these kinds of repressions.”
Drawing on data from 14 countries, research at the University of Bristol found that countries engage with repression by creating new laws designed to regulate protests, like in the United States and the United Kingdom, that create criminal penalties for protests that target “critical infrastructure” like pipelines. However, non-state actors, like corporations or private security firms, engage in lethal acts of violence toward environmental and land defenders, particularly those who are Indigenous. The authors write that these efforts at “criminalization and repression are not aberrations of climate governance but a core governing strategy.” The study also highlights that climate and environmental protests have been steadily increasing each year since 2018.
Vilifying protestors in public and through the media has been key to state repression tactics. In the Philippines, “red-tagging” labels activists, especially those who are Indigenous, as communists or terrorists as a method to redirect public attention from protests on climate issues. In the U.S. state of Georgia, activists protesting the construction of “Cop City,” a police training site outside Atlanta that required deforestation, were charged with domestic terrorism, facing up to 35 years in prison. One activist, Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, was killed after being shot at least 57 times, marking what some experts have called the first case in the U.S. where an environmental activist has been shot and killed by security forces.
Outside of the U.S., where more violent forms of deterrence are committed, the report's authors say that militaries, police forces, and landowners often carry out killings or kidnappings of activists due to states creating “a permissive environment and culture of impunity for private actors.” According to data from Global Witness, an international organization that investigates environmental and human rights abuses, more than 2,100 land and environmental defenders were killed between 2012 and 2023. Approximately 43 percent were Indigenous, and a majority of killings took place in Latin America.
“Since colonization, Indigenous people have defended and put their bodies in the way of environmental destruction because it's changed the places where they live,” said Berglund. “That has very much continued in recent years, and you often find that Indigenous peoples are leading struggles against mining or fossil fuel extraction.”
Since President Donald Trump assumed office this year, the U.S. exited the Paris Agreement again, while companies have abandoned their own climate commitments, partially due to ongoing backlash from the current administration on environmental, social, and governance, or ESG. The study says “many political and corporate actors have backtracked on climate targets, not because they deny climate change or their contribution to it, but because it has become politically viable to accept its inevitability.”
In October, President Trump ordered federal law enforcement agencies to review reports filed by the Government Accountability Institute and the Capital Research Center, two conservative think tanks, that link progressive organizations with anti-fascist or “antifa” networks. The Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity are listed among these alleged groups.
“It's delegitimizing these actors and making them invisible,” said Berglund. “That enables the violence against them.”
This article originally appeared in Grist at https://grist.org/technology/how-do-you-tackle-microplastics-start-with-your-washing-machine/.
Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org
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.
This year is a little different. 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. At Truthout, we have you.
We've set an ambitious target for our year-end campaign — a goal of $112,000 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.
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AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler says union ready to stand up for struggling Americans: ‘Which side are you on?'
Donald Trump has staged a year of “unrelenting attacks on working people,” according to the head of the largest federation of the labor unions in the US. Now they're preparing to fight back.
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said it was gearing up to challenge the US president's “Billionaire First” agenda in 2026 – and drive candidates in key elections to stand up for “struggling” Americans.
In an interview with the Guardian, she described how the federation has pushed to restore collective bargaining rights for federal workers, and filed lawsuits against the Trump administration's efforts to weaken unions and worker protections. “People were pissed,” said Shuler.
The House of Representatives passed a bill on 11 December that would restore collective bargaining rights for federal workers in response to Trump's executive orders that stripped the rights from more than 1 million federal government employees.
“It was through a lot of good old-fashioned organizing,” said Shuler, who accused the president of overseeing “the biggest attack on unions in our history” by moving to eliminate collective bargaining for federal workers.
The AFL-CIO is now steeling itself for a fight to pass the bill in the Senate in January, kicking off what it likely to be another hectic year. The threat of another government shutdown looms at the end of January. The fight over extending Affordable Care Act subsidies is far from over.
“We're organizing as we speak,” said Shuler. “We can move actual people, in workplaces, in every city, in every state, across the country.”
Affordability has come into sharp focus, with inflation still stubbornly above typical levels, and many Americans grappling with rising bills and prices. The federation intends to build momentum into the 2026 midterm elections on such kitchen table issues, according to Shuler, who said labor organizations were already reaching out to working people, canvassing and knocking on doors, in an effort to break through the noise.
“People are fed up,” she said. “They're saturated. I think they're distrustful of institutions and the media. All of the folks that we have come to rely on over the years seem to be waning in trust, and there's only one organization left that people do trust, and that's the labor movement, unions. Our credibility and trust is actually going up. And so we think that we have to capitalize on what our sweet spot is, which is using our sphere of influence.”
About 68% of Americans support labor unions, according to Gallup, despite a downward trend of union density in the US over the past several decades, which has correlated with the growth of income inequality.
Trump promised to lower costs on day one and create good jobs, especially in manufacturing, noted Shuler. Those promises have not yet been fulfilled. Trump described apprehension over affordability as a “hoax”, and sought to downplay economic concerns such as the sputtering job market.
“That's not what people are experiencing,” Shuler said of Trump's narrative. “They're having to run up their credit-card debt. It's at an all-time high, just to afford groceries. They're looking at how they're going to make their car payment, how they're going to afford rent.
“When I'm out on the road talking to people, housing and healthcare are two issues everybody is feeling. And that is not on the ‘Billionaire First' agenda.”
Trump is “rewarding the big corporations and the rich” while many Americans are “actually struggling”, she added. “I think that's going to come into sharper focus as we go on into 2026. And that is what the labor movement is going to be very clear on. What are workers' demands? Who is standing with us when it comes to candidates, and elected officials? And which side are you on?”
Thousands of Starbucks baristas are currently on strike, as they campaign for the world's largest coffee chain to grant them their first union contract.
“This strike has really brought it in sharp focus, this divide that we're seeing of an economy that's working for the very rich, for the billionaires, the corporations and working people are piecing it together,” said Shuler. “They're often working two or three jobs just to get by.
“The future of this economy is absolutely in peril, if you think about how inequality is rampant, but also AI and advanced technology is going to continue to create this divide between the ultra rich and everyday people just trying to make a living.
“It's only going to get worse if we don't get the guardrails in place, have more power for working people to negotiate what they need and bring some balance back into our economy.”
The White House was contacted for comment.
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Government poised to officially protect 200,000 hectares of remote Patagonian coastline and forest
Chile's government is poised to create the country's 47th national park, protecting nearly 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of pristine wilderness and completing a wildlife corridor stretching 1,700 miles (2,800km) to the southernmost tip of the Americas.
The Cape Froward national park is a wild expanse of wind-torn coastline and forested valleys that harbours unrivalled biodiversity and has played host to millennia of human history.
“I have been to many exceptional places, and I can tell you that the Cape Froward project is the wildest place I have walked through,” said Kristine Tompkins, the renowned US conservationist at the heart of the project. “It's one of the few truly wild forest and peak territories left in the country, and the richness of the Indigenous history in the region makes a case for these territories to be preserved for all time.”
It is the 17th national park created or expanded in Chile and Argentina by Tompkins Conservation and its successor organisation, Rewilding Chile. The groups have spent the best part of a decade knitting together a patchwork of land purchases and state-held properties to create the park.
In 2023, they signed an agreement with the Chilean government to donate the land to become Cape Froward national park.
In February, a population of 10 huemul, an endangered deer species, was found in the park, and a network of cameras regularly captures wild pumas and the endangered huillín, a river otter. The area also encompasses 10,000 hectares of sphagnum bogs, a spongelike moss which stores carbon deep below the ground.
Benjamín Cáceres, the conservation coordinator in the Magallanes region for Rewilding Chile, is a native of Patagonia who first visited Cape Froward at the age of 12 with his conservationist father, Patricio Cáceres.
“My father was always a dreamer,” he said. “When he found out about an abandoned lighthouse all those years ago, he brought us here as a family to dream with him – and that's where this story began for me.”
The San Isidro lighthouse is one of seven designed and built by the Scottish architect George Slight along the treacherous strait of Magellan. It was abandoned in the 1970s and itinerant fishers would come by to salvage wood until the roof collapsed.
Now, Patricio and Benjamín's vision for the restored lighthouse is becoming a reality. It has been converted into a museum of the natural and human history of the area and – together with a cafe on the beach below – will become the entry point for the new national park.
Dotted along the shoreline are delicate archaeological sites that enshrine the history of the Kawésqar, a nomadic Indigenous people who navigated fjords, rocky beaches and forests in canoes carved from trees.
“This mosaic of ecosystems is tremendously important,” said Cáceres. “The bogs and subantarctic forests are incredibly fragile, and the cultural legacy of the Kawésqar territory, the era of explorers, then whalers; all of this history and biodiversity will be preserved in some form in the future national park.”
In among shells buried in silty mud at Kawésqar campsites are bird and dolphin bones from feasts. There are even circles of stones set out as fish traps on the beaches, and trees stripped of their bark to line the hulls of Kawésqar canoes.
“The area was widely inhabited by nomadic canoeists who lived by fishing and gathering food,” said Leticia Caro, a Kawésqar activist who belongs to the Nómades del Mar community. “For our community, it is very important to protect this area, where you can also see the different ways of inhabiting the land and seas, and the interaction with other peoples like the Yagán, Selknam and Tehuelche.”
Long after Indigenous communities had settled in the area, the waters of the strait of Magellan, which the Kawésqar call the tawokser chams, became the link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Charles Darwin stepped off the Beagle to climb nearby Mount Tarn on his voyage along the coast of Chile and the strait was one of the world's most important shipping routes until the Panama canal opened in 1914.
The murky depths have claimed many lives and spawned legends. Treasure troves lie in the depths, and sealed bottles of rum have washed ashore over the centuries.
Timber from the forests has been taken as far afield as the Falkland Islands and Buenos Aires for construction and, in 1905, the Magallanes Whaling Society was formed. Eleven years later, with the whale population decimated, an auction was held to sell off the society's land and equipment.
All that is left at Bahía el Águila, where the carcasses were processed, is the footprint of the factory and a few rotting wooden stumps. Adolf Andresen, the society's Norwegian founder, died poor and forgotten in the saloon bars of Punta Arenas in 1940.
But there are still a number of steps before the national park officially comes into existence.
An Indigenous consultation process, a legal requirement for large-scale projects in Chile, was held in September but fell flat. Chile's environment ministry said it would make “every effort” to advance with plans for the park by March.
But if no progress is made after two years, the lands revert to the ownership of Tompkins' organisations.
“Each of the park projects we have developed has specific reasons for being considered essential for conservation,” said Tompkins, who was the chief executive of Patagonia outdoor clothing for 20 years until 1993. “And in this sense Cape Froward is a piece of an ecological puzzle that, over time, should ensure that key biodiversity sites within Chilean Patagonia are permanently protected.”
The Guardian's reporting was supported by Rewilding Chile
Low-cost tech and joined-up funding have reduced illegal logging, mining and poaching in the Darién Gap – it's a success story that could stop deforestation worldwide
There are no roads through the Darién Gap. This vast impenetrable forest spans the width of the land bridge between South and Central America, but there is almost no way through it: hundreds have lost their lives trying to cross it on foot.
Its size and hostility have shielded it from development for millennia, protecting hundreds of species – from harpy eagles and giant anteaters to jaguars and red-crested tamarins – in one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. But it has also made it incredibly difficult to protect. Looking after 575,000 hectares (1,420,856 acres) of beach, mangrove and rainforest with just 20 rangers often felt impossible, says Segundo Sugasti, the director of Darién national park. Like tropical forests all over the world, it has been steadily shrinking, with at least 15% lost to logging, mining and cattle ranching in two decades.
But in the past three years, Panama has mounted a surprising fightback that could offer hope to the rest of the world's forests. In 2022, the government took a hard line on deforestation and modernised its park ranger force, partnered with the NGO Global Conservation and deforestation in the park began to fall. That fall accelerated when President José Raúl Mulino took office in July 2024.
Mulino purged the environment ministry of corrupt officials and introduced a blanket moratorium on logging to stop companies exploiting indigenous logging permits. The park ranger force was expanded with 30 new recruits and 11 forestry officers, swelling numbers from six to more than 40. The number of patrols has grown from almost zero in 2022 to 55 in 2024, with more than 150 expected in 2025.
“People don't look at us the same way any more,” Sugasti says. “Now the kids are asking when they can sign up to become a ranger!”
In an era when cash-strapped governments are slashing environmental budgets, Jeff Morgan, the director of Global Conservation, which partners with the park, says: “It's a miracle.”
“I've been in this industry for more than 10 years and worked in 22 countries. I've never seen anything like this,” he says.
Global Conservation supported the park with new trucks, boats, food and fuel, giving the rangers the tools and confidence to reach areas they once avoided. “Now if we have to go by boat, by truck or by foot, we will go there – no matter how far it is. As long as we feel safe and supported, we will do it,” says Esquivel Ramires, a park ranger.
The other significant shift has been in the use of technology. With little phone signal in the rainforest, rangers used to spend much of their time incommunicado, chasing ghosts. By the time alerts of intruders clearing trees reached them, they had already vanished. Rangers have now been given access to cameras, satellites and cloud systems, starting with Elon Musk's Starlink, and are in constant communication with one another, allowing for a quicker, more coordinated response.
Sugasti says: “Before, sending a park ranger to remote zones meant risking their life. Now I can send them to the most far-flung corners quickly, knowing they are safe.”
Trail cameras automatically detect movements of logging crews and all officers use EarthRanger – a cloud-based park management system that allows them to share photos, GPS locations and incident reports immediately. If a fire is reported inside the park, they can immediately pinpoint the location of the blaze.
The platform also links to external sources such as Global Forest Watch's real-time fire-detection satellites. No fires took hold in the park in 2024 or 2025, Segasti says.In the past, one or two rangers might have arrived late and alone, now teams of five can be rapidly dispatched together. As a result, the team's presence is more visible and feared and loggers and miners are retreating.
“Illegal mining, the poaching of animals and logging is happening a lot less. They are scared of us now,” says ranger Juan Sebuygera, wearing his green standard-issue, wide-brimmed hat.
Most remarkable is that the tech is neither costly nor complex, says Kherson Rodríguez, who manages the Darién project for Global Conservation. EarthRanger and Global Forest Watch's real-time fire alerts are free: all rangers need is access to Starlink and smartphones.
Wider financial support also meant five rusting boat engines that had not been serviced for a decade could be repaired.
“Before, [rangers] were not able to do their jobs because they lacked basics like oil, fuel or replacement parts. It is [about] being efficient and giving them what they need, when they need it,” Rodríguez says.
The results have been staggering. Forest loss inside the national park plummeted by 88% between 2022 and 2025, reaching its lowest level in 20 years, according to Global Forest Watch. So far this year, logging in the park has fallen to nearly zero, the park says.
The reclaiming of Darién national park should help protect one of the region's largest carbon sinks and the Indigenous groups and many animal species that live there. It also comes as tropical forests across Central America are collapsing.
“Nicaragua is gone. Mexico, Guatemala – everything is going now. If you look from Google Earth we are down to these little green patches. It's the last 10% of what was there 100 years ago. So if we don't get it right real soon …” Morgan says, trailing off, preferring not to elaborate on the implications of losing the greatest intact rainforest north of the Amazon.
Tropical forest loss doubled in 2024, reaching the highest level recorded in two decades.
Bringing park rangers who still work with pens and notepads into the age of cameras, tablets and cloud computing is a pragmatic way to turn the tide when climate diplomacy at summits like Cop is failing, Morgan says.
He says Panama's turnaround also shows how co-investment – partnering with governments that also invest in conservation – makes rangers more accountable and brings better results. And it is also quicker.
“It takes three years to get a USAID or a Defra grant. You do a ton of paperwork, and by the time it's ready, the government has changed, the president's now terrible, the park directors are terrible. Everything can be destroyed in that time,” Morgan says.
Instead of waiting on climate finance, there should be a push for direct co-investment with governments, Morgan says. “This is just one park. Imagine the difference we could make with just $200,000 a year, times 1,000 parks,” he says.
MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. The form of a written document where Russia will confirm the absence of intentions to attack NATO countries can be the subject of negotiations, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing.
"Russia is ready to formalize corresponding commitments in the form of a written and legally binding document. Its specific form can be determined during negotiations but this must be a full-fledged international legal act," the diplomat said, replying to a corresponding question.
"Russia remains open for serious talks, for a serious dialogue on this pragmatic and equitable basis as compared to most Western countries that have opted for military-political and economic escalation that is transforming and has transformed into pressure," the diplomat pointed out.
"Precisely these states are entirely responsible for the escalation of the situation and the opportunities lost, by the way, also in the sphere of ensuring European and, generally, global security," Zakharova said.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner for about an hour on how to end the war.
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Editor's note: This story was updated to include information about the alleged attacker in the explosion that killed two police officers.
Two police officers involved in the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion in Moscow, sources within Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent on Dec. 24.
Russia's Investigative Committee confirmed that the explosion killed two police officers, as well as a third person who was nearby. The committee did not specify whether that individual was the attacker.
According to the HUR sources, the officers were involved in the systematic torture of Ukrainian POWs, practices that violate the Geneva Conventions and the laws and customs of war.
The attack appears to be part of an ongoing campaign targeting Russian officials linked to war crimes in Ukraine. Ukrainian intelligence sources said the officers had previously taken part in Russia's war against Ukraine and were implicated in the abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).
The intelligence sources said the attack took place at around 1 a.m., when a local resident approached a police car parked near a police station and threw an improvised explosive device through the vehicle's window. The blast killed two officers inside the car and injured two more.
The attacker acted "in protest against the Kremlin's aggressive policy," according to the HUR sources. Russian authorities have not confirmed this claim.
Pro-Kremlin outlet RBC Russia later identified the alleged attacker as 24-year-old Pavel Golubenko, citing an unnamed law enforcement source. The outlet did not clarify whether Golubenko died in the explosion in Moscow.
According to the Russian Telegram channel Baza, Golubenko lived in the village of Kamenka in Russia's Ivanovo Oblast and worked as a press operator at a local factory. His relatives have not confirmed his death.
Russia's Investigative Committee said it opened a criminal case under articles related to attempts on the life of law enforcement officers and the illegal trafficking of explosive devices.
Russian forces have faced repeated accusations from Ukraine and international organizations of widespread mistreatment of captives since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The incident follows another high-profile attack in Moscow earlier this week. On Dec. 22, Fanil Sarvarov, head of the operational training department of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, was killed in a car bombing, the Investigative Committee reported.
Reporter
Tim Zadorozhnyy is the reporter for the Kyiv Independent, specializing in foreign policy, U.S.-Ukraine relations, and political developments across Europe and Russia. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations and the European Studies program at Lazarski University, offered in partnership with Coventry University. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa in 2022. After relocating to Warsaw, he spent a year and a half with the Belarusian independent media outlet NEXTA, initially as a news anchor and later as managing editor. Tim is fluent in English, Ukrainian, and Russian.
President Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone call with U.S. President Trump's Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Christmas Day to discuss "several substantive details" of ongoing peace talks, the president said.
Ukrainian forces struck multiple targets inside Russia overnight Dec. 24-25, hitting oil refining facility, a port, and a military airfield, the Ukrainian General Staff and a source from the the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.
Ukraine is marking its fourth Christmas under a full-scale Russian invasion.
The missiles struck the refinery, triggering multiple explosions, the General Staff said, adding that the extent of the damage was still being clarified.
Ukrainian intelligence sources said the officers had previously taken part in Russia's war against Ukraine and were implicated in the abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).
Russia launched 131 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 106 drones. At least 22 drones made it through, striking 15 locations.
The number includes 860 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Russia's Defense Ministry reported that between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Moscow time on Dec. 24, its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 132 Ukrainian drones.
"'May he perish,' each of us may think to ourselves," Zelensky said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "But when we turn to God, of course, we ask for something greater. We ask for peace for Ukraine."
In a hypothetical runoff between the two, Zaluzhnyi would secure a decisive victory, winning 64% of the vote compared to Zelensky's 36%, according to the poll.
The Kyiv Independent's Myroslava Chauin speaks with Kateryna Rashevska, a legal expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights and a children's rights activist, about evidence that Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories were transferred to a children's camp in North Korea.
The plant, located in the town of Efremov, produces dual-use synthetic rubber and polymers used in military vehicle tires, armored personnel carriers, and other weapons-related applications.
Grammy-award-winning Bobby Pulido is bowing out of his music career to take a place on the political stage
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You will struggle to find many South Texans who don't know Bobby Pulido.
Thirty years ago he and his white cowboy hat stormed onto the music scene, ushering in a younger crowd of Tejano music fans. His debut album Desvelado sold 100,000 copies in the US, and reached the US Billboard top 10 Latin albums.
But in February Pulido, 54, will play the final gig of his farewell tour as he bows out of his glittering music career in the hope of storming another stage – the political one.
The Latino Grammy-award-winning star is running for Congress in his home district in Texas and brings the sort of name recognition and moderate politics that could help flip the seat blue in 2026's elections.
While the jump from celebrated singer to congressional candidate is not a well-trodden path, Pulido's interest in politics started long before he sang his first breakout hit.
“I studied political science in college and I wanted to be a lawyer and I wanted to get into politics. That's always been a dream of mine,” Pulido told The Telegraph.
Republicans have a razor-thin House majority and historically the party in power struggles during midterm elections.
The Cook Political Report has listed 36 House races as competitive – and Texas District 15 isn't one of them.
While polls predict GOP incumbent Monica de la Cruz, who in 2022 became the first Republican to win the district in 118 years, will hang onto her seat, Pulido is confident he stands a chance.
“We have just as good a chance to win this thing as she does,” he said.
“I really feel like we have a lot of momentum... I can't sit and tell you I'm exactly sure, I can guarantee you we're going to win, but I do feel we have a much better chance than anybody had given us when I first announced,” he said.
Pulido, a father-of-four from Edinburg, Texas, describes himself as a “small-town” person who grew up fishing and hunting and joining his father, who was also a celebrated singer, on the road.
His campaign video shows him riding a horse in a cowboy hat.
“You may know me as Bobby Pulido the singer... I am José Roberto Pulido Jr, the son of a migrant farmworker and 100 per cent South Texas Tejano,” he says in the two-minute clip.
Trying to distance himself from divisive politics, he adds: “I'm not team red or team blue, South Texas, I'm team you.”
Speaking to The Telegraph in a navy polo shirt and a cap instead of his usual cowboy hat, Pulido describes himself as a Blue Dog Democrat, a moderate centrist. He is pro-oil, supports border security and family values.
He has considered running for office since 2022, when Democratic congressman Vicente Gonzalez's wife Lorenza “planted the bug” by suggesting he would make a great candidate.
“That was the same year that Congresswoman Monica de la Cruz won and I was not a fan of hers and I kind of said, ‘well, I'm going to keep an eye on this'.
“You know, I felt I could beat her, but I said, I'm going to keep an eye on see how she does and that first year, it was a rubber stamp on everything that her party did.
“I just didn't feel like she really represented the people.”
“Pulido is exactly the type of Democratic candidate who is successful in South Texas,” Mark Jones, political science professor at Rice University in Houston, said.
“Somebody who is a centrist, somebody who's pro Second Amendment rights, who's not a social justice warrior and who overall can make a very effective appeal to the middle-of-the-road voter who effectively determines the winner in South Texas congressional districts,” he added.
Donald Trump performed well with Latino voters across the board in 2024, winning around 46 per cent compared with 32 per cent in 2020, but Democrats made gains with Hispanic voters in recent races.
Earlier in December, a Democratic candidate won the mayoral election in Miami for the first time in almost 30 years.
Mr Trump's approval rating among Latinos in Texas dropped from 44 per cent in February to 32 per cent in October, according to the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll.
South Texas might have jolted to the Right in 2024 but Mr Trump is not on the ballot. Some voters in the 80 per cent Latino district are unhappy with the US president's hardline immigration policies.
And while the Supreme Court has cleared the way for Texas to use a new congressional map that could help Republicans win five more House seats next year.
“Congresswoman Monica de la Cruz saw her district change significantly... close to half of her new constituents are not her current constituents, meaning that she's going to have to introduce herself to a whole new group of voters so the natural incumbency advantage that sitting members of Congress often enjoy is significantly reduced,” Mr Jones said.
Pulido, meanwhile, already has high name recognition because of his career as a music star. He must first win the Democratic primary before facing Ms de la Cruz.
“He's the Democratic Party's best hope for flipping one of the 25 seats [in Texas] that is presently held by a Republican,” Mr Jones added.
“He's such a prominent figure in the Tejano music scene that it's tough to live in South Texas without knowing who Bobby Pulido is even if it's not a music genre that you follow,” he said.
Dr Brent Boyea, political science professor at the University of Texas, said that if Ms de la Cruz wins this election it will be difficult for a Democrat to defeat her going forward.
“The South Texas area was strongly Democratic, but as you know it's been undergoing a change for the last few election cycles and President Trump in particular has been pretty popular and so we've seen representative de la Cruz, for example, be among the first Republicans to be elected in forever,” he said.
“From the perspective of the Democratic Party, now's the time to confront that and try to find good quality candidates to defeat a relatively new representative... that's kind of why you have a pretty big name to be encouraged to run.”
Pulido described the Republican success in the 2024 election as an “anomaly” and he believes the “tides are shifting” in Texas.
“People are happy not seeing the border loose and people coming in... They're absolutely not happy about ICE raids,” he said.
Local business owners are suffering because the workforce has depleted as even Latinos with green cards are too scared of being caught in a raid, Pulido said.
“I have met several people whose relatives have been deported,” Pulido said, noting that there are a “lot of people” that regret voting for Mr Trump.
So far Pulido has been juggling campaigning – holding “ranch halls” and appearing on podcasts – with his farewell tour. He said he was looking forward to hanging up his microphone in February 2026 to focus on the campaign.
“I might have got a little emotional at my last concert,” he said.
“I'm leaving a good thing. I love singing, I love performing, but either I was going to be a guy on the sidelines complaining about the system, or I was going to jump in and do something about it.”
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Editor's note: This story was updated with a comment from a source at the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and a report from the General Staff.
Ukrainian forces struck multiple targets inside Russia overnight Dec. 24-25, hitting oil refining facility, a port, and a military airfield, the Ukrainian General Staff and a source from the the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.
Russia's Defense Ministry said 141 drones attacked Russia overnight on Dec. 25 and that seven were intercepted over Krasnodar Krai.
Drones from the "Alpha" Special Operations Center of the SBU hit the Temryuk Seaport in Krasnodar Krai and a gas processing plant in Orenburg Oblast overnight on Dec. 25, the agency source confirmed to the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine's General Staff confirmed the strike on the seaport in Temryuk.
The drone attack sparked fires in two oil storage tanks overnight on Dec. 25, the regional emergency headquarters said, a development later confirmed to the Kyiv Independent by the source.
The port fire spread across 2,000 square meters, with 70 personnel involved in extinguishing it, the regional emergency headquarters said.
No casualties were reported among port staff or other personnel.
The Temryuk port is a key Russian facility in the Sea of Azov, operating an oil export terminal and a large liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) facility.
Krasnodar Krai, which borders Russian-occupied Crimea and is located along the Azov and Black Seas, has been a frequent target of Ukrainian attacks due to its role in supplying Russian forces as well.
Another Ukrainian drone strike targeted the Orenburg gas processing plant, the world's largest gas chemical complex, which processes 37.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually, the source told the Kyiv Independent.
Fires broke out at the facility following the attack, according to FIRMS, an international satellite fire monitoring service.
The strike also triggered a gas fire in the pipeline of the 3U-70 unit, which purifies raw gas from hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. As a result, the plant's operations were partially suspended, the source added.
Although Russia's Orenburg Oblast lies roughly 800 kilometers (about 500 miles) from the Ukrainian border, its industrial infrastructure, vital to the Russian military and economy, is regularly targeted by Ukrainian long-range drones.
Ukrainian forces targeted a military airfield in Maykop, in Russia's Republic of Adygea, as well, the General Staff said. The strike ignited a fire at the site, while other effects of the attack were still being assessed.
In addition, Ukrainian strike drone units hit a repair unit of the 143rd Motorized Rifle Regiment near the village of Truzhenka in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, the General Staff said.
On Dec. 22, Ukrainian drones struck the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal in the village of Volna, located in Krasnodar Krai's Temryuk District.
The attack damaged a pipeline, two berths, and two ships, with the resulting fire spreading over an area of more than 1,000 square meters, according to the General Staff.
The incident came just two weeks after a Ukrainian drone strike on Krasnodar Krai's Temryuk port sparked a massive three-day fire at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, underscoring a continuing pattern of attacks on the region's energy infrastructure.
News Editor
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. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. 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.
President Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone call with U.S. President Trump's Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Christmas Day to discuss "several substantive details" of ongoing peace talks, the president said.
Ukrainian forces struck multiple targets inside Russia overnight Dec. 24-25, hitting oil refining facility, a port, and a military airfield, the Ukrainian General Staff and a source from the the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.
Ukraine is marking its fourth Christmas under a full-scale Russian invasion.
The missiles struck the refinery, triggering multiple explosions, the General Staff said, adding that the extent of the damage was still being clarified.
Ukrainian intelligence sources said the officers had previously taken part in Russia's war against Ukraine and were implicated in the abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).
Russia launched 131 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 106 drones. At least 22 drones made it through, striking 15 locations.
The number includes 860 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Russia's Defense Ministry reported that between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Moscow time on Dec. 24, its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 132 Ukrainian drones.
"'May he perish,' each of us may think to ourselves," Zelensky said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "But when we turn to God, of course, we ask for something greater. We ask for peace for Ukraine."
In a hypothetical runoff between the two, Zaluzhnyi would secure a decisive victory, winning 64% of the vote compared to Zelensky's 36%, according to the poll.
The Kyiv Independent's Myroslava Chauin speaks with Kateryna Rashevska, a legal expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights and a children's rights activist, about evidence that Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories were transferred to a children's camp in North Korea.
The plant, located in the town of Efremov, produces dual-use synthetic rubber and polymers used in military vehicle tires, armored personnel carriers, and other weapons-related applications.
When a group of defense insiders gathered in Whitehall, the home of the British government, last month to discuss how prepared the United Kingdom and its allies were for a war they believe could come in the next few years, their verdict was pretty grim: They are not.
The people gathered at the conference, hosted by the London-based think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), were not warmongers; they were people in the know. Current and former members of the armed forces, government and NATO officials, researchers and defense industry professionals whose thinking is based on the widely accepted intelligence assessment that Russia is preparing for the possibility of a direct conflict with Europe.
The only way to prevent that from happening, they say, is to make sure that if a war were to break out, Europe would win.
More investment into chronically underfunded European defense is key, but security experts are increasingly warning that a big shift in mindset is needed across the board too. It is time, they say, for European governments to get their citizens on board and make it clear that the time when Europe was able to ignore the threat of war is over.
“I think that there is an indication that societies are willing to have this conversation, but I think that we are also seeing governments that are still not quite confident enough to have that conversation with their publics,” said Sam Greene, a professor of Russian politics at King's College London and an expert in democratic resilience.
NATO chief warns European allies they could be Russia's next target
There is a growing consensus among experts that Russia is already waging a hybrid war on the West by conducting sabotage operations and injecting chaos and disinformation into domestic political discussions. They point to the overwhelming evidence, including repeated incursions into NATO airspace by Russian planes and drones and GPS jamming in the Baltics, to disinformation campaigns, and sabotage attacks against critical infrastructure in multiple countries that have been traced back to Russian secret services. Russia has consistently denied involvement.
Greene said that these attacks have already shifted the views of many in Europe, even if some politicians remain unwilling to name them outright as hybrid warfare.
“I think that people are spooked, particularly as this becomes more visible,” he said. “We see drones outside airports, and I think that there is a growing sense that it is probably (only) a matter of time before one of these drones brings down an airliner.”
While Moscow has not carried out any direct attacks against NATO allies in Europe – experts say this is partly because Russia knows it couldn't defeat the alliance with its current capabilities – there are increasing signs that this could change in the future.
NATO's Secretary General Mark Rutte warned earlier this year that Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul echoed that warning in a speech last month, saying that German intelligence services believe that Moscow is “at least keeping open the option of war against NATO by 2029 at the latest.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in early December that while Russia is not planning to go to war with Europe, “if Europe suddenly wants to go to war with us and starts, we are ready right now.”
The consensus among Baltic countries is that an attack against them could come as soon as in three years' time. When researchers at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School looked into the warnings and predictions made by various officials about Russia's readiness and willingness to launch a war against NATO, they found that the most often mentioned years are 2027 and 2028.
Recognition of this threat has led NATO to develop contingency plans for how to defend against a possible Russian aggression against the Baltics.
But experts warn the alliance's plans don't stack up.
“There's a plan, with numbers. But the governments are not taking the necessary steps to implement it. We are still planning based on things that don't exist,” said Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at RUSI. He highlighted the risk of trying to structure a defense response based on a wish list rather than reality, instead of accepting the resources that are available, and planning based on those.
The Kremlin's brazen tactics: Russia's shadow fleet is doubling as a spy asset, intelligence sources say
The British government earlier this year asked three high-profile experts – former NATO chief George Robertson, Gen. Richard Barrons, former head of the Joint Forces Command, and Fiona Hill, a former senior director at the US National Security Council – to conduct a strategic review of UK defense. The trio presented it with a manual on the steps needed to be ready for war.
Speaking at the RUSI event last month, Barrons said that the UK must rethink the resilience of its infrastructure, build up its armed forces, reserves and civil defense, and invest in its health service, industry and the economy, to allow a quick pivot to a war footing.
“We frankly don't need much more analysis to tell us what it is we need to do. The problem is that we need to actually do it,” he said. He points to “civil society and our politicians” having other concerns as the reason for the lack of haste.
While the UK is moving in the right direction, he said, at the current pace it would take the country about 10 years to be ready for a war.
“And our analysis and our allies are saying to us, well, maybe you've got three to five years… so this is a matter of will, societal as much as political, and then competence. Maybe we need to do better,” he said.
Many European capitals, including London, have spent the past few decades barely thinking about defense. With no major direct military conflicts taking place on the continent since 1945, Europe has enjoyed the longest period of continuous peace in centuries.
These decades of relative calm came with a significant peace dividend. Successive governments were able to spend money on welfare instead of defense, making the lives of ordinary Europeans much more comfortable, while relying on the United States, the world's biggest military spender, to come to the rescue should the need arise.
Then came two harsh awakenings: a US president, in Donald Trump, who made it clear to NATO allies that they could no longer rely so heavily on the US, and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This upending of the status quo prompted most of NATO's European members to increase defense spending. According to data from NATO, 31 of its 32 members are set to meet the target of spending 2% of GDP on defense this year – up from just six in 2021, the year before Russia launched its invasion. Iceland, a founding member of NATO and the only country that is not projected to meet the target, does not have its own armed forces. Instead, it contributes financially, with civilian personnel, and with air defense and surveillance systems.
NATO members agreed, in June, to increase the target to 5% of GDP by 2035. However, many analysts are skeptical about the goal – especially because most European countries are facing financial pressures even without thinking about a massive boost to their defense spending.
Explaining to voters that some resources might need to be reallocated, and that, perhaps, more people might need to serve in reserve or regular forces, is not something most politicians want to do.
Several Eurobarometer surveys, which measure public opinion across the European Union, this year showed that an overwhelming majority of Europeans – 78% – are concerned about the EU's defense and security in the next five years. A third of people believe defense should be among the bloc's spending priorities.
Nonetheless, Gen. Fabien Mandon, France's armed forces chief, sparked outcry last month when he warned the French public that the country needed to steel itself for possible future losses against Russian aggression, saying France must “accept losing its children” to “protect who we are.”
Robin Potter, an academy associate at the UK-based think tank Chatham House, said that the willingness of people across Europe to understand the threat – and to play part in countering it – varies significantly.
“If you're in the east, if you perhaps border Russia, if you're in Poland or in the Baltic states, the threat is very real for people there, and they are taking a lot more steps in terms of public shelters because they think the risk of an air attack is higher,” he said.
Sweden and Finland updated guidance to their citizens on how to survive war last year, distributing booklets that included instructions on how to prepare for communications outages, power cuts and extreme weather. Several countries, including Lithuania, Latvia and Sweden, have reintroduced conscription over the past decade, while other countries like Germany, Poland, Belgium, Romania and Bulgaria have brought in voluntary military training programs for their citizens.
Potter said citizens with deeper trust in their countries' institutions are more likely to accept sacrifices for the wider good.
“If people feel the state is working for them, they're probably more inclined to want to give something back,” he said. He pointed to the Nordic states, which consistently rank high on welfare, happiness and wellbeing and where the concept of civic duty and “total defense” – where every citizen, business and public body becomes part of a war effort if needed – are deeply engrained.
“I think there's a kind of question about whether you can just lift that model and put it in a quite different society with very low trust in public institutions in comparison, like the UK.”
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A Powerball player in Arkansas won a $1.817 billion jackpot Wednesday on the heels of the Christmas holiday, ending the lottery game's three-month stretch without a top-prize winner.
The winning numbers were 04, 25, 31, 52 and 59, with the Powerball number being 19.
MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky's 'peace plan' is unrealistic, and was drafted in an attempt to delay and stall negotiations, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov (2010-2014) told TASS.
"I don't think that this plan is realistic. This is a yet another attempt to delay and stall the talks," he said.
In his words, the plan does not resolve a number of important issues.
On December 24, Zelensky published his 20-point plan which Ukraine allegedly discussed with the United States. The plan includes, among other things, the introduction of educational programs in Ukrainian schools that would promote tolerance of various cultures, addresses the territorial issue, highlights Ukraine's refusal to withdraw troops from Donbass, demands security guarantees similar to NATO's Article 5, emphasizes the need for Ukraine to have a peacetime army of 800,000 troops, envisages Ukraine's non-nuclear status, calls for ensuring freedom of navigation on the Dnieper River, suggests conducting all-for-all prisoner exchanges, and stipulates holding a presidential election in Ukraine.
It also has provisions regarding the territorial issues and the status of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, but the US and Ukraine have failed to reach a compromise on them.
MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. A group of Polish officials has attempted to enter the building formerly occupied by the Russian Consulate General in Gdansk and seize property, but no one opened the door to them, the Polsat television reported citing the city hall's press service.
Gdansk mayor's office chief spokesperson Izabela Kozicka-Prus said the officials' actions were authorized by the country's foreign ministry.
Poland's last operating Russian Consulate General located in the city of Gdansk closed down earlier this week. "Dear visitors of the consulate general! It is with regret that we have to announce the closure of the Russian consulate general in Gdansk by the decision of the Polish authorities," Russian Consul General in Gdansk Sergey Semyonov said in a video message.
On November 19, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Poland would close the last Russian consulate general in Gdansk on December 23. As a response, Moscow will close Poland's consulate general in Irkutsk on December 30. In October 2024 and May 2025, Poland closed Russia's consulates general in Poznan and Krakow. In response, the Polish consulates in St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad were closed.
Day 25 of the 2025 Space Telescope Advent Calendar
Day 25 of the 2025 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: Dusty Pillars. This is the James Webb Space Telescope's mid-infrared view of the Pillars of Creation, trunks of interstellar gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula, about 7,000 light-years away. The mid-infrared view allows scientists to focus on the dense dust in the star-forming regions within these massive pillars.
See the full advent calendar here. Merry Christmas!
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Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro points to his electronic ankle monitor that the Supreme Court ordered him to wear, at Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Minervino Junior, CB/D.A Press, File)
SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro underwent double hernia surgery on Thursday at a hospital in the country's capital, his family said.
The procedure in Brasilia lasted about 3½ hours and was completed without complications, according to his family.
Bolsonaro, who has been hospitalized since Wednesday, has been serving a 27-year prison sentence since November for an attempted coup.
He was granted court permission to leave prison after federal police doctors confirmed that he needed the procedure.
Doctors say Bolsonaro's double hernia causes him pain. The former leader, who was in power between 2019 and 2022, has gone through several other surgeries since he was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign rally in 2018.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw Bolsonaro's coup trial and sentenced him to prison, authorized the procedure, but denied the former president's request for house arrest after he leaves the hospital.
Bolsonaro doesn't have any contact with the few other inmates at the federal police headquarters in Brasilia, where he is held and where his 12-square-meter (around 130-square-foot) room has a bed, a private bathroom, air conditioning, a television and a desk, according to authorities.
He has free access to his doctors and lawyers, but other visitors must receive approval from the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, de Moraes authorized Bolsonaro's sons to visit him while he's hospitalized. His wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, is accompanying him.
Early Thursday, his eldest son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, told reporters before the surgery that his father had written a letter confirming he had appointed him as his political party's presidential candidate in next year's election. Flávio Bolsonaro announced on Dec. 5 that he will challenge President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term, as the candidate of Bolsonaro's Liberal Party.
The senator read the letter to journalists, and his office released a reproduction of it to the media.
“He represents the continuation of the path of prosperity that I began well before becoming president, as I believe we must restore the responsibility of leading Brazil with justice, resolve and loyalty to the aspirations of the Brazilian people,” Bolsonaro said in the handwritten letter, dated Dec. 25.
The former president and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices for attempting to overthrow Brazil's democratic system following his 2022 election defeat.
The plot included plans to kill Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and de Moraes. There was also a plan to encourage an insurrection in early 2023.
Bolsonaro was also convicted on charges that include leading an armed criminal organization and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. He has denied any wrongdoing.
___
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Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
This year is not a particularly white Christmas. Across the United States, families are gathering to enjoy a walk on a warm, sunny day. The fingerprints of climate change are all over the 2025 holiday season, and we at CNN thought it would be a great time to find out how the animals that shape our stories and traditions are weathering the warmth.
From Santa's reindeer and the Hanukkah armadillo to some very festive sea worms, our changing world is changing life for creatures great and small. And while some of these animals are struggling, a few may be key to helping us adapt to the future.
You'd think a species that already survived some of history's most intense and rapid Arctic warming events would have the wherewithal to weather modern, human-driven climate change. Unfortunately, things are not looking good for reindeer, who soon could be as mythological as Santa's elves.
Reindeer survived through the rapid warming that melted the last big Ice Age about 20,000 years ago. In Greenland, temperatures shot up by as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit in a matter of decades, pushing other Arctic megafauna to extinction. But in the last 30 years, about 40% of the global reindeer population has been lost. It appears the adaptations that served the species well last time aren't as effective today, according to a study published in August by researchers at the University of Adelaide, in Australia, and the University of Copenhagen.
Those scientists found that reindeer survived previous changes in the climate because they had spread into lots of different ecological niches. They could thrive in a small, cooler refuge and repopulate broader areas when things got cold again.
Today, however, the warming is global; the reindeers' range isn't as large; and it's harder to find a cool place to hunker down. Incorporating these findings about the past into models of the future, the researchers found that global populations of reindeer could shrink by as much as 58% between now and 2100 — with places like North America losing even more.
Unfortunately, new research shows that fewer reindeer could actually make climate change worse. Researchers from Finland and Alaska found that, in far northern forests where snow isn't falling like it used to, soils release more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere rather than storing it. But reindeer can counteract that effect. If reindeer are grazing under the trees, the soil still traps carbon — even when there's no snow.
The Christmas tree worm looks like a Christmas tree — but the kind you'd find in a Kodachrome photo from a 1950s magazine. Conical, feathery and brilliantly colored in blues, pinks, plum and orange, these tiny worms attach to coral reefs as larvae and then hang out, immobile, for the rest of their lives.
While they aren't particularly active, they're far from lazy. Christmas tree worms have a symbiotic relationship with the coral they live on.
Tendril-waving adult worms circulate water around the coral, which helps the coral eat. And baby coral polyps find shelter under the Christmas tree's branches, where they can hide from predators like the sea star. Because of this, scientists think we might be able to use Christmas tree worms as a way of learning about the health of coral.
For example, a 2022 study by students at the University of California Berkeley found a correlation between healthy coral and higher numbers of Christmas tree worms. It's possible that, in the future, these worms could become an early warning signal — showing scientists where corals are under stress from warming seas before the situation becomes dire.
Back in 2000, when Ross from “Friends” dressed up as an armadillo to teach his son about the true meaning of Hanukkah, the real-life animal was still thought of as a creature of the Southwest. But that's changed.
First identified in Texas in 1849, the nine-banded armadillo expanded its range significantly, its steps tracing a pattern of warming weather toward the north and east of its historic homeland. A survey in 2014 found that the animals were able to establish a footing anywhere the average low in January remained above about 18 degrees Fahrenheit.
Turns out, that describes a lot of the United States. Take Iowa, for example. That state didn't even have a verified report of a live armadillo until 2017. But in 2025, researchers from the US Geological Survey used public wildlife reporting apps, live tracker cams and other data sources to document more than 250 recent armadillo sightings in Iowa.
Their data found hundreds of armadillos happily digging up gardens as far north as Indiana and as far east as North Carolina. The data is teaching us about what makes good armadillo country — warm, but not too dry, and forested seems to be best — and where they're most likely to expand next — Ohio, Virginia and Michigan are all good candidates.
In 2007, a young researcher reached out to the curator of the Rosenborg Castle museum in Denmark with a weird request. She wanted to drill into the king's throne.
The museum houses the Coronation Chair of Denmark, used by real Danish kings from 1671 to 1840. But what made it special to Eva Garde were the spiraling narwhal tusks that decorate the sides of the throne. Garde's research focuses on the history and future sustainability of narwhals, a species of Arctic toothed whale famously beloved by both small children and Buddy the Elf.
But narwhals, as a group, aren't very genetically diverse — a fact that could prove dangerous for them as it will likely limit their ability to adapt to a warming Arctic. Garde wanted to know what the narwhals' ancestors were like. And DNA samples drilled out of a 350-year-old throne was the perfect place to start. Maybe, if Mr. Narwhal could find his dad like Buddy did, then humans could better understand how to keep that species healthy into the future.
The museum allowed Garde to remove samples from the throne, and the whole thing was reassembled. Since then, her team has learned a lot about these creatures. In fact, her research has helped establish that narwhals have been living comfortably with a low genetic diversity for thousands of years — something that is a bit of a surprise.
That doesn't mean climate change isn't a risk to narwhals, however. The genetic data suggests that this species might be stable with the lowest amount of diversity possible right now. If a hotter Arctic reduces that further, the narwhal could be in trouble.
Sending your true love a partridge in a pear tree might have been an invitation to do a little easy target hunting. Red-legged partridges have been a favorite game bird in Europe for millennia; its bones even show up in Paleolithic settlements.
But its long association with humans has put the red-legged partridge in the path of several different negative impacts. It has been over-hunted; squashed by tractors and other modern farming equipment; sickened and killed as a side-effect of agricultural pesticides; cut off from care by former farmers abandoning the countryside for city jobs; and outcompeted by other species of partridge bred specifically for hunting.
Between 2010 and 2020, red-legged partridge populations have likely declined by as much as 40-45%, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the organization that determines whether a species is endangered.
None of that has to do with climate change, specifically. But all of it makes the partridge more vulnerable to climate change in the long run.
In 2021, a team led by scientists from Sweden and Italy sequenced the red-legged partridge genome and learned a few key things. First, this bird didn't do well during a warming event 140,000 years ago. In fact, its population declined so significantly back then that its genetic diversity has never recovered. And unlike the narwhal, which grew in population and remained stable with a low genetic diversity, partridges have had no such luck.
The result is a bird that isn't well-equipped to adapt to climate change and whose numbers are already plummeting, reducing its ability to adapt even more.
Las Posadas is a Central and South American Christmas tradition where people recreate the story of Mary and Joseph searching for an inn. Given their prominent role in Biblical transportation, donkeys are a big part of the festivities.
And research shows donkeys have a role to play in helping humans adapt to climate change, as well. In northern Kenya and southern Somalia, for example, they're used to carry water and food over long distances during droughts. Other animals could do that job in good times, but donkeys are particularly adept at helping people survive climate disasters, wrote a team of researchers from University College London in a recent book on animal human interactions under climate change. Donkeys' digestive systems function like internal saddle bags — absorbing extra water when it's available and holding onto that moisture when water is scarce. Because of that, they're able to keep carrying water and food to humans even in situations where other animals can't.
Donkeys also help support healthy ecosystems. Other grazing animals easily strip sensitive soils bare, leaving them prone erosion. But donkeys eat a wider variety of plants, so they're less likely to over-indulge on grasses. And one recent report from researchers in Tunisia found that donkeys in the Mediterranean preferred to eat the invasive plants, which helps diverse species thrive.
There's even a possibility that donkeys could help protect us against insects and the diseases they carry. Ticks and tick-borne illness are increasing their range thanks to warming weather. But a new study from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst found that donkeys' skin secretes a chemical that ticks avoid. When the chemical was applied to horses, the ticks stopped biting them, too.
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This undated photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Ghislaine Maxwell. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP)
This undated photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP)
Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, during a news conference in New York on July 2, 2020. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Days after Ghislaine Maxwell asked a judge to immediately free her from a 20-year prison sentence, the public release of grand jury transcripts from her sex trafficking case returned the spotlight to victims whose allegations helped land her behind bars.
The disclosure of the transcripts as part of the Justice Department's ongoing release of its investigative files on Maxwell and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein exposed how an FBI agent told grand jurors about Maxwell's critical role in Epstein's decades-long sexual abuse of girls and young women.
Maxwell, a British socialite and publishing heir, was convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021 after four women told a federal jury in New York City about how she and Epstein abused them in the 1990s and early 2000s. Epstein never went to trial. He was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges and killed himself a month later in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail.
Two weeks ago, as the Justice Department prepared to begin releasing what are commonly known as the Epstein files, Maxwell filed a habeas petition, asking a federal judge to free her on grounds that “substantial new evidence” has emerged proving that constitutional violations spoiled her trial.
Maxwell claimed exonerating information was withheld and that witnesses lied in their testimony. She filed the petition on her own, without the assistance of a lawyer.
This week, the judge, Paul A. Engelmayer, scolded Maxwell for failing to remove victim names and other identifying information from her court papers. He said future filings must be kept sealed and out of public view until they have been reviewed and redacted to protect victims' identities.
Epstein accuser Danielle Bensky said the release of records has only sharpened the focus on Maxwell's crimes among their victims. Bensky said she's been involved in daily discussions with about two dozen other victims that make clear Maxwell “is a criminal who was 1,000% engaged in sexual acts.”
“I've heard things that would make your blood curdle. I just had a conversation with a survivor last night who said she was the puppeteer,” Bensky said.
Bensky said she was sexually abused by Epstein two decades ago. She said she was never personally abused by Maxwell.
The transcripts of grand jury proceedings that resulted in Maxwell's indictment were released this week in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law enacted last month after months of public and political pressure.
The Justice Department has been periodically posting records after acknowledging it would miss last Friday's congressionally mandated deadline to release all records. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring victims' names and other identifying information.
On Wednesday, the department said it may need a “few more weeks” to release the full trove after suddenly discovering more than a million potentially relevant documents. It was a stunning development after department officials suggested months ago that they'd already accounted for the vast universe of Epstein-related materials.
Some of the Epstein and Maxwell grand jury records were initially released with heavy redactions — A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY” — was entirely blacked out. Updated versions were posted over the weekend.
An FBI agent's grand jury testimony, describing interviews conducted with Epstein victims, foreshadowed trial testimony a year later from four women who described Maxwell's role in their sexual abuse from 1994 to 2004.
The agent told of a woman who described meeting Maxwell and Epstein as a 14-year-old attending a Michigan summer arts camp in 1994. Flight logs showed Epstein and Maxwell went to the school sponsoring the camp because Epstein was a donor.
According to the agent, whose name was redacted from the transcript, the girl had a chance encounter with Epstein and Maxwell one day. After learning that the girl was from Palm Beach, Florida, Epstein mentioned that he sometimes gave scholarships to students and they requested her phone number, the agent said.
Once home, the girl visited Epstein's estate with her mother for tea and the mother was impressed when Epstein said he provided scholarships, enough so that the mother said Epstein was like a “godfather,” the agent said.
The agent said the girl began regularly going to the estate as Epstein and Maxwell “groomed” her with gifts and trips to the movies, and Epstein began paying for voice lessons and giving her money that he said she should give to her struggling mother.
The agent said the girl thought her relationship with Epstein and Maxwell was strange, “but Maxwell normalized it for her. She was like a cool, older sister and made comments like, ‘This is what grownups do.'”
Eventually, the agent testified, the girl saw Maxwell topless at the pool. After she revealed that she hoped to be an actor and a model, Epstein told her he was best friends with the owner of Victoria's Secret and that she'll have to learn to be comfortable in her underwear and not be a prude, the agent said.
Then, the agent said, the girl asked Epstein what he meant by that and the financier pulled her into his lap and masturbated. After that, the agent added, the girl's encounters with Epstein began to include sexual contact, particularly in his massage room.
Maxwell was sometimes there with other girls, the agent said. One of the girls would begin massaging Epstein and Maxwell would tease the girls, the agent said.
“She'd grab the girl's breasts, and she would direct the girls on what to do,” the agent said, relaying the girl's account. Maxwell's attitude during the encounters was ”very casual; she acted like this was normal,” the agent said.
The released testimony appeared to reflect the testimony at Maxwell's 2021 trial by a woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane.”
At trial, Jane said Maxwell also participated in group sessions between multiple females and Epstein that usually began with Epstein or Maxwell leading them all into a bedroom or a massage room at the Palm Beach residence.
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North Korea on Thursday released new images of what it claims is its first nuclear-powered submarine, a massive vessel equal in size to some of the United States Navy's attack subs.
The pictures released by state media showed leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the guided-missile submarine at an indoor construction facility, indicating it has not yet been launched.
Building a nuclear-powered submarine has been a long-held goal for Kim, who first discussed it at a ruling party congress in 2021, but the fact its rival, South Korea, has recently being given the blessing of the Trump administration to pursue its own nuclear-powered subs appears to have added urgency to Kim's plans.
Such vessels come with many advantages. They can stay submerged for long periods of time – essentially for years, if they can carry enough provisions for the crew – whereas most conventionally powered subs must surface for air to run diesel engines, which in turn charge their batteries for running at depth.
They are also generally faster than conventionally powered subs and are in many cases quieter. Currently only the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and India possess the technology.
The images released Thursday show substantial progress had been made on the sub, the existence of which was first announced in March.
State media said the vessel had a displacement of 8,700 tons, making it an equal to most of the nuclear-powered Virginia-class attack subs in the US fleet.
On Thursday, Kim again stressed its importance of the vessels to Pyongyang's defense policy, which he said was “literally… based on the strongest offensive power,” according to a Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report.
“We regard the super-powerful offensive capability as the best shield for national security in developing the armed forces,” KCNA reported Kim as saying.
Noting the US support, Kim said South Korea building a nuclear-powered submarine was an action that violated North Korean security and was a threat that needed to be countered, the report said.
But Pyongyang itself is responsible for heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
Kim “is probably right that a buildup of nuclear-powered submarines will increase instability around the Korean Peninsula, but he has himself to blame for the arms race,” Easley said.
“It is Pyongyang that disavows diplomacy with Seoul, threatens its neighbors with nuclear weapons, and deepens the suffering of its own people by devoting massive resources to military dictatorship rather than economic development,” he said.
Kim has been overseeing a large buildup in his country's military capabilities as part of that five-year plan unveiled in 2021.
Those include a range of missiles, including ballistic missiles that can reach the US mainland, hypersonic glide vehicles that could be difficult to defend against, and, at sea, two new guided-missile destroyers.
The second of those made headlines earlier this year when it capsized on launch. The warship was subsequently refloated and apparently repaired.
The build of the destroyers and nuclear submarines marked “a leap forward in bolstering up the combat capabilities of our fleets,” Kim said while inspecting the new sub, according to KCNA.
But, even so, Easley notes North Korea's fleet remains inferior to the South's, which boasts some of the world's best guided-missile destroyers and new conventionally powered submarines.
“Kim may realize that he has miscalculated once he observes South Korea's superior technology,” Easley said.
US submarines are outnumbered in the Pacific. South Korea has a plan to help
North Korea's one advantage may be having nuclear-powered submarines sooner.
South Korea has wanted them for decades, but a decades-old nuclear agreement with the US had prevented it from building them, until October, when President Trump appeared to clear the path. But getting them designed and built could take a decade.
“North Korea could conduct missile tests [with the submarine] after launching it within the next two years,” Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, told CNN.
Based on the images, Hong analyzed that the submarine could be already loaded with a nuclear reactor, which leaves only a few more stages before it is ready to be launched.
The new sub wasn't the only hint of North Korea's future that emerged in the images released Thursday.
Pictures of the event show Kim was accompanied by his daughter, believed to be Kim Ju Ae, who has made a number of public appearances recently, prompting speculation he is preparing a future successor.
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A traffic stop outside of Baltimore Wednesday ended with an undocumented man shot and another injured after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents allege the driver of a van drove directly at officers, prompting them to open fire.
It is the second incident publicized this week where ICE agents shot at an undocumented person during an operation after the person allegedly attempted to hurt agents, although that person wasn't hit by gunfire.
In Wednesday's incident, the driver of the van was shot and another undocumented migrant in the van was injured, but both are in stable condition and are expected to recover, the Department of Homeland Security said.
After a year of violent encounters between DHS and the public, the confrontation provides another example of how car crashes and rammings are taking center stage in encounters with federal agents as immigration enforcement has ramped up across the country.
ICE officers were in Glen Burnie, Maryland, Wednesday conducting “a targeted immigration enforcement operation” when they attempted to stop the two men, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
The undocumented migrants were identified as Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, a Portuguese man who was driving the van, and Solomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel, a man from El Salvador who was a passenger, McLaughlin said.
Officers approached the van and asked Sousa-Martins to turn off the engine, but he refused and attempted to leave the scene, she said. He started ramming ICE vehicles and “then drove his van directly at ICE officers” as “it appeared he was trying to run them over,” McLaughlin said.
“Fearing for their lives and public safety, (officers) defensively fired their service weapons, striking the driver,” she said. Sousa-Martins then wrecked his car between two buildings, McLaughlin said, although photos shared by the agency on X show a white van crashed into a tree. CNN has reached out to DHS for clarification.
In the process of the crash, Serrano-Esquivel was also injured, she said.
Officers immediately gave medical care to the two men and took them to the hospital, McLaughlin said, adding no ICE agents were injured.
Sousa-Martins came to the US from Portugal in December 2008, but didn't leave the country when his visa expired in February 2009, DHS said. The agency didn't provide additional information on Serrano-Esquivel's immigration history.
It is not immediately clear if the two men obtained legal representation.
CNN has reached out to local law enforcement in the area to see if they responded to the incident.
As images of dramatic immigration operations have risen across the country over the last year, incidents involving cars has become a common occurrence.
“Aggressors are now purposefully running into officers, boxing in law enforcement vehicles, running ICE law enforcement off the roads, and ramming their cars into law enforcement vehicles,” Emily Covington, ICE Assistant Director of Public Affairs, told CNN in October.
But the agency has been criticized for using the tactic itself, including controversial “precision immobilization technique” or “PIT” maneuvers, which force a car to spin out and stop. Experts have told CNN the maneuver is considered a use of deadly force.
In October, Marimar Martinez was shot by a Customs and Border Patrol agent after the agency alleged she purposefully rammed into an agent's car. US District Judge Georgia Alexakis, who presided over the case, ultimately dropped the charges after repeatedly raising concerns on how the investigation was handled and discrepancies that appeared.
Other incidents in Chicago, including a man that was fatally shot during a traffic stop, have infuriated the community and caused widespread condemnation as agents under the DHS umbrella have been accused of lying in court and presenting different scenarios in public statements versus court documents.
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As a clinical psychologist, I often have to caution clients to examine the sparks that they feel for a new romantic prospect.
You want to be excited about someone new and feel a deep connection to them. But many of us carry old wounds from our childhood, previous relationships, or formative experiences.
If your past was chaotic, inconsistent, and confusing, then you may be drawn to those same relationship dynamics again and again. Here are five signs that the chemistry you feel might actually be a red flag.
In your past, if someone made you feel loved but also anxious, your nervous system learned that loving and fearing the same person was okay.
Mixed signals, hot and cold affection, and inconsistency can then feel intimate rather than anxiety-inducing. Excitement and anxiety are closely related emotions, so you feel on edge, but mistake this feeling for excitement and chemistry.
What to do: Slow down and notice how your body feels around this person. Does your nervous system settle when you are around them or are you always on edge? If it's the latter, that may be a signal that the feeling you have isn't chemistry, and that this person makes you feel unsafe.
The emotional rollercoaster when someone pulls away and the relief when they come close again can feel like a spark, especially if you had relationship dynamics like that in the past.
When you are stressed, your body releases hormones such as cortisol, which activates reward and addiction pathways in your brain.
As a result, you may unconsciously chase that stress, conflict, unpredictability, and intensity because it gives your body a hit of the feel-good chemicals that it craves.
What to do: Your body needs to learn how to slow down and feel safe again. This can look like stretching, breathwork, meditation, nature walks, and decreasing your workload.
Being drawn to someone doesn't always mean the chemistry is good. You may be unconsciously trying to gain mastery over an old wound by reenacting the pain.
You believe that you can make it right this time. You might also recreate painful dynamics that mirror your past because you can predict what happens, and this gives you a false sense of control.
What to do: Self-reflection is important here. Does this person remind you of something from your past? Therapy can provide you with a safe space to unpack your history.
If it feels exciting when your partner is jealous, this isn't chemistry — it is your insecurity rearing its head.
You might even do something on purpose to trigger their jealousy in order to feel closer to them or make them prove to you that you are wanted. In your mind, this might sound like, "If they choose me, then I'm finally good enough," or, "If they chase me, it means they love me enough."
What to do: Work on yourself so your validation comes from within, not from other people. Remember who you are outside of the context of this relationship, and that you are already more than enough.
Steady connection should feel grounding and safe. But if your nervous system is used to chaos, calm can feel boring and even uncomfortable.
You may catch yourself thinking there's no spark, and then chase the next thrill by creating tension, initiating conflict, or even leaving the relationship. If you feel safe and you aren't used to that, in your mind, this might sound like, "If I feel safe, I'll let my guard down but then I'll get hurt."
The lack of spark doesn't mean there isn't chemistry. It might just mean there isn't anxiety.
What to do: Teach your body that it's okay to feel calm. When you feel like you want to create conflict or chase a thrill, stop and notice that. Then practice doing the opposite of what your urges are, and waiting for them to pass.
Noticing patterns in your relationships is a great first step. Of course, you should always consult with your physician or therapist before making significant changes. Understanding how to slow down and process your past can help you relearn what safety and consistency feel like.
Dr. Amy Tran is a clinical psychologist. Her PhD in child and adolescent psychology informs her work on attachment, relationships, and emotional safety. She is a digital artist and author of "This Book is a Safe Space." Follow her on Instagram.
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Kyle Dijamco is a proud member of Palantir Technologies' fast-growing retail investor base.
The Los Angeles-based marketer has bet big on the defense tech stock, even increasing his exposure after a drawdown earlier this year. The 31-year-old's position now stands at roughly $25,000.
"It's an exciting stock to own," Dijamco told CNBC.
Dijamco is part of an army of mom-and-pop traders who have poured billions of dollars into the Denver-based company's shares in 2025, according to data from VandaTrack. Its monster gains over recent years amid the artificial intelligence boom has made the stock an indisputable star of the retail investing world, in spite of Wall Street's reservations about valuation.
Individual investors were on track to buy nearly $8 billion in Palantir stock on balance in 2025, per Vanda data as of Dec. 8. That is a gain of more than 80% over the prior year, and it reflects an increase of over 400% from 2023.
Palantir is on pace to be the fifth-most bought security on balance for the year, Vanda data shows. The stock sits behind only megacap names like Tesla and Nvidia and popular exchange-traded funds such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which tracks the entire U.S. market benchmark.
"It's been great," said Viraj Patel, deputy head of research at Vanda, which tracks retail trader flows. "Palantir has kind of been brought into this group of AI-tech poster [children]."
Palantir has won the hearts of retail investors amid its takeoff as a stock. Its shares have surged more than 150% so far in 2025, placing the name on track for its third straight year with triple-digit gains.
The stock has skyrocketed nearly 3,000% in the last three years, crushing the S&P 500's roughly 80% gain and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite's more than 120% climb in the same time frame.
Since its 2020 market debut, Palantir has been considered a mysterious enterprise given its business with both public and private entities.
On the surface level, Palantir helps both governments and major corporations organize their data. Beyond being viewed as a beneficiary of the push to adopt AI, it's seen as a winner under the Trump administration's priorities of increasing federal government efficiency and bolstering national defense.
"The joke for a while has always been like, 'What does Palantir even do?'" said Paxton Earl, an investment banker with a focus on software who began reading regulatory reports to better understand the company. After learning more, he remembers thinking: "This is actually an insane business. It's really good."
Earl discovered through research that the company's revenue was more diversified beyond military work than he initially predicted. In addition, the 23-year-old found Palantir worked with consumer-facing brands he knew like Ferrari and Wendy's.
The San Diego resident said he picked up more shares following the company's third-quarter earnings report in early November. Palantir tanked 16% that month as investors dumped their AI plays on valuation fears, and the stock posted its worst monthly performance in more than two years.
Wall Street largely chalked up the sell-off to profit-taking and broader concerns about the health of the AI trade. Vanda found the bulk of Palantir's retail buying took place in the first nine months of the year, then cooled off as growing fears of an AI bubble left investors questioning the trade.
Palantir has gone out of its way to court individual traders like Earl.
While other well-known companies typically reserve the question-and-answer portions of earnings calls for Wall Street analysts or journalists, Palantir also takes inquiries from retail investors. In an annual video shared from a ski trail late last year, CEO Alex Karp specifically shouted out these small shareholders.
"Exceedingly grateful to all of you individual investors who took the time and opportunity, and had the courage to look past conventional, rusty, crusty platitudes," Karp said, while was wearing reflective goggles and gripping ski poles.
The stock has become a hot topic on the popular WallStreetBets Reddit forum. On several days in 2025, it was the most mentioned stock on the discussion board, according to meme stock tracking firm Breakout Point.
Palantir "has been a long-standing WallStreetBets romance," said Ivan Ćosović, managing director at Breakout Point. "They adore it."
To be sure, not all of the social media chatter has been positive. Some investing content creators have questioned if they can ethically hold Palantir's stock given the business' connection to wartime technology and its partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Wall Street hasn't jumped on board with the same fervor as the average Joe. The average analyst polled by LSEG has a hold rating, with several citing apprehension about the stock's multiple.
The company's valuation has made its stock a "non-starter" for institutional clients, according to Gil Luria, head of technology research at D.A. Davidson. Palantir has a multiple of around 450 times trailing earnings, running circles around the S&P 500's average of close to 28.
On the other hand, Luria said retail investors are likely impressed by Palantir's "ambitious" mission to play a role in defending the U.S. These everyday investors are likely also enticed by Karp, who Luria said is similar to Tesla CEO Elon Musk in his ability to sell a business vision. However, Luria said Karp hasn't attracted the same amount of controversy.
Luria said Palantir also draws parallels to Tesla's stock 10 years ago, when the carmaker was presenting an electric vehicle-focused future. Tesla shares have soared about 3,000% in the past decade, while the S&P 500 has gained more than 230% in the same period.
The question, Luria said, is if the retail crowd who backed Tesla a decade ago are right once again about Palantir.
The analyst said Palantir's earnings results have been largely strong over the last several years. Palantir's second-quarter report in August — in which the company topped the Street's estimates and raised its full-year guidance due to the AI boom — left him questioning if the stock is worth jumping into despite the lofty multiple.
"Even us most jaded, old, stodgy Wall Street analysts were taken aback by the level of success," Luria said. "It was such a staggering success that I had to reconsider everything I knew."
Scion Asset Management — the now-de-registered fund run by "The Big Short" investor Michael Burry — revealed bets against Palantir and fellow AI darling Nvidia in the third quarter. Karp told CNBC that Burry's move was "bats--- crazy."
Retail investors are undeterred by the wariness among their institutional counterparts. As Breakout Point's Ćosović put it: where Burry sees "overvaluation," WallStreetBets sees "destiny."
Palantir has had its fair share of choppiness this year, falling more than 10% on multiple single trading days. But for stakeholders like Dijamco, the California-based marketer, these fluctuations provide cheaper entry points to buy into a name that they believe in.
"You kind of become a little bit desensitized to the price swings," said Dijamco, who plans to purchase thousands of dollars' worth of additional shares on the next big downturn. "I just have that conviction that it's going to do well."
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How many humans does it take to plug a fleet of robotaxis into a charging station?
Crijn Bouman, the CEO and cofounder of Rocsys, did the math on that.
"Both in China and the US, it's roughly 1:12 to 1:14 ratio of head count versus vehicles in a depot," Bouman told Business Insider in an interview. "It's crazy."
Robotaxis aim to take the human out of the driver's seat, but there's another less-glamorous side of the driverless business that Bouman says should be automated: charging and maintaining the vehicles.
"The operations are a completely overlooked area, which, if you don't get it right, breaks the business case," the CEO said.
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Rocsys, co-founded in 2019, aims to turn every charging port into a robocharger by essentially adding a robotic arm and software on top of the existing infrastructure.
The goal, Bouman said, is to replace humans in a process he views as wholly inefficient and unprepared for the mass adoption of robotaxis.
This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.
What did you see that led you to start Rocsys and focus on automated charging?
I previously founded a company called Epyon, which made fast chargers for electric cars. That company was acquired by ABB, and I spent six years there as the head of the product line for electric-vehicle charging.
In my final year at ABB, we had an experience that was somewhat unusual: There was a customer from San Francisco who bought a lot of fast chargers, but they did not want to tell us what they were doing with them.
It turned out to be Cruise, the self-driving company. This was in 2017. In South San Francisco, Cruise had a big white-box warehouse where they'd built a complete indoor test track, because they didn't yet have a permit to go on public roads. The vehicle would drive for about two hours and then park itself; a person would then walk over and plug it in.
That triggered the idea: If you take out the human driver, the interface to the infrastructure is actually broken. If you want autonomous vehicles to scale, there needs to be a company that fixes the interface to the built world — such as charging, entering a parking garage, or going into a car wash. All the infrastructure is built for human drivers. That was the big idea behind Rocsys.
We first began focusing more on ports and logistics yards because, five years ago, there were few autonomous vehicles beyond those used in logistics operations and port terminals. Then, last year, robotaxis became mainstream in the US and China.
Last year, we established a dedicated team to focus on the robotaxi market in the US. We won our first very large customer contract in robotaxis — I can't talk about it publicly — and we are about to sign the second one. That contract is for automated charging at service depots for robotaxis.
Rocsys's thesis is that manual charging is prone to errors, time-consuming, and costly to operate. How does automated charging solve those three problems?
We've been in robotaxi depots in the US and China, using stopwatches to determine how much time each task takes. With charging, you walk to the vehicle, plug it in, and then half an hour later, you walk back and unplug. It may seem small, but upon examining the metrics, it's a substantial amount of work.
All the metrics add up to that 1:12 or 1:14 ratio of vehicles per head count in the depot. If you take a city like Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay Area, you might need roughly 10,000 vehicles to operate a sizable fleet, which means you'd need to hire roughly 800 to 1,000 people just to keep that fleet running.
The reality is, it's not really a career. This job — it's just walking around in a depot outside, plugging a vehicle in, and wiping a screen. The average tenure is about three months.
The hassle is insane. These tech-savvy companies building autonomous vehicles need to establish a comprehensive parallel infrastructure of gig workers — including HR, facilities, and OSHA requirements — everything. It breaks the scale and is very costly to operate.
Our product means you don't need to build that whole parallel organization, which is a complete distraction from their core business.
Looking closely at depot operations, what do the numbers behind the actual labor look like?
Plugging in, inspecting the vehicle, performing a quick interior clean, and then walking back to unplug lasts between 300 and 400 seconds.
There are a lot of interruptions in between because charging is so important for the throughput of the depot that it gets priority. So, if someone is cleaning a vehicle, they have to stop when a new one arrives, walk over, plug it in, and then walk back. There's a lot of inefficiency.
If you automate charging, you take out roughly half the head count. Then you can optimize the other tasks so they're more sequential instead of in an ad-hoc manner. The efficiency gains are huge.
If the ratio for current depot operations is one human per 12 robotaxis, then what does the ratio look like with automated chargers?
If cleaning and inspection are still manual processes, then you will more than double the number of vehicles served per person.
We also have a road map to automate those other processes. We're currently focused on charging because that's the primary customer request, but we have developed a proof of concept for automated inspection and have already built a working system for automated interior cleaning.
What are the labor-cost differences between a depot that uses human labor versus a depot with Rocsys?
The cost savings range from 30% to 70% in the first year, depending on the dynamics of each depot. It's really significant.
A couple years ago, there was some buzz around Tesla's robot charger. What's to stop Tesla from reviving that idea and doing automated charging themselves?
Elon Musk will do everything himself, so they might. It would make a ton of sense for them. The whole pitch for Tesla is that it can upgrade the entire fleet to robotaxis, and those vehicles need to be charged.
To upgrade a couple of million Teslas to be autonomously driven, they need an automated charging option. So I think it would be very logical for them to bring robotic charging to market. It's likely to be a captive model. Tesla has pitched inductive (wireless) charging for the dedicated Tesla robotaxi.
Current robotaxi fleets don't have that. None of the vehicles have it.
But before we even talk about robotaxis scaling, doesn't the US still have issues with its EV charging infrastructure that need to be solved first?
I think for the robotaxi use-case, it's sort of a parallel world because the charging stations are very dedicated to a fleet. So, robotaxi operators build out their fleets, but in parallel, they also develop the charging infrastructure with partners or independently. It's sort of bespoke to the robotaxi operation. Currently, the hubs are dedicated to one operator — Waymo has its own hubs, while Zoox has its own.
These differ from public charging infrastructure, so I'd say they are parallel worlds. There's no reason to solve one problem before the other.
Are robotaxis scaling fast enough today for Rocsys to build a real business on automated charging?
Absolutely. Over the next five years, we can expect a substantial market for us.
Robotaxis are a limited fleet, but usage is extremely intense. The vehicles are running 24/7, three to four times per day. There is already a substantial market for us, with a fleet of several thousand vehicles.
The ratio of vehicles to charging bays — the parking spots where a vehicle can be charged — is about one to six. For 6,000 vehicles, you need around 1,000 charging bays.
Public information suggests that there are somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 robotaxis on US roads, if you add up Waymo, Zoox, and others. That means the current market is a few thousand bays to serve, which is already a very nice starting market. But it's scaling so fast now. There's the Uber-Nuro announcement with a 20,000-vehicle robotaxi fleet.
What we're seeing now already feels like a land-grab dynamic. There's Waymo, there's Zoox. Tesla — let's see how far they actually are. There's also Nuro and Uber. Wayve from the UK, which is also pretty impressive.
It really feels like a land grab in the next two years.
Are you approaching Uber, Lyft, and all the other players?
You can be sure that we talk to every one of them.
When will you be able to announce your first big robotaxi customer?
We don't have a date yet, but I'm fairly certain it'll be sometime next year.
Jump to
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed construction of a submarine with his daughter, a potential heir, and oversaw the test-firing of long-range surface-to-air missiles, state media reported on Thursday.
Wednesday's missile test near the east coast, aimed at assessing the nuclear-armed country's strategic technology for developing a new type of high-altitude missile, destroyed targets in the air from 200 km (120 miles) away, KCNA said.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed the missile test occurred at 5 p.m. (0800 GMT), Yonhap News Agency reported. The South Korean military had been aware of launch preparations and was ready for it, Yonhap said, citing a Joint Chiefs official.
Kim observed construction at another site on an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching surface-to-air missiles, KCNA said. It did not identify the location or date of his visit.
The submarine project is part of the ruling party's effort to modernize North Korea's navy, one of five key policies the party is pushing to develop the nation's military capabilities, KCNA said.
A KCNA photo showed Kim at a submarine construction site with his daughter, Ju Ae. Surrounded by other officials, he smiles as the teenager, considered by some analysts as the frontrunner to succeed her father, stands next to him in an indoor facility housing a red vessel.
Kim said North Korea is building multiple attack destroyers and nuclear submarines and working to rapidly accelerate construction so that vessels can be equipped with various weapons, according to KCNA.
The design of the submarine's hull indicates it has been equipped with a nuclear reactor, and the vessel is almost ready to sail, Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Seoul-based Korea Institute for National Unification, wrote in a report on Thursday.
Kim was quoted as saying the all-out development of nuclear capabilities and modernisation of the navy are essential and inevitable, while "the present world is by no means peaceful".
He said South Korea's plan to develop a nuclear-powered submarine, agreed with Washington, would further inflame tensions on the Korean Peninsula and poses a risk to national security that requires him to take action.
North Korean state media also criticised the recent entry of a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine into a South Korean port, calling it "an act of escalating military tensions" on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.
On Tuesday, the nuclear-powered submarine Greeneville arrived at the Busan port for crew shore leave and the loading of supplies, the South Korean navy said.
North Korea said this week that Japan was showing its intention to possess nuclear weapons, encouraged by South Korea's moves to develop a nuclear submarine.
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Nvidia is forging ahead with another bet on the AI boom, agreeing to a licensing deal with AI hardware startup Groq.
Groq said Wednesday that some of its executives, including its founder and CEO, will join Nvidia as part of the deal. Groq is expected to continue operating independently following what it described as a non-exclusive licensing deal.
Groq is known for its Language Processing Unit, which is a custom chip designed for AI inference, namely, the process by which a trained AI model makes predictions or decisions. The startup was valued at about $6.9 billion as of three months ago and raised around $750 million in its latest funding round.
Jonathan Ross, Groq's founder and CEO, as well as the startup's president and other members of its team are expected to join Nvidia, the world's most valuable company with a market cap north of $4.5 trillion.
A person familiar with the matter told Business Insider on Wednesday that Nvidia is not acquiring the chip startup.
Neither Nvidia nor Groq disclosed financial terms of the agreement.
Ross and Douglas Wightman were engineers at Google who started the project that became Google's first TPU chips, before leaving to found Groq. The TPUs are custom-made to accelerate large-scale machine-learning tasks designed to handle AI workloads, and are a major rival to Nvidia's GPUs.
The deal between the two companies comes as a new type of dealmaking is on the rise in Silicon Valley. Whereas traditional startups either aim to go public or be acquired, new acqui-hire deals could leave some startup employees behind, only benefiting a small percentage of staff members with desirable AI skills and the founders.
For instance, in 2024, Google agreed to pay $2.5 billion to license Character.AI's technology but only hired its two superstar cofounders and 20% of the startup's employees. In the same year, AI developers Adept and Inflection also made similar deals with Amazon and Microsoft, respectively.
More recently, Meta's acqui-hire of Scale AI became one of the biggest bets on talent after the company agreed to invest roughly $14 billion for a 49% stake and to bring its CEO, Alexandr Wang, into the fold to lead the Meta Superintelligence Labs.
These acqui-hires don't always end well. Windsurf employees were left in limbo after the AI coding startup was nearly aquired by OpenAI for $3 billion, only for the deal to fall apart and the company to be split. Google spent billions to hire Windsurf's CEO and top engineers, while the remaining hundreds of employees were acquired by another startup, Cognition.
Jump to
Theta Labs, a cryptocurrency startup based in California, is currently embroiled in legal trouble following accusations of market manipulation and fraudulent business practices. The company, which focuses on digital collectibles and NFTs, is being sued by two former executives.
Jerry Kowal and Andrea Berry, who both previously held leadership roles at Theta Labs, claim that CEO Mitch Liu orchestrated a scheme to artificially inflate the value of the company's digital products, particularly NFTs tied to celebrity partnerships. The lawsuits, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in December 2025, accuse Liu of using insider information and deceptive methods to benefit financially at the expense of employees, investors, and consumers.
Can you believe that @Theta_Network paid @katyperry 8.5 Million to license her images for the shittiest NFT scam ever? Allegedly, Theta Labs also placed fake bids on the auction for the Golden Lion and bought out drops to encourage and keep up the scam?#ThetaLawsuit
— Pop & Mag's Pinecast (@PopAndMags) December 21, 2025
The suits allege that Liu engaged in “pump-and-dump” schemes, where the value of Theta's THETA token was artificially inflated before being sold off, causing significant financial losses. Kowal and Berry allege that Liu even manipulated bids on NFTs, including those related to pop star Katy Perry, to mislead consumers into overpaying. Theta Labs, however, has denied these accusations and has stated its intention to provide evidence to refute the claims.
Theta Labs initially gained attention in 2021 after it secured a partnership with pop star Katy Perry to release NFTs linked to her Las Vegas residency. The deal was touted as a major milestone for the company, which was gaining traction in the booming NFT market.
However, Kowal's lawsuit alleges that Theta used fake bids on Perry's NFTs to inflate demand and drive up prices artificially. The lawsuits suggest that Liu directed employees to make these inflated bids, leading to consumers paying more than the market value for the digital collectibles.
Katy Perry herself is not accused of any wrongdoing in the lawsuits, and her representatives have not yet commented on the matter. The alleged manipulation surrounding the Perry NFTs is only one example cited by Kowal and Berry, who claim that Liu used similar tactics in other ventures to boost the company's value.
Beyond the manipulation of Perry NFTs, the lawsuits also highlight other instances where Theta allegedly misrepresented its relationships with high-profile brands and celebrities. According to Berry's lawsuit, Theta falsely claimed to have strategic partnerships with companies like Google and even NASA to bolster its credibility and inflate the value of its THETA token.
While Theta did purchase Google Cloud products, the company misrepresented the nature of its relationship with Google as a partnership rather than a customer agreement.
These misleading claims, if true, further reinforce the accusations that Theta Labs was using deceptive practices to create an illusion of success and market legitimacy. Such actions, according to the whistleblowers, were aimed at manipulating stock prices and making the company appear more influential than it truly was.
Once valued at more than $15 in 2021, the price of Theta's THETA token has seen a dramatic decline. As of December 2025, the token is valued at less than 30 cents, a drop of nearly 95% from its peak. This sharp decline mirrors the accusations of market manipulation and fraud against Theta Labs.
The lawsuits also highlight how Liu allegedly profited from insider knowledge by buying and selling tokens during key announcements, which caused the token's value to spike temporarily before it crashed.
The allegations against Theta Labs come at a time when the cryptocurrency industry is facing increased scrutiny. High-profile scandals, such as the collapse of the FTX exchange and legal action against celebrities involved in crypto promotions, have led to growing concerns about fraud and regulation in the sector.
Theta Labs, like many other crypto firms, now faces the consequences of its alleged actions, with former executives seeking to hold the company accountable for its alleged market manipulation and fraudulent behavior.
Kelvin Munene is a crypto and finance journalist with over 5 years of experience in market analysis and expert commentary. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Actuarial Science from Mount Kenya University and is known for meticulous research in cryptocurrency, blockchain, and financial markets. His work has been featured in top publications including Coingape, Cryptobasic, MetaNews, Coinedition, and Analytics Insight. Kelvin specializes in uncovering emerging crypto trends and delivering data-driven analyses to help readers make informed decisions. Outside of work, he enjoys chess, traveling, and exploring new adventures.
TLDR Canton's CC token saw a 25% rise amid institutional tokenization efforts. Institutional developments, including…
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In a major move for Kyrgyzstan's crypto ambitions, President Sadyr Japarov announced that the country's newly launched stablecoin, KGST, has been listed on the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. The stablecoin is pegged to the Kyrgyz som, the national currency, and its listing aims to boost cross-border payment capabilities for the country. This is an important step in the nation's push to integrate more deeply into the global cryptocurrency ecosystem.
https://twitter.com/CryptoPatel/status/2003880855127634260?s=20
Japarov emphasized that the stablecoin's introduction and its listing on Binance would provide a more efficient method for international transactions. “This initiative will contribute to the development of cross-border payments,” Japarov said. Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who has been advising the Kyrgyz government since April on crypto matters, also confirmed the listing. He mentioned that many more nation-backed stablecoins would be coming to the platform soon.
The collaboration between Binance and Kyrgyzstan marks a deeper commitment by the Central Asian nation to the digital asset space. Since April, Binance has provided technical expertise to the Kyrgyz government. This partnership has helped the country craft favorable legislation and enhance its crypto infrastructure.
Binance's involvement is a critical part of Kyrgyzstan's broader strategy to foster a crypto-friendly environment. According to CZ, the listing of the KGST stablecoin represents a significant milestone, but he hinted that it was only the beginning. More nation-backed stablecoins are expected to follow, signaling a growing trend of state-supported digital currencies in global markets.
Kyrgyzstan has demonstrated increasing support for digital assets over the past year. This is evidenced by the country's recent passage of crypto-related legislation aimed at creating a state crypto reserve. Furthermore, the government has made strides in advancing the digital asset sector, including the development of USDKG, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar and backed by physical gold. USDKG was initially issued on the Tron blockchain, with plans to expand to Ethereum.
This move to introduce both a som-pegged and a dollar-pegged stablecoin showcases Kyrgyzstan's ambition to play a prominent role in the global crypto ecosystem. It also reflects a broader trend among countries seeking to create stablecoins backed by local currencies. These efforts are becoming increasingly common as nations explore ways to integrate digital currencies with traditional financial systems.
The listing of KGST on Binance also aligns with a broader global trend in which countries are exploring or launching their own stablecoins tied to national currencies. For instance, Japan launched its first yen-pegged stablecoin, JPYC, in October. This stablecoin is designed to trade at parity with the yen, backed by bank deposits and Japanese government bonds.
Similarly, the European Union is working towards launching a euro-pegged stablecoin, expected by 2026. Additionally, the UAE has started considering a dirham-pegged stablecoin to facilitate consumer payments. These efforts suggest that countries around the world are increasingly interested in creating stablecoins as part of their national digital finance strategies.
As these global trends continue to unfold, Kyrgyzstan's initiatives position it as a growing player in the digital currency space. The country's engagement with Binance and its crypto-friendly policies indicate its commitment to expanding its role in the evolving digital economy.
Kelvin Munene is a crypto and finance journalist with over 5 years of experience in market analysis and expert commentary. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Actuarial Science from Mount Kenya University and is known for meticulous research in cryptocurrency, blockchain, and financial markets. His work has been featured in top publications including Coingape, Cryptobasic, MetaNews, Coinedition, and Analytics Insight. Kelvin specializes in uncovering emerging crypto trends and delivering data-driven analyses to help readers make informed decisions. Outside of work, he enjoys chess, traveling, and exploring new adventures.
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By Michael Hayes
Key Takeaways:
During the final week of December, Pudgy Penguins made a bold leap from digital collectibles into physical spectacle by lighting up the Las Vegas Sphere with custom holiday animations. The massive LED-covered venue – known for hosting A-list performers and global brands – became a canvas for the project's signature penguin characters, looping across the skyline during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.
For a brand that started as a collection of 8,888 NFTs, the choice of venue was deliberate. The Sphere isn't just advertising space – it's cultural real estate. And Pudgy Penguins claimed it at a time when foot traffic, media coverage, and social amplification were all at peak levels.
The Sphere campaign is part of a longer arc for Pudgy Penguins. Over the past two years, the project has quietly transformed itself from a speculative NFT collection into a consumer-facing brand with real-world touchpoints.
That evolution includes:
The Las Vegas activation sits squarely within this strategy. Rather than selling NFTs or pushing token mechanics, the visuals focused on character recognition, emotional appeal, and holiday warmth – signals designed for everyday consumers, not just crypto-native users.
The Las Vegas Sphere isn't just another advertising surface. Its scale, exclusivity, and cost instantly separate it from conventional digital placements. Brands that appear on the Sphere aren't simply buying impressions – they're staking a claim in mainstream cultural space.
The Sphere activation worked on several levels simultaneously for Pudgy Penguins. It demonstrated that a crypto-native IP can carry out extensive real-world campaigns, put the brand in the same visual arena as international entertainment brands, and changed the focus from tokens to characters, narrative, and long-term brand identification.
This strategy is quite different from previous waves of cryptocurrency marketing, which mostly relied on exchange sponsorships, logo saturation, and fleeting buzz. Pudgy Penguins used the Sphere to reposition itself as a consumer-facing property that can thrive much beyond Web3's typical bounds rather than chasing attention.
More News: Hyperliquid Responds to HYPE Shorting Concerns Amid Growing Market Dominance
The holiday takeover reflects a broader shift in how leading crypto projects think about growth. Instead of chasing floor prices or short-term engagement, Pudgy Penguins is investing in brand memory – the kind that survives market cycles.
In practical terms, this approach trades immediacy for longevity. Cultural presence, especially in iconic public spaces, compounds differently than onchain metrics. It creates familiarity first, monetization later.
Pudgy Penguins' Sphere takeover wasn't about NFTs, tokens, or trading volume. It was about visibility, legitimacy, and narrative control. In doing so, the project made a quiet but clear statement: the next phase of Web3 isn't just onchain – it's on the skyline.
For more information on stablecoin adoption and blockchain innovation globally, keep checking Castlecrypto News.
Michael Hayes
Michael Hayes began his career as a digital media writer, covering technology startups and financial markets, and developed strong skills in analyzing innovation-driven industries. His passion for blockchain and crypto led him to Castle Crypto, where he now works as a News Writer. At Castle Crypto, Michael delivers daily market updates, breaking news, and feature stories that connect crypto developments to real-world applications. He is known for breaking down complex data into straightforward, actionable insights. Through his reporting, Michael helps Castle Crypto readers stay ahead of industry shifts and make sense of the fast-changing digital asset landscape with clarity and confidence.
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Vienna, Austria, December 25th, 2025, Chainwire
HoneyBadger BFT (HBBFT) consensus, which has been successfully pioneered and deployed by DMD Diamond in its v4 mainnet, provides a mathematically elegant solution to common blockchain limitations. This is achieved by fundamentally changing the negotiation paradigm between nodes. DMD Diamond prioritizes maximum decentralization over the speed of Solana and the scalability of Ethereum. This strategic focus has clearly established DMD Diamond in a niche where its unique consensus engine can make it the preferred Layer 1 for projects requiring maximum decentralization.
The Leader Problem and the Synchronicity Trap
Most modern consensus algorithms (e.g., PBFT, Tendermint, HotStuff) rely on synchrony or partial synchrony. This means that for the network to function, nodes must have consistent clocks or wait for a message within a certain timeout. Furthermore, these systems typically use a leader-based process. One node proposes a block, and the others vote.
HBBFT: The Asynchronous Revolution
HBBFT is the first practical asynchronous BFT consensus algorithm, and DMD Diamond is the first blockchain to combine this cooperative consensus with EVM compatibility.
The word “asynchronous” is key here. HBBFT makes no assumptions about message delivery times. The DMD Diamond network continues to function even if messages between nodes are delayed indefinitely.
In DMD's HBBFT implementation, there is no single leader. Instead of one node proposing a block, all nodes propose their transactions simultaneously in a cooperative manner.
How does HBBFT achieve this magical result? It uses a combination of three complex cryptographic primitives, which DMD Diamond utilizes to deliver industry-first features.
1. Threshold Encryption
In traditional blockchains (like Ethereum), validators see the contents of a transaction before including it in a block. This leads to MEV (Miner Extractable Value)—frontrunning and censorship.
In DMD Diamond, transactions are encrypted by the user. Validators blindly agree on the order of transactions. Decryption occurs only after the order is fixed and cannot be changed.
2. Erasure Coding
Instead of each node broadcasting a full block of data to all others (which clogs the communication channel), HBBFT splits the data into N fragments. To recover the original data, it is sufficient to collect any N-f fragments (where f is the number of possible dishonest nodes).
3. Atomic Broadcast Consensus (ACS)
This is a mechanism that allows all nodes to agree on which encrypted data packets will be included in the next block without electing a leader.
DMD Diamond's implementation of HBBFT solves the scalability and decentralization problem not by overclocking hardware, but by eliminating the bottleneck—time synchronization and dependence on a leader.
By allowing nodes to operate at different speeds and process data in parallel, DMD Diamond creates a network that is:
This can make DMD Diamond an ideal candidate for the next generation of DeFi applications and enterprise blockchains, where reliability and fairness are more important than hype.
Users can find more information at bit.diamonds and read the whitepaper at GitHub.
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In today's fast-paced world, managing medical records securely and efficiently is a massive challenge. Traditional systems rely on centralized databases that are prone to hacks, data loss, and privacy breaches. Enter the convergence of blockchain and IoT – a game-changing approach that's revolutionizing decentralized medical records and remote patient monitoring (RPM). This powerful combo promises unbreakable security, real-time data tracking, and seamless access for authorized users only.
Remote patient monitoring is a lifeline, especially in countries with vast geographies and limited healthcare access like India. With rising cases of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart conditions, RPM lets doctors track patients' vitals from afar – reducing hospital visits, cutting costs, and even curbing infection risks as seen during COVID-19.
Imagine elderly patients or those in rural areas getting continuous care without leaving home. IoT devices like wearable sensors make this possible by collecting heart rate, blood oxygen, and body temperature in real-time. But here's the catch: all this sensitive data needs ironclad protection. That's where blockchain steps in.
Blockchain flips the script on centralized servers. Instead of one vulnerable point, data spreads across a network of nodes – making it nearly impossible for hackers to tamper with records. Key benefits include:
Regulations like India's Personal Data Protection Bill or the US's HIPAA demand this level of security. Blockchain delivers, pseudonymizing data and using smart contracts for automated permissions.
The magic happens when blockchain meets IoT. Sensors like MAX30100 (for heart rate and SpO2) and DS18B20 (for temperature) connect via ESP32 microcontroller. This RPM unit gathers vitals every minute and sends them as JSON packets to a Node.js app, which forwards them to the blockchain.
But medical reports (PDFs, X-rays, MRIs) are too bulky for direct blockchain storage – they'd bloat the network and spike costs. Solution? IPFS (InterPlanetary File System). Reports go to IPFS, generating a unique hash stored on the blockchain with patient details. Retrieval is simple: query the blockchain for the hash, then pull the full file from IPFS.
Hyperledger Fabric powers the blockchain here. Why? It's permissioned, uses efficient RAFT consensus (no energy-guzzling mining), and handles high throughput – perfect for healthcare unlike slower public chains like Ethereum.
This isn't theory – it's battle-tested. Using Hyperledger Caliper for benchmarks:
1500 transactions via 4 workers at 100 TPS: 100% success. Real RPM unit over 8 hours sent 480 transactions – all recorded perfectly. Medical reports on IPFS? Intact and verifiable.
Reads are even faster: up to 160 TPS with 0.01s latency. Beats many competitors – e.g., 78.6 TPS in similar studies.
Past efforts focused on vitals only, ignoring reports. Others skipped performance metrics or RPM integration. This system uniquely:
Comparisons show it outperforms in throughput while adding IPFS for scalability.
This blockchain and IoT convergence paves the way for smarter healthcare. Future upgrades? Add ECG/EEG sensors, measure energy use, or scale to thousands of patients. With government pushes like Ayushman Bharat, adoption is imminent.
Patients gain control, doctors get real-time insights, and systems stay hack-proof. Decentralized medical records aren't just possible – they're here.
Ready to dive deeper into decentralized medical records? Share your thoughts below!
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USD1 Stablecoin Soars: World Liberty Financial's Trump-Linked Token Hits $3 Billion Milestone
In a stunning display of rapid growth, the USD1 stablecoin from World Liberty Financial (WLFI) has officially crossed the $3 billion market capitalization threshold. This achievement, announced by the firm associated with the Trump family, signals a powerful entry into the competitive stablecoin arena and raises intriguing questions about the future of digital finance.
The announcement, made on social media platform X, frames this as a foundational victory. World Liberty Financial described it as a “significant milestone” for its team and community, emphasizing that its ultimate goal is to build “the financial network of the future.” According to real-time data from CoinMarketCap, the USD1 stablecoin now boasts a market cap of approximately $3.07 billion. This rapid ascent places it among the notable players in a market dominated by giants like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC).
The prominence of this launch stems from several key factors. First, the association with the Trump family brings immediate brand recognition and political intrigue into the crypto sphere. Second, reaching a $3 billion market cap so quickly demonstrates substantial initial trust and capital inflow. For users and investors, the core promise of any stablecoin like USD1 is simple:
However, this remarkable beginning is just that—a beginning. The path forward for the USD1 stablecoin is fraught with challenges that will test its resilience and long-term vision.
Overcoming these hurdles will require more than just capital; it will demand unwavering operational excellence and clear communication.
For observers and participants in the crypto market, the rise of the USD1 stablecoin offers clear lessons. It underscores that new entrants with strong branding and clear messaging can still capture significant market share rapidly. Furthermore, it highlights the growing institutional and political interest in shaping the infrastructure of digital money. For investors, it reinforces the importance of conducting deep due diligence on a stablecoin's governance, transparency, and regulatory standing before adoption.
The surge of World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin past a $3 billion market cap is undeniably a landmark event. It injects a new, politically-connected player into the core infrastructure of cryptocurrency. While the achievement is impressive, the long-term story remains unwritten. The coming months will be critical as the project transitions from a successful launch to proving its durability, utility, and trustworthiness in a demanding market. This milestone is less of a finish line and more of a powerful starting gun for the next phase of stablecoin evolution.
Q1: What is the USD1 stablecoin?A1: The USD1 is a cryptocurrency stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial (WLFI). It is designed to maintain a stable value by being pegged 1:1 to the United States dollar.
Q2: Who is behind World Liberty Financial and the USD1 stablecoin?A2: World Liberty Financial is a firm associated with the Trump family. They announced and manage the USD1 stablecoin project.
Q3: How can I use the USD1 stablecoin?A3: Like other stablecoins, USD1 can be used for trading cryptocurrency pairs, as a store of value to avoid volatility, for low-cost cross-border transfers, and potentially in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
Q4: Is the USD1 stablecoin safe?A4> As with any cryptocurrency, there are risks. The safety of a stablecoin depends heavily on the transparency and adequacy of its dollar reserves. Potential users should research WLFI's audit reports and regulatory compliance.
Q5: Where can I buy or trade the USD1 stablecoin?A5: The USD1 stablecoin is listed on various cryptocurrency exchanges. You can check its current listing and trading pairs on data aggregator websites like CoinMarketCap.
Q6: What does a $3 billion market cap mean for a stablecoin?A6: A $3 billion market capitalization indicates that there are $3 billion worth of USD1 tokens in circulation. It is a sign of significant adoption, liquidity, and trust from the market in a relatively short time.
Found this analysis of the surging USD1 stablecoin insightful? The stablecoin landscape is evolving rapidly, and understanding these shifts is key. Share this article on X, Facebook, or LinkedIn to spark a conversation with your network about the future of digital dollars and major market milestones.
To learn more about the latest stablecoin and cryptocurrency market trends, explore our article on key developments shaping the future of institutional adoption and digital finance.
This post USD1 Stablecoin Soars: World Liberty Financial's Trump-Linked Token Hits $3 Billion Milestone first appeared on BitcoinWorld.
Coins
Tether
$ 0.99935
USDC
$ 0.99975
World
$ 0.498
USD Coin (Wormhole)
$ 0.99965
Arbitrum Nova Bridged USDC
$ 1.0073
Funds
United
LAUNCH
Milestone
Tether
World
Share:
Coins
Tether
$ 0.99935
USDC
$ 0.99975
World
$ 0.498
USD Coin (Wormhole)
$ 0.99965
Arbitrum Nova Bridged USDC
$ 1.0073
Funds
United
LAUNCH
Milestone
Tether
World
Share:
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Share:
BitcoinWorld
USD1 Stablecoin Soars: World Liberty Financial's Trump-Linked Token Hits $3 Billion Milestone
In a stunning display of rapid growth, the USD1 stablecoin from World Liberty Financial (WLFI) has officially crossed the $3 billion market capitalization threshold. This achievement, announced by the firm associated with the Trump family, signals a powerful entry into the competitive stablecoin arena and raises intriguing questions about the future of digital finance.
The announcement, made on social media platform X, frames this as a foundational victory. World Liberty Financial described it as a “significant milestone” for its team and community, emphasizing that its ultimate goal is to build “the financial network of the future.” According to real-time data from CoinMarketCap, the USD1 stablecoin now boasts a market cap of approximately $3.07 billion. This rapid ascent places it among the notable players in a market dominated by giants like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC).
The prominence of this launch stems from several key factors. First, the association with the Trump family brings immediate brand recognition and political intrigue into the crypto sphere. Second, reaching a $3 billion market cap so quickly demonstrates substantial initial trust and capital inflow. For users and investors, the core promise of any stablecoin like USD1 is simple:
However, this remarkable beginning is just that—a beginning. The path forward for the USD1 stablecoin is fraught with challenges that will test its resilience and long-term vision.
Overcoming these hurdles will require more than just capital; it will demand unwavering operational excellence and clear communication.
For observers and participants in the crypto market, the rise of the USD1 stablecoin offers clear lessons. It underscores that new entrants with strong branding and clear messaging can still capture significant market share rapidly. Furthermore, it highlights the growing institutional and political interest in shaping the infrastructure of digital money. For investors, it reinforces the importance of conducting deep due diligence on a stablecoin's governance, transparency, and regulatory standing before adoption.
The surge of World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin past a $3 billion market cap is undeniably a landmark event. It injects a new, politically-connected player into the core infrastructure of cryptocurrency. While the achievement is impressive, the long-term story remains unwritten. The coming months will be critical as the project transitions from a successful launch to proving its durability, utility, and trustworthiness in a demanding market. This milestone is less of a finish line and more of a powerful starting gun for the next phase of stablecoin evolution.
Q1: What is the USD1 stablecoin?A1: The USD1 is a cryptocurrency stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial (WLFI). It is designed to maintain a stable value by being pegged 1:1 to the United States dollar.
Q2: Who is behind World Liberty Financial and the USD1 stablecoin?A2: World Liberty Financial is a firm associated with the Trump family. They announced and manage the USD1 stablecoin project.
Q3: How can I use the USD1 stablecoin?A3: Like other stablecoins, USD1 can be used for trading cryptocurrency pairs, as a store of value to avoid volatility, for low-cost cross-border transfers, and potentially in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
Q4: Is the USD1 stablecoin safe?A4> As with any cryptocurrency, there are risks. The safety of a stablecoin depends heavily on the transparency and adequacy of its dollar reserves. Potential users should research WLFI's audit reports and regulatory compliance.
Q5: Where can I buy or trade the USD1 stablecoin?A5: The USD1 stablecoin is listed on various cryptocurrency exchanges. You can check its current listing and trading pairs on data aggregator websites like CoinMarketCap.
Q6: What does a $3 billion market cap mean for a stablecoin?A6: A $3 billion market capitalization indicates that there are $3 billion worth of USD1 tokens in circulation. It is a sign of significant adoption, liquidity, and trust from the market in a relatively short time.
Found this analysis of the surging USD1 stablecoin insightful? The stablecoin landscape is evolving rapidly, and understanding these shifts is key. Share this article on X, Facebook, or LinkedIn to spark a conversation with your network about the future of digital dollars and major market milestones.
To learn more about the latest stablecoin and cryptocurrency market trends, explore our article on key developments shaping the future of institutional adoption and digital finance.
This post USD1 Stablecoin Soars: World Liberty Financial's Trump-Linked Token Hits $3 Billion Milestone first appeared on BitcoinWorld.
Coins
Tether
$ 0.99935
USDC
$ 0.99975
World
$ 0.498
USD Coin (Wormhole)
$ 0.99965
Arbitrum Nova Bridged USDC
$ 1.0073
Funds
United
LAUNCH
Milestone
Tether
World
Share:
Coins
Tether
$ 0.99935
USDC
$ 0.99975
World
$ 0.498
USD Coin (Wormhole)
$ 0.99965
Arbitrum Nova Bridged USDC
$ 1.0073
Funds
United
LAUNCH
Milestone
Tether
World
Share:
Read More
By checking the past five years of bitcoin BTC$88,140.78 CME futures trading data, it is possible to assess where that crypto has historically spent time consolidating and, by extension, where support has been more or less established.
One useful way to frame this is by examining the number of trading days bitcoin has spent within specific price bands. The more time price has spent in a given range, the more opportunity there has been for positions to be built, which can later translate into stronger support.
Data from Investing.com shows clear disparities across price ranges. Excluding the very brief time bitcoin traded at record highs above $120,000, BTC has spent the least amount of time in the $70,000 to $79,999 band, just 28 trading days. Further, it has spent just 49 days in the $80,000 to $89,999 range. By contrast, lower price zones such as $30,000 to $39,999 or $40,000 to $49,999 saw almost two hundred trading days, highlighting how extensively those areas were tested and consolidated.
For most of December, bitcoin has been trading in that $80,000-$90,000 range following its sharp pullback from the October all-time high. That correction has retraced price back toward an area where the market has historically spent relatively little time, especially when compared with much of 2024, during which bitcoin spent a significant number of days between $50,000 and $70,000. This uneven distribution suggests that support in the $80,000s, and even between $70,000 and $79,999, is less developed than in lower ranges.
This observation is reinforced by Glassnode data. The UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD) shows where the current supply of bitcoin last moved, using an entity-adjusted framework that assigns each entity's full balance to its average acquisition price.
The URPD indicates a noticeable lack of supply concentrated between $70,000 and $80,000, aligning with the futures data. Both datasets suggest that if bitcoin were to undergo another corrective phase, the $70,000 to $80,000 region could represent a logical area where price may need to spend more time consolidating to establish stronger support.Disclaimer: This analysis is based on the daily Open price of Bitcoin CME futures, with weekends excluded, meaning the figures reflect how often bitcoin began a trading session within each price band rather than intraday or closing price activity.
More For You
State of the Blockchain 2025
L1 tokens broadly underperformed in 2025 despite a backdrop of regulatory and institutional wins. Explore the key trends defining ten major blockchains below.
What to know:
2025 was defined by a stark divergence: structural progress collided with stagnant price action. Institutional milestones were reached and TVL increased across most major ecosystems, yet the majority of large-cap Layer-1 tokens finished the year with negative or flat returns.
This report analyzes the structural decoupling between network usage and token performance. We examine 10 major blockchain ecosystems, exploring protocol versus application revenues, key ecosystem narratives, mechanics driving institutional adoption, and the trends to watch as we head into 2026.
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Bitcoin and ether ETFs see outflows ahead of Christmas, led by IBIT and ETHE
The biggest single-day exit came from BlackRock's IBIT, which saw $91.37 million leave the fund. Grayscale's GBTC followed with a $24.62 million outflow.
What to know:
Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation.
By checking the past five years of bitcoin BTC$88,140.78 CME futures trading data, it is possible to assess where that crypto has historically spent time consolidating and, by extension, where support has been more or less established.
One useful way to frame this is by examining the number of trading days bitcoin has spent within specific price bands. The more time price has spent in a given range, the more opportunity there has been for positions to be built, which can later translate into stronger support.
Data from Investing.com shows clear disparities across price ranges. Excluding the very brief time bitcoin traded at record highs above $120,000, BTC has spent the least amount of time in the $70,000 to $79,999 band, just 28 trading days. Further, it has spent just 49 days in the $80,000 to $89,999 range. By contrast, lower price zones such as $30,000 to $39,999 or $40,000 to $49,999 saw almost two hundred trading days, highlighting how extensively those areas were tested and consolidated.
For most of December, bitcoin has been trading in that $80,000-$90,000 range following its sharp pullback from the October all-time high. That correction has retraced price back toward an area where the market has historically spent relatively little time, especially when compared with much of 2024, during which bitcoin spent a significant number of days between $50,000 and $70,000. This uneven distribution suggests that support in the $80,000s, and even between $70,000 and $79,999, is less developed than in lower ranges.
This observation is reinforced by Glassnode data. The UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD) shows where the current supply of bitcoin last moved, using an entity-adjusted framework that assigns each entity's full balance to its average acquisition price.
The URPD indicates a noticeable lack of supply concentrated between $70,000 and $80,000, aligning with the futures data. Both datasets suggest that if bitcoin were to undergo another corrective phase, the $70,000 to $80,000 region could represent a logical area where price may need to spend more time consolidating to establish stronger support.Disclaimer: This analysis is based on the daily Open price of Bitcoin CME futures, with weekends excluded, meaning the figures reflect how often bitcoin began a trading session within each price band rather than intraday or closing price activity.
More For You
State of the Blockchain 2025
L1 tokens broadly underperformed in 2025 despite a backdrop of regulatory and institutional wins. Explore the key trends defining ten major blockchains below.
What to know:
2025 was defined by a stark divergence: structural progress collided with stagnant price action. Institutional milestones were reached and TVL increased across most major ecosystems, yet the majority of large-cap Layer-1 tokens finished the year with negative or flat returns.
This report analyzes the structural decoupling between network usage and token performance. We examine 10 major blockchain ecosystems, exploring protocol versus application revenues, key ecosystem narratives, mechanics driving institutional adoption, and the trends to watch as we head into 2026.
More For You
Bitcoin and ether ETFs see outflows ahead of Christmas, led by IBIT and ETHE
The biggest single-day exit came from BlackRock's IBIT, which saw $91.37 million leave the fund. Grayscale's GBTC followed with a $24.62 million outflow.
What to know:
Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation.
Thu, Dec 25, 2025 | Rajab 5, 1447 | Fajr 05:39 | DXB 23.1°C
DESK Token will be backed by high-quality, yield-generating real-estate assets while simultaneously powering seamless access to Hotdesk's worldwide on-demand workspace network
Published: Thu 25 Dec 2025, 4:38 PM
In a milestone announcement revealed during Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Emirates Coin Investment (EmCoin), the first UAE SCA-licensed Virtual Asset Service Provider, and Hotdesk, the global leader in flexible workspace technology, signed an MoU to explore launching the groundbreaking DESK Token Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
In a milestone announcement revealed during Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Emirates Coin Investment (EmCoin), the first UAE SCA-licensed Virtual Asset Service Provider, and Hotdesk, the global leader in flexible workspace technology, signed an MoU to explore launching the groundbreaking DESK Token Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
Envisioned as a hybrid security-and-utility token, DESK Token will be backed by high-quality, yield-generating real-estate assets (such as Grade A Offices and Coworking Spaces) while simultaneously powering seamless access to Hotdesk's worldwide on-demand workspace network. This dual-value model introduces an unprecedented asset class to the digital-asset space real-world yield combined with real utility.
Envisioned as a hybrid security-and-utility token, DESK Token will be backed by high-quality, yield-generating real-estate assets (such as Grade A Offices and Coworking Spaces) while simultaneously powering seamless access to Hotdesk's worldwide on-demand workspace network. This dual-value model introduces an unprecedented asset class to the digital-asset space real-world yield combined with real utility.
With Hotdesk as the anchor utility partner, holders of the DESK Token will benefit from tokenized access to Hotdesk's 2,300+ workspaces across 81+ countries, enabling them to book, work, and collaborate globally with unmatched freedom.
With Hotdesk as the anchor utility partner, holders of the DESK Token will benefit from tokenized access to Hotdesk's 2,300+ workspaces across 81+ countries, enabling them to book, work, and collaborate globally with unmatched freedom.
The initiative will follow a fully regulated path, with EmCoin intending to support DESK Token within its compliant digital-asset ecosystem. This further strengthened by ecosystem partners including Al Maryah Community Bank (Mbank) and Singularity Venture Hub, providing robust institutional backing.
The initiative will follow a fully regulated path, with EmCoin intending to support DESK Token within its compliant digital-asset ecosystem. This further strengthened by ecosystem partners including Al Maryah Community Bank (Mbank) and Singularity Venture Hub, providing robust institutional backing.
Pioneering the future of workspace and investment, this MoU reinforces Abu Dhabi's and the UAE's strategic commitment to shaping the next wave of digital-economy innovation. By merging regulated token infrastructure with the utility of a fast-growing global workspace platform, the DESK Token aims to create a new bridge between digital finance and the future of work.
Pioneering the future of workspace and investment, this MoU reinforces Abu Dhabi's and the UAE's strategic commitment to shaping the next wave of digital-economy innovation. By merging regulated token infrastructure with the utility of a fast-growing global workspace platform, the DESK Token aims to create a new bridge between digital finance and the future of work.
DESK Token is designed as a real-world asset-backed, instantly usable digital asset, built for investors, businesses, creators, freelancers, and global teams. Powered from Abu Dhabi, engineered for the world.
DESK Token is designed as a real-world asset-backed, instantly usable digital asset, built for investors, businesses, creators, freelancers, and global teams. Powered from Abu Dhabi, engineered for the world.
Mohamed Khaled, Founder & CEO of Hotdesk, and Co-Founder & President of DESK Token, said: “Our goal is to launch the world's first hybrid token ICO from the heart of Abu Dhabi, subject to all required regulatory approvals. DESK Token is a hybrid digital asset initiative supported by a consortium of partners, including Hotdesk, MBank, EmCoin, and Singularity Venture Hub, and is designed to be backed by real-world assets that generate returns, deliver real-world utility, and create real value. This vision can only be achieved through Abu Dhabi's forward-thinking regulatory framework and innovation-driven ecosystem, and uniquely enabled through collaboration with EmCoin, the UAE's first SCA-licensed virtual asset service provider.”
Mohamed Khaled, Founder & CEO of Hotdesk, and Co-Founder & President of DESK Token, said: “Our goal is to launch the world's first hybrid token ICO from the heart of Abu Dhabi, subject to all required regulatory approvals. DESK Token is a hybrid digital asset initiative supported by a consortium of partners, including Hotdesk, MBank, EmCoin, and Singularity Venture Hub, and is designed to be backed by real-world assets that generate returns, deliver real-world utility, and create real value. This vision can only be achieved through Abu Dhabi's forward-thinking regulatory framework and innovation-driven ecosystem, and uniquely enabled through collaboration with EmCoin, the UAE's first SCA-licensed virtual asset service provider.”
Yasin Arafat, Chief Operating Officer of EmCoin, said: “By collaborating with Hotdesk, we are bringing a pioneering workspace platform into the blockchain world through a new hybrid token that combines practical everyday utility across a global network, with underlying real-world asset backing.”
Yasin Arafat, Chief Operating Officer of EmCoin, said: “By collaborating with Hotdesk, we are bringing a pioneering workspace platform into the blockchain world through a new hybrid token that combines practical everyday utility across a global network, with underlying real-world asset backing.”
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Scientific Reports
volume 15, Article number: 44512 (2025)
Cite this article
This research introduces a strategy to integrate blockchain technology with Internet of Things. Amalgamation of blockchain technology and Internet of Things is vital as one of them offers to connect patients remotely and other provides a higher level of privacy, secure decentralized system and immutable data storage. The studies in the past were merely storing patient vitals overlooking the significance of medical reports. A medical history remains incomplete without storing medical reports. This research is offering a technique to store both medical reports and patient vitals on the blockchain ledger. To prevent overwhelming the blockchain network, a node.js application is developed which store the medical reports on the IPFS server and retrieve their corresponding hash values. Thereafter, these hash values along with the patient details and vitals are then transmitted to blockchain ledger. This study makes use of MAX30100 and DS18B20 sensors to monitor heart rate, blood oxygen and body temperature. ESP32 microcontroller is used to integrate these sensors and fetch their data periodically. Hyperledger fabric blockchain framework is used for maintaining the ledger and Hyperledger caliper tool is used to evaluate the overall performance of the proposed system. The performance is computed on three key parameters: reliability, throughput and latency. Reliability is evaluated in two phases, one with caliper tool and another with real RPM (Remote Patient Monitoring) unit. In the first phase, caliper tool transmitted 1500 transactions which are then verified by reading the ledger. In the second phase, RPM unit transmitted 480 transactions to blockchain ledger within 8 h. This study confirms that all transmitted transactions are successfully recorded on the blockchain ledger without any loss or failure. Medical reports submitted on IPFS server are also cross verified and found to be intact. The second experiment is carried out using two, four and eight workers attempting to execute 1000 transactions cumulatively at 40, 80 and 160 TPS (Transactions Per Second) respectively. It is noteworthy that when caliper tool is configured to execute transactions at 40 and 80 TPS, the achieved TPS remain unchanged. In contrast to this, when caliper tool is configured to send transactions at 160 TPS it could only achieve the transaction rate of 94 TPS. The peak of average latency is recorded as 0.45 s when transactions are executed at 94 TPS. The lowest latency is observed as 0.24 s at 40 TPS. As far as the throughput is concerned, the highest throughput is observed as 91.4 TPS when the caliper tool is attempting to execute transactions at 94 TPS. The system could achieve throughput of 39.8 and 79.4 TPS when caliper attempts to send transactions at 40 and 80 TPS respectively. The unique contribution of this study is to converge Hyperledger fabric blockchain framework, InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and Internet of Things health sensors to develop a comprehensive solution for storing and retrieving the medical histories of remote patients, effectively managing both patient vitals and complex medical reports without compromising reliability and overall throughput.
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) facilities are vital for countries having a large geographical areas and dense population. RPM facilities are even more crucial for nations with limited medical personnel. In the past few years, RPM facilities in India has gained significant growth due to growing healthcare needs, large demographic area and growing elderly population. Another reason contributing to significant attention in remote patient monitoring is due to large volume of population lives in rural areas where healthcare facilities are often inadequate. Such geographical barriers can be easily overcome by use of RPM which allows doctors to monitor patients in rural and remote locations without travelling1. Thus, RPM reduces both time and cost and brings virtual presence of a doctor to remote areas2. In India large volume of patients are suffering from hypertension, respiratory disorders, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. RPM can help such patients through continuous monitoring and prevent complications and restrict the disease for progressing. In nations having dense population, hospitals are overcrowded and introducing RPM facilities can reduce unnecessary hospital visits to ease the pressure on medical staff and healthcare facilities. This would also minimize the risk of spreading infection as witnessed during the COVID-192.
Remote patient monitoring is blissful for remote patients as they can manage their health conditions from home, reducing out-of-pocket expenses for travel and hospitalization3. This is very significant for poor patients who pays for healthcare out-of-pocket. As stated earlier, RPM is even more blissful for elderly patients as they can receive continuous health monitoring at home. Thus, RPM also resolves the issue of limited mobility4. The technological advancements such as smartphone penetration, digital health technologies, high speed Internet are also contributing into the growth of RPM.
During COVID-19 healthcare professionals highlighted the need of RPM as it offers limited physical contact and provides an environment where patient monitoring is possible in quarantine or isolation5. Government initiatives like the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and telemedicine guidelines have set the stage for widespread adoption of digital health and RPM solutions in India. These policies are encouraging the integration of digital tools to bridge healthcare gaps.
Due to RPM the collection of continuous patient health data is made possible. Such data is significant as it can provide insights into population health trends when analyzed properly6. This approach of data analyses leads to predictive health management and policy making. Another key benefit of RPM is it ensures monitoring in a real time and thus leading to timely intervention. RPM can help reduce complications and improve patient health particularly for patients having chronic disease which demands constant care.
The most critical thing in RPM is maintaining privacy because sensitive health information is continuously collected and stored electronically6. Ensuring privacy is essential due to legal, ethical and security considerations. Storing patient health data includes basic health information, complete medical history, medications and real time health metrics. Revealing such data to unauthorized person can lead to identity theft, discrimination, or stigmatization of patients. Thus, privacy preservation is crucial to protect them from any harm and preserves their dignity. Moreover, highly secure RPM systems can significantly encourage patients to adopt RPM technologies. If patients are not confident that their data is handled securely and privately, they may be reluctant to participate in RPM programs, limiting the effectiveness of the technology.
Several countries, including India, the patients health data is protected by laws and regulations. These regulations mandate strict privacy standards. For example, India and United States ensure data privacy through Personal Data Protection Bill and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) respectively7. Non-compliance with these regulations can lead to legal penalties and damage the reputation of healthcare organizations. Moreover, RPM systems are highly dependent on cloud storage and mobile applications and thus making them susceptible to cyberattacks such as hacking, phishing, or ransomware. So, it is crucial to maintain patient data by introducing highly secure encryption techniques. Compromising such data can lead to stress and anxiety among the patients. Thus, privacy is essential to prevent stigmatization or emotional distress.
Blockchain technology can significantly enhance the privacy and security of patient data in remote patient monitoring (RPM) by providing decentralized, transparent, and tamper-proof systems6,8. It is seen that traditional digital healthcare systems were relying on centralized servers which makes the whole system vulnerable to breaches or attacks. The blockchain technology works on decentralized system where data is distributed across multiple nodes and thus avoids single point of failure. Due to this decentralized behavior it even more difficult for hackers to compromise patient data. Maintaining patient data on blockchain is highly secure as data is not kept in plain text. In fact, data is encrypted using advanced cryptographic methods9. Only authorized parties with the correct cryptographic keys can access and decrypt this data, ensuring that even if the data is intercepted, it remains unreadable.
Blockchain offers an immutable ledger which means once data is recorded it cannot be altered or deleted without consensus. During the consensus process all nodes in the network participate and take decision mutually10. A hacker must breach at least 51% of the nodes of the entire network to change the decision during the consensus process. This immutability guarantees that patient records are tamper-proof, preventing unauthorized changes that could compromise data integrity or privacy. Apart from the privacy, the blockchain system may allow patient centric environment where patient can decide who can have access to data. In such environment, patient can grant and revoke access to healthcare providers, researchers, or insurance companies. This ensures that only authorized individuals can view or modify their medical data. Blockchain maintains log of every action and thus can provide a complete detail of who accessed the data, when, and for what purpose. This ensures accountability and reduces the risk of unauthorized data access.
Blockchain technology offers a mechanism for anonymizing or pseudonymizing patient data. pseudonymous identities ensure to preserve sensitive information securely and allows data sharing with third parties without revealing the identity of the patient. To automate privacy policies and permissions, smart contracts can be deployed on the blockchain11. For example, a smart contract can be programmed to automatically grant access to a specific healthcare provider when certain conditions are met and then revoke that access once it's no longer needed. Blockchain based healthcare systems are highly resistant to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which can disrupt traditional non blockchain based healthcare data systems. Since RPM systems rely on the continuous flow of data, blockchain's security ensures uninterrupted service while protecting patient data from malicious disruptions.
Most of the studies dealing with blockchain and remote patient monitoring do not deal with patient medical reports6,12,13. There are several reasons why blockchain and remote patient monitoring (RPM) studies typically do not focus on storing complete medical reports directly on the blockchain. While blockchain offers excellent privacy, security, and transparency, there are technical and practical limitations that make it less suitable for directly storing large volumes of sensitive medical data, such as detailed medical reports. Most blockchains have limited storage capacity because they are designed to handle small-sized, transactional data, such as logs of actions, timestamps, and metadata. Medical reports, imaging files (e.g., X-rays, MRI scans), and large datasets associated with remote patient monitoring can be quite large, making blockchain an inefficient and expensive option for storing this data13. As the volume of data grows, storing large medical records on-chain would lead to scalability problems, increasing the size of the blockchain significantly. This would slow down network performance and increase the cost of operating the blockchain.
Medical reports often contain highly sensitive information that patients might not want to be exposed or made accessible, even indirectly. Blockchain's transparency, which is one of its strengths, could also be a potential drawback in healthcare if not properly managed. Although encryption can safeguard data, storing the data on-chain increases the complexity of ensuring that only authorized individuals can decrypt and access it. Storing data on blockchain is expensive, especially in public blockchain networks where fees are tied to data size. As medical reports often include detailed documents, images, and multimedia content, the cost of directly storing these on a blockchain could be prohibitive, particularly when dealing with large patient populations. Thus, integration of blockchain and internet of things is crucial for remote patient monitoring environment.
The major contribution of this work can be summarized as follows: First, we disclose the present state of the art with context to blockchain in healthcare sector. Second, we demonstrate the technique to store both medical reports and patient health parameters coming from IoT (Internet of Things) sensors on the blockchain network in such a way which do not slow down the network performance. Third, we demonstrate how to evaluate overall performance in terms of throughput and latency of such systems at different transaction rates.
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) can significantly improve the quality of life for elderly and disabled individuals by offering continuous, convenient, and proactive healthcare management. RPM allows for continuous tracking of vital signs (like heart rate, blood pressure, glucose levels) and other health metrics3. This real-time monitoring ensures early detection of potential health issues, allowing for prompt medical intervention, which is especially important for the elderly and disabled, who may have chronic conditions requiring constant attention. Many elderly people suffer from chronic illnesses like hypertension, or respiratory disorders. RPM systems help them manage these conditions better by providing continuous feedback on their health status and ensuring that medications or treatments are adjusted as needed.
For many elderly and disabled individuals, frequent trips to the doctor or hospital can be physically challenging or even impossible. RPM allows them to receive care in the comfort of their home, eliminating the need for constant travel and enabling them to live more independently4,5. RPM can alleviate the burden on family members or professional caregivers by providing real-time health updates and alerts. Caregivers can monitor health remotely and focus their in-person efforts on critical tasks, freeing up time and reducing burnout. Elderly patients suffering from cognitive impairments such as dementia, RPM can help monitor behavioral patterns, sleep cycles, and physiological data to detect any declines in cognitive health. This can aid in providing early interventions and more effective management of these conditions.
Several efforts have been made in the past to offer blockchain based healthcare systems but each one of them have pros and cons. Table 1 summarize the present state of art and illustrates how our proposed solution is significantly different from others.
It is clear from Table 1 that several attempts have been made in the past to propose and implement blockchain based solutions to store patient health records but a complete health record is incomplete without patient health reports such as X-Rays, MRI and other sensitive reports. This attempt was made by some researchers, but such studies were either non-blockchain based or not designed for remote patient monitoring environment.
The authors in the study14 aimed to resolve several challenges of remote healthcare solutions such as privacy of patients, data security and system responsiveness. This study designed a blockchain framework which could even work in a resource constrained IoT environment. This study claimed to achieve significant data integrity and security without imposing computational overhead and thus offering an environment which is suitable to integrate and work with devices having limited processing capabilities. The only limitation of this study was not to integrate medical images with EHR, which is crucial while managing medical histories.
Some authors15 designed and implemented a blockchain based framework that is capable to interact with Internet of Things (IoT) devices to enhance personalized healthcare monitoring systems. The proposed system periodically collects data from IoT devices and then stores it on a distributed ledger using blockchain technology. The paper outlines a system architecture that includes patient interfaces, healthcare provider modules, and data analytics components, all interconnected through a secure blockchain network. This study did not attempt to deal with medical reports and performance evaluation in terms of system throughput and latency was not computed.
Another study16 introduced a secure architecture for smart health monitoring systems leveraging blockchain technology. The authors propose the BSSHM system, which integrates various health data monitoring sensors such as temperature and heartbeat sensors to collect real-time patient data. By integrating real-time data collection with secure transmission and storage mechanisms, and by validating the system's security and performance through formal verification and testbed implementation, the study contributes significantly to the field of secure healthcare systems.This study too ignored the medical reports and restricted to deal with vital sensors data only.
The study17 presented a robust IoT-based architecture that enhances the remote monitoring of COVID-19 patients by integrating wearable sensor technology with established early warning systems. The inclusion of a blockchain-based consent mechanism addresses data privacy concerns, while the system's adaptability ensures its applicability in diverse healthcare settings. By facilitating continuous monitoring and early detection of health deterioration, the proposed framework aims to improve patient outcomes and optimize healthcare resource utilization during pandemic situations. The study did not propose any solution for maintaining medical histories that is enriched with keeping medical reports.
In6 authors presented a comprehensive approach to integrating IoT technologies into remote patient monitoring systems, with a strong emphasis on security and privacy. The lightweight nature of the proposed framework ensures its applicability in various healthcare settings, potentially leading to improved patient outcomes and more efficient healthcare delivery. Although this study proposed a decentralized approach by using blockchain technology but did not compute the performance evaluation on various essential parameters.
In another study12, authors introduced a e-healthcare system using a blockchain technology. The offered system was claimed robust and secure and capable to work with IoMT devices. The study claimed to resolve critical healthcare environment issues such as interoperability, privacy and security. This study does not offer essential details of managing health records.
In the study13, authors presented a solution by amalgamation of IoMT, blockchain and federated learning. They offered a very comprehensive electronic health record system. This amalgamation offered an innovative approach to addresses key challenges in such environment such as data security, model accuracy and a scalable and efficient solution18.
The system proposed in19 combined a blockchain technology with federated learning to address privacy and security concerns on the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). This integration ensures that patient data remains decentralized and secure, while still allowing for effective machine learning model training. There is a strong need to maintain medical reports on Electronic Health Records (EHRs) because they offer several critical benefits such as improved diagnosis and faster emergency response.
In the study20, authors presented a comprehensive ecosystem for real time monitoring of diabetic patients by utilizing blockchain technology. The authors offered a solution by integrating Blockchain, Machine Learning, and IoT together. The proposed system was designed to improve patient care by timely interventions.
The authors in21 proposed a framework capable to deal with chronic diseases through the integration of Internet of Things, blockchain technology, and the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). There was no provision to keep complex medical reports on electronic health records. Likewise in the study14, authors presented a more advanced solution for EHR environment that works in a robust and highly secure fashion by leveraging blockchain technology. The framework offered in22 offered a solution for remote patient environment that offers high security and ensures that medical histories remain unaltered during transmission and storage. The system proposed in23 combined the IoT sensors for RPM environment by using blockchain technology for secure data transmission and storage. This integration aimed to provide a reliable and tamper-proof method for managing sensitive medical information without dealing with medical reports.
In another study24, authors demonstrated that Hyperledger Fabric offers a viable blockchain-based solution for secure and efficient healthcare data management. By leveraging its permissioned nature and robust access control mechanisms, the framework can enhance the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of medical records, aligning with the stringent requirements of the healthcare industry. The solution proposed in this study was not for RPM environment. Similarly, the study proposed in24 makes use of minifabric to implement a healthcare system but lacking in preserving medical reports and performance evaluation.
The related literature clearly depicts that an enhanced distributed electronic healthcare system is required that can work efficiently in remote patient monitoring environment and can deal with both vital data of patients such as heart rate, blood saturation, body temperature and several other necessary vitals and also provides a way to maintain complex medical reports and integrate it with blockchain technology for seamless read/write operations for authorized users such as medical staff.
Implementing RPM using Hyperledger Fabric blockchain framework ensure secure, efficient, and privacy-preserving data exchange between healthcare providers, patients, and other relevant stakeholders. The methodology proposed for this research work is depicted in the Fig. 1. Although several blockchain framework are available such as Ethereum, Corda and Quorum but this study is deliberately using Hyperledger fabric due to performance concerns. Hyperledger fabric is recommended for healthcare applications due to its modular architecture, optimized consensus algorithms and permissioned network which ensures high throughput and privacy. Hyperledger fabric use RAFT consensus algorithm which is much faster and energy efficient than Proof of Work and Proof of Stake algorithms. Several experimental studies in the past have proved that Hyperledger fabric is much faster that others25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32. RPM unit using ESP32 microcontroller due to its capabilities to work efficiently in IoT environment33,34,35.
Methodology to implement the proposed system.
Hyperledger framework offers high throughput and low latency as compared to others. Moreover, corda framework is primarily used for financial transactions only whereas Hyperledger fabric is a general-purpose framework and suitable for healthcare applications. As far as the Ethereum is concerned, it is public in nature and very slow in committing transactions. It can commit 15 to 30 transactions per second depending on the network. On the other hand, Hyperledger fabric can commit hundreds of transactions per second. Ethereum is slower due to its public nature and proof of stake consensus mechanism. Hyperledger fabric is much faster due to its modern consensus mechanism supported by RAFT that works without mining. The Fig. 1 depicts that there are four major components to develop the proposed system. The complete proposed model is explained in Fig. 2.
Proposed model.
InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) needs to be installed first which would maintain heavy stuff like medical reports in different data formats such as portable document format (PDF), Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) and Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG). The end user will be responsible to upload medical reports on the IPFS. This IPFS can be install as a public node or a local node. In this study IPFS is installed as a local node for experimentation purpose. Local node always run on specific IP address and a port number. Combination of IP address and port number makes a socket which can be used by client application programming interface (API) to store the reports.
Fabric client SDK is an API that is used to interact with the Hyperledger fabric smart contract. This study is using an ipfs-http-client API to store the data. This API stores the data to IPFS and gets a content identifier (CID) in return which is then stored on the blockchain ledger using fabric-network API. Content identifier is a hash of the document stored on the IPFS. Blokchain network allows fabric-network API to interact with the network if the client requesting to store a transaction is valid and already registered on the network. When a medical staff or a patient wants to read the medical report, fabric-network API send a request to blockchain smart contract using a patient ID and report meta-data. Smart contract will then return the hash of the medical report. Thereafter this hash is used to send a query to IPFS to get the full report in PDF or JPEG format.
Smart contract is a set of modules that define the business logic of the application. This study is using a Node.js programming language to write the smart contracts. Node.js supports event-driven asynchronous programming environment which is perfect for making Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST API). Smart contract always resides on blockchain network. A specific smart contract module gets executed when a valid entity requests for it. Trivial examples of smart contract modules are reading transactions and writing transactions on the ledger. Fabric-network API submit hash of medical report to blockchain smart contract which then stores it on blockchain ledger along with patient ID.
Smart contracts are intelligent programs and known as chaincode. The entire business logic is defined within the smart contract. A smart contract includes a logic to verify the identity, role and permission before performing any read and write operations. These smart contracts are powered with membership service providers (MSPs) which restrict actions based on identity and role. A smart contract always validates ID's and inputs and then reject the unauthorized entities. Hyperledger fabric always grant a unique IDs to patients and doctors as every single entity must be registered first on the network before interacting with the ledger. Access control is managed through these ID's. Integrity is maintained by introducing validating inputs, endorsing transaction by all peers, ordered by ordering service and finally committed on the ledger. Data auditability is also supported as all transactions processed by smart contracts are immutably recorder on the ledger with timestamp and transaction ID.
This study is also using an RPM unit to send patient vitals to blockchain ledger. This RPM unit is making use of ESP32 microcontroller to collect and transmit data to blockchain ledger. ESP32 microcontroller is connected with two sensors. One sensor is used to fetch heart rate and blood saturation, and another sensor is used to fetch body temperature. As RPM unit cannot directly execute smart contract, a small node.js application is developed in between RPM unit and blockchain network. This application receives a transaction from the RPM unit and then using fabric-network API stores it on the blockchain ledger.
This study is first implementing the proposed model and then evaluating the overall performance of the proposed system with context to throughput and latency. This study employs Hyperledger Caliper scripts specifically developed to fulfill its objectives, and these scripts are publicly accessible at36.
The proposed model is illustrated in Fig. 2. The proposed model has several entities which work together to perform a read and write operations. The entire process starts with a end user which may be either a doctor or a patient. The patient is equipped with an RPM unit which keeps sending vital parameters to the blockchain network. Such long histories of patient vitals are useful to track the patient health. In case, a patient or a doctor needs to upload a medical report of a patient which are usually in PDF, JPEG or DICOM format, then either of them can do this by sending a request to IPFS. It is not recommended to store heavy stuff such as medical reports directly on blockchain as doing this would slow down the network and heavy cost in terms of energy, space and time will incur. In fact, on uploading medical reports on IPFS, the IPFS server will return a hash of the uploaded document which can then be stored on the blockchain network along with patient ID. So, physical reports are always kept on IPFS server and its hash on the blockchain ledger. The hash returned by the IPFS server is then submitted to blockchain ledger. Blockchain server authenticates the end user and then store the transaction on the ledger. The entire task of receiving hash, authenticating end user and storing transaction on the ledger is accomplished by the smart contract which is also known as chaincode. The chaincode remains available on blockchain network channel and peers. In the proposed model, blockchain network is using a single channel and two organizations. Each organization is having a single peer each which also keeps a copy of smart contract and a ledger. These peers are also known as endorsing peers which mutually decides to store the transaction on the ledger. The whole system offers a fault tolerance environment as same blockchain ledger is available on both the organizations.
The chaincode functions gets executed whenever an end user make a request for read or write operations. To fetch a medical report, patient or a doctor needs to retrieve the hash of the medical report by sending a query to blockchain network which demands patient ID and some metadata. Blockchain network first authenticates the end user and then share the hash. On receiving the hash, end user client application will then send this hash to the IPFS server and demand the full medical report. IPFS verifies the hash, authenticates the end user and then share the full medical report.
The RPM unit keep monitoring patient health vitals and then prepares a transaction periodically and sends it in a (JavaScript Object Notation) JSON format. RPM unit can never execute smart contract directly due to security concerns. The transactions are sent to Node.js API as illustrated in Fig. 2. Only this API knows the network details such as channel name, chaincode name and details of organizations and peers. End users do not have any idea of network details. Node.js API checks the transaction and then execute the necessary chaincode function such as write operation or read operation.
This section id disclosing the environment setup for the proposed model. The complete environment setup is disclosed in Table 2.
Docker is a utility which keeps hyperledger fabric components such as peers, channel, chaincode and orderer on a separate space. This way all these components are isolated from each other and avoid conflicts. Although these components are isolated but still, they communicate with each other. the cURL utility is used for issuing GET/POST requests and is a very handy utility for testing, debugging and issuing HTTP requests.
Ubuntu is the underlying operating system which supports all modern Docker versions and operations. Node package manager (NPM) and it helps to maintain versioning and maintains correct folder structure to deploy chanincode. Fabric is a blockchain framework which supports pluggable consensus mechanism and capable to handle heavy traffic and provides high throughput and low latency. The details of vital sensors used within RPM unit are disclosed in the Table 3.
MAX30100 sensor detects the heart-beat and checks how much oxygen is carried in blood. This sensor uses infrared light on the skin and then calculates how much light is absorbed. Depending on absorption at different wavelength it calculates the pulse rate and blood saturation (SpO2). On the other hand, DS18B20 measures the body temperature. The proposed model is implemented on Ubuntu operating system with Hyperledger fabric blockchain framework. All components of fabric blockchain network are illustrated in the Fig. 3.
Components of implemented network.
The experiment 1 is designed to check the reliability of the proposed system. This is an important factor which ensures that all transactions are safe and available on the ledger. Large number of transactions failing to commit on a ledger can lead to unreliable network and may cause serious consequences.
The proposed model is tested by sending large number of transactions and then verifying the ledger. The experiment 1 is designed to throw 1500 transactions on the network with unique patient IDs. Thereafter these transactions are read from the ledger to verify how many transactions are successfully committed on the ledger. Such heavy traffic can be generated by Hyperledger caliper tool. This tool can be programmed to throw massive transactions on the ledger. This tool must be configured with blockchain network information such a channel name, chaincode name and peer details. The caliper tool demands three configuration files. Details of these configuration files are illustrated in Table 4.
Once the caliper is configured it knows where to throw the transactions and which operation to perform (read/write). The caliper tool is also configured with 4 workers which means four end users are making transactions parallelly. Total 1500 transactions are committed which are equally divided into four workers.
This means that each worker is attempting to commit 375 transactions on the blockchain ledger. The caliper tool was configured in such a way so that each worker can transmit transactions at 25 transactions per second (TPS). As four workers were working in parallel, the blockchain network was handling a cumulative load of 100 TPS. The outcome of experiment 1 is illustrated in the Fig. 4. The results show that none of the transaction gets failed. This indicates that the proposed blockchain network is fully reliable.
Reliability evaluation results.
Hyperledger caliper tool mimic the real-world environment and test the proposed model and network. As caliper results proved that the system is reliable, another experiment was conducted to test the network on real RPM unit. RPM unit initiate communication by sending packets at regular intervals. RPM unit collects patient vital data for 60 s, during this period it takes 12 readings after every 5 s. Then the mean of pulse rate, blood saturation and body temperature are calculated from these reading. Thereafter, a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) packet is created with patient ID and forwarded towards the Node.js API as illustrated in the Fig. 2. This API knows the blockchain network and forward transactions to the network if the sender is authenticated. The complete pseudocode for collecting and forwarding transaction is illustrated below. It is clear from previous discussion that only a single packet is transferred every minute which is a favorable scenario for blockchain network as blockchain should not be used for committing frequent transactions. The RPM unit is tested for eight hours and during this period 480 transactions were forwarded to the blockchain network. Thereafter, the ledger was checked and found that all transactions were committed without any failure.
Reading vitals and forwarding to blockchain network(RPM Unit logic)
Figure 5 show the results of the RPM unit testing. To make the system more reliable, RPM unit is supported with battery which can last up to 8 to 10 h. The system is also programmed to buffer transactions in the absence of Internet connectivity and deliver pending transactions first when the connectivity is resume. The proposed system is following the concept of queue data structures which follows the FIFO (First in First Out) principle.
RPM unit results.
The caliper tool is not capable to store medical reports on IPFS repository programmatically. To verify availability of such reports on IPFS repository, a separate node.js application is designed. This application receives patient information along with medical report. Subsequently, this application sends the report to the IPFS server and received a content identifier which is a hash of the report. Then this application prepares a transaction having content identifier and patient details and send it towards the blockchain network. Transactions are stored using this application and later IPFS repository is verified to check the availability of these reports. This study is using an ECG (Electrocardiogram) image data set offered by British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre available on the Kaggle public repository platform37. This data set is merely used for uploading ECG reports on IPFS server and storing their hash on blockchain network. This data set is not used for any automated interpretations or analysis. This study confirms that all reports are successfully stored and accessible on the IPFS repository without any failures.
The second experiment is designed to compute the overall performance of the system with context to throughput and latency. These are the most vital parameters that must be computed for such environments. Computing throughput and latency gives a fair estimate that how the proposed system will behave when heavy traffic is imposed on it.
In the previous experiment only one RPM unit was collecting and forwarding the transactions. Assume a scenario where multiple such RPM units are transmitting in parallel and in such conditions, it is essential to measure the overall throughput and latency. In such scenario, throughput refers to how many transactions are committed on the blockchain network. This is measured in transactions per second (TPS). In parallel it is also important to track number of transactions failed in that time frame. In this experiment the Hyperledger caliper tool is used again to mimic the environment where multiple RPM units are transmitting in parallel. The experimental setup is explained in the Table 5.
In the first scenario caliper used two workers where each worker is transmitting at 20 transactions per second. As both workers are transmitting in parallel, the cumulative load becomes 40 TPS. Likewise, when four and eight workers are used the cumulative load becomes 80 and 160 TPS respectively. This study generated the data using the Hyperledger Caliper benchmarking tool. It is clear from the Table 5 that three cumulative data transfer rates were used 40, 80 and 160 TPS respectively with 2, 4 and 8 workers. Four rounds were used for every data transfer rate. For example, 1000 transactions were committed at 40 TPS four times and then their average results are reported. The same logic is applied for other data transfer rates. JSON (JavaScript Object Notations) structure is used for storing the data and source of this synthetic data generation was Hyperledger caliper tool. The maximum size of a single JSON transaction is observed as 4 KB. The use of the Hyperledger Caliper tool for generating large-scale synthetic data in this study is motivated by two primary considerations. First, the proposed research aims to emulate a realistic RPM environment where multiple RPM devices communicate parallelly. Without Hyperledger Caliper tool this experiment needs multiple physical RPM units which is a costly affair. Secondly, caliper tool helps to transfer data at different rates by configuring TPS (transaction per second) to monitor system reliability and throughput for a realistic environment.
The Hyperledger caliper is a smart tool which computes throughput and latency in the background and then generates a report. The complete process of how caliper works is illustrated in the Fig. 6.
Caliper process to evaluate performance.
It is clear from Fig. 6 that each caliper worker waits for the rate controller, then construct the transactions as configured in the workload module and then forward them to the blockchain network. The rate controller defines the transmission speed and workload module defines how the transactions will be constructed and forwarded to the network. As discussed in Table 5, all workers are configured to transmit transactions at 20 TPS.
In fact, caliper demands overall TPS and then it is divided into total workers. For example, if overall TPS is set at 40 TPS and number of workers are two then each worker will transmit at 20 TPS. The results according to experimental setup discussed in Table 5 are shown in Fig. 7 which is reporting achieved rate, average latency, throughput and completion time for the write operation. Throughput and latency for read operation is illustrated in Fig. 8. During both read and write operations, 1000 transactions were committed and read. The equations internally used by the Caliper tool to compute read latency, read throughput, write latency, write throughput, and send rate are explained after Fig. 8. Results generated from caliper are compiled into an excel sheet with the name Hyperledger_Caliper_Output.xlsx and made publicly accessible. This supplementary file is accessible at38.
Performance evaluation (write operation).
Performance evaluation (read operation).
N = Total successfully read transactions, Tread_submit , i = Timestamp when the i-th read transaction was sent, Tread_responses , i = Timestamp when the i-th read transaction received a response
M: Number of successful write transactions, Twrite_submit , i: Timestamp when the i-th write transaction was submitted, Twrite_confirmed , i: Timestamp when the i-th write transaction was committed
N = Total successfully read transactions, T = Total duration of test in seconds
M = Total successfully write transactions, T = Total duration of test in seconds
Nt = Number of submitted transactions, Tsend = Duration of sending phase in seconds.
Two experiments are designed and conducted in this study. The main aim of first experiment is to compute the reliability of the blockchain network built based on the proposed model. To achieve this goal massive transactions needs to be sent towards the blockchain network. Sending massive transactions manually is a tedious task. So, this study utilizes Hyperledger caliper tool which can easily be configured with Hyperledger fabric blockchain network. A total of 1500 transactions were sent by using four parallel workers. These workers can be treated as different end users. In fact, in real scenario multiple end users may exist and perform transactions concurrently.
When multiple workers are assigned in caliper tool, the workload is divided among the workers along with the transaction rate. This means every single worker is assigned the workload of 375 transactions. Cumulatively these 1500 transactions need to be sent at the rate of 100 transactions per second (TPS). As transactions speed is also divided among the workers, every worker is supposed to send traffic at 25 TPS. Doing so has no impact on the overall TPS. When all four workers send transactions simultaneously, the total network traffic reaches 100 TPS within a single second.
Once all transactions are sent to the blockchain network, the blockchain ledger needs to be verified. This operation could be performed either by verifying the ledger manually or by reading the same set of transactions by using the caliper tool. This study makes use of caliper tool. It is important to understand that every transaction must have a unique identity value such as patient enrollment number. While using the caliper tool, this enrollment number was generated programmatically in a sequence. The same set of enrollment numbers are used while reading the same transactions from the blockchain ledger. Following the read operation, it is observed that all 1500 transactions are available on the ledger and none of the transaction gets failed. These results illustrated in Fig. 4 indicates that the proposed system is reliable and capable to handle massive traffic.
The same goal is then achieved by using the RPM unit integrated with MAX30100 and DS18B20 sensors. These sensors monitor heart rate, blood oxygen and body temperature. In an actual environment, these RPM units keep sending patient vitals in the form of transactions to the blockchain network. Thus, it is also vital to ensure reliability by using this RPM unit. RPM unit initiate communication by sending packets at regular intervals. RPM unit collects patient vital data for 60 s, during this period it takes 12 readings after every 5 s. Then the mean of pulse rate, blood saturation and body temperature are calculated from these reading. Thereafter, this newly prepared transaction is sent to the blockchain network.
The RPM unit is tested over an eight-hour period and during this period 480 transactions are sent to the network. Thereafter, the caliper tool is used to read the same set of transactions to ensure that all transactions send during the testing remain intact and accessible. The results illustrated in Fig. 5 indicates that the system is reliable.
Second experiment is designed to measure the performance of the network with context to throughput and latency. This experiment is carried out using two, four and eight workers attempting to execute 1000 transactions cumulatively at 40, 80 and 160 TPS respectively. It is noteworthy from Fig. 6 that when caliper tool is configured to execute transactions at 40 and 80 TPS, the achieved TPS remain unchanged. In contrast to this, when caliper tool is configured to send transactions at 160 TPS it could only achieve the transaction rate of 94 TPS. This behavior suggest that caliper tool is very dynamic and reconfigure itself based on the network feedback. It also indicates that 160 TPS is a significantly high load for the network to manage. The peak of average latency is recorded as 0.45 s when transactions are executed at 94 TPS. The lowest latency is observed as 0.24 s at 40 TPS. As far as the throughput is concerned, the highest throughput is observed as 91.4 TPS when the caliper tool is attempting to execute transactions at 94 TPS. The system achieve throughput of 39.8 and 79.4 TPS when caliper attempts to send transactions at 40 and 80 TPS respectively. It is noteworthy from Fig. 7 that throughput is always close to the achieved rate.
This study also computes the performance during the reading process. It is clear from Fig. 8 that performance improves during the reading operation as reading blockchain ledger is a less complex operations as compared to writing operation. During the read operation, peak of throughput reaches to 160.2 TPS and latency remains constant at 0.01 s regardless of transaction rate. As far as the IPFS is concerned, the medical reports corresponding to content identifier available within every transaction is checked manually.
This study also aims to identify and analyze similar research for comparison with our own work and has identified few such studies. In39, the researchers attempted to design and develop an electronic health record system using a dual-channel and Hyperledger fabric framework. Although this study has incorporated the EHR with privacy and security features, but this study did not attempt to deal with patient vitals such a retrieving and storing heart rate, body temperature and blood saturation. It is also worth noting that their proposed solution does not address the storage of medical reports on the ledger. The study reported a peak throughput of 78.6 TPS at the data transmission rate of 100 TPS which is significantly lower than the throughput proposed by our solution. In our study, the peak of throughput is reported at 91.4 TPS.
In another study40 the authors attempted to compare the performance of two different blockchain frameworks. This study reported a maximum throughput of 55.78 TPS and 2.78 s as an average latency at the data transmission rate of 100 TPS. The study did not include reliability testing, and it overlooked a key component of a comprehensive electronic health record—namely, the storage of medical reports. Our study achieved a peak throughput of 91.4 TPS, significantly surpassing the throughput reported in40 and incorporate dealing with medical reports.
Likewise, in another comparison the authors of the research work41 claimed the highest throughput as 95.9 TPS which is marginally better than our study, but it is noteworthy that study41 stored only textual and numeric data in the ledger, without incorporating IoT for capturing patient vitals in an RPM environment and offered no provisions for handling medical reports. In fact, the study41 computed the performance of Hyperledger fabric blockchain framework in a different environment.
In another comparison, the researchers in42 proposed a solution for remote patient monitoring environment for keeping patient details and vitals on the Hyperledger fabric blockchain framework. This study utilizes IoT sensors to collect patient vitals from remote locations and securely store them on a blockchain ledger. This study also includes a performance evaluation, in which the authors identified the network's maximum capacity for handling transactions without any loss. The authors of this study reported a throughput of 88 TPS at 100 TPS. In contrast, our study reports a slightly higher throughput of 91.4 TPS at a data transfer rate of 94 TPS. However, the study42 reported a peak of throughput as 104.9 at 125 TPS this study did not specify the number of workers employed. In our study, minimum 2 and maximum 8 workers have been employed in the Hyperledger caliper tool. Another limitation of study42 is its lack of handling patient medical reports, without which an EHR cannot be considered complete. In43 the authors reported a higher throughput but could not achieve 100% reliability as their proposed system could only store 946 and 727 transactions out of 1000 when KAFKA and RAFT consensus is used respectively.
Amalgamation of blockchain technology and Internet of Things is vital as one of them offers to connect patients remotely and other provides a higher level of privacy, secure decentralized system and immutable data storage. Such safer environment gives higher confidence to patients and encourage them to embrace remote patient monitoring technology. The studies in the past were merely storing patient vitals overlooking the significance of medical reports. A medical history remains incomplete without storing medical reports. The model proposed in this study is offers a solution to store both medical reports and patient vitals on the blockchain ledger.
This study is not only providing a solution to store both patient vitals and medical reports on the blockchain ledger but also offers a solution to evaluate the overall network performance. This study demonstrates how Hyperledger caliper tool can be configured to simulate heavy traffic on the blockchain network. To mimic the real scenario where multiple RPM units may be transferring data to blockchain ledger, the caliper tool is configured with multiple workers. These workers transmit transactions parallelly and cumulatively generate the overall TPS.
The reliability test confirms that the proposed system is reliable as none of the transaction gets failed and during the ledger verification all transaction are found intact. This study computes the reliability in two phases, one using the caliper tool and another using the RPM unit. Both phases confirms that the system is reliable. During the write operation the system could manage to write transactions at 91.4 TPS whereas during the read operations it manages to read transactions at 160.2 TPS. These results confirm that achieved throughput is adequate for industrial applications. In fact, in real scenario RPM units are typically designed to transmit 1 or 2 transactions per minute due to several complexities and to avoid overwhelming the blockchain network.
In this study throughput and latency is computed to evaluate the overall performance the system. In future, performance of such studies can be evaluated using other parameters such as memory usage, energy consumption and scalability. Another research area can be to integrate more complex sensors such as ECG (Electrocardiogram) and EEG (Electroencephalogram).
Data is provided within the manuscript or supplementary information files.
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Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chitkara University, Rajpura, Punjab, India
Rajesh Kumar Kaushal & Vinay Kukreja
Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Naveen Kumar & Ekkarat Boonchieng
Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India
Shrikant Mapari
Department of Computer Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
Anshul Verma
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R.K.K: Conceptualization, Methodology, Resources, Writing, Review & editing. N.K: Conceptualization, Resources, Writing-Review & Editing. E.B: Resources, Experimental work, investigation. V.K: Formal analysis, Data Visualization. S.M: Experimental work and testing. A.V: Visualization and Data Analysis.
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Ekkarat Boonchieng.
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Kaushal, R.K., Kumar, N., Boonchieng, E. et al. Convergence of blockchain and IoT for managing decentralized medical records.
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Revolutionary Shift: Russia's Top Stock Exchanges Poised to Launch Crypto Trading
Get ready for a seismic shift in the global financial landscape. In a groundbreaking move, Russia's two premier financial hubs—the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) and the Saint Petersburg Exchange (SPB)—have reportedly completed all technical preparations to launch crypto trading. This isn't just speculation; it's a concrete step awaiting the final green light from regulators. For investors worldwide, this signals a major step towards the institutional embrace of digital assets in a major economy.
According to a report from Wu Blockchain, the exchanges are fully prepared. Their systems are tested and ready to go live the moment the Russian government establishes a formal legal framework for crypto trading. This development follows earlier signals from the government, including a Bloomberg report, that legislation was being advanced to allow public cryptocurrency investment. The move aims to bring a vast, new pool of capital into the digital asset space through trusted, established institutions.
The proposed regulatory model creates a clear path for two main groups of investors. This structured approach aims to open the market while managing risk.
This isn't just another crypto exchange opening its doors. The entry of MOEX and SPB is a powerful legitimization of the entire asset class. These are not niche platforms; they are the backbone of Russia's traditional financial system. Their involvement brings unparalleled trust, security, and regulatory oversight to crypto trading for millions. It bridges the gap between the conventional stock market and the dynamic world of digital currencies, potentially setting a precedent for other national exchanges.
However, the path forward isn't without hurdles. The most immediate challenge is the finalization of that all-important legal framework. Global sanctions and financial isolation also pose complex questions about how these regulated crypto trading services will interact with the international financial system. Furthermore, the success of this initiative will depend heavily on public adoption and whether investors trust these new, regulated channels over existing, less formal options.
The preparation of Russia's top exchanges marks a pivotal moment. It represents a strategic move to formalize and control the cryptocurrency market within its borders. For global observers, it's a clear indicator of digital assets' irreversible march into the mainstream financial infrastructure. While questions remain, the readiness of MOEX and SPB for crypto trading is a definitive step toward a future where traditional and digital finance are seamlessly integrated.
Q: When will crypto trading actually start on these exchanges?
A: Trading will begin only after the Russian government passes and enacts the necessary legislation to create a legal framework. The exchanges are technically ready but waiting for this legal green light.
Q: Can foreigners invest in crypto through the Moscow or Saint Petersburg exchanges?
A: The report focuses on regulations for Russian investors. Access for foreign participants will depend on the final laws and any international sanctions compliance measures the exchanges must implement.
Q: What cryptocurrencies will be available for trading?
A: Specific lists haven't been released, but reports indicate that “privacy coins” (e.g., Monero, Zcash) will be excluded. Major assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most likely to be offered initially.
Q: How does this differ from using a regular crypto exchange like Binance?
A: Trading on MOEX or SPB would occur under strict Russian regulatory oversight, potentially offering greater investor protection, integration with traditional banking, and a familiar interface for local stock traders.
Q: What is the purpose of the 300,000 ruble limit for retail investors?
A: This is a common consumer protection measure in finance. It aims to limit the risk for non-professional investors who may not fully understand the volatile nature of cryptocurrency markets.
Q: Will this make cryptocurrency legal in Russia?
A: This move is part of a broader effort to create a regulated environment for digital assets. It moves crypto from a legal gray area into a formally recognized and supervised financial activity.
Do you think regulated exchange crypto trading is the key to mass adoption? How will this move by Russia influence other major economies? Join the conversation and share this article on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook to let your network know about this major development in the world of finance.
To learn more about the latest crypto trading trends, explore our article on key developments shaping institutional adoption.
This post Revolutionary Shift: Russia's Top Stock Exchanges Poised to Launch Crypto Trading first appeared on BitcoinWorld.
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BitcoinWorld
Revolutionary Shift: Russia's Top Stock Exchanges Poised to Launch Crypto Trading
Get ready for a seismic shift in the global financial landscape. In a groundbreaking move, Russia's two premier financial hubs—the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) and the Saint Petersburg Exchange (SPB)—have reportedly completed all technical preparations to launch crypto trading. This isn't just speculation; it's a concrete step awaiting the final green light from regulators. For investors worldwide, this signals a major step towards the institutional embrace of digital assets in a major economy.
According to a report from Wu Blockchain, the exchanges are fully prepared. Their systems are tested and ready to go live the moment the Russian government establishes a formal legal framework for crypto trading. This development follows earlier signals from the government, including a Bloomberg report, that legislation was being advanced to allow public cryptocurrency investment. The move aims to bring a vast, new pool of capital into the digital asset space through trusted, established institutions.
The proposed regulatory model creates a clear path for two main groups of investors. This structured approach aims to open the market while managing risk.
This isn't just another crypto exchange opening its doors. The entry of MOEX and SPB is a powerful legitimization of the entire asset class. These are not niche platforms; they are the backbone of Russia's traditional financial system. Their involvement brings unparalleled trust, security, and regulatory oversight to crypto trading for millions. It bridges the gap between the conventional stock market and the dynamic world of digital currencies, potentially setting a precedent for other national exchanges.
However, the path forward isn't without hurdles. The most immediate challenge is the finalization of that all-important legal framework. Global sanctions and financial isolation also pose complex questions about how these regulated crypto trading services will interact with the international financial system. Furthermore, the success of this initiative will depend heavily on public adoption and whether investors trust these new, regulated channels over existing, less formal options.
The preparation of Russia's top exchanges marks a pivotal moment. It represents a strategic move to formalize and control the cryptocurrency market within its borders. For global observers, it's a clear indicator of digital assets' irreversible march into the mainstream financial infrastructure. While questions remain, the readiness of MOEX and SPB for crypto trading is a definitive step toward a future where traditional and digital finance are seamlessly integrated.
Q: When will crypto trading actually start on these exchanges?
A: Trading will begin only after the Russian government passes and enacts the necessary legislation to create a legal framework. The exchanges are technically ready but waiting for this legal green light.
Q: Can foreigners invest in crypto through the Moscow or Saint Petersburg exchanges?
A: The report focuses on regulations for Russian investors. Access for foreign participants will depend on the final laws and any international sanctions compliance measures the exchanges must implement.
Q: What cryptocurrencies will be available for trading?
A: Specific lists haven't been released, but reports indicate that “privacy coins” (e.g., Monero, Zcash) will be excluded. Major assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most likely to be offered initially.
Q: How does this differ from using a regular crypto exchange like Binance?
A: Trading on MOEX or SPB would occur under strict Russian regulatory oversight, potentially offering greater investor protection, integration with traditional banking, and a familiar interface for local stock traders.
Q: What is the purpose of the 300,000 ruble limit for retail investors?
A: This is a common consumer protection measure in finance. It aims to limit the risk for non-professional investors who may not fully understand the volatile nature of cryptocurrency markets.
Q: Will this make cryptocurrency legal in Russia?
A: This move is part of a broader effort to create a regulated environment for digital assets. It moves crypto from a legal gray area into a formally recognized and supervised financial activity.
Do you think regulated exchange crypto trading is the key to mass adoption? How will this move by Russia influence other major economies? Join the conversation and share this article on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook to let your network know about this major development in the world of finance.
To learn more about the latest crypto trading trends, explore our article on key developments shaping institutional adoption.
This post Revolutionary Shift: Russia's Top Stock Exchanges Poised to Launch Crypto Trading first appeared on BitcoinWorld.
Coins
Bitcoin
$ 88.10K
Ethereum
$ 2.95K
Monero
$ 436.69
Zcash
$ 445.09
Funds
Binance
DIGITAL
LAUNCH
Line
Twitter
Share:
Coins
Bitcoin
$ 88.10K
Ethereum
$ 2.95K
Monero
$ 436.69
Zcash
$ 445.09
Funds
Binance
DIGITAL
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Line
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XRP slipped to $1.86 as traders continued to sell into rallies, even as spot ETF demand stayed steady and total ETF-held assets climbed to $1.25 billion — a gap that suggests the market is still digesting supply at key technical levels.
Institutional appetite for XRP exposure continued to build through exchange-traded funds, with investors adding $8.19 million in recent sessions. That pushed total ETF-held net assets to $1.25 billion, reinforcing the idea that professional investors are building positions through regulated vehicles rather than chasing spot momentum.
The flow trend fits a broader pattern in institutional crypto allocation: portfolio managers increasingly prefer structured products that reduce custody and compliance friction, especially when liquidity is deep and regulatory clarity is improving. XRP's depth across venues and the steady ETF bid has kept longer-term demand intact, even as short-term price action remains choppy.
In the wider market, bitcoin's attempted rebound lacked follow-through during U.S. hours, leaving majors stuck in a risk-off, range-bound tape where flows matter but technical levels still dictate the day-to-day trade.
XRP fell from $1.88 to $1.86, staying pinned inside a $1.85–$1.91 channel as sellers repeatedly defended the $1.9060–$1.9100 resistance area. Volume rose sharply during the session's most active window, with 75.3 million changing hands — about 76% above average — during the rejection, underscoring that this isn't a low-liquidity drift. It's a market meeting real offers overhead.
Price briefly pushed out of its $1.854–$1.858 consolidation pocket and tested $1.862 on a burst of activity that spiked roughly 8–9x versus typical intraday flow. But the move lacked persistence, and XRP rotated back toward $1.86 as supply returned.
The repeated defense of $1.90+ suggests sellers are still using that zone to distribute into strength. At the same time, bids near $1.86–$1.87 have shown up consistently enough to keep the market from unraveling — creating a tightening coil where the next break is likely to be decisive.
Two forces are competing, and that's the story: ETF flows keep leaning supportive in the background, but near-term traders are still treating $1.90–$1.91 as a sell zone.
The levels are clean:
For now, the tape reads like consolidation with distribution overhead — but with ETF flows acting as a stabilizer that could make downside moves more grinding than free-falling unless bitcoin breaks down sharply again.
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What to know:
2025 was defined by a stark divergence: structural progress collided with stagnant price action. Institutional milestones were reached and TVL increased across most major ecosystems, yet the majority of large-cap Layer-1 tokens finished the year with negative or flat returns.
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Bitcoin's $70,000 to $80,000 zone highlights gap in historical price support
Five years of CME futures data shows where bitcoin has, and has not, built meaningful price support.
What to know:
Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation.
The People's Bank of China and seven other departments issued the 'Guiding Opinions on Financial Support for Accelerating the Construction of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor.' The opinions propose exploring international cooperation in digital finance. Support is provided for provinces (regions, municipalities) along the corridor to participate in the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge project, promoting the use of central bank digital currencies for cross-border payments with Thailand, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. Support is also extended to explore and advance pilot programs for cross-border payments using the digital renminbi between mainland China and Singapore.
The People's Bank of China and seven other departments issued the 'Guiding Opinions on Financial Support for Accelerating the Construction of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor.' The opinions propose exploring international cooperation in digital finance. Support is provided for provinces (regions, municipalities) along the corridor to participate in the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge project, promoting the use of central bank digital currencies for cross-border payments with Thailand, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. Support is also extended to explore and advance pilot programs for cross-border payments using the digital renminbi between mainland China and Singapore.
Cross-border payments are calculated based on 'global cross-border payment scale × RMB share × digital currency penetration rate.' By 2030, the global cross-border payment volume is projected to reach USD 290 trillion, with the RMB accounting for 10%-20% and digital currency penetration ranging from 20%-40%, corresponding to a market size of CNY 40.6-162.4 trillion. The Digital Economy team at Northeast Securities believes that the digital RMB has evolved from a payment tool into a strategic carrier integrating 'finance, technology, and data.' The essence of developing the digital RMB lies in transforming trade efficiency into a strategic advantage through blockchain technology, with its development pace closely tied to the core national interests in global competition.
According to the Cailian Press thematic database, among related listed companies:
Cuiwei Co., Ltd.'s annual report shows that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Haikou Rongtong, has actively participated in signing cooperation agreements with designated operating banks of the People's Bank of China's Digital Currency Research Institute, conducting system integration, and advancing the construction of systems to accept digital RMB.
Chu Tian Long has established technical and business collaborations with the People's Bank of China Digital Currency Research Institute, digital RMB operators, numerous commercial banks, and industry application entities, actively promoting the development of the digital RMB ecosystem.
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An international research team led by the University of Oxford has identified one of the largest rotating structures ever observed. The object is a razor thin chain of galaxies embedded within a vast cosmic filament located about 140 million light years from Earth. The results were published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and may provide important clues about how galaxies formed in the early Universe.
Cosmic filaments are the biggest known structures in the Universe. They are enormous thread like networks of galaxies and dark matter that create the framework of the cosmic web. These filaments also act as pathways that funnel matter and angular momentum into galaxies. Nearby filaments where many galaxies spin in the same direction, and where the entire structure itself appears to rotate, are especially valuable for studying how galaxies acquired their spin and gas. They also offer a way to test ideas about how rotation develops across tens of millions of light years.
A Razor Thin Line of Gas Rich Galaxies
In this study, researchers identified 14 nearby galaxies rich in hydrogen gas arranged in a narrow, elongated line measuring about 5.5 million light years in length and roughly 117,000 light years across. This thin structure lies within a much larger cosmic filament that stretches about 50 million light years and contains more than 280 additional galaxies. Many of the galaxies in the thin strand appear to be rotating in the same direction as the filament itself, far more often than would be expected if their orientations were random. This finding challenges existing models and suggests that large scale cosmic structures may shape galaxy rotation more strongly or over longer periods than previously believed.
The team also found that galaxies on opposite sides of the filament's central spine are moving in opposite directions. This pattern indicates that the entire filament is rotating as a single structure. By applying models of filament dynamics, the researchers estimated a rotation speed of about 110 km/s and calculated that the dense central region of the filament has a radius of approximately 50 kiloparsecs (about 163,000 light years).
Galaxies Like Teacups on a Spinning Ride
Co lead author Dr. Lyla Jung (Department of Physics, University of Oxford) explained why the discovery stands out: "What makes this structure exceptional is not just its size, but the combination of spin alignment and rotational motion. You can liken it to the teacups ride at a theme park. Each galaxy is like a spinning teacup, but the whole platform- the cosmic filament -is rotating too. This dual motion gives us rare insight into how galaxies gain their spin from the larger structures they live in."
The filament appears to be relatively young and largely undisturbed. Its abundance of gas rich galaxies and its low internal motion, described as a so called "dynamically cold" state, suggest it is still in an early stage of development. Because hydrogen is the key ingredient for forming new stars, galaxies with large hydrogen reserves are actively collecting or holding onto the fuel needed for star formation. Studying these systems offers a valuable view into early or ongoing phases of galaxy evolution.
Tracing Gas Flows Through the Cosmic Web
Hydrogen rich galaxies also serve as effective tracers of how gas moves along cosmic filaments. Atomic hydrogen is easily influenced by motion, making it especially useful for revealing how gas flows through filaments and into galaxies. These observations help scientists understand how angular momentum moves through the cosmic web and shapes galaxy structure, rotation, and star formation.
The discovery may also help refine models of intrinsic galaxy alignments, which can interfere with measurements in upcoming weak lensing surveys. These include missions such as the European Space Agency's Euclid spacecraft and observations from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.
Co lead author Dr. Madalina Tudorache (Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge / Department of Physics, University of Oxford) said: "This filament is a fossil record of cosmic flows. It helps us piece together how galaxies acquire their spin and grow over time."
Combining Powerful Telescopes and Surveys
The research team used data from South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope, one of the most powerful radio observatories in the world, made up of 64 interconnected dishes. The spinning filament was identified through a deep sky survey known as MIGHTEE, led by Professor of Astrophysics Matt Jarvis (Department of Physics, University of Oxford). The radio data were combined with optical observations from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), revealing a cosmic filament that shows both coordinated galaxy spin and large scale rotation.
Professor Jarvis said: "This really demonstrates the power of combining data from different observatories to obtain greater insights into how large structures and galaxies form in the Universe. Such studies can only be achieved by large groups with diverse skillsets, and in this case, it was really made possible by winning an ERC Advanced Grant/UKIR Frontiers Research Grant, which funded the co-lead authors."
The study also included researchers from University of Cambridge, University of the Western Cape, Rhodes University, South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, University of Hertfordshire, University of Bristol, University of Edinburgh, and University of Cape Town.
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New research examines the theory that this biblical phenomenon was actually a comet, and subjects it to mathematical calculations regarding its potential trajectory.
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story:
The Star of Bethlehem is one of the most famous pieces of Christmas iconography. Despite only appearing in one of the four canonical gospels (the Gospel of Matthew), the story of a celestial object guiding the three wise men to the newborn Jesus Christ in his manger is repeated in everything from church pageants to popular films. But what was the Star of Bethlehem, really?
Naturally, one secular answer would be to suggest that the Star of Bethlehem never existed at all—that it was merely an invention by the author of Matthew to have Jesus of Nazareth fulfill another Messianic prophecy. The Gospel of Matthew is full of narrative elements that align with various Old Testament prophecies, from the virgin birth prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 to the thirty pieces of silver from Zechariah 11:13. In that sense, the Star of Bethlehem could be seen as an effort to answer the prophecy written in Numbers 24:17, the Star of Jacob:
But any attempt to dismiss the Star of Bethlehem as a mere literary flourish has to contend with the fact that there are real astronomical phenomena—and, in some cases, even documented events—that could explain the appearance of that famed “star of royal beauty bright, westward leading.” A new study has even put one cosmic candidate to the test.
As reported in Scientific American, while some have posited that the Star of Bethlehem was a conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter, new research written by planetary scientist Mark Matney and published in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association puts considerable weight behind an alternative theory: that the star of Bethlehem was actually a comet.
“Matney recalls how, as a student, he worked at a planetarium that ran a Christmas sky show telling the story of the Star of Bethlehem, which rose in the southern sky until it appeared to come to a stop overhead,” Scientific American wrote. “The planetarium show said that no known astronomical object could act in the way described by the story of the magi—Earth's rotation means that everything in the sky rises in the east and sets in the west.”
But Matney disagreed. He believed that one celestial object could fit that description, “a long-period comet from the mysterious Oort Cloud.”
To strengthen his case, Matney turned to ancient Chinese writings, particularly the Astronomical Treatise of the History of the Former Han Dynasty, which told of a “hui‐hsing,” or broom star, that appeared in the spring of 5 B.C.E. Scientific American summarizes that this Chinese treatise appears to suggest that “the strange star remained in the same constellation for 70 days—far too long for a comet.”
This particular astrological event isn't just an example of what type of “star” the Star of Bethlehem was—it could very well have been the very same star. That's because, even though our contemporary dating system of B.C.E. and C.E. is rooted in what's called the Anno Domini dating system, meant to chart all history based on whether or not it occurred “Before Christ,” it turns out one of the things that came into existence in that “Before Christ” period was likely... Christ.
Most scholars now agree that Jesus was likely born during the B.C./B.C.E. period, with 5 B.C.E. as a strong contender, largely because the Gospels of both Luke and Matthew depict the birth of Jesus as occurring during the reign of King Herod. The famed monarch died in 4 B.C.E., so Jesus' birth needs to have occurred before then.
As for the Chinese-documented comet that may coincide with the birth of Jesus in 5 B.C.E., it should be noted that Matney is not the first to make this connection. Back in 1977, David H. Clark of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Herstmonceaux, England proposed the same theory at a colloquium at New York University, as reported at the time by the New York Times.
Matney's research cites Dr. Clark's and builds on it, calculating which possible comet orbits this particular “broom star” could have taken. Matney also posits that the comet could have experienced a “temporary geosynchronous motion” wherein it would “temporarily match and counter Earth's rotation rate,” causing it to appear to stop in place in the sky. Matney even takes the math a step further, matching one of his viable comet orbits to the path from Jerusalem to Bethlehem that the three wise men would have taken. In doing so, he determined that “one particular June day, this comet could have moved in such a way as to appear to ‘go before' someone traveling from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and then ‘stop' nearly overhead for about two hours.”
Naturally, this isn't the final word on the Star of Bethlehem, nor did Matney intend it to be. Scientific American notes that Matney's goal “is not to identify the Star of Bethlehem outright so much as to propose a valid astronomical object that could match its described behavior.” That being said, if Matney is right, you may have to wait to unwrap those Christmas presents until June if you want to be historically accurate.
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Michale Natale is a News Editor for the Hearst Enthusiast Group. As a writer and researcher, he has produced written and audio-visual content for more than fifteen years, spanning historical periods from the dawn of early man to the Golden Age of Hollywood. His stories for the Enthusiast Group have involved coordinating with organizations like the National Parks Service and the Secret Service, and travelling to notable historical sites and archaeological digs, from excavations of America' earliest colonies to the former homes of Edgar Allan Poe.
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December 25, 2025
2 min read
Bizarre Ecosystem Discovered More Than Two Miles beneath Arctic Ocean
Dynamic mounds made of methane at a depth of some 3,640 meters act like “frozen reefs” for a bizarre array of deep-sea creatures, new observations reveal
By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner
UiT / Ocean Census / REV Ocean
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Deep down in the Arctic Ocean, life becomes bizarre. One might suppose that at its greatest depths, the icy, dark water would be inhospitable to much—but a new discovery reminds us that that is far from the case.
Off the coast of Greenland, the deep seafloor is littered with towering mounds made of crystallized methane and other gases. Known as the Freya hydrate mounds, these structures act like a “frozen reef,” a haven for creatures that have evolved to live in environments unlike any other on Earth.
In a new paper published in Nature Communications, scientists document the deepest ever found of these mounds, at 3,640 meters—or some 2.26 miles—below the surface. The discovery was made as part of the Ocean Census Arctic Deep–EXTREME24 expedition to explore and research the Arctic environment and document ocean life using tools such as underwater robots.
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Incredibly, the mounds, which are also known as gas hydrate cold seeps, release methane gas flares some 3,300 meters up into the water—the tallest such flares ever recorded. Over time the mounds collapse and reform, a dynamic process that the researchers say gives insights into the Arctic's various ecosystems.
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“These are not static deposits,” Giuliana Panieri, a study co-author and a professor at the Arctic University of Norway, said in a statement about the new research. “They are living geological features, responding to tectonics, deep heat flow, and environmental change.”
Gathered at the mounds are chemosynthetic creatures—life that has evolved to depend not on sun-powered photosynthesis for food but on chemical reactions instead. Some of the creatures seen at the Freya mounds are also found at hydrothermal vents, or fissures in the seafloor through which hot, chemical-laden water erupts, the researchers said, suggesting these ecosystems may be more intertwined than previously thought.
“The links that we have found between life at this seep and hydrothermal vents in the Arctic indicate that these island-like habitats on the ocean floor will need to be protected from any future impacts of deep-sea mining in the region,” said Jon Copley, a study co-author and a professor at the University of Southampton in England, in the same statement.
Claire Cameron is the Breaking News Chief at Scientific American. Originally from Scotland, she moved to New York in 2012. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Slate, Inc. Magazine, Nautilus, Semafor, and elsewhere.
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A research team at Rice University, working with international collaborators, has created the first environmentally friendly technology that can quickly trap and break down toxic "forever chemicals" (PFAS) in water. The results, published recently in Advanced Materials, represent a meaningful advance against one of the most stubborn pollution threats worldwide.
The project was led by Youngkun Chung, a postdoctoral fellow mentored by Michael S. Wong, a professor at Rice's George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing. The effort also included Seoktae Kang, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Keon-Ham Kim, a professor at Pukyung National University in South Korea.
What Are PFAS and Why Are They a Problem
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are man-made chemicals that date back to the 1940s. They have been used in many everyday products, including Teflon pans, waterproof clothing, and some food packaging. PFAS became popular because they resist heat, grease, and water, but that same durability also means they break down very slowly, which is why they are often called "forever chemicals."
PFAS have now spread widely and can be found in water, soil, and air around the world. Research has linked exposure to liver damage, reproductive disorders, immune system disruption, and certain cancers. Cleanup has been difficult because once PFAS enter the environment, they are hard to remove and even harder to destroy.
Why Current PFAS Removal Methods Fall Short
Many standard approaches rely on adsorption, meaning the chemicals stick to materials such as activated carbon or ion-exchange resins. These methods are common, but they have major limitations, including low efficiency, slow operation, limited capacity, and the buildup of additional contaminated waste that still has to be handled.
"Current methods for PFAS removal are too slow, inefficient and create secondary waste," said Wong, the Tina and Sunit Patel Professor in Molecular Nanotechnology and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, chemistry and civil and environmental engineering. "Our new approach offers a sustainable and highly effective alternative."
The Breakthrough LDH Material That Works Fast
The new approach is built around a layered double hydroxide (LDH) material made from copper and aluminum. Kim first identified this type of material while he was a graduate student at KAIST in 2021. As the team explored these compounds further, Chung found that a specific version containing nitrate could adsorb PFAS with unusually high performance.
"To my astonishment, this LDH compound captured PFAS more than 1,000 times better than other materials," said Chung, a lead author of the study and now a fellow at Rice's WaTER (Water Technologies, Entrepreneurship and Research) Institute and Sustainability Institute. "It also worked incredibly fast, removing large amounts of PFAS within minutes, about 100 times faster than commercial carbon filters."
Researchers say the impressive results come from the material's internal design. Its ordered copper-aluminum layers, along with small charge imbalances, create a highly favorable surface where PFAS molecules can attach quickly and strongly.
Tested in River Water, Tap Water, and Wastewater
To see how well the system could perform outside the lab, the team tested the LDH material in river water, tap water, and wastewater. Across all three, it remained highly effective. It also performed well in both static tests and continuous-flow setups, pointing to possible use in municipal water treatment systems and industrial cleanup.
Closing the Loop With PFAS Destruction and Reuse
Capturing PFAS is only half the battle since the chemicals still need to be destroyed safely. Working with Rice professors Pedro Alvarez and James Tour, Chung developed a process to thermally decompose PFAS after they are captured on the LDH material. When the PFAS-loaded material was heated with calcium carbonate, the researchers removed more than half of the trapped PFAS without releasing toxic by-products. The same step also regenerated the LDH, making it possible to use the material again.
Early testing showed the material could go through at least six complete cycles of capture, destruction, and renewal. That makes it the first known eco-friendly, sustainable system for PFAS removal that combines rapid cleanup with repeated reuse.
International Collaboration and Research Support
"We are excited by the potential of this one-of-a-kind LDH-based technology to transform how PFAS-contaminated water sources are treated in the near future," Wong said. "It's the result of an extraordinary international collaboration and the creativity of young researchers."
A list of all the researchers involved in this study and their institutional affiliations can be found here. This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education (2021R1A6A3A14044449, RS-2023-00242795), grants from the National Convergence Research of Scientific Challenges and the Sejong Science Fellowship through the National Research Foundation of Korea and funding from the Ministry of Science (NRF-2022M3C1C8094245) and ICT (RS-2024-00395438). This work was also funded by Saudi Aramco-KAIST CO2 Management, Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Engineering Research and Development Center grant (W912HZ-21-2-0050), Rice Sustainability Institute and Rice WaTER Institute.
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Three comments:- You can actually buy the drug here: https://focusbiomolecules.com/p7c3-a20-nampt-activator-prone...
It's a simple small molecule. If this stuff works, expect it to be everywhere within just a couple of years.- There's room for skepticism. As Derek Lowe once wrote: "Alzheimer's therapies have, for the most part, been a cliff over which people push bales of money. There are plenty of good reasons for this: we don't really know what the cause of Alzheimer's is, when you get down to it, and we're the only animal that we know of that gets it. Mouse models of the disease would be extremely useful – you wouldn't even have to know what the problem was to do some sort of phenotypic screen – but the transgenic mice used for these experiments clearly don't recapitulate the human disease. The hope for the last 25 years or so has been that they'd be close enough to get somewhere, but look where we are."> https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/just-how-worthless...- If the drug's mechanism of action has been correctly assigned, it's very plausible that simply supplementing with NMN, NR, or NADH would work equally well. The authors caution against this on, IMO, extremely shaky and unjustified grounds. "Pieper emphasized that current over-the-counter NAD+-precursors have been shown in animal models to raise cellular NAD+ to dangerously high levels that promote cancer."
- You can actually buy the drug here: https://focusbiomolecules.com/p7c3-a20-nampt-activator-prone...
It's a simple small molecule. If this stuff works, expect it to be everywhere within just a couple of years.- There's room for skepticism. As Derek Lowe once wrote: "Alzheimer's therapies have, for the most part, been a cliff over which people push bales of money. There are plenty of good reasons for this: we don't really know what the cause of Alzheimer's is, when you get down to it, and we're the only animal that we know of that gets it. Mouse models of the disease would be extremely useful – you wouldn't even have to know what the problem was to do some sort of phenotypic screen – but the transgenic mice used for these experiments clearly don't recapitulate the human disease. The hope for the last 25 years or so has been that they'd be close enough to get somewhere, but look where we are."> https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/just-how-worthless...- If the drug's mechanism of action has been correctly assigned, it's very plausible that simply supplementing with NMN, NR, or NADH would work equally well. The authors caution against this on, IMO, extremely shaky and unjustified grounds. "Pieper emphasized that current over-the-counter NAD+-precursors have been shown in animal models to raise cellular NAD+ to dangerously high levels that promote cancer."
- There's room for skepticism. As Derek Lowe once wrote: "Alzheimer's therapies have, for the most part, been a cliff over which people push bales of money. There are plenty of good reasons for this: we don't really know what the cause of Alzheimer's is, when you get down to it, and we're the only animal that we know of that gets it. Mouse models of the disease would be extremely useful – you wouldn't even have to know what the problem was to do some sort of phenotypic screen – but the transgenic mice used for these experiments clearly don't recapitulate the human disease. The hope for the last 25 years or so has been that they'd be close enough to get somewhere, but look where we are."> https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/just-how-worthless...- If the drug's mechanism of action has been correctly assigned, it's very plausible that simply supplementing with NMN, NR, or NADH would work equally well. The authors caution against this on, IMO, extremely shaky and unjustified grounds. "Pieper emphasized that current over-the-counter NAD+-precursors have been shown in animal models to raise cellular NAD+ to dangerously high levels that promote cancer."
> https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/just-how-worthless...- If the drug's mechanism of action has been correctly assigned, it's very plausible that simply supplementing with NMN, NR, or NADH would work equally well. The authors caution against this on, IMO, extremely shaky and unjustified grounds. "Pieper emphasized that current over-the-counter NAD+-precursors have been shown in animal models to raise cellular NAD+ to dangerously high levels that promote cancer."
- If the drug's mechanism of action has been correctly assigned, it's very plausible that simply supplementing with NMN, NR, or NADH would work equally well. The authors caution against this on, IMO, extremely shaky and unjustified grounds. "Pieper emphasized that current over-the-counter NAD+-precursors have been shown in animal models to raise cellular NAD+ to dangerously high levels that promote cancer."
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As someone who's seen both cancer and Alzheimer's up close, that would be a very easy choice.
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And there's room for thinking there's water in the ocean. We have no idea whether this would work at all or how it would work at all in humans. We have one experiment in mice, which as you say can't have Alzheimer's.This is a nice step, like developments in fusion energy. That's part of research, and let's hope and investigate it, but it's absurd to think about it as anything but a science project right now.
This is a nice step, like developments in fusion energy. That's part of research, and let's hope and investigate it, but it's absurd to think about it as anything but a science project right now.
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there are studies about this compound from a decade ago, kinda doubt it's going to be a breakthrough at this point
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Edit: after some googling, sounds like NAD+ (which you can get from real doctors) is the “building blocks” similar to how protein is the building blocks for muscle, while the experimental compound changes/enhances how the building blocks are used inside your cells.
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Is this actually true? I thought it was pretty common for elderly pets
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Does this mean that people are having to trade Alzheimer in exchange for high risk of cancer? Or does this mean that we need better precursors that don't require that trade off?
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In terms of risk-benefit analysis, if this stuff actually cures Alzheimer's, then even a 10x increased risk of cancer (all types) is acceptable, as Alzheimer's is frequently a fate worse than death whereas cancer can be managed whilst keeping your personality and sanity intact. In reality, the increased risk of cancer from something like NMN is perhaps 1.005x. To all appearances, totally negligible.The problem, for Pieper, is that NMN/NR/NADH are ubiquitous and cost pennies per dose. So, if they work (big if), this new research is unmonetizable. The team leads would win a Nobel Prize, but Big Pharma gigabucks are out of the question. Let's see what happens.
The problem, for Pieper, is that NMN/NR/NADH are ubiquitous and cost pennies per dose. So, if they work (big if), this new research is unmonetizable. The team leads would win a Nobel Prize, but Big Pharma gigabucks are out of the question. Let's see what happens.
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> Pieper emphasized that current over-the-counter NAD+-precursors have been shown in animal models to raise cellular NAD+ to dangerously high levels that promote cancer. The pharmacological approach in this study, however, uses a pharmacologic agent (P7C3-A20) that enables cells to maintain their proper balance of NAD+ under conditions of otherwise overwhelming stress, without elevating NAD+ to supraphysiologic levels.
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> Pieper emphasized that current over-the-counter NAD+-precursors have been shown in animal models to raise cellular NAD+ to dangerously high levels that promote cancer. The pharmacological approach in this study, however, uses a pharmacologic agent (P7C3-A20) that enables cells to maintain their proper balance of NAD+ under conditions of otherwise overwhelming stress, without elevating NAD+ to supraphysiologic levels.
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The same is true of many diagnoses like pneumonia, cancer, alopecia, essential tremor: there's multiple different groups that would benefit from different things, and if we had better ways to identify the groups, we'd give them what works for them instead of wasting their time with the wrong treatment. As an example, antibiotics won't work for viral pneumonia and in addition to wasting the patient's time, actually harm your microbiome. If you had a perfect way to know which is which, you'd always get the right treatment.Precision medicine takes this even further.
Precision medicine takes this even further.
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When enough words, framing, and unstated important premises are omitted, it crosses over from the realm of incomplete or misleading into plain outright lying in my worldview.They claim "Reverses advanced AD in mice." What they did is reverse symptoms in genetic models.They claim to "Restore NAD+ homeostasis," ignoring that NAD might not even be causally related to Alzheimer's, just a side effect. It's like saying we cured a house fire because we efficiently removed the ashes after the fire. It's the Tau thing all over again.The claim: "Conservative molecular signatures" when in reality, 5xFAD mice are poor predictors of human clinical success to such a degree that it's statistically more common for mice studies to NOT transfer to human biology than to do so.They also make unsupported claims like "Safer than NAD+ precursors (supplements)," when this is a pre-clinical assumption. No human toxicity trials are mentioned in this context, and there are always MASSIVE differences when switching to real human studies. It might be correct, but there's no basis to say that based on this study.Also, the senior author owns the company. The paper has the hallmarks of a "pitch deck" for the drug.In short, it seems to me that the claim of "Full Neurological Recovery" is misleading to patients. It fails to prove that fixing NAD+ in humans will stop the disease, only that it works in mice engineered to have the disease, and only by assuming that their specific measure is a 1-to-1 with the clinical presentation of the disease. The results are likely the "best case scenario" presented to support the commercialization of P7C3-A20.Here is the COMMON SENSE question peer-reviews should have asked.
Is low NAD+ the fire, or just the ashes?Why should we believe this works in humans when the last 500 'cures' in 5xFAD mice failed?Are you regrowing a brain, or just cleaning up a dirty one?How does one molecule fix five unconnected problems simultaneously? The Context: The drug fixed inflammation, blood-brain barrier, amyloid/tau (protein folding), and memory (neuronal signaling). Drugs rarely hit four distinct biological systems with 100% success....Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
They claim "Reverses advanced AD in mice." What they did is reverse symptoms in genetic models.They claim to "Restore NAD+ homeostasis," ignoring that NAD might not even be causally related to Alzheimer's, just a side effect. It's like saying we cured a house fire because we efficiently removed the ashes after the fire. It's the Tau thing all over again.The claim: "Conservative molecular signatures" when in reality, 5xFAD mice are poor predictors of human clinical success to such a degree that it's statistically more common for mice studies to NOT transfer to human biology than to do so.They also make unsupported claims like "Safer than NAD+ precursors (supplements)," when this is a pre-clinical assumption. No human toxicity trials are mentioned in this context, and there are always MASSIVE differences when switching to real human studies. It might be correct, but there's no basis to say that based on this study.Also, the senior author owns the company. The paper has the hallmarks of a "pitch deck" for the drug.In short, it seems to me that the claim of "Full Neurological Recovery" is misleading to patients. It fails to prove that fixing NAD+ in humans will stop the disease, only that it works in mice engineered to have the disease, and only by assuming that their specific measure is a 1-to-1 with the clinical presentation of the disease. The results are likely the "best case scenario" presented to support the commercialization of P7C3-A20.Here is the COMMON SENSE question peer-reviews should have asked.
Is low NAD+ the fire, or just the ashes?Why should we believe this works in humans when the last 500 'cures' in 5xFAD mice failed?Are you regrowing a brain, or just cleaning up a dirty one?How does one molecule fix five unconnected problems simultaneously? The Context: The drug fixed inflammation, blood-brain barrier, amyloid/tau (protein folding), and memory (neuronal signaling). Drugs rarely hit four distinct biological systems with 100% success....Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
They claim to "Restore NAD+ homeostasis," ignoring that NAD might not even be causally related to Alzheimer's, just a side effect. It's like saying we cured a house fire because we efficiently removed the ashes after the fire. It's the Tau thing all over again.The claim: "Conservative molecular signatures" when in reality, 5xFAD mice are poor predictors of human clinical success to such a degree that it's statistically more common for mice studies to NOT transfer to human biology than to do so.They also make unsupported claims like "Safer than NAD+ precursors (supplements)," when this is a pre-clinical assumption. No human toxicity trials are mentioned in this context, and there are always MASSIVE differences when switching to real human studies. It might be correct, but there's no basis to say that based on this study.Also, the senior author owns the company. The paper has the hallmarks of a "pitch deck" for the drug.In short, it seems to me that the claim of "Full Neurological Recovery" is misleading to patients. It fails to prove that fixing NAD+ in humans will stop the disease, only that it works in mice engineered to have the disease, and only by assuming that their specific measure is a 1-to-1 with the clinical presentation of the disease. The results are likely the "best case scenario" presented to support the commercialization of P7C3-A20.Here is the COMMON SENSE question peer-reviews should have asked.
Is low NAD+ the fire, or just the ashes?Why should we believe this works in humans when the last 500 'cures' in 5xFAD mice failed?Are you regrowing a brain, or just cleaning up a dirty one?How does one molecule fix five unconnected problems simultaneously? The Context: The drug fixed inflammation, blood-brain barrier, amyloid/tau (protein folding), and memory (neuronal signaling). Drugs rarely hit four distinct biological systems with 100% success....Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
The claim: "Conservative molecular signatures" when in reality, 5xFAD mice are poor predictors of human clinical success to such a degree that it's statistically more common for mice studies to NOT transfer to human biology than to do so.They also make unsupported claims like "Safer than NAD+ precursors (supplements)," when this is a pre-clinical assumption. No human toxicity trials are mentioned in this context, and there are always MASSIVE differences when switching to real human studies. It might be correct, but there's no basis to say that based on this study.Also, the senior author owns the company. The paper has the hallmarks of a "pitch deck" for the drug.In short, it seems to me that the claim of "Full Neurological Recovery" is misleading to patients. It fails to prove that fixing NAD+ in humans will stop the disease, only that it works in mice engineered to have the disease, and only by assuming that their specific measure is a 1-to-1 with the clinical presentation of the disease. The results are likely the "best case scenario" presented to support the commercialization of P7C3-A20.Here is the COMMON SENSE question peer-reviews should have asked.
Is low NAD+ the fire, or just the ashes?Why should we believe this works in humans when the last 500 'cures' in 5xFAD mice failed?Are you regrowing a brain, or just cleaning up a dirty one?How does one molecule fix five unconnected problems simultaneously? The Context: The drug fixed inflammation, blood-brain barrier, amyloid/tau (protein folding), and memory (neuronal signaling). Drugs rarely hit four distinct biological systems with 100% success....Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
They also make unsupported claims like "Safer than NAD+ precursors (supplements)," when this is a pre-clinical assumption. No human toxicity trials are mentioned in this context, and there are always MASSIVE differences when switching to real human studies. It might be correct, but there's no basis to say that based on this study.Also, the senior author owns the company. The paper has the hallmarks of a "pitch deck" for the drug.In short, it seems to me that the claim of "Full Neurological Recovery" is misleading to patients. It fails to prove that fixing NAD+ in humans will stop the disease, only that it works in mice engineered to have the disease, and only by assuming that their specific measure is a 1-to-1 with the clinical presentation of the disease. The results are likely the "best case scenario" presented to support the commercialization of P7C3-A20.Here is the COMMON SENSE question peer-reviews should have asked.
Is low NAD+ the fire, or just the ashes?Why should we believe this works in humans when the last 500 'cures' in 5xFAD mice failed?Are you regrowing a brain, or just cleaning up a dirty one?How does one molecule fix five unconnected problems simultaneously? The Context: The drug fixed inflammation, blood-brain barrier, amyloid/tau (protein folding), and memory (neuronal signaling). Drugs rarely hit four distinct biological systems with 100% success....Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
Also, the senior author owns the company. The paper has the hallmarks of a "pitch deck" for the drug.In short, it seems to me that the claim of "Full Neurological Recovery" is misleading to patients. It fails to prove that fixing NAD+ in humans will stop the disease, only that it works in mice engineered to have the disease, and only by assuming that their specific measure is a 1-to-1 with the clinical presentation of the disease. The results are likely the "best case scenario" presented to support the commercialization of P7C3-A20.Here is the COMMON SENSE question peer-reviews should have asked.
Is low NAD+ the fire, or just the ashes?Why should we believe this works in humans when the last 500 'cures' in 5xFAD mice failed?Are you regrowing a brain, or just cleaning up a dirty one?How does one molecule fix five unconnected problems simultaneously? The Context: The drug fixed inflammation, blood-brain barrier, amyloid/tau (protein folding), and memory (neuronal signaling). Drugs rarely hit four distinct biological systems with 100% success....Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
In short, it seems to me that the claim of "Full Neurological Recovery" is misleading to patients. It fails to prove that fixing NAD+ in humans will stop the disease, only that it works in mice engineered to have the disease, and only by assuming that their specific measure is a 1-to-1 with the clinical presentation of the disease. The results are likely the "best case scenario" presented to support the commercialization of P7C3-A20.Here is the COMMON SENSE question peer-reviews should have asked.
Is low NAD+ the fire, or just the ashes?Why should we believe this works in humans when the last 500 'cures' in 5xFAD mice failed?Are you regrowing a brain, or just cleaning up a dirty one?How does one molecule fix five unconnected problems simultaneously? The Context: The drug fixed inflammation, blood-brain barrier, amyloid/tau (protein folding), and memory (neuronal signaling). Drugs rarely hit four distinct biological systems with 100% success....Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
Here is the COMMON SENSE question peer-reviews should have asked.
Is low NAD+ the fire, or just the ashes?Why should we believe this works in humans when the last 500 'cures' in 5xFAD mice failed?Are you regrowing a brain, or just cleaning up a dirty one?How does one molecule fix five unconnected problems simultaneously? The Context: The drug fixed inflammation, blood-brain barrier, amyloid/tau (protein folding), and memory (neuronal signaling). Drugs rarely hit four distinct biological systems with 100% success....Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
Why should we believe this works in humans when the last 500 'cures' in 5xFAD mice failed?Are you regrowing a brain, or just cleaning up a dirty one?How does one molecule fix five unconnected problems simultaneously? The Context: The drug fixed inflammation, blood-brain barrier, amyloid/tau (protein folding), and memory (neuronal signaling). Drugs rarely hit four distinct biological systems with 100% success....Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
Are you regrowing a brain, or just cleaning up a dirty one?How does one molecule fix five unconnected problems simultaneously? The Context: The drug fixed inflammation, blood-brain barrier, amyloid/tau (protein folding), and memory (neuronal signaling). Drugs rarely hit four distinct biological systems with 100% success....Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
How does one molecule fix five unconnected problems simultaneously? The Context: The drug fixed inflammation, blood-brain barrier, amyloid/tau (protein folding), and memory (neuronal signaling). Drugs rarely hit four distinct biological systems with 100% success....Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
Where is the toxicology report that proves 'safer than supplements'?
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Please... people, do not get your hopes up over this one PR pump piece released on Christmas Day. This is not a legit study. (It might, perhaps, somehow, still be correct, perhaps... even broken clocks are right twice a day... but it's still not a legit study.)
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Which animals besides mice does this cause a full neurological recovery in?
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https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/lithium-deficiency...
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Let's hope the cure can be transfered to humans, but I think the chances are extremly low.
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More than 110 million animals are killed in the United States each year in experiments. I'd rather just accept Alzheimer's than be complicit in this evil.
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The more examples of this going badly we can get together the better.
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This just seems a poor decision made by C-suite folk who were neither AI-savvy enough to understand the limits of the tech, nor smart enough to run a meaningful trial to evaluate it. A failure of wishful thinking over rational evaluation.
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Is anyone really buying they laid off 4k people _because_ they really thought they'd replace them with an LLM agent? The article is suspect at best and this doesn't even in the slightest align with my experience with LLMs at work (it's created more work for me).The layoff always smelled like it was because of the economy.
The layoff always smelled like it was because of the economy.
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/aft...It isn't regret, they are trying to sell their Agentforce product.
It isn't regret, they are trying to sell their Agentforce product.
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https://www.ktvu.com/news/salesforce-ai-layoffs-marc-benioff
At the time, it was such a big deal to a lot of us because it was a signal what could eventually happen to the rest of us white collar workers.Of course, it could still happen, as maybe AI systems just need another few years to mature before trying to fully replace jobs like this...... although, one thing I agree with you is that there isn't much info online on these quotes from Salesforce executives, so could be made up.
Of course, it could still happen, as maybe AI systems just need another few years to mature before trying to fully replace jobs like this...... although, one thing I agree with you is that there isn't much info online on these quotes from Salesforce executives, so could be made up.
... although, one thing I agree with you is that there isn't much info online on these quotes from Salesforce executives, so could be made up.
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for that reason alone humans will always need to be in the loop. of course you can debate how many people you need to the above activity, but given that AI isn't omniscient, nor omnipotent I expect that number to be quite high for the foreseeable future.one example - I've been vibe coding some stuff, and even though a pretty comprehensive set of tests are passing, I still end up reading all of the code. if I'm being honest some of the decisions the AI makes are a bit opaque to me so I end up spending a bunch of time asking it why (of course there's no real ego there, but bare with me...), re-reading the code, thinking about whether that actually makes sense. I personally prefer this activity/mode since the tests pass (which were written by the AI too), and I know anything I manually change can be tested, but it's not something I could just submit to prod right away. this is just a MVP. I can't imagine delegating if real money/customers were on the line without even more scrutiny.
one example - I've been vibe coding some stuff, and even though a pretty comprehensive set of tests are passing, I still end up reading all of the code. if I'm being honest some of the decisions the AI makes are a bit opaque to me so I end up spending a bunch of time asking it why (of course there's no real ego there, but bare with me...), re-reading the code, thinking about whether that actually makes sense. I personally prefer this activity/mode since the tests pass (which were written by the AI too), and I know anything I manually change can be tested, but it's not something I could just submit to prod right away. this is just a MVP. I can't imagine delegating if real money/customers were on the line without even more scrutiny.
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one would hope that one ability of an 'omniscient and omnipotent' AI would be greater understanding.When speaking of the divine (the only typical example of the omniscient and omnipotent that comes to mind) we never consider what happens when God (or whoever) misunderstands our intent -- we just rely on the fact that an All-Being type thing would just know.I think the understanding of minute intent is one such trait an omniscient and omnipotent system must have.p.s. what a bar raise -- we used to just be happy with AGI!
When speaking of the divine (the only typical example of the omniscient and omnipotent that comes to mind) we never consider what happens when God (or whoever) misunderstands our intent -- we just rely on the fact that an All-Being type thing would just know.I think the understanding of minute intent is one such trait an omniscient and omnipotent system must have.p.s. what a bar raise -- we used to just be happy with AGI!
I think the understanding of minute intent is one such trait an omniscient and omnipotent system must have.p.s. what a bar raise -- we used to just be happy with AGI!
p.s. what a bar raise -- we used to just be happy with AGI!
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In reality, even an ASI won't know your intent unless you communicate it clearly and unambiguously.
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I recently came to this realization as well, and it now seems so obvious. I feel dumb for not realizing it sooner. Is there any good writing or podcast on this topic?
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If anything I've noticed the bar being lowered by the pro-AI set, except for humans, because the prevailing belief is that LLMs must already be AGI but any limitations are dismissed as also being human limitations, and therefore evidence that LLMs are already human equivalent in any way that matters.And instead of the singularity we have Roko's Basilisk.
And instead of the singularity we have Roko's Basilisk.
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this sort of assumes that most humans actually know what they want to do.It is very untrue in my experience.Its like most complaints I hear about AI art. yes, it is generic and bland. just like 90% of what human artists produce.
It is very untrue in my experience.Its like most complaints I hear about AI art. yes, it is generic and bland. just like 90% of what human artists produce.
Its like most complaints I hear about AI art. yes, it is generic and bland. just like 90% of what human artists produce.
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no no no you don't get it, you would have ANOTHER AI for that
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Until AI gets ego and will of its own (probably the end of humanity) it will simply be a tool, regardless of how intelligent and capable it is.
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A search found an similar article from Times of India which credits The Information, there's no good way for non-subscribers to search it.
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LLMs are a great technology for making up plausible looking text. When correctness matters, and you don't have a second system that can reliably check it, the output turns out to be unreliable.When you're dealing with customer support, everyone involved has already been failed by the regular system. So they're an exception, and they're unhappy. So you really don't want to inflict a second mistake on them.
When you're dealing with customer support, everyone involved has already been failed by the regular system. So they're an exception, and they're unhappy. So you really don't want to inflict a second mistake on them.
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1. literally document everything in the product and keep documentation up to date (could be partially automated?)2. Build good enough search to find those things3. Be able to troubleshoot / reason / abstract beyond those facts4. Handle customer information that goes against the assumptions in the core set of facts (ie customers find bugs or don't understand fundamental concepts about computers)5. Be prepared to restart the entire conversation when the customer gets frustrated with 1-4 (this is very annoying)
2. Build good enough search to find those things3. Be able to troubleshoot / reason / abstract beyond those facts4. Handle customer information that goes against the assumptions in the core set of facts (ie customers find bugs or don't understand fundamental concepts about computers)5. Be prepared to restart the entire conversation when the customer gets frustrated with 1-4 (this is very annoying)
3. Be able to troubleshoot / reason / abstract beyond those facts4. Handle customer information that goes against the assumptions in the core set of facts (ie customers find bugs or don't understand fundamental concepts about computers)5. Be prepared to restart the entire conversation when the customer gets frustrated with 1-4 (this is very annoying)
4. Handle customer information that goes against the assumptions in the core set of facts (ie customers find bugs or don't understand fundamental concepts about computers)5. Be prepared to restart the entire conversation when the customer gets frustrated with 1-4 (this is very annoying)
5. Be prepared to restart the entire conversation when the customer gets frustrated with 1-4 (this is very annoying)
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Both the OP article and this Times of India article appear to be AI-generated summaries of the original article.Craziness!
Craziness!
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Edit: oh wait, this article isn't the source either. It references an article by "The Information", which I assume is https://www.theinformation.com/articles/salesforce-executive... There's also this follow-up: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/story-salesforces-de...It's paywalled, so I can't verify.
It's paywalled, so I can't verify.
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Firing people = smart cost cuttingHiring people = strong vote of confidence in continued growth
Hiring people = strong vote of confidence in continued growth
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It's my sincerely held opinion that we're fostering a culture here that ignores the "human impact" of the technology that we're rushing to adopt.I'm well aware that many members of this community have achieved "success" through software. This includes the rapid adoption of new computing paradigms, new technology stacks, new frameworks, etc.I am fortunate to be employed. But around me, when I step out of my house, it's painful. People are hurting. They're unemployed. They're depressed. And the younger generation is even worse. They can't even afford to dream.I live in a corporate world of forced smiles and fake enthusiasm. I would hate for that same culture to take root here. We need to be able to express significant doubt, or even cynicism against AI, without fear of backlash.
I'm well aware that many members of this community have achieved "success" through software. This includes the rapid adoption of new computing paradigms, new technology stacks, new frameworks, etc.I am fortunate to be employed. But around me, when I step out of my house, it's painful. People are hurting. They're unemployed. They're depressed. And the younger generation is even worse. They can't even afford to dream.I live in a corporate world of forced smiles and fake enthusiasm. I would hate for that same culture to take root here. We need to be able to express significant doubt, or even cynicism against AI, without fear of backlash.
I am fortunate to be employed. But around me, when I step out of my house, it's painful. People are hurting. They're unemployed. They're depressed. And the younger generation is even worse. They can't even afford to dream.I live in a corporate world of forced smiles and fake enthusiasm. I would hate for that same culture to take root here. We need to be able to express significant doubt, or even cynicism against AI, without fear of backlash.
I live in a corporate world of forced smiles and fake enthusiasm. I would hate for that same culture to take root here. We need to be able to express significant doubt, or even cynicism against AI, without fear of backlash.
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Looks like a clickbait farm of some sort?
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Though I'm a bit surprised they have that much support staff.
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If your pay is 400 times average employee salary because of your unique strategic vision, surely firing 4000 people based on faulty assumptions should come with proportional consequences?Or does the high risk, high reward, philosophy only apply to the reward part?
Or does the high risk, high reward, philosophy only apply to the reward part?
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The root problem is they /estimated/.> “We assumed the technology was further along than it actually was,” one executive said privately... and /assumed/.
> “We assumed the technology was further along than it actually was,” one executive said privately... and /assumed/.
... and /assumed/.
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No, someone just wanted their bonus for being forward-thinking, paradigm-shifting, opex cutters. I'm sure they got it.
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Also probably a part of their go-to-market strategy. If they can prove it internally they can sell it externally.
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https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42639532https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42639791
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42639791
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Unless people wise up to the fact what's destroying jobs here isn't "Artificial Intelligence".It is simply natural stupidity.
It is simply natural stupidity.
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/mic...He also uses cultural revolution tactics and uses the young ones against the old. I imagine AI house of cards will collapse soon and he'll be remembered as the person who enshittified Windows after the board fires him.
He also uses cultural revolution tactics and uses the young ones against the old. I imagine AI house of cards will collapse soon and he'll be remembered as the person who enshittified Windows after the board fires him.
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stop. reading. evals.
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Salesforce has a vested interest in maintaing its seat based licenses, so it's not in favor of mass layoffs.Internally Salesforce is pushing AgentForce full stop
Internally Salesforce is pushing AgentForce full stop
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If we take out the AI part of this and treat it like any other project, if what they admit is true, it represents a massive failure of judgement and implementation.I can't see anyone admitting that in public, as it would probably end their career, or should do at least. Especially if a company is a "meritocracy"
I can't see anyone admitting that in public, as it would probably end their career, or should do at least. Especially if a company is a "meritocracy"
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This is a much cheaper and faster way to get nuclear power.
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Texas-based HGP Intelligent Energy sent a proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to repurpose two retired U.S. Navy nuclear reactors for use in an AI data center project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, under President Donald Trump's Genesis Mission. Bloomberg says that the company aims to use two old reactors to deliver 450 to 520 megawatts of power, but did not confirm where they would come from.
At the moment, the U.S. Navy uses Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors to power Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers (CVNs) and General Electric S8G reactors for the Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs). The USS Nimitz, which entered service in 1975, is already on its last deployment before entering retirement, while nearly a third of Los Angeles-class SSNs, which first started patrols in 1976, have already been decommissioned and withdrawn from service.
The World Nuclear Association reports that the U.S. Navy has operated more than 100 nuclear reactors for over 50 years without any radiologic accidents, including the aforementioned types, demonstrating their reliability.
If granted, this will be the first time a military reactor has been repurposed for civilian use. This move is expected to cost between $1 million to $4 million per megawatt — although this might seem steep, this is still a fraction of the cost of building an entirely new nuclear power plant or the various small modular reactors being proposed by tech giants like Amazon, Meta, Oracle, Microsoft, Google, and Nvidia. Aside from being more affordable than a completely new build, it would also give a second life to these retired reactors, which would otherwise be just disposed of at DOE's Hanford Site.
The company plans to file for a loan guarantee from the Energy Department, with the entire project expected to cost $1.8 to $2.1 billion. This includes preparing the infrastructure needed to reactivate and convert the reactors for use in data centers. Once operational, HGP Intelligent Energy says it will have a revenue-sharing program with the government and establish a decommissioning fund. The latter is especially crucial as dealing with retired nuclear materials is insanely expensive, with the dismantling of the U.S.'s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier costing over ten times more compared to its last conventional super carrier.
“We already know how to do this safely and at scale,” says HGP chief executive Gregory Forero. “And we're fortunate to have a solid base of investors and partners who share that vision.”
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DIY DDR5.
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An enterprising Russian enthusiast has taken to building his own memory amid the extreme price increases driven by a global shortage. As the world suffers from dried-up memory inventories, some people are wondering when things will go back to normal, while others are looking toward exotic alternatives like SODIMM-to-UDIMM adapters. Now, a bunch of modders in Russia have taken matters into their own hands and are proposing a radically inventive solution: making your own RAM by assembling the relevant parts yourself.
The idea comes from Russian YouTuber PRO Hi-Tech's Telegram channel, where a local enthusiast known as "Vik-on" already performs VRAM upgrades for GPUs, so this is a relatively safe operation for him. According to Vik-on, empty RAM PCBs can be sourced from China for as little as $6.40 per DIMM. The memory chips themselves, though, that's a different challenge.
The so-called spot market for memory doesn't really exist at the moment, since no manufacturer has the production capacity to make more RAM, and even if they did, they'd sell to better-paying AI clients instead. Still, you can find SK Hynix and Samsung chips across Chinese marketplaces if you search for the correct part number, as shown in the attached screenshots.
Moreover, the Telegram thread says it would cost roughly 12,000 Russian Rubles ($152) to build a 16 GB stick with "average" specs, which is about the same as a retail 16 GB kit. There's also a ZenTimings snapshot showing CL28 timings, claiming that even relatively high-end DDR5 RAM can be built using this method, but it won't be cost-effective.
Therefore, it doesn't make too much sense just yet to get the BGA rework station out and assemble your own DDR5. Things are expected to get worse, though, so maybe these Russians are on to something. We were able to spot DDR5 ICs on AliExpress ourselves, and GDDR6(X) was even more common, so there's certainly a market for it.
On the contrary, used kits can be used to salvage memory chips cheaply, or laptop memory can come in handy since it uses the same ICs. These chips are desoldered from the donor board and reattached (reballed) to the new PCB. We've actually seen something similar with DDR4 memory before, and at one point, China's crackdown on smuggling had caused reballed DRAM prices to drop further, but we're far from that now.
RAM prices are soaring globally, with some system integrators even offering options to bring your own RAM, now seemingly succeeded by build-your-own RAM. Competition breeds innovation, goes the saying, but desperation can often drive similar motivations, as is evident in this latest development in the ongoing memory crisis.
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Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he's not working, you'll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.
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A compelling alternative to building your own PC
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If high memory prices are holding you back from building a new gaming PC, opting for a solid prebuilt can be a smart choice. Take, for instance, this iBuyPower Slate Mesh gaming desktop PC that pairs 32GB of DDR5 memory with an AMD CPU and GPU, available at a discounted price of $999.99 on Best Buy. With a listed retail price of $1,249.99, you save $250 and avoid the inflated cost of purchasing memory separately.
The system is powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, a reliable gaming CPU with 8 cores, 16 threads, and a maximum boost clock of 5.5 GHz. The CPU is cooled using a single tower cooler, which should be adequate unless the CPU is pushed to its limits.
Best Buy is selling the iBuyPower Slate gaming desktop with an AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, a Radeon RX 9060 XT GPU, and a 1TB NVMe SSD for a $250 discount.
There's also 32GB of DDR5 memory, and while it is slightly slower at 5200 MT/s, there's nothing really to complain about, especially considering the ongoing RAM crisis. Graphics duties are handled by the Radeon RX 9060 XT, AMD's latest budget-driven GPU offering, though it is the 8GB VRAM variant. This may become a limitation if you plan on playing modern AAA titles at 1440p or higher with high-resolution textures.
For storage, you get a 1TB NVMe SSD and the option to expand it further, as the B650 motherboard included in the build offers a secondary M.2 slot. There is also the option to add two 2.5-inch SATA drives and a 3.5-inch SATA HDD. The motherboard also includes numerous I/O ports, including two USB Type-C ports, five USB 3.2 Type-A ports, four USB 2.0 Type-A ports, an Ethernet port, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support.
The included power supply unit is rated at 600W, which is sufficient for this configuration, but if you plan to upgrade in the future, you will need a more powerful unit. The included cabinet comes with three RGB fans at the front, one RGB fan at the rear, along with proper ventilation mesh all-around, and an RGB LED strip embedded into the side of the case. The $999 prebuilt gaming PC also includes a full-size RGB backlit keyboard and a gaming mouse from iBuypower.
If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.
Kunal Khullar is a contributing writer at Tom's Hardware. He is a long time technology journalist and reviewer specializing in PC components and peripherals, and welcomes any and every question around building a PC.
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GroqCloud will continue operations as is.
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Nvidia, the largest GPU manufacturer in the world and the linchpin of the AI data center buildout, has entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with AI chip rival Groq to use the company's intellectual property. The deal is valued at $20 billion and includes acquihires of key employees within the firm who will now be joining Nvidia. The firm spent $7 billion for Israeli chip company Mellanox in 2019, so the record has now been toppled.
Groq is an American AI startup developing Language Processing Units (LPUs) that it positions as significantly more efficient and cost-effective than standard GPUs. Groq's LPUs are ASICs, which are seeing growing interest from many firms due to their custom design, which is better suited to certain AI tasks, such as large-scale inference. Groq argues that it excels in inference, having previously called it a high-volume, low-margin market.
Nvidia is the largest benefactor of the AI boom because it supplies most of the world's data centers and has deals with essentially every AI constituent. Groq has accused Nvidia in the past of predatory tactics over exclusivity, claiming that potential customers remain fearful of Nvidia's inventory allotment if they're found talking to competitors, such as Groq, historically. Those concerns seem to have been laid to bed with the deal.
“We plan to integrate Groq's low-latency processors into the NVIDIA AI factory architecture, extending the platform to serve an even broader range of AI inference and real-time workloads... While we are adding talented employees to our ranks and licensing Groq's IP, we are not acquiring Groq as a company.” — Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO (as per CNBC).
Earlier this year, Groq built its first data center in Europe to counter Nvidia's AI dominance, shaping up to be an underdog story that challenged a behemoth on cost-to-scale. Now, Groq's own LPUs will be deployed in Nvidia's AI factories, as the license covers "inference technology," according to SiliconANGLE.
As part of this transaction, Groq founder and CEO Jonathan Ross and president Sunny Madra will be hired by Nvidia, along with other employees. Ross previously worked at Google, where he helped develop the Tensor Processing Unit (TPU). Simon Edwards, Groq's current finance chief, will step up as the new CEO under this refreshed structure.
Acquiring a company's think tank like this is referred to as an acquihire. Among tech firms, it's a common way to evade antitrust scrutiny while gaining access to a company's assets/IP. Meta's AI hiring sprees also fall under this category, along with Nvidia's recent recruitment of Enfabrica's CEO.
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The announcement characterizes the deal as a non-exclusive agreement, meaning Groq will remain an independent entity, and GroqCloud, the company's platform through which it loans its LPUs, will continue to operate as before. Before this deal, Groq was valued at $6.9 billion in September of this year and was on pace to report $500 million in fiscal revenue.
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Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he's not working, you'll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.
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NY 10036.
It describes a 'Recursive Swarm' architecture designed to solve context saturation for 24+ hour engineering tasks.Two key claims stood out to me:D3 Engine: Separates 'Active Workspace' from 'Latent History' to reduce compute costs by 99% (uses 'Trajectory Vectors' instead of token caching).Horizon Mode: Uses a swarm of 10,000 agents to explore solution paths instead of linear prediction.The 'Horizon Mode' paper is also in the same directory: https://archive.blankline.org/api/media/file/horizon_mode_pu...Curious if anyone has seen the 'Flash-Gated Consensus' protocol used in production before?
Two key claims stood out to me:D3 Engine: Separates 'Active Workspace' from 'Latent History' to reduce compute costs by 99% (uses 'Trajectory Vectors' instead of token caching).Horizon Mode: Uses a swarm of 10,000 agents to explore solution paths instead of linear prediction.The 'Horizon Mode' paper is also in the same directory: https://archive.blankline.org/api/media/file/horizon_mode_pu...Curious if anyone has seen the 'Flash-Gated Consensus' protocol used in production before?
D3 Engine: Separates 'Active Workspace' from 'Latent History' to reduce compute costs by 99% (uses 'Trajectory Vectors' instead of token caching).Horizon Mode: Uses a swarm of 10,000 agents to explore solution paths instead of linear prediction.The 'Horizon Mode' paper is also in the same directory: https://archive.blankline.org/api/media/file/horizon_mode_pu...Curious if anyone has seen the 'Flash-Gated Consensus' protocol used in production before?
Horizon Mode: Uses a swarm of 10,000 agents to explore solution paths instead of linear prediction.The 'Horizon Mode' paper is also in the same directory: https://archive.blankline.org/api/media/file/horizon_mode_pu...Curious if anyone has seen the 'Flash-Gated Consensus' protocol used in production before?
The 'Horizon Mode' paper is also in the same directory: https://archive.blankline.org/api/media/file/horizon_mode_pu...Curious if anyone has seen the 'Flash-Gated Consensus' protocol used in production before?
Curious if anyone has seen the 'Flash-Gated Consensus' protocol used in production before?
If I had a dollar for every "revolutionary new AI architecture that will change everything forever", I'd be able to buy a GB200 NVL72 with that.
reply
reply
reply
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45886320
reply
They should invent a grammar check AI
reply
Reading time 3 minutes
Prominent Canadian fiddler Ashley MacIsaac says he was wrongly branded a convicted sex offender by Google's AI Overview feature, leading concert organizers to cancel a gig last week.
Before we continue, I'll need you to watch the music video for “Sleepy Maggie” by Ashley MacIsaac (with Scottish Gaelic vocals by Mary Jane Lamond). Not being from Canada where this song was a hit in 1995, I had never been treated to this sumptuous feast of 90s imagery and sounds before today, but that oversight has been corrected thanks to this news event. For best results, light up a clove cigarette before pushing play:
Anyway, according to an article in The Globe and Mail on Tuesday, the guy in that video with the fiddle, Ashley MacIsaac, was preparing to perform at the Sipekne'katik First Nation community in central Nova Scotia when organizers suddenly backed out, apparently having read that MacIsaac had ghastly sounding convictions on his record for sexual assault and “internet luring.”
It later emerged, MacIsaac says, that these organizers had seen a Google AI Overview result that had mixed up MacIsaac's biography with some other, much more horrible, MacIsaac, also from eastern Canada.
You probably remember the controversy over the Google AI Overviews feature from back in 2024, when it debuted, and quickly became a joke after telling people to put glue on pizza and such. For my part, I gave the feature six months to improve before reviewing it, and found a number of bizarre error types it was still prone to making in what I believed were plausible simulations of real world use cases. Google told me at the time it still had “work to do on the quality side of things.”
If MacIsaac's characterization is right, it still does, and it really needs to not make mistakes like the one alleged here. There's a choice quote in the Globe and Mail from Clifton van der Linden, an assistant professor at McMaster University who has researched AI misinformation. “We're seeing a transition in search engines from information navigators to narrators,” he told the newspaper.
AI Overviews are original snippets of text, sort of like chatbot answers made fresh to order when a term gets searched on Google, and they're derived from whatever Google can find online that seems to relate to the subject you're searching. You never know how someone might phrase a search about you, because the possibilities are endless, and thus, you never know how the AI Overview might go wrong.
MacIsaac wonders in the Globe and Mail piece if other people had Googled him, and seen similar results without telling him. He views this as a potential cause for concern, because he thinks he may have lost work, or gained an enemy who believed what they read and decided to cause him harm.
For what it's worth, Google spokesperson Wendy Manton told the Globe and Mail the following: “Search, including AI Overviews is dynamic and frequently changing to show the most helpful information. When issues arise – like if our features misinterpret web content or miss some context – we use those examples to improve our systems, and may take action under our policies.” That newspaper also says Google “amended search results for the musician.”
Also, a representative from the Sipekne'katik First Nation community told MacIsaac they “We deeply regret the harm this error caused to your reputation, your livelihood, and your sense of personal safety,” and told him he was welcome to perform there in the future, he says. The Globe and Mail didn't hear back from Sipekne'katik First Nation when they requested a comment.
This all sounds like a lot of trouble for a lot of people to go through over an apparent AI hallucination. But hey, at least I learned about “Sleepy Maggie.”
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup is bigger than any before—48 teams will compete at the tournament for the first-time ever—and the prize pot certainly reflects that.
FIFA have confirmed there will be USD $727 million available to teams at the World Cup, with every team guaranteed at least $9 million for playing in the group stage, as well as a $1.5 million bonus for tournament preparation.
Teams will be able to earn more through the tournament as well, depending on how far they advance, potentially awarding life-changing money to some nations and players included in the tournament.
The increase in prize money is a significant jump from the $400 million pot offered at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where Argentina took home $42 million for winning the tournament. In 2026, though, any success brings a much larger boost to cash flow.
Here's how much the U.S. men's national team could win and how the U.S. women's national team will also benefit from the USMNT's success.
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With tournament prize money, FIFA traditionally awards the national soccer federation, instead of payments directly to players. From there, federations determine how to split the money among players, staff and the federation; however, U.S. Soccer and several other nations now split winnings with the women's national teams as well.
After a tense legal battle, the USWNT and USWNT signed a collective bargaining agreement in 2022 that lasts through 2028. The CBA required the U.S. men's and women's teams to pool and share equally 80% of prize money won by each at the 2026 and 2027 World Cups.
For example, if the USMNT advanced to the Round of 16, they would earn at least $15 million in prize money. After allotting 20% of that to the U.S. Soccer for federation use, the players and staff of the men's and women's national teams would then split at least $6 million.
The exact process is applied to the Women's World Cup; however, the prize money between the two tournaments still features a significant gap. Previously, U.S. Soccer implemented the equal prize money CBA in 2022 and 2023, with 90% of the total prize money won by each team split.
Both U.S. sides qualified for their respective Round of 16s, with the USMNT earning $13 million and the USWNT $1.9 million, bringing each team around $6.7 million in total.
2026 World Cup Result
Prize Money
USMNT, USWNT Share After CBA
Champions
$50 million
$20 million
Runners-up
$33 million
$13.2 million
3rd place
$29 million
$11.6 million
4th place
$27 million
$10.8 million
Quarterfinals
$19 million
$7.6 million
Round of 16
$15 million
$6 million
Round of 32
$11 million
$4.4 million
Group Stage
$9 million
$3.6 million
feed
Ben Steiner is an American-Canadian journalist who brings in-depth experience, having covered the North American national teams, MLS, CPL, NWSL, NSL and Liga MX for prominent outlets, including MLSsoccer.com, CBC Sports, and OneSoccer.
Follow BenSteiner00
© 2025 ABG-SI LLC - SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC. - All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates, licensees and related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is bigger than any before—48 teams will compete at the tournament for the first-time ever—and the prize pot certainly reflects that.
FIFA have confirmed there will be USD $727 million available to teams at the World Cup, with every team guaranteed at least $9 million for playing in the group stage, as well as a $1.5 million bonus for tournament preparation.
Teams will be able to earn more through the tournament as well, depending on how far they advance, potentially awarding life-changing money to some nations and players included in the tournament.
The increase in prize money is a significant jump from the $400 million pot offered at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where Argentina took home $42 million for winning the tournament. In 2026, though, any success brings a much larger boost to cash flow.
Here's how much the U.S. men's national team could win and how the U.S. women's national team will also benefit from the USMNT's success.
FREE NEWSLETTER. New SI FC Newsletter Global Embed. Sign Up to Get Informed With SI FC. dark
With tournament prize money, FIFA traditionally awards the national soccer federation, instead of payments directly to players. From there, federations determine how to split the money among players, staff and the federation; however, U.S. Soccer and several other nations now split winnings with the women's national teams as well.
After a tense legal battle, the USWNT and USWNT signed a collective bargaining agreement in 2022 that lasts through 2028. The CBA required the U.S. men's and women's teams to pool and share equally 80% of prize money won by each at the 2026 and 2027 World Cups.
For example, if the USMNT advanced to the Round of 16, they would earn at least $15 million in prize money. After allotting 20% of that to the U.S. Soccer for federation use, the players and staff of the men's and women's national teams would then split at least $6 million.
The exact process is applied to the Women's World Cup; however, the prize money between the two tournaments still features a significant gap. Previously, U.S. Soccer implemented the equal prize money CBA in 2022 and 2023, with 90% of the total prize money won by each team split.
Both U.S. sides qualified for their respective Round of 16s, with the USMNT earning $13 million and the USWNT $1.9 million, bringing each team around $6.7 million in total.
2026 World Cup Result
Prize Money
USMNT, USWNT Share After CBA
Champions
$50 million
$20 million
Runners-up
$33 million
$13.2 million
3rd place
$29 million
$11.6 million
4th place
$27 million
$10.8 million
Quarterfinals
$19 million
$7.6 million
Round of 16
$15 million
$6 million
Round of 32
$11 million
$4.4 million
Group Stage
$9 million
$3.6 million
feed
Ben Steiner is an American-Canadian journalist who brings in-depth experience, having covered the North American national teams, MLS, CPL, NWSL, NSL and Liga MX for prominent outlets, including MLSsoccer.com, CBC Sports, and OneSoccer.
Follow BenSteiner00
© 2025 ABG-SI LLC - SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC. - All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates, licensees and related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.
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Kyiv Post looks back on what 2025 brought for Ukraine's national football team
The year 2025 for the Ukrainian national team brought high-scoring thrillers with five goals and frustrating stalemates where we couldn't find the net at all. At the end of the year, Ukraine sits 28th in the FIFA World Rankings and 14th among European nations. Kyiv Post looks back at the national team's performance over the past year: a journey of fantastic triumphs and painful defeats.
For Serhiy Rebrov's men, the year began with high-stakes Nations League playoffs for a spot in the elite division. Their opponent was a star-studded and aggressive Belgian side.
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
The first leg took place on March 20 in Murcia, Spain – a true football spectacle. Both teams played on the front foot, constantly seeking openings. However, the intensity took its toll, forcing Ukraine into three injury substitutions: Yukhym Konoplya, Oleksiy Sych, and Ivan Kalyuzhnyi. In the 40th minute, Romelu Lukaku broke the deadlock, putting the “Red Devils” ahead.
The Ukrainians returned for the second half fired up. In the 66th minute, Oleksiy Hutsulyak scored his debut goal for the national team. Fuelled by momentum, Vladyslav Vanat and Illia Zabarnyi added two more goals in a blistering five-minute spell. Ukraine held on for a spectacular victory, sparking widespread talk of guaranteed promotion. But football is rarely that simple.
Three days later in Genk, the script flipped. The first half was a gritty affair dominated by fouls and yellow cards. Needing only to avoid a heavy defeat, Ukraine played defensively, but the strategy failed to pay off. The ticket to the elite division was decided in a nightmare 16-minute window, during which Belgium struck three times. Ukraine had no response. The first window of 2025 ended in an emotional swing from triumph to collapse.
In June, Ukraine participated in a new international friendly tournament: the Canadian Shield (Tournament of Four), alongside Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, and New Zealand.
The decision to participate sparked debate in the Ukrainian media. Some praised the international exposure, while others questioned the long-distance travel ahead of World Cup qualifiers.
Against a strong Canadian side, Rebrov fielded his best 11 players. However, they were overwhelmed early on, trailing 4-0 by halftime. Late goals from Zabarnyi and Oleksandr Zinchenko made the 4-2 scoreline more respectable, but the performance left much to be desired.
A rotated squad faced New Zealand (ranked 86th). Despite the rankings gap, the “All Whites” defended stoutly until Hutsulyak broke the deadlock in the 54th minute. New Zealand equalized shortly after, but a 75th-minute strike from Zinchenko secured a 2-1 win. Ukraine finished the tournament in second place behind hosts Canada.
The autumn brought the most critical stage of the last three years. On Sept. 5, Ukraine began its World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign against the group's heavyweight, France. Despite a brave effort and several chances, Ukraine fell 2-0.
There was no time to mourn; on Sept. 9, Ukraine faced Azerbaijan in Baku. And as every Ukrainian fan knows – never be certain of the result until the final whistle.
It remains a mystery how the “Blue and Yellows” managed only one goal against Shahruddin Magomedaliyev. Azerbaijan equalized through a controversial penalty, and Ukraine dropped two vital points in a match they were expected to win comfortably.
By October, every match was “do or die.” The third game, in Reykjavik, turned out to be one of Ukraine's best in years. A 5-3 victory over Iceland featured a brace from Ruslan Malinovskyi and a goal from Hutsulyak. Late strikes from Kalyuzhnyi and Oleh Ocheretko sealed the win and kept World Cup hopes alive.
The return match against Azerbaijan in Krakow was equally nerve-racking. After Hutsulyak opened the scoring, an own goal by Vitaliy Mykolenko leveled the stakes. Ukraine eventually regained the lead in the 64th minute and spent the final half-hour absorbing an Azerbaijani onslaught. A disallowed Nazar Voloshyn goal in stoppage time added to the drama, but Ukraine held on for a crucial 2-1 win.
True to tradition, Ukraine created problems early on, only to fix them in the final moments. Heading into November, the coaching staff made a tactical gamble: they fielded a semi-reserve squad against France (losing 4-0) to keep the starters fresh for the decisive clash against Iceland three days later.
The gamble paid off. In a match played like a cup final, Ukraine dominated. Anatoliy Trubin produced arguably his best performance in a national shirt, making several key saves. Ukraine secured a 2-0 victory, clinching a spot in the playoffs.
2025 was a year of “classic” Ukrainian football: difficult, unpredictable, and deeply emotional. Most importantly, the team proved they have the heart to compete on the world stage.
As someone too young to remember Ukraine's legendary 2006 World Cup run, I am eagerly waiting for the day our flag flies at a global tournament again. 2026 could be that year.
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Unlock $150 in Bonus Bets with the bet365 bonus code GOALBET this Christmas. Bet on NFL action and NBA matchups from 12:00 PM ET (12/25).
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The excitement kicks off on December 25 with the in-form Knicks facing off against the Cavaliers in a marquee Eastern Conference matchup, followed by a primetime NFL showdown between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Commanders at 1:00 PM ET.
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Christmas Day serves up a betting doubleheader with fireworks potential, starting in the NFL as the Dallas Cowboys visit the Washington Commanders at 1:00 PM ET. Dallas enters as a touchdown road favorite at around Cowboys -6.5 (moneyline roughly -280 / +230) with the total sitting near 47.5, setting up plenty of prop action.
Dak Prescott over 275.5 passing yards and 2+ TDs is popular against a shaky Commanders secondary. CeeDee Lamb's receiving yards prop hovers around 95.5 with anytime TD juice. Washington backers may look to Terry McLaurin over 68.5 yards or Sam Howell over 1.5 passing TDs in comeback mode.
The NBA Christmas spotlight hits Madison Square Garden at 12:00 AM ET as the Cleveland Cavaliers clash with the New York Knicks in a tight Eastern Conference battle. Cleveland (+115 ML) comes into this matchup desperate to save its season after a so-so start, while the Knicks are rolling and seek to close the gap to the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Knicks (-2.5 spread, -135 ML) have won 8 of their last 10, while the Cavs come into this matchup after beating the Pelicans handsomely. The total for this clash is set at 224.5 points, reflecting modest scoring projections.
Player props steal the show; Jalen Brunson over 26.5 points feels tailor-made for the Garden stage, and Karl-Anthony Towns's double-double prop draws attention. Cleveland bettors circle Donovan Mitchell over 28.5 points against his former rival and Evan Mobley over 9.5 rebounds, making this late-night matchup a perfect capper for bettors looking to turn Christmas cheer into Christmas cash.
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Three Manchester United vs Newcastle predictions for their Premier League clash on Saturday, including value on a goalscorer bet.
Our betting expert expects Newcastle to turn their fortunes around away from home and take advantage of United's depleted squad.
Manchester United have made some improvement this season. The Red Devils are four points better off now than they were at the same stage last term. However, inconsistencies continue to plague the red half of Manchester.
Despite putting in a decent performance last weekend, United fell short against a high-flying Aston Villa. This period could prove pivotal in shaping the remainder of their campaign. Key players are missing, with top scorer Bryan Mbeumo and influential Amad Diallo away on international duty.
To add to Ruben Amorim's woes, captain Bruno Fernandes has been sidelined for at least the next six fixtures. Kobbie Mainoo is also struggling with a calf issue. This leaves United severely weakened against a team just three points behind in the Premier League table.
With so many key stars missing, doubt is creeping in among the fanbase, leading some to use a 1xBet Promo Code to back the visitors to take advantage.
Newcastle have endured similar inconsistencies in their league campaign. As a result, Eddie Howe's men find themselves down in 11th. A win here would provide a much-needed boost. The Magpies are three points worse off than they were at the same stage last season.
Their away form has been disappointing. Improvements are definitely needed if the Toon hope to push for a European spot this season.
Manchester United expected lineup: Lammens, Martinez, Heaven, Shaw, Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dorgu, Cunha, Mount, Sesko
Newcastle expected lineup: Ramsdale, Miley, Thiaw, Schar, Hall, Guimaraes, Tonali, Ramsey, Murphy, Woltemade, Gordon
A worrying stat for Man United is that they've won only two of their last eight matches, despite some good performances. Furthermore, home advantage offers little comfort, as they're winless in their last three matches on home turf. Two draws and a defeat in that run are enough to offer hope for the visitors.
Newcastle have been poor on the road. They've won only one of their eight away league matches this term. The Magpies have won one of their last four matches across all competitions, but they should take something away on Boxing Day.
The Toon enjoy a positive record against the hosts, having won five of the last six head-to-heads.
This historical dominance is a key statistic that the best betting sites use to justify shorter odds on the visitors than their current form might suggest. The visitors won the corresponding fixture last season 2-0. While a victory is likely, a stronger display from the hosts could see the spoils shared.
The Red Devils have struggled to protect their goal this season. Only Nottingham Forest (13), West Ham (20), and Wolves (23) have conceded more goals on home turf than Man United's 12. Amorim's charges have failed to keep a clean sheet in 16 of their 17 league matches this term.
Newcastle's front line will be encouraged by those numbers ahead of their trip to Old Trafford. However, Howe's troops have also been shaky at the back. They've failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 10 league matches.
Both sides scored in 50% of Newcastle's away league fixtures. Meanwhile, that figure rises to 62% for Man United's league matches at Old Trafford. As a result, Boxing Day could deliver goals at both ends.
Nick Woltemade, brought in as Alexander Isak's replacement, has done a splendid job since his move to the Toon. The German has scored seven goals in 14 league matches, averaging a goal every two games.
He was on a mini drought for five consecutive games before netting a brace against Chelsea last weekend. Magpies' fans hope those goals will inspire him to keep scoring for the rest of the season.
Woltemade's height may come in handy in this encounter, especially if he's going up against the likes of Lisandro Martinez. Nevertheless, the forward's skill in front of goal ensures he'll be one to watch when Newcastle visit Old Trafford.
Born in Spain but a Uruguayan international dreaming of playing in the World Cup, and already one of the key players at SC Braga, Rodrigo Zalazar spoke exclusively with Flashscore about adapting to Portuguese football and the growth of Carlos Vicens' team throughout the current season.
In what follows, Zalazar also talks about taking advantage of the Christmas season to hand out a few gifts to his teammates and to the club president, Antonio Salvador.
Flashscore: You arrived in Braga with the reputation of a star and have shown that on the pitch, after spells in Spain, Germany, and Poland. You joined in 2023, and a lot has happened since then: a coaching change, injuries, a call-up to the national team, and then missing out on the squad. From 2023 until now, what have been the main challenges in adapting to Portuguese football and becoming the important player you are for SC Braga today?
Zalazar: "I think I've always been treated well since I arrived. They made it easy for me to settle in quickly, but whenever you change teams, there are always challenges, and I think German and Portuguese football are quite different.
"At first, it was a bit tough to understand the way football is played in Portugal, but thanks to the club and everyone who helped me, I improved, and I think I've raised my level season after season. A big part of the credit goes to the work the club has done with me to help me reach the level I'm at today."
You've had several coaches and are currently in great form. The stats speak for themselves. Do you feel like a freer Zalazar on the pitch, with a different dynamic under Carlos Vicens? Do you feel more useful and comfortable in the system the Spanish coach has brought to Braga?
"I've learned a lot from all my coaches. As a player, you try to take as much as you can from each one, and I've picked up things from all of them. But it's true that this year, Carlos Vicens' style of play really suits me as a player.
"This season, I'm playing closer to the box, and our style involves a lot of movement, which I really enjoy. The team is doing well, and individual stats are always linked to the team's work. Of course, someone has to score the goals, and this year I've been lucky to get more goals myself."
We've seen you play on the right, the left, in more attacking and more defensive roles. Where do you feel most comfortable on the pitch?
"I think I adapt well to any role. Whenever I'm needed, I'll be there to give my all for the team. Obviously, I prefer playing as I am now, in the middle, close to Ricardo (Horta), someone I have a great understanding with, and I think that's where I feel most comfortable.
"But, as I said before, I can play wherever the coach needs me, and I think that's also a help for the team."
This Braga side are now playing great football, but the start of the season was shaky. The results weren't good, the performances didn't suggest anything positive, but then there was a moment when the team responded on the pitch. What was that moment, and when did you feel, in the dressing room, that it was time to react?
"From the first day the coach arrived, we knew we'd need time to adapt to the way he wanted us to play. We knew it was a completely different style from previous years, but I remember talking to him and saying that, in the end, what's needed is time for the team to get the ideas clear.
"Once we started to understand how we wanted to play, you could see it on the pitch, in the recent results - the team feels good, comfortable, and is always causing problems for opponents, which is important, and scoring goals."
But it was almost from one game to the next that we started to see a different Braga. Did you feel that shift? Was there a conversation with the coach, among the team, the players, to make that change happen?
"Yes, definitely. We knew we had to step up because what we were doing wasn't enough, especially with the level of Liga Portugal, which gets better every year. We had a team talk in the dressing room and said we had to take responsibility, especially the more experienced players.
"We're a very young team that's still growing, and after that talk, we changed our mindset - we knew we had to give more to win. We took a huge step forward, and we're getting better all the time."
Is this the best Braga we'll see this season? Is the team already at its peak?
"There's always room for improvement, but I think we're in a good place. We're not satisfied with just this; we want more. We know we're playing well and getting good results, but for us, that's not enough - we'll keep pushing for more."
You're under contract until 2028, and in a good mood in the dressing room, you showed off tattoos of Braga's name on your back and chest. Is it still a long way off before we see you declare Braga as the club of his heart?
"I have a lot of affection for the club, of course. Since I arrived, everyone- from the fans to the staff - has treated me really well and shown me a lot of love. In the end, with my work, I also earned their trust, and these are things I do to create content here (laughs).
"I'm very happy here, it's a club that will always have a special place in my career, where I've had some of my best years. But obviously, I also come from clubs that made me very happy, like Schalke 04, which, for me, gave me everything as a person and a player - it's a club that will always be in my heart. But I think Braga can share that space with Schalke. Both clubs are close to my heart."
But do you see yourself staying at Braga for more years? Or are you looking for new challenges in other leagues? Where does your ambition for the future lie?
"I'm very happy. Of course, in football, there are always opportunities to leave, to try something new, but I haven't really thought about that. I'm happy here, focused on playing, and whatever happens in the future will happen. I'm content here, fully focused, and I want to keep winning and stay in good form."
Your future could depend on a national team call-up. Bielsa arrived, called you up for his first game, and you scored twice. In 2024, due to some injuries, you were out for a while. Now you're being called up more regularly. Do you see the 2026 World Cup as a goal? Are you working towards that, knowing the competition for places in Uruguay's midfield is fierce?
"Playing in a World Cup is every player's dream. We all work to have the chance to represent our country. I'll be 100 per cent focused and ready so that, if I get the call, I can give my best and help the team however I can.
"It's a national team with top-level players and a lot of competition. It depends a lot on how things go for me at Braga. Of course, it's a goal, and it would be a dream come true for me."
Do you think that Bielsa might give preference to players in European leagues or competitions over others?
"No, I think it depends more on how the player is doing physically and football-wise, not whether they're playing in European competitions. What matters is playing well - he'll look at what you can bring to the team."
Would you be disappointed if you didn't make it to the 2026 World Cup? Would this be your golden opportunity as a player?
"Yes, of course it would be tough, but that's football, and I'm not the one who makes that decision. If it were up to me, about 200 Uruguayan players would go to the World Cup (laughs).
"It's a dream everyone has, and having already been part of the national team and shared moments with my teammates, it would be a disappointment. But you have to keep working - you never know when another chance might come, so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and keep working hard."
Have you started studying Spain, Cape Verde, and Saudi Arabia, who are in Uruguay's group?
"There's no need - everyone knows the players in those teams, and they'll be great games."
On a more personal note, who is Zalazar? The calm guy we've seen playing piano and eating fried chicken with almonds, or the fierce, intense player we see on the pitch?
"Above all, I'm a very happy person. I have a very peaceful life, a family that means everything to me, but outside of football, I'm also someone who always tries to make others happy. That's what life is about: being happy and making others happy.
"I'm a very simple person, but sometimes a bit crazy. I have some hidden talents I haven't shown yet, but the club's Golden Gala this year might be a good time for that."
If you had to give a present to Carlos Vicens, what would it be?
"A box of tea, he drinks a lot of tea."
And to Ricardo Horta, who you've already mentioned and is one of your partners on and off the pitch?
"A hair transplant."
To Bright Arrey-Mbi, another of your teammates?
"A diamond chain."
To forward Fran Navarro? And why?
"A tractor, because he's a farmer."
And to President Antonio Salvador?
"A trophy would be nice."
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The modern game has never been bigger. Whether it is better remains the question FIFA is daring the world to answer.
As global football closes a relentless year and accelerates toward a supersized 2026 World Cup, the sport's governors are doubling down on expansion, convinced that the appetite for football is limitless – even as concerns over quality, fatigue and balance grow louder.
FIFA points to the past 12 months as proof of concept. Its expanded 32-team Club World Cup in the United States drew 2.4 million fans, culminating in an 81,000-strong crowd for the final as Chelsea swept aside Paris Saint-Germain. For FIFA, it was validation. For critics, it was also a warning.
The gulf between elite and aspirant was impossible to ignore. Auckland City were thrashed 10-0 by Bayern Munich and 6-0 by Benfica.
Al Ain suffered similar punishment. Such mismatches, once rare, are expected to multiply when a record 48 nations gather across the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer.
The expanded World Cup will stretch to 104 matches – a marathon that promises spectacle but threatens exhaustion.
Player welfare has become a flashpoint, with FIFPro warning that injury rates and burnout are climbing amid an ever-crowded calendar that shows no sign of easing.
Yet history suggests that when the tournament reaches its sharp end, familiarity will prevail.
Once debutants and underdogs enjoy their moment – from Cape Verde to Curacao, Jordan to Uzbekistan – the business end is likely to belong to the usual powers: holders Argentina alongside France, Brazil, Spain, England and Germany.
For all the talk of new names and new nations, two figures still tower above the landscape.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – the defining players of the 21st century – have never faced each other at a World Cup.
That could finally change. If the bracket behaves, a Kansas City quarter-final could stage their long-awaited duel, with Messi at 39 and Ronaldo at 41.
Neither has shown any appetite for fading quietly.
Ronaldo continued to rattle in goals for Al-Nassr and led Portugal to the UEFA Nations League title. Messi, now in MLS, lifted the Cup with Inter Miami while sweeping the MVP award and Golden Boot.
With both icons operating far from Europe's center of gravity, space has opened for a new standard-bearer.
No player seized that space more emphatically than Ousmane Dembele.
The Ballon d'Or and FIFA Player of the Year winner produced the season of his life, scoring 33 goals in 49 appearances as Paris Saint-Germain finally fulfilled their ambition – storming to a historic treble capped by a ruthless 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in the Champions League final.
Dembele edged elite company for the game's top honors.
Barcelona's teenage phenomenon Lamine Yamal inspired a 28th La Liga title. Mohamed Salah delivered a staggering 47 goal involvements to drive Liverpool to the Premier League crown in Arne Slot's dream debut season.
Harry Kane, Bundesliga top scorer again as Bayern reclaimed the title, finished a distant 13th – a reflection of how crowded the summit has become.
The women's game continued its surge.
Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati claimed a third straight Ballon d'Or Feminin, though Euro 2025 ended in heartbreak as England edged Spain on penalties in the final. Record crowds followed throughout the tournament, prompting FIFA to confirm an expanded Women's Club World Cup from 2027.
Change was not limited to the pitch. UEFA's revamped 36-team Champions League silenced early skeptics, with 27 clubs still in contention heading into the final matchday. While the format added drama, it also favored financial heavyweights – none more so than PSG, who stumbled early before catching fire when it mattered most.
The Premier League's financial muscle remained unrivaled. Six English clubs qualified for the 2025-26 Champions League, underlining domestic dominance fueled by a staggering 3 billion pounds ($4.05 billion) spent in a single summer window – more than the rest of Europe's top leagues combined.
Technology, too, marched forward. FIFA introduced faster semi-automated offside decisions, and next year's World Cup will be the most technologically advanced ever, featuring the AI-embedded Trionda match ball designed to assist officials in real time.
With the Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly now disappearing into the rearview mirror, the battle for the Ballon d'Or hasn't felt so open for the best part of 20 years, with countless players beginning the campaign believing they have a chance of claiming the most prestigious individual prize football has to offer. Ousmane Dembele emerged from a career plagued with inconsistencies to win the Golden Ball in 2025, and he was among a crowded field of contenders as the 2026 race got going.
Dembele largely secured the award off the back of his performances in helping Paris Saint-Germain win their first European Cup, and the Champions League is yet again likely to have a big say on the Ballon d'Or battle this time around. However, it's also a World Cup year, so there is a chance that the eventual winner doesn't emerge until the summer in North America.
Don't forget, too, that the Africa Cup of Nations is running from late December and into January, meaning there could be some players who don't only shine for their clubs but also impress at two major tournaments over the course of the campaign.
The Ballon d'Or race is a marathon not a sprint, and it's worth bearing in mind that Dembele didn't emerge as a potential victor until midway through the 2024-25 campaign. However, with the European season reaching its halfway mark, GOAL's Ballon d'Or Power Rankings are well up and running as we track the likeliest winners of the Golden Ball over the coming weeks and months:
Previous update: November 28, 2025. Players dropping out: Estevao.
In 2025-26: Eight assists, nine clean sheets. Won UEFA Super Cup.
Widely regarded as the best right-back in the world, Hakimi placed sixth in the 2025 Ballon d'Or voting after a season in which he contributed as much to the PSG attack as he did to ensure they remained solid at the back. One of the leaders within Luis Enrique's squad, the Moroccan's performances will again have a large bearing on the French champions' fortunes at home and on the continent.
Hakimi had made a decent start to the season before suffering an ankle injury in late October, and what places him so high in our rankings is the potential for him to shine on the international stage. Morocco reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup and have the strongest squad among the African qualifiers for 2026, meaning another deep run isn't beyond the realms of possibility. Before that, the Atlas Lions are the favourites to triumph on home soil at AFCON, with Hakimi - the newly-crowned African Footballer of the Year - set to be the face of the tournament if he can prove his fitness during the group stages.
In 2025-26: 22 goals, 19 assists. Won MLS Cup.
He couldn't, could he?! The days of Lionel Messi even being nominated for the Ballon d'Or were thought to be behind us, but after guiding Inter Miami to their first-ever MLS Cup and with Argentina remaining among the favourites to win the World Cup, there is a real chance that the eight-time winner finds himself back in the running for the Golden Ball come the summer.
Messi proved to be a class apart on his way to winning a second-straight MLS MVP award as he provided six goals and seven assists in Miami's six play-off matches alone, and certainly that success at club level would be taken into account if he can help Argentina defend their global crown in North America in 2026. For all the talent around him, Messi remains at the heart of the Albiceleste's line up, and thus any triumph in his new homeland will likely be attributed largely to him once more.
In 2025-26: 15 goals, nine assists. Won DFL-Supercup.
Liverpool fans might be forgiven for wondering whether their season might not be in such turmoil had Luis Diaz not been sold over the summer. The versatile forward played an important role in the Reds' title triumph of 2024-25, but his desire for a new challenge led to the Anfield outfit accepting a €75 million (£65.5m/$88m) bid from Bayern Munich for the Colombia international.
Diaz hasn't looked back since, having struck up a fine understanding with Harry Kane and the rest of his Bayern team-mates. Some of his strikes in the Bundesliga have been stunning, while his double to beat PSG in the Champions League was the kind of match-winning display that catches Ballon d'Or voters' eyes, even if his subsequent red card means he won't be seen again in the competition until January at the earliest.
Factor in Diaz will be playing at his first World Cup this summer, and he has all the makings of a Golden Ball contender.
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In 2025-26: 12 goals, 15 assists. Won DFL-Supercup.
Anyone who predicted that Michael Olise would struggle to make the step up from Crystal Palace to Bayern Munich has been sorely mistaken, with the wideman having strung together a year or so of fantastic performances for the Bundesliga champions. Equally capable of scoring as he is creating goals for others, the 24-year-old has grown into one of the most fearsome forward players in the German top flight while also making his mark on the Champions League.
Olise's club performances have also helped him lock down a starting spot in the France line-up despite intense competition for places. As such, he could be one of the stars of the upcoming World Cup for one of the favourites to lift the trophy.
In 2025-26: Five goals, eight assists. Won UEFA Super Cup & FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
Vitinha came a long way since his underwhelming loan spell at Wolves five years ago to finish on the Ballon d'Or podium in 2025, and the PSG dictator-in-chief is now regarded by many as the best midfielder on the planet. Certainly, he has played in such a fashion to begin the new season, and even looks to be adding more goal and assist output to his game, as highlighted by his hat-trick to beat Tottenham in the Champions League in November.
He will also form part of a Portugal squad next summer that, after winning the Nations League, has a genuine belief that they can triumph at the World Cup. Should they do so, then Vitinha will likely have played a massive part.
In 2025-26: Three goals, eight assists.
Declan Rice announced himself as one of the world's elite midfielders with his performances against Real Madrid in last season's Champions League, and the Arsenal man has gone from strength to strength since. Rice is now one of the Gunners' most important players as they go in search of not just the Premier League title but also a first-ever Champions League triumph, after making a perfect start to their European campaign.
Rice's driving runs, defensive contributions and set-piece deliveries mean games rarely pass him by, while he is also a certain starter for a Thomas Tuchel-led England side that is looking more than capable of ending 60 years of hurt by winning the 2026 World Cup.
In 2025-26: 10 goals, 14 assists.
The bookmakers' favourite heading into the season, Lamine Yamal is well on course to become the first player under the age of 21 to win the Ballon d'Or, and he wouldn't even have to win it in 2026 to do so! The Barcelona teenager's performances in the latter stages of last season's Champions League saw him emerge in the eyes of many as the finest footballer in the world, and his runners-up finish behind Dembele in the Golden Ball voting was testament to that.
There are those who still believe he needs to produce more decisive moments in the biggest games, while there are concerns that the number of matches Yamal has played at such a young age are leading to an increase in injury problems. Barca, meanwhile, look well short of being Champions League contenders right now due to their defensive deficiencies, meaning Yamal might need to lean heavily on his displays for Spain at the World Cup if he is to take home the Ballon d'Or.
In 2025-26: 34 goals, eight assists.
Is this the year Kylian Mbappe finally gets his hands on the Ballon d'Or? Almost from the moment he emerged as a teenager at Monaco, the forward has been anointed a future Golden Ball winner. But having just celebrated his 27th birthday, Mbappe is still waiting for his opportunity to stand atop the podium in Paris.
So far, he could have done little more to give himself the best chance possible to end that wait, with Mbappe having carried a struggling Real Madrid this term with a number of match-winning goals. He has also saved the best international performances of his career for World Cups, and so expect the France captain to go the distance in this race.
In 2025-26: 38 goals, six assists.
After an underwhelming season by his own lofty standards, Erling Haaland has gone into 'Terminator mode' this time around, becoming a one-man battering ram for Manchester City as they aim to re-establish themselves as challengers for both the Premier League and Champions League. Already well on his way to a third Golden Boot in four seasons, defences have been powerless to stop the 25-year-old thus far.
Haaland's stunning start would have put him in the Ballon d'Or conversation anyway, but his chances this time are boosted by Norway's first qualification for the World Cup since 1998, giving their star striker the chance to appear at a major tournament for the first time. The Scandinavians are merely dark horses to triumph in North America, but Haaland could yet use the global stage to put a bow on his Golden Ball bid if all goes well at club level.
In 2025-26: 35 goals, three assists. Won DFL-Supercup.
There will always be those who don't fully appreciate Harry Kane, but now that he has got the trophy monkey off his back that so many used to question him over the years, the Bayern Munich striker looks like a man on a mission, utterly determined to show that he is also worthy of individual recognition after starting the campaign at a record-breaking pace.
As well as scoring mountains of goals, Kane has showcased his all-round game to devastating effect for the Bundesliga champions, and if he can maintain this form, then further silverware will be coming his way at the end of the season. England fans, meanwhile, are praying that their captain doesn't again run out of steam before the summer, with Kane key to the Three Lions' hopes of ending their agonising wait for a major honour at international level.
After years hovering around the Top 30, the Argentine is poised for the next step.ByStephanie LivaudaisPublished Dec 25, 2025 copy_link
Published Dec 25, 2025
© 2025 Getty Images
👉 This week, we're putting the spotlight on our sport's unsung heroes. You can read about more of them here.Francisco Cerundolo in 2025, by the numbersWins/Losses: 38-25Grand slam record: 3-4Australian Open: 3RRoland Garros: 1RWimbledon: 1RUS Open: 2RTitles: 0Finals: 1Year-end Ranking: No. 21
Consistency has been the name of the game for Francisco Cerundolo, South America's longtime standard bearer—a player who quietly climbed to a career-high ranking of No. 18 in 2025.He isn't the flashiest or most headline-grabbing talent from the continent. That spotlight has largely belonged to Brazil's 19-year-old phenom Joao Fonseca, who defeated Cerundolo in the final of his home tournament in Buenos Aires and used the moment as a springboard to wider attention.While he didn't make a deep run at a Grand Slam this season, many of Cerundolo's biggest milestones came on the Masters 1000 stage. The Argentine reached back-to-back quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Miami, then advanced to the semifinals in Madrid—the second time he has reached that stage, dating back to his breakout Miami semifinal run in 2022.A former South Carolina college standout, Cerundolo has long thrived in team environments like the Laver Cup and Davis Cup. But after spending three years hovering around the ATP's Top 30, he now appears ready to step out of a supporting role and into a more central one.
He isn't the flashiest or most headline-grabbing talent from the continent. That spotlight has largely belonged to Brazil's 19-year-old phenom Joao Fonseca, who defeated Cerundolo in the final of his home tournament in Buenos Aires and used the moment as a springboard to wider attention.While he didn't make a deep run at a Grand Slam this season, many of Cerundolo's biggest milestones came on the Masters 1000 stage. The Argentine reached back-to-back quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Miami, then advanced to the semifinals in Madrid—the second time he has reached that stage, dating back to his breakout Miami semifinal run in 2022.A former South Carolina college standout, Cerundolo has long thrived in team environments like the Laver Cup and Davis Cup. But after spending three years hovering around the ATP's Top 30, he now appears ready to step out of a supporting role and into a more central one.
While he didn't make a deep run at a Grand Slam this season, many of Cerundolo's biggest milestones came on the Masters 1000 stage. The Argentine reached back-to-back quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Miami, then advanced to the semifinals in Madrid—the second time he has reached that stage, dating back to his breakout Miami semifinal run in 2022.A former South Carolina college standout, Cerundolo has long thrived in team environments like the Laver Cup and Davis Cup. But after spending three years hovering around the ATP's Top 30, he now appears ready to step out of a supporting role and into a more central one.
A former South Carolina college standout, Cerundolo has long thrived in team environments like the Laver Cup and Davis Cup. But after spending three years hovering around the ATP's Top 30, he now appears ready to step out of a supporting role and into a more central one.
Flying under the radar seems to suit the 27-year-old just fine. Cerundolo keeps his head down, puts in the work, and goes about his business without much fuss.He's best known for his explosive groundstrokes. After coaching him at the Laver Cup, Andre Agassi told Tennis Channel: “Everybody is scared to death when he gets set to unload on his forehand.”Cerundolo is also one of the tour's most effective returners, ranking No. 4 on the Infosys ATP Stats Return leaderboard. That skill has helped him remain a consistent threat against the elite, with two wins over world No. 2 Alexander Zverev and victories over Top 20 opponents including Alex de Minaur, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune and Tommy Paul.In February, he added Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas to his coaching team, signaling a willingness to try new approaches and build on incremental improvements rather than chase quick fixes.“I actually didn't set specific ranking goals this year, like saying I want to be Top 10 or whatever,” Cerundolo told press earlier this year. “I did that the past two years and didn't achieve it, so I didn't want to repeat that mindset. Instead, I've focused on goals in training, improving physically, mentally and in my tennis overall.“I know I have the level to compete with the top guys. So my main goal is to be more consistent, and I think I'm already doing better than last year.”
He's best known for his explosive groundstrokes. After coaching him at the Laver Cup, Andre Agassi told Tennis Channel: “Everybody is scared to death when he gets set to unload on his forehand.”Cerundolo is also one of the tour's most effective returners, ranking No. 4 on the Infosys ATP Stats Return leaderboard. That skill has helped him remain a consistent threat against the elite, with two wins over world No. 2 Alexander Zverev and victories over Top 20 opponents including Alex de Minaur, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune and Tommy Paul.In February, he added Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas to his coaching team, signaling a willingness to try new approaches and build on incremental improvements rather than chase quick fixes.“I actually didn't set specific ranking goals this year, like saying I want to be Top 10 or whatever,” Cerundolo told press earlier this year. “I did that the past two years and didn't achieve it, so I didn't want to repeat that mindset. Instead, I've focused on goals in training, improving physically, mentally and in my tennis overall.“I know I have the level to compete with the top guys. So my main goal is to be more consistent, and I think I'm already doing better than last year.”
Cerundolo is also one of the tour's most effective returners, ranking No. 4 on the Infosys ATP Stats Return leaderboard. That skill has helped him remain a consistent threat against the elite, with two wins over world No. 2 Alexander Zverev and victories over Top 20 opponents including Alex de Minaur, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune and Tommy Paul.In February, he added Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas to his coaching team, signaling a willingness to try new approaches and build on incremental improvements rather than chase quick fixes.“I actually didn't set specific ranking goals this year, like saying I want to be Top 10 or whatever,” Cerundolo told press earlier this year. “I did that the past two years and didn't achieve it, so I didn't want to repeat that mindset. Instead, I've focused on goals in training, improving physically, mentally and in my tennis overall.“I know I have the level to compete with the top guys. So my main goal is to be more consistent, and I think I'm already doing better than last year.”
In February, he added Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas to his coaching team, signaling a willingness to try new approaches and build on incremental improvements rather than chase quick fixes.“I actually didn't set specific ranking goals this year, like saying I want to be Top 10 or whatever,” Cerundolo told press earlier this year. “I did that the past two years and didn't achieve it, so I didn't want to repeat that mindset. Instead, I've focused on goals in training, improving physically, mentally and in my tennis overall.“I know I have the level to compete with the top guys. So my main goal is to be more consistent, and I think I'm already doing better than last year.”
“I actually didn't set specific ranking goals this year, like saying I want to be Top 10 or whatever,” Cerundolo told press earlier this year. “I did that the past two years and didn't achieve it, so I didn't want to repeat that mindset. Instead, I've focused on goals in training, improving physically, mentally and in my tennis overall.“I know I have the level to compete with the top guys. So my main goal is to be more consistent, and I think I'm already doing better than last year.”
“I know I have the level to compete with the top guys. So my main goal is to be more consistent, and I think I'm already doing better than last year.”
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In 2025 Lando Norris became the latest British driver to win the World Championship. Brits lead the standing for the most title wins – but how many can you get right in our quiz?
Lando Norris became the sport's newest World Champion when he clinched the Drivers' title at the season finale in Abu Dhabi earlier this month.
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By Greg Evans
NY & Broadway Editor
A Christmas Eve jazz concert held annually for two decades at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was canceled by its host this year in protest of the addition of Donald Trump‘s name to the Washington, D.C., building.
Chuck Redd, a jazz drummer and vibraphonist who has hosted the annual holiday “Jazz Jams“ at the Kennedy Center since 2006 (he took over for previous host Keter Betts, a jazz bassist who died in 2005), told the Associated Press last night that he decided to drop this year's event after Trump's name was added to the venue by its Trump-appointed board.
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“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd told The Associated Press. The concert would have included performances from seven jazz musicians.
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The addition of Trump's name to the venue appears to be in violation of a 1964 law that prohibits the addition of names or memorials to anyone other than John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated in 1963. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) filed a lawsuit on Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking a declaration that the name of the arts institution is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and that a board vote last week to change the name is null and void.
“Because Congress named the center by statute, changing the Kennedy Center's name requires an act of Congress,” Beatty's lawsuit stated. “But on December 18 and 19, 2025—in scenes more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes than the American republic—the sitting President and his handpicked loyalists renamed this storied center after President Trump. This is a flagrant violation of the rule of law, and it flies in the face of our constitutional order. Congress intended the Center to be a living memorial to President Kennedy—and a crown jewel of the arts for all Americans, irrespective of party. Unless and until this Court intervenes, Defendants will continue to defy Congress and thwart the law for improper ends.”
After Trump's name was added to the venue, Roma Daravi, spokeswoman for the center, defended the board's authority to change the name. “This action is in line with the precedent of the State Department adding President Trump's name to the Institute of Peace. And the previous Administration renaming military bases.” she said in a statement. (The renaming of the military bases that had Confederate names was authorized by an act of Congress in 2021.)
The jazz concert is just the latest casualty of Trump's takeover of the venerable arts institution. Earlier this week, the American College Theatre Festival suspended its 60-year partnership with the Kennedy Center, with Festival officials saying the affiliation is “no longer viable” due to “circumstances and decisions that do not align with our organization's values.”
The Kennedy Center has not yet commented on the jazz concert cancellation, with its official website merely confirming that the concert was canceled. The website also indicates that admission to the concert was free of charge.
Among the artists who have canceled Kennedy Center appearances post-Trump takeover are Issa Rae, Peter Wolf and a planned production of Hamilton, among others.
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By
Daniel Kreps
Brian May gifted Queen fans this week by unearthing the band's unreleased Christmas song “Not for Sale (Polar Bear).”
The guitarist shared the track during the year-end episode of his Planet Rock radio show, noting that the track originally dated back to the late Sixties when the band — with vocalist Tim Staffell — was known as Smile. The group would later revisit “Not for Sale (Polar Bear)” with Freddie Mercury during the sessions for 1974's Queen II, a never-heard version that May premiered on his radio show.
“You might possibly have heard a kinda bootleg version of this by Smile, it's a song that goes back a very long way,” May prefaced on Planet Rock before debuting the track.
“To my knowledge no one has ever heard this version, which is kinda a work in progress and it will appear on the forthcoming rebuild of the Queen II album next year, but I'm sneaking this in because I'm just fascinated to know what people think about it. It's a very, very ancient song called Polar Bear.”
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The Queen II reissue has long been in the works, with May previously mentioning in an interview earlier this year that “Polar Bear” was among the songs cut from the 1974 album that would be included on the rerelease. An exact 2026 release date has not yet been announced for the Queen II reissue.
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In addition to “Not for Sale (Polar Bear),” the Planet Rock episode featured a mix of May's favorite Christmas and seasonal tracks. “I hope people have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year,” the guitarist added.
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By Katie Campione
TV Reporter
Netflix has teased a glimpse at the upcoming return of the pirate adventure One Piece.
The streamer released a Christmas Day trailer for Season 2, titled One Piece: Into the Grand Line. The footage unveils some of the pirates and other adversaries that Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hats will be encountering as they set sail for the extraordinary Grand Line, a legendary stretch of sea where danger and wonder await at every turn.
Though this realm is unpredictable, they are certain it will yield the world's greatest treasure. Watch the trailer above.
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The trailer, which you can watch above, introduces new Season 2 characters, including Tony Tony Chopper.
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The live-action adaptation, about Monkey D. Luffy who assembles a crew as he sets out to find the legendary fabled treasure, One Piece, and become King of the Pirates, stars Iñaki Godoy as Luffy, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero as Usopp, and Taz Skylar as Sanji.
One Piece sets sail again on Netflix on March 10.
Cast also includes Vincent Regan, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, Morgan Davies, Aidan Scott, Langley Kirkwood, Jeff Ward, Celeste Loots, Alexander Maniatis, McKinley Belcher III, Craig Fairbrass, Steven Ward, and Chioma Umeala.
Ian Stokes and Joe Tracz serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. Eiichiro Oda, Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements, Tetsu Fujimura, Chris Symes, Christoph Schrewe and Steven Maeda also executive produce. The show is created in partnership with Shueisha and is produced by Tomorrow Studios (an ITV Studios partner).
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The Beckham family feud continues.
Brooklyn Beckham appeared to poke fun at brother Cruz Beckham's claims that the 26-year-old blocked his family on social media.
In a cutting TikTok video posted Tuesday, the aspiring chef took a sidewalk stroll while the Lady Gaga song, “Telephone,” played — specifically, her singing, “Sorry, I cannot hear you. I'm kinda busy.”
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The lyric was also highlighted in bold text across the top of the footage.
Brooklyn's rep did not immediately respond to Page Six's request comment.
Social media users flooded the comments section to speculate that the snarky video was meant for Brooklyn's family members.
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“Is this for your blocked parents?” one asked, while another joked that Brooklyn was “saying that to his parents.”
A third wondered whether Brooklyn was “busy or blocked.”
Fans urged Brooklyn to “keep drowning out the noise” as many predicted his mom, Victoria Beckham, was “watching and screaming.”
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The clip came on the heels of Cruz's claims about Brooklyn blocking his family on social media.
The drama began earlier this month when Victoria, 51, reportedly “liked” one of her eldest son's posts about roasting a chicken.
The “like” prompted a flurry of comments begging Brooklyn to make amends with his family, which reportedly prompted Brooklyn to block them.
When reports surfaced that Victoria and David Beckham had unfollowed Brooklyn, Cruz came to their parents' defense.
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“NOT TRUE. My mum and dad would never unfollow their son,” he wrote. “Let's get the facts right. They woke up blocked … as did I.”
A source recently told The Sun that David, 50, and Victoria are “heartbroken by what's gone on here.”
The insider added, “It came out of the blue for them, and in the lead-up to Christmas, when families are supposed to come together, it's devastating.”
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Brooklyn's relationship with his family appeared to sour when he married Nicola Peltz in 2022.
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Victoria allegedly made her daughter-in-law cry during the wedding after hijacking the newlyweds' special dance.
Eyebrows were also raised when the bride, 30, decided not to have her mother-in-law design her bridal gown.
Earlier this year, Brooklyn and his wife opted not to attend David's splashy 50th birthday celebrations in London.
Silent night.
The Kardashian-Jenner family didn't celebrate Christmas Eve with their usual blowout bash Wednesday night, opting for an “intimate” gathering instead.
Kendall Jenner hosted the festive soirée at her Beverly Hills mansion, marking the second year in a row the model has thrown the event.
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The 818 Tequila founder, 30, and her loved ones all dressed to the nines despite keeping the gathering low-key.
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Kendall stunned in an all-white vintage Mugler ensemble, while Kylie Jenner sported a black John Galliano number.
Kim Kardashian wore a silver draped in lights, and Khloé Kardashian rocked a strapless dress and layered on the jewelry.
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Khloé, 41, took to Instagram Stories to explain why the reality stars skipped their famous “big” bash.
“We just had my mom's huge 70th and we just wanted something more intimate, so we're doing just family,” she told her followers. “But of course, we have to still be so dressed up because that's what we love to do. And so we are just celebrating the holiday very glam and fab.”
Kris' “James Bond”-themed party, notably, took place in November, with the star-studded guest list including Meghan Markle, Oprah Winfrey and Justin Bieber.
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Last week, Khloé revealed that her family would be splitting the cost of the grand soirée despite the party taking place at Kendall's abode.
“We all equally split the cost of the party because it's a family [thing],” she shared on a Dec. 17 episode of her “Khloé in Wonderland” podcast.
Kris, who was guest-starring on the episode, reflected on the annual event, admitting that it “gets really crazy.”
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“I think one of the most fun things, too, is to be able to share things with our friends. We've always been able to give out some amazing gifts at the end of the party,” Kris said.
The momager began hosting the annual holiday event in 1978 — though she has passed on the tradition to her daughters in recent years.
Last year, Kendall hosted a low-key family gathering on Christmas Eve.
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A year prior, Kim transformed her $60 million LA mansion into a winter wonderland in honor of the Yuletide. Kim's fête featured real snow, sledding and plenty of caroling.
The annual event is also known for attracting high-profile names.
Past celebrities in attendance included Sia, Hailey Bieber, Paris Hilton, Babyface, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen.
On this week's Great Moments in Pop Star History episode of the Greatest Pop Star podcast, we discuss a low-key moment in Grande's career that ended up foreshadowing a lot of her future.
By
Andrew Unterberger
In late 2015, Ariana Grande‘s seemingly frictionless ascendance to all-consuming pop superstardom had finally hit a tiny bit of turbulence. “Donutgate” and other small-scale controversies had put her in the media's crossfire for the first time, while “Focus” — the planned lead single off her upcoming third album, then to be titled Moonlight — had disappointed commercially and left fans a little cold. It was nothing she couldn't and wouldn't bounce back from, but in the meantime, she dropped a surprise release to celebrate the holiday season, and give both her sound and her career a little bit of a reset: the six-song EP Christmas & Chill.
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On this week's Great Moments in Pop Star History episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard staff writer and longtime Arianator Kyle Denis to look back at 10 years of Christmas & Chill. We remember the Ariana Grande holiday releases that preceded it — including a song that's already well on its way to being an all-time seasonal standard — and then dive into why Chill has come to hold a particularly special place in the hearts of fans and of Grande herself, as well as how it ended up predicting a lot of the places she would go in her later secular releases.
While doing so, we address all the most pressing questions around Grande's Christmas & Chill — how did an EP with no self-consciously big songs on it end up playing such a big part in her career? What are our favorite songs on the EP? How did she get away with a ukulele song in 2015? Do we care about the difference between the “Naughty” and nice versions of “Santa Tell Me”? Why has Grande never made much of an effort to actively revisit or repromote any of her holiday releases? And perhaps most importantly: Is there a world in which Grande eventually ends up being Mariah Carey's successor as the Queen of Christmas?
Check it out above — along with a YouTube playlist of some of Ariana's most relevant holiday music moments, all of which are discussed in the podcast — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!
Also check out Kyle's 2025 Year in R&B review, as well as his recent Druski cover story.
And as we say in every one of these GPS podcast posts — if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights:
Transgender Law Center
Trans Lifeline
Destination Tomorrow
Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe
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By
Charisma Madarang
The score soundtrack for Marty Supreme has arrived alongside the film's release today, Dec. 25.
The project is composer Daniel “Oneohtrix Point Never” Lopatin's latest collaboration with filmmaker Josh Safdie and spans 23 tracks, drawing from “neoclassical orchestration, widescreen synth ecstasy, and tactile 80s hardware,” per a press release. The soundtrack also includes performances from Laraaji and vocal layers from Weyes Blood.
“The music came from an obsession with rhythm, buoyancy, and motion—compiling hundreds of mallet and bell sounds to mirror Marty's mercurial, fast, and kinetic nature, which is like a table tennis ball itself,” said Lopatin in a statement. “I wanted the score to live between tradition and invention, with neoclassical elements grounding the world around him as he finds it with rules, limits, and pressure. The electronic textures lean into the future he imagines, even as those forces begin to contend with each other.”
Earlier this week, Tiesto delivered “I Love You, Tokyo” from the soundtrack during his performance in front of the Pyramids of Giza. In addition to Safdie, Lopatin has worked with a host of boundary-pushing artists throughout his career including David Byrne, FKA Twigs, Anohni, and DJ Earl.
Popular on Rolling Stone
Marty Supreme, now in theaters, stars Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet, who has led a wild marketing campaign for the film — appearing atop the Las Vegas Sphere, which had been transformed into a giant ping pong ball, days before the movie's release.
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A Rolling Stone review praised the film, with critic David Fear writing, “Imagine Rocky if you substituted ping-pong for prizefighting, Alexander Portnoy for the Italian Stallion, and an egotistical prick for a lovable underdog. You'd have something close to Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie‘s manic character study that doubles as a cracked American success story.”
Marty Supreme Track List1. The Call2. Marty's Dream3. Endo's Game4. The Apple5. Pure Joy6. Holocaust Honey7. The Humbling8. Motherstone9. The Scape10. Tub Falls11. Fucking Mensch12. Rockwell Ink13. Hoff's14. Seward Park15. The Necklace16. Vampire's Castle17. Back to Hoff's18. Shootout19. I Love You, Tokyo20. The Real Game21. Endo's Game (Reprise)22. Force of Life23. End Credits (I Still Love You, Tokyo)
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The show must go on!
NYC billionaire John Catsimatidis hosted a screening of “Marty Supreme” on Tuesday night filled with politicos to celebrate his cameo in the Oscar-buzzy movie.
But minutes after the Timothée Chalamet film began, there was a snafu with the sound, causing an unexpected 40-minute delay at the AMC Kips Bay 15 event.
But the Gristedes mogul and former mayoral candidate spun the delay into an advantage.
“He had 40 minutes of alone time with the governor,” pointed out a source, noting that the WABC radio station owner was seated next to Gov. Kathy Hochul — who didn't flee during the prolonged tech glitch.
A pic showed the pair happily chomping on popcorn.
Adding some political intrigue to the scene, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman also attended the screening — marking the first time he and Hochul were in the same place at the same time since he announced.
Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Adams was supposed to be on hand to declare it Catsimatidis Day in NYC — but the tech snafu scuttled the plan to make the proclamation inside the theater.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani previously attended the film's NYC premiere.
Catsimatidis, 77, has a cameo in the movie, an awards front-runner. He told The Post last summer of the role: “I actually got paid! I'm a member of SAG. And so I got a new career at my age.”
(Buzz is that he's actually quite good in his acting debut.)
In fact, Cats has now gotten the Hollywood bug. Said a source of his cameo, “John loved it so much, he's looking to buy a movie studio. He's talking to people.”
But don't expect any dark horse bids for Warner Bros. The source said the mogul wants to build studio space “out East” on Long Island. “He's thinking about doing something,” they said, adding Cats was talking at the event to NYC's film and TV commish. “It's John's next chapter.”
It was proclaimed Catsimatidis day in NYC as well as two Long Island counties.
By Glenn Garner
Associate Editor
Following James Ransone‘s shocking death at age 46 last week, tributes to the late actor continue to pour out from fans and peers in Hollywood.
On Tuesday, Channing Tatum remembered Ransone as “one of the realest” in a statement on his Instagram Story, after the pair starred together in writer/director Dito Montiel's 2011 crime thriller The Son of No One.
“There ain't words for these things,” he wrote with a photo of the two of them. “But you my friend… was one of the realest. I remember being in every conversation with you and just always being like I wonder what he's gonna say!!??? Lololol
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“I love you PJ I'll see you on the next one my G,” added Tatum.
Chloë Sevigny, Spike Lee, Sean Baker and more have also paid tribute to Ransone following his death.
Ransone was found dead by hanging on Friday in Los Angeles, having apparently died by suicide, according to the county medical examiner's report.
He is survived by wife Jamie McPhee and their son.
If you or someone you know is struggling with difficult life circumstances or uncomfortable thoughts and emotions call or text 988 to reach the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
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By Glenn Garner
Associate Editor
Nearly a decade after his career as a child actor was jumpstarted by Stranger Things, Noah Schnapp wants to see more mental health resources available for his industry peers.
The actor recently revealed that after thinking he didn't need it as a “happy-go-lucky kid,” he's since gone to therapy, which he agrees with Ariana Grande that it should be mandatory for children in their line of work.
“It's hard to grow up in the public eye,” he told USA Today. “You don't know yourself, you haven't figured anything out, and now you're expected to know everything and have all the answers.”
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Schnapp continued, “I was constantly saying the wrong things or being embarrassed by not taking certain things seriously that I should've, and then that lives on forever. People grow and learn, and to do that publicly is not easy.”
Debuting its series finale on New Year's Eve, Schnapp was 11 when filming Season 1 of Netflix's Stranger Things, which kicked off its five-season run in 2016.
“Through the years, it becomes like, ‘No, this is an abnormal life and you need some type of support system outside of your parents,'” said Schnapp.
“Growing up, I never understood why people were depressed or turned to drugs or had eating disorders. As you get older, you understand how the pressures of Hollywood can create that,” he added. “I always tell my parents, ‘I could never live in LA. I think I would get lost.'”
With the first four episodes of Stranger Things, Season 5 now available to stream on Netflix, the next three roll out on Christmas, with the two-hour finale dropping on Dec. 31.
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Tom Brady and his eldest son, Jack, spent a relaxing day golfing on Christmas Eve together.
The former NFL quarterback, 48, shared snaps of him and his 18-year-old son — whom he shares with ex Bridget Moynahan — golfing together via Instagram Stories on Wednesday.
The two spent time together at the luxury Bakers Bay Golf and Ocean Club in the Bahamas, taking off their shirts to enjoy the sunny weather.
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The father-son duo had no issue showing off their fit physiques. Brady rocked navy blue shorts, a backwards baseball hat and a gold chain, while his statuesque son wore gray shorts, a tan baseball cap and Nike sneakers.
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Brady also shared a picture of a sign advertising a tacos and tequila bar, as well as a snap of an adorable dog on the sand.
“Merry Xmas eve,” he wrote alongside a Christmas tree emoji.
The holiday outing comes just weeks after Brady's ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, secretly married Joaquim Valente last month.
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A source familiar with Valente, 38, told us that he and the supermodel, 45, tied the knot surrounded by a small group of friends and family at home.
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The intimate nuptials came after they welcomed a baby boy together in February.
Brady shared a cryptic selfie after the news broke, in which he wore a white hoodie sweatshirt that read, “Forever young.”
“Yuppppppp 100,” he wrote atop the pic. In another slide, he shared a football thirst trap featuring him wearing a black fitted T-shirt while flexing his pecs and holding a football with his left hand.
Despite fans speculating about the Super Bowl winner's reaction, Brady is “happy” for his ex-wife's new marriage, a source told the Daily Mail.
“He's happy in the way that is simple: he's happy that she is happy,” the insider told the outlet.
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“Down the line, he might get married again and he would want her to be OK with that, so he has to be OK about it,” the insider continued. “If he was upset, that would mean he still has feelings for her and that it would be unfair to the kids if he didn't want to see their mom happy and move on.”
Brady and Bündchen were married for 13 years before they split in 2022.
They share two children together: son Benjamin, 16, and daughter Vivian, 13.
By Glenn Garner
Associate Editor
After 40 years, Melora Hardin doesn't need a time machine to remember how it felt being fired from Back to the Future.
Following Micheal J. Fox‘s account of her dismissal from the role of his romantic lead Jennifer Parker, the actress admitted she “burst into tears” when she was cut from the 1985 movie for being taller than Fox's Marty McFly.
“Back to the Future was a huge disappointment,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I was 17, you know. I burst into tears. It was very sad. There were quite a few of those that I remember, you know, things that never really got made. But that I remember being very tough.”
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Hardin explained, “To be where I am, you have to have failed more than you've succeeded. I think people don't realize that when they look at it from the outside — you have to really be somebody who's comfortable with failure, and with putting yourself on the line all the time. That failure doesn't mean anything about you. You just have to fail better, and keep failing better … to be able to really weather this career choice.”
In his recent memoir Future Boy, Fox explained that when he replaced leading man Eric Stoltz as the time-traveling teen, some felt co-star Hardin was suddenly too tall to play the character's girlfriend in the franchise's first installment.
Noting that his height “worked in my favor when I was a teenage actor playing a younger kid,” Fox wrote that being short “turned against me as an adult, when I went up for romantic leads opposite taller actresses.”
Fox continued, “I regret that this prejudice inadvertently affected another cast member in Back to the Future – Melora Hardin, the talented actress who had played Marty's girlfriend, Jennifer, opposite the perfectly tall Eric Stoltz.
“Melora, several inches taller than me, was replaced in the movie after I took over as Marty,” he added. “Initially, Bob Zemeckis thought perhaps the audience could look past our height difference, but when he quickly surveyed the female members of the crew, they assured him that the tall pretty girl in high school rarely picks the cute short guy.”
“No one asked for my opinion, but I would have risen to Melora's defense,” added Fox.
After Claudia Wells stepped in to play Jennifer in Robert Zemeckis' 1985 time-travel comedy, Elisabeth Shue took over the role in Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Part III (1990).
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By Allison Schonter
In the world of streaming, nothing is permanent. The constantly shifting landscape of content licensing and platform changes means that many streaming titles have an expiration date, and that holds true for Netflix. The streamer has added some exciting titles throughout December but has gotten rid of several others. Ahead of its Season 3 premiere next month, a sleeper hit supernatural teen drama is leaving Netflix, and subscribers only have a few more days to stream it.
School Spirits, sibling creators Megan Trinrud and Nate Trinrud's YA show about a teen stuck in afterlife limbo at her high school as she investigates her own mysterious disappearance, is scheduled to leave Netflix on December 31st. The series originally premiered on Paramount+ in March 2023 and joined Netflix's catalog later that same year as the first major Paramount+ Original licensed to Netflix in the United States. Season 2, which debuted in January of this year, never made it to the platform and never will with the show's upcoming departure. All eight episodes currently streaming on Netflix will disappear just weeks before the School Spirits Season 3 premiere on January 28, 2026.
School Spirits is an underrated gem. The series, which holds an average 91% critic score and 93% audience rating across its two seasons on Rotten Tomatoes, feels like a mix of teen mystery dramas like Pretty Little Liars and Veronica Mars, but with the supernatural twist of shows like Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Lockwood & Co.
A ghost-led whodunit in a high school setting that brings all of the teen angst and supernatural elements of some of the best in their respective genres, School Spirits is insanely fun, surprisingly deep, and easy to binge-watch. The show keeps viewers guessing with its central murder plot and invested with a focus on the connections and relationships between the diverse group of teen ghosts, balancing the spookier elements with plenty of humor and heart.
The show has been consistently good, raising its critic score from an 83% in Season 1 to a perfect 100% in Season 2. The second season was described by critics as “an engrossing spectacle” and “an edgy and gripping second season that'll have you putting on your detective hat to figure everything out.” The entire show is criminally underrated, delivering more depth and heart than typical teen shows and a complex plot to keep viewers hooked.
Netflix subscribers unfortunately won't get to see School Spirits Season 2 join the platform and are now left with only a few more days to binge-watch Season 1. When those eight episodes leave Netflix, School Spirits Season 1 will stream exclusively on Paramount+, its permanent streaming home, alongside Season 2. The upcoming third season is set to premiere with three episodes on Paramount+ on January 28th. New episodes will then drop weekly through the season finale in March.
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Yesterday Vallee was interviewed and many people thought he didnt say much. But in the last 25 minutes or so, he did say some rather fascinating stuff. At some points it looks like even George Knapp is stunned. Below a few quotes:
Timestamp 1:54:00:
In this quote he is talking about a colleague who had been in a concentration camp and described it as a sort of control system.
Vallee: "[...] he said that was a control system. But it could be open or closed depending on the conditions. He said I think UFOs may be the same thing. They may be open to some people under certain conditions that they control. I certainly have spoken to people who were confronted with entities that were open to discussion"
There is a longer section about the control system prior to this quote, but its too long to put here. Go watch it in the video
Vallee: "There are cases that I know, where... this happened in government facilities, but nobody's talking about that. So I suspect that that's true based on the people I've met. But they were not the people who are running the program. So I cannot be completely sure"
Not entirely sure if he is talking about "controllers" of the craft, or of the control system. But the section immediately prior to these and the quote above, were him talking about the nature of the control system.
Vallee: "But what they described to me is a very sophisticated process by which we may be able to interact with the entities. Those are not the entities that are described at Trinity [...], they are not the entities that were caught in Brazil, you know in that documentary. They are, they may be the controllers. They may be the higher level entity"
So the entity in the lab doesnt look like the Trinity (small humanoids with praying mantis features) or Varginha (small red eyed humanoid)
And its a higher level being (interesting choice of words). Anyone have a clue what the entity looks like then? A tall grey? Tall mantis?
Vallee: "If what I'm told is true, the communication with them is very sophisticated. And it's complex. So there may be a group that I would respect, that has access to that, and this was from years ago by the way. I mean that report of that particular interaction was more than 20 years. In in a lab somewhere in controlled conditions"
Vallee: "If that's true, then there is a process ongoing where we may be able to acquire information at a very sophisticated level. And that would be, that could be a reason for stalling quote "disclosure" until there can be a rational way that we're not confronted with something... so overpowering, that it would destroy our culture and our society"
Vallee: "Yes it's factual. What I cannot tell is whether that the entity that was presented was a simulation of a real entity or whether it was the real entity. The people I spoke to couldn't probe it to see if it was made of flesh or, in metal, or something else"
Vallee: "It was presented to them in a secure facility that I've never heard of anywhere else, where there was structured interaction with it on a continuing basis by specialists from different areas. The person I spoke to was an extreme, you know, specialist in in a particular discipline. Not a casual observer"
Vallee also describes what the Trinity craft looked like:
Timestamp 1:59:33:
Vallee: when he [witness] was inside [the crashed trinity craft] there was essentially nothing except a very crude thing that [... he describes normal gadget left behind by soldiers]. The craft itself, we had very good description of it.
Vallee: "the shape and the look and feel [...] is identical to the one in Socoro and Valencol. So we have three cases there. [...] It was eggshaped. The witnesses called it an avocado. And they were obviously speaking Spanish. And they they called it an avocado. It was not quite oval, but it was an oval shape"
Vallee: "There was nothing inside. If there was a an engine, it would have been under the floor. And they looked under the thing when it was in the army truck. It was on the side to go under the overpass. [...] they could see the underside. The underside was intact, and there was no opening. And it would have been about 2 feet deep and maybe 6 long. That's where you could put an engine"
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Nicki Minaj didn't plan to dominate the news cycle when she stepped onto the stage at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in Phoenix on 21 December 2025. But one word uttered in front of a woman whose husband was assassinated just months earlier was enough to send political corners of the internet into a frenzy.
Minaj, appearing alongside Erika Kirk, the widow of late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, was midway through offering advice to young men when she praised 'our handsome, dashing president' before adding another name. What followed was a moment that instantly went viral.
'You have amazing role models like the assassin JD Vance, our vice president,' Minaj said.
The slip landed with particular force because of the setting. AmericaFest was TPUSA's first major gathering since Charlie Kirk was assassinated on 3 September 2025, during a live debate at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
The FBI has maintained the killing was carried out by a lone gunman with no clear motive, a conclusion Erika Kirk has publicly supported while urging an end to speculation.
That backdrop made Minaj's use of the word 'assassin', especially while sitting beside Kirk's widow, feel jarring. Body language analysts later pointed to Minaj's rigid posture and prolonged pause as signs of genuine shock rather than rehearsed theatrics.
Erika Kirk moved quickly to defuse the moment. 'Trust me, there's nothing new under the sun that I have not heard,' she said, before adding, 'I love you.' She later brushed it off entirely, telling the crowd that 'words are words' and insisting she understood Minaj's heart.
Clips of the exchange racked up millions of views on X and YouTube within hours. While some viewers chalked it up to an unfortunate slip, possibly slang meant to convey toughness or dominance, others were far less charitable.
Netizens and political commentators began framing the moment as a 'Freudian slip,' suggesting Minaj might have let something spill that wasn't meant for public ears. Posts questioning 'what does she really know?' spread rapidly, with some users tying the comment to long-circulating rumours involving JD Vance and Erika Kirk.
Those rumours were not new. Earlier in December, podcaster Nick Fuentes claimed without evidence that Kirk and Vance had a personal relationship, citing an affectionate hug at a TPUSA event and Kirk's early praise of Vance as a future presidential contender.
Fuentes also pointed to Kirk later distancing herself from Vance amid political backlash as 'suspicious.' None of those claims has been substantiated.
Still, Minaj's wording poured gasoline on an already smouldering fire.
Minaj herself has avoided addressing the comment head-on. After briefly thanking Kirk onstage, she went largely silent on social media, fueling headlines suggesting she was laying low amid the backlash.
JD Vance, meanwhile, appeared unbothered. He, in fact, has only praise for the rapper. 'Nicki Minaj said something at Amfest that was really profound. I'm paraphrasing, but she said, 'just because I want little black girls to think they're beautiful doesn't mean I need to put down little girls with blonde hair and blue eyes,' he wrote on X (formerly Twitter)
The exchange only deepened the divide online, with critics calling the entire episode tone-deaf and supporters dismissing the outrage as manufactured.
Furthermore, whether Nicki Minaj's comment was a careless choice of slang or simply a verbal misfire, it has become part of a larger, unsettled conversation.
© Copyright IBTimes 2025. All rights reserved.
Famous Psychic ‘Mor Plai' Apologizes for Border Panic, Clears Fake Arrest Rumors
BANGKOK – Famous fortune teller “Mor Plai Pray Krasip” publicly apologized and asked society for a second chance following a severe backlash. She admitted the incident caused her depression and health issues. She also clarified false rumors regarding money laundering.
Previously, Mor Plai predicted a major conflict at the Thai-Cambodia border. She claimed “big unrest” would happen within days. This prediction caused public panic. Critics attacked her heavily online. She disappeared from the spotlight to handle the stress.
Reporters recently interviewed her at the “Hor Taew Tak” movie premiere. She stated she is recovering. Admitted the drama affected her mental health significantly. She suffered from panic attacks and depression. She also sought hospital treatment for her existing SLE (Lupus) condition.
Mor Plai formally apologized with a “Wai” gesture. She asked the public to accept her back. She admitted her confidence in making predictions dropped.
“I learned a lesson,” she said. “I apologize for speaking words that hurt feelings. I will not do it again and will be very careful with my words.”
She plans to continue her work but will change her approach by avoid specific predictions that harm individuals or groups.
Mor Plai revealed that the online criticism was not the most painful part. Instead, fake news caused her the most distress. AI-generated reports falsely claimed she laundered money and faced arrest.
She denied these rumors completely. She filed a report with the Cyber Police. Officers are currently tracking down the culprits. She confirmed she faces no legal charges from any organization.
She admitted she often wants to quit the profession but cannot because work keeps coming in. She plans to focus more on her main tasks: setting up spirit shrines and dealing with spirits (“ghost hunting”).
She also gave advice to the public, urging people to use critical thinking.
“Please analyze before believing,” she stated. “My predictions are general guidance. Do not panic immediately.”
She concluded by emphasizing her status which is a regular fortune teller, not a “wizard” or a supernatural being. She wishes everyone happiness for the upcoming New Year.
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The first forms of life on Earth were microbial, preceding the evolution of multicellular life by more than two billion years.
Based on our current understanding of the origin of life, it is likely that the first life forms on any extraterrestrial world would also be microbial. Due to the extreme temperatures, radiation or aridity on most planetary surfaces, such extraterrestrial microbes would most likely dwell in subsurface environments. Earth's subsurface features a wide range of environments, including deep marine sediments, crustal aquifers, rock fracture fluids, hydrocarbon reservoirs, caves and permafrost soils.
These environments are known to host an immense diversity of life forms, predominantly microbes that survive or even thrive under extreme conditions and energy scarcity. Life's ability to endure and possibly evolve in Earth's subsurface lends credence to the possible existence of life beyond our planet and provides a blueprint for the extraterrestrial life forms and biosignatures we might expect.
The exploration of space via extraterrestrial samples analysed on Earth, in situ extraterrestrial analyses, and remote sensing continue to advance our search for and understanding of potential biosignatures on other planetary bodies. But by investigating Earth's deep, dark and isolated ecosystems, we not only broaden our understanding of life's adaptability but also refine our strategies and technologies for detecting life on other planets and moons.
Subsurface exploration is not just a frontier of Earth science—it is a cornerstone of astrobiology and in the pursuit of understanding the multitude of processes that could create and sustain life anywhere.
In this opinion article, we discuss the latest highlights in subsurface research and technology, how Earth's subsurface environments serve as models for potential environments on other planetary bodies, why insights into subsurface microbiomes inform the search for life elsewhere, and which technologies and developments will advance the field in the future.
Distribution and locations of subsurface drilling sites. (A) Location of Ocean Drilling Programme (ODP) and International Ocean Drilling Programme/Integrated Ocean Discovery Programme (IODP) drilling sites. Colour and size of location markers both indicate depth drilled in metres below seafloor (mbsf). (B) Location of caves of interest and International Continental Drilling Programme (ICDP) drilling sites, indicated with magenta circle markers. Boreholes, mines and caves of interest (also noted in this figure) are indicated by the larger stars: ocean drilling boreholes in blue, continental drilling boreholes in yellow and caves of interest in red. — Microbial Biotechnology via PubMed
Astrobiology, Oceanography
Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na'Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻
2025 © Reston Communications. All rights reserved.
By Robert Scucci
| Published 16 seconds ago
Ever since Conan O'Brien got screwed out of his NBC deal in 2010, I've distanced myself from late-night programming because it's always the same format. There's a monologue about the president, celebrity and musical guests, and rehearsed interviews that become increasingly ridiculous once you notice stars doing their press rounds, reciting the same jokes and stories verbatim from show to show. Conan was the outlier because he brought surreal, over-the-top bits to the table that made the format feel less stale, something that should have been encouraged rather than outright eliminated from primetime, late-night television.
However, if every single late-night show ended up resembling Night Owls with Jack Delroy, the fictional program at the center of 2023's Late Night with the Devil, I'd most definitely tune in more often. Late Night with the Devil has so much going for it, and I'm honestly mad I only just watched it for the first time this week. Its functionality is threefold: a late-night program, a found-footage horror film, and a possession story. Across all three modes, the film thrives at generating unease, and it's a blast watching everything unravel as the story is told from multiple vantage points.
Late Night with the Devil focuses on Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), the host of Night Owls, a late-night show competing directly with The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Returning to poor ratings after time away to cope with his wife Madeleine's (Georgina Haig) death, Jack knows he needs a big win during Sweeps Week if his comeback is going to mean anything. His solution is a Halloween-themed episode centered on the occult, stacking the desk with guests who promise a lively, media-friendly discussion. Spoiler alert: nothing about this ends up being media friendly.
Jack's first guest is Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), a psychic who claims he can communicate with the dead. At first, his act feels like a John Edwards-style cold-reading parlor trick, but everything shifts when he reveals a premonition about Jack's late wife that was never publicly disclosed. Moments later, Christou becomes violently ill and is rushed off the set, never to be seen again.
The next segment brings out Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), a professional magician and outspoken skeptic who insists there must be a logical explanation for what just happened. Carmichael ups the ante by offering a substantial cash reward to anyone who can definitively prove the existence of supernatural phenomena, positioning himself as the voice of reason in a studio that's already starting to feel unsteady.
This leads directly to the real meat and potatoes of Late Night with the Devil: June Ross-Mitchell, a respected parapsychologist and author, and her latest subject, Lilly (Ingrid Torelli). Jack pushes June to demonstrate, both for the studio audience and the viewers at home, that demonic possession is real. Lilly claims she's possessed by a demon she calls Mr. Wriggles, and from this point forward, there's no pulling the ripcord. Her chair levitates, her voice and physicality change in unsettling ways, and everybody is suddenly, and rightfully on edge.
While Carmichael assumes the entire thing is an elaborate ratings stunt, Jack and his producers scramble behind the scenes because they genuinely have no idea what's happening. The show is spiraling, the crew is panicking, and it becomes increasingly clear that something far more sinister is unfolding. Making matters worse, Jack begins to suspect that he may be more connected to the demonic presence than he ever realized.
Unlike many found footage films that rely on shaky cameras and questionable edits that break immersion, Late Night with the Devil succeeds because of its setting. A television studio is the perfect environment for this approach. It's technically found footage in the sense that we're watching raw A and B reels, but nothing about it feels artificial.
The film commits fully to the idea that we're watching a late-night broadcast collapse in real time. Color footage represents what actually aired, while black-and-white sequences capture what happens during commercial breaks as the crew desperately tries to regain control after each increasingly bizarre incident. That contrast grounds the premise and keeps everything feeling authentic.
The gasps from the audience seal the deal. Even better is watching Jack and his guests tense up as a producer counts down to the moment they're live again, only for everyone to snap back into polished, performative mode the second the cameras roll. It never feels forced. It feels like a real late-night show that went catastrophically off the rails, was quietly pulled from syndication, and then rediscovered years later.
GFR SCORE
If you've felt like late-night programming hasn't been the same since Coco took his hit in 2010, Late Night with the Devil is exactly the kind of chaotic breath of fresh air you've been waiting for, and it's streaming on Hulu as of this writing.
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Maine Folklife Center:
Across New England, and certainly throughout Maine, a tradition of baked bean suppers takes place in community institutions such as churches, granges, and firehouses…
While Boston is known as bean-town, only in Maine can you ever really get to know beans. B&M (Burnham and Morrill) baked beans of Portland still bakes beans in huge iron pots in brick ovens before they can them for distribution around the country.* The Kennebec Bean Company in North Vassalboro packages a range of Maine-grown beans under the "State of Maine" label and also sells many of them prepared to an old Maine lumber camp formula.
While many people in Maine cook their beans in a ceramic bean pot, the most unique cooking process for beans in Maine developed in the Maine logging camps. Pork and beans, baked in a bean hole, remains the logger's main dish. The slow, long cooking makes the bean very digestible as well as tender and delicious. In the logging camps, beans were served at every meal. The bean hole is a stone-lined pit in which a fire is built until a good bed of coals forms. A cast iron bean pot (holds about eleven pounds of dried beans) is lowered into the pit, covered over with dirt and allowed to cook, usually overnight.
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* Sadly, 2021 was the last year B&M produced baked beans in Maine. (The property is being developed into a Northeastern University campus.) Tonight, in its memory, we dribble out a dollop of molasses onto the floor, upon which we'll get “the look” from our significant other and spend the next half hour cleaning it up with a scrungee and a bottle of turpentine. —BiPM
Once again I feel blessed to have, 22 years ago, created the internet's most cherished War-On-Christmas eve tradition: sitting in a giant kiddie pool eating baked beans while swapping conspiracy theories (but only the ones deemed true by my researchers over at BillyFact) with everybody on earth plus the microbes on Mars.
Whether you're a regular participant or a newcomer, we invite you to join us below and bear witness as the holiday mirth oozes forth spontaneously like boogers of freedom conga-lining through the nasal passages of destiny. I'll be staggering around, dispensing rum balls and counting the silverware. It's the least I can do. So that's what I'll do.
Scheduling Note: No C&J tomorrow. Some sort of C&J returns Friday evening around 7:15 ET. Thank you all so much for successfully invading and conquering Christmas again on behalf of the hippies and socialists and inflatable green frogs and, of course, the deep state. It was a splendid little war, and you'll all be receiving an extra candy cane pin for your epaulets in the mail. With Louis DeJoy's lackeys still in charge that means they'll arrive sometime around 2047. —Mgt.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til 2025: 8
Speed at which Santa will travel tonight, according to the internet: 5,083,000 mph
Approximate number of Xmas trees planted for every one cut: 3
Percent of people who say they wrap their gifts a day or two before Xmas: 27%
Height of the Rudolph figure used in the stop-motion animated TV Xmas classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: 4 inches
Shelf life of a store-bought Xmas fruitcake, if it's refrigerated, according to CNN: 3 years
Percent chance that I've pissed off Franklin Graham and Tony Perkins by writing “Xmas” four times in a row just now: 92.6%
Age of Kwanzaa, which was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 to celebrate family, culture and heritage, and is modeled after the first harvest celebrations in Africa: 58
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Before We Go Any Further...
I cede this space to Kossack DuzT, whose 2013 post is now an annual tradition:
Economic forces dictate that there can never be a day where everything shuts down, where everything gets put on hold and people just get to enjoy time with their families. […]
So, if you're working Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve, New Years Day; remember there's a shitload of us out here doing the same thing. Someone has to.
I feel you my sisters and brothers.
And to those of you able to enjoy the holidays with family, please take just a moment to think of us.
We are out here to facilitate your lifestyles. We are out here making sure everything works the way you expect. We are out here so you don't have to be.
And thank you for that.
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Your Holiday Molly Ivins Moment:
And a Merry Christmas to all, including people who have white Christmas trees decorated entirely with purple balls. Merry Christmas to the Red states and the Blue states, to the R's and D's, and to all the troops stationed in Afghanistan, including the French troops there—Mais oui, Chwistmas, y'all.
Merry Christmas to all the people who had to eat bugs on reality shows this year and to all the professional athletes who have not gotten into duke-outs (lumps of coal to the rest of you jocks). Merry Christmas to the homeless and the people in the shelters, and especially to those who are feeding the people in the shelters. Season's Best to all the cops who collected for Blue Santa this year, and a Tiny Tim Salute to all the prisoners, including Martha Stewart. Her cell-wing lost the prison's Christmas decorating contest this year—when it rains ...
Feliz Navidad to all our immigrants, legal and otherwise—may La Migra be far away and tamales close at hand. By the way, there are some new legal rights groups that will go after the scum who hire you and then refuse to pay you. Joyeux Noel to all our friends in Canada, and please overlook the pifflebrains who keep insulting you. …
And here's to all the rest of us, imperfect though we are. One thing I have learned over the years is that you should go ahead and eat the fudge, because the diet starts next year. And to all, a good night.
—December, 2004
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Puppy Pic of the Day:
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Christmas Day Forecast
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And one more important matter to tidy up:
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Okay, pass the beans and let's get tootin'. Against my better judgment I'll light a fire…
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