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Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said he is ready to go to war with Europe, accusing EU leaders of sabotaging peace talks with the US. “We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now,” Putin warned.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost and Dan Lamothe @DanLamothe used to occupy this desk inside the Pentagon Press room. Now it’s mine!

A former British soldier has been arrested for allegedly helping Russia assassinate Ukrainian politicians in exchange for money, intelligence officials said. Ross David Cutmore was detained by Ukraine’s state security service in October after he was accused of importing and doling out weapons that were used in the slayings of three prominent Ukrainians, the Kyiv Independent reported. Months after he arrived, he allegedly quit the job and started acting as a spy for the Kremlin. He later provided the weapons used to murder politician, Andriy Parubiy, as well as activists, Demian Hanul and Iryna Farion, officials alleged. Cutmore, who had...

Ken Burns has set himself the impossible task of retelling a national origin story that all Americans will embrace as their own. He began work on the resulting six-part, twelve-hour series, The American Revolution, nearly a decade ago, just as the so-called Great Awokening got going. The years 2015-2025 have been energizing and inspiring for culture warriors and historical polemicists. But Burns is neither. His craft consists in conveying, intelligently, artfully and respectfully, the mainstream historical consensus. And that consensus has become so politicized it no longer meaningfully exists. Burns’s earnest effort to reconjure it merely results in incoherence. The...

A woman who steered her car into a crowd of people protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies in the Loop earlier this year has been sentenced to “second chance probation,” according to court records. Judge Peggy Chiampas imposed the sentence after Deidre Kemp, 30, pleaded guilty to aggravated reckless driving causing bodily harm last week. Prosecutors said Chicago police had already cordoned off much of the Loop for the anti-Trump demonstration when Kemp ignored officers’ verbal and physical attempts to redirect her. With her children in the car, she drove her 2003 Kia Spectra into the crowd near State...

Key Points: The national median rent for apartments fell 1% in November from October, and now stands at $1,367, according to Apartment List. The national multifamily vacancy rate was 7.2% in November, a record high. The historic surge in multifamily construction over the past few years is now pulling back, but a good supply of new units is still coming online at a time of much weaker demand. A slew of new supply is still making its way through the multifamily housing market. That, coupled with weakening demand, especially from the youngest workers, is pushing vacancies up and rents down....

NATO is weighing a more "proactive" and "aggressive" posture in countering Russia's hybrid-warfare campaign — potentially including "preemptive" actions, said Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone. Dragone, NATO's most senior officer and chair of the alliance's Military Committee, made the remarks in response to myriad attacks at the hands of Russia, including sabotage, cyberattacks, and airspace violations. "We are studying everything. ... On cyber, we are kind of reactive," Dragone said. "Being more aggressive or being proactive instead of reactive is something that we are thinking about." Dragone added that a "preemptive" strike could be considered a "defensive action," adding that...

Drivers have complained that their vehicles have suddenly locked up, lost power and refused to start, as owners and dealerships warn of a growing wave of failures that has left hundreds of vehicles stuck in place. The nationwide meltdown hit Porsche models built since 2013, which are all fitted with the brand's factory VTS satellite-security unit. The vehicles have been 'bricked' with their engines immobilised, due to connections with the satellite system being lost. Rolf dealership service director Yulia Trushkova said 'all models and all engine types' are impacted. The company does not rule out that the malfunction may have...

Russia has begun evacuating its citizens from Venezuela, a sudden move that analysts say signals a major shift in Moscow's stance toward dictator Nicolás Maduro's embattled regime — and comes as U.S. military pressure on Caracas steadily intensifies, La Derecha Diario reported. The Association of Tour Operators of Russia confirmed that flights are being organized to remove Russians from Venezuela. The announcement, circulated widely by Russian media, sparked immediate speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for instability or distancing itself from Maduro after years of backing the socialist strongman. The evacuation order comes at an unusual moment. Russian...

Alleged gunman Luigi Mangione will be back in court Tuesday for a second day of testimony as the judge overseeing his state murder case weighs whether to throw out key evidence. On Monday, Judge Gregory Carro heard a 911 call a McDonald’s employee in Altoona, Pennsylvania, made telling the dispatcher some customers were concerned the alleged killer of United Healthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson, who was fatally shot in Midtown Manhattan, was in the restaurant. Two corrections officers who work at SCI Huntingdon, the state prison where Mangione was held until he was extradited to New York to face charges,...

The University of Michigan is supposed to be the pride of the Midwest. A 200-year-old college that has been dubbed a 'Public Ivy,' the school is steeped in tradition, pride and academic excellence. It is also the home of the Wolverines and the Big House, the largest stadium in America. Now, the beloved school is increasingly seen as a back door for Beijing - a soft target for Chinese operatives, covert networks and alleged plots involving genetically modified parasites and crop-killing fungi. And recent arrests show just how deep the rot may run. On November 5, federal agents charged three...

The last time gasoline was this cheap, 4% inflation seemed alarming, JD Vance was still a private citizen and the United States had only just begun its messy withdrawal from Afghanistan. Gas prices dropped below an average of $3 a gallon in the United States on Tuesday for the first time in four-and-a-half years, according to AAA. The milestone represents a rare feel-good story in a years-long affordability crisis marked by high prices for necessities. The national average for regular gas dipped to $2.998 a gallon, compared with $3.001 on Monday. Pump prices are down about six cents in just...

Ever since Donald Trump welcomed Zohran Mamdani into the White House, we’ve been hearing the expected rhetoric from various usual suspects. Trump has sold out. He’s gone over to the dark side. Mamdani outwitted him and made him look like a fool in his own hometown. This has largely come from two sources: the hysterics who live for the moment where they can begin caterwauling that it’s all over, that nothing can be done, that we may as well give up… (Yeah, that’s right – I’m talking about you in the comment threads.) …and the sincere but limited individuals who...

As ICE continues to arrest people in San Diego during their green card interviews, the final step in a legal pathway, some of the people taken into custody have been spouses of military members and veterans, including one who said he felt “betrayed” after serving for decades in the U.S. Marine Corps. ICE has repeatedly said these arrests, which began Nov. 12, are for overstaying visas. But multiple immigration attorneys contend that’s never been an issue before, with an exception in federal law for direct relatives of U.S. citizens, including spouses, who are going through the green card process. ......

FBI Director Kash Patel is facing withering criticism from an alliance of active-duty and retired agents and analysts, days after the White House denied media reports that the president is about to fire him. A troubling new report card on the first six months of Patel’s leadership concludes he is “in over his head” and his deputy, Dan Bongino, is “something of a clown,” according to the alliance, which in two previous reports warned about crippling DEI and politicization of the FBI during the Biden administration. The Patel-led FBI is described in the 115-page report as a “rudderless ship” and...

Michael and Susan Dell announced Tuesday that they have committed $6.25 billion to fund investment accounts for some 25 million American children. The couple’s donation will be the largest ever devoted to American children, according to Invest America, a nonprofit advocacy group partnered with the Dells. “It’s designed to help families feel supported from the start and encourage them to keep saving as their children grow,” Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies , told CNBC in an interview. “We know that when children have accounts like this, they’re much more likely to graduate from high school, from college,...

The Boy Scouts of America taught me valuable lessons about tying knots, lighting fires, and what it means to be a man, but I’m glad to see the Department of War reconsidering its historic partnership with the Scouts. Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America taught young men wilderness survival skills, fostered friendship, and trained boys to become citizens and leaders. In order to attain the rank of Eagle Scout, a young man must not just demonstrate mastery of many skills but also plan his own project, leading others. For these and other reasons, the military awards an automatic...

PHOENIX — Police say a man and an 8-year-old girl have died, and two others were seriously injured after a shooting in a parking lot in South Phoenix on Saturday. The incident occurred around 2:45 p.m., near 19th Avenue and Baseline Road. Witnesses tell police they saw a man, identified as 28-year-old Tyrone Dee Chilly, and the driver of an SUV, identified as 30-year-old Quincy Jay Polk, exit their vehicles and engage in a physical altercation. A woman and three children were also inside Polk's SUV during the altercation. At one point, Polk and Chilly returned to their own vehicles,...

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Wisconsin Republicans are circulating a bill that would require doctors prescribing at-home abortion pills to also give their patients catch kits, medical waste bags and instructions on how to return the medical waste afterwards. “Anytime we’re pushing back against the abortion industry, there’s gonna be pushback,” State Rep. Lindee Brill, R-Sheboygan Falls, one of the bill’s sponsors, said. Brill said she’s worried at-home abortion pills are contaminating Wisconsin’s waterways. The proposal is part of a nationwide push by Students for Life Action to promote the Clean Water for All Life Act, including in Wisconsin. “There’s two...

AUSTIN, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — Abortion providers and physicians from several states are warning about the impact of a new Texas law that will allow private citizens to sue anyone who distributes abortion medication. The law, House Bill 7, will allow private citizens to sue anyone who manufactures or distributes abortion drugs to or from Texas, including out-of-state physicians who use telehealth. The civil suits, if successful, would allow plaintiffs to be awarded a minimum of $100,000 against those who prescribe, mail, or distribute abortion pills to Texans. If the plaintiff is not directly related to the fetus, they would only...