Latest news from the United States of America. Politics, economy, aid to Ukraine, Ukrainian diaspora
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the U.S. president is seeking results, not meetings, in the negotiating process over Russia’s war against Ukraine; the administration is prepared to send a representative if a real agreement is in place.
Flights of the LUCAS strike drone, developed for the U.S. Marine Corps as an affordable counterpart to the Iranian Shahed‑136 and designed for mass production, have begun at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
Lukoil is reportedly favoring the sale of its international assets to the bank Xtellus Partners, which has proposed a cashless deal involving an exchange of securities. Negotiations are being led by vice president Pavlo Zhdanov; the transaction requires disclosure of owners and may need approval from the Kremlin.
Disney invests $1 billion in OpenAI; a three-year deal allows the Sora platform to use more than 200 characters — from Mickey Mouse to Marvel and Star Wars heroes. The deal does not cover actors' voices or likenesses, and the company will also become a key OpenAI client.
The FDA has granted authorization for Flow Neuroscience's FL-100 device to be used for at‑home brain stimulation in adults with moderate to severe major depressive disorder; a U.S. launch is planned for 2026.
Google has released a Chrome update for Windows, macOS and Linux: the Stable channel has been updated to 143.0.7499.109/110, Beta to 144.0.7559.20, and Extended Stable to 142.0.7499.235. The rollout is staged, and users are advised to update their browser.
During a live television broadcast, Donald Trump mixed up 6G with camera quality and said it "allows you to see deeper into the skin," a comment made in the presence of Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon. The article also mentions the president's previous technological claims.
James Quincey will leave his role as CEO of Coca‑Cola in March 2026; he will be succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Enrique Brown. After stepping down, Quincey will become executive chairman; during his tenure the company's shares rose 62%.
Malicious actors create public chat threads in ChatGPT and Grok tailored to popular queries, coerce the AIs into issuing harmful commands, and promote these chats as paid Google search results. As a result, ordinary search results are becoming an attack vector.
During a speech at the White House, Donald Trump said that 82% of Ukrainians want a peace agreement and stressed the need for elections; he did not provide details of the poll and urged Volodymyr Zelensky to be realistic.
The Federal Reserve cut its key rate for the third consecutive time to 3.5–3.75%, citing rising risks to employment. Inflation is around 3%, and unemployment has risen to 4.4%. The decision was supported by nine members, with three opposed. The National Bank of Ukraine will decide its rate on December 11.
Eileen Higgins defeated Republican Emilio Gonzalez, who was backed by Donald Trump. She will become Miami's first female mayor, leading her opponent by about 19 percentage points and giving Democrats momentum ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
OFAC extended General License No. 131A until January 17, 2026, allowing negotiations and the signing of agreements concerning Lukoil International GmbH and related companies; separately, the authorization for transactions with fuel station networks was extended until April 29, 2026.
Information about the Pixel 10a following Verizon certification indicates a 6.28" AMOLED 120 Hz display, 48+13 MP rear cameras, a 13 MP front camera, a base 8 GB/128 GB configuration, and a 5,100 mAh battery with around 23 W charging.
The Trump administration is demanding that the International Criminal Court amend the Rome Statute and provide written guarantees that the court will not investigate the actions of the president, the vice president and other officials; it is also asking that two other cases be dropped.
An update for the Pixel Watch 4 adds support for touchless gestures and improves the quick-reply system via the on-device Gemma model; the update has also been rolled out to the Pixel Watch 3. Google's latest smartphones delivered mixed results in tests.
After the introduction of a congestion charge for entering central New York, traffic fell by about 11%; PM2.5 in Manhattan declined by 22% in the first six months. Projected net revenue is about $500 million in 2025.
The U.S. Department of War has launched an internal platform, GenAI.mil, with Google Gemini as its first model. The system will cover more than 3 million employees and will operate in an IL5-certified environment.
Senator Richard Blumenthal has called for the replacement of Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, alleging they are biased in favor of Russia. He has also criticized the one-sided nature of the negotiations and the actions of the U.S. administration.
An American actor has been named by Time magazine its Artist of 2025 for career achievements and for his role in Paul Thomas Anderson's film "One Battle After Another," which received the most nominations at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards.
Politico named Trump the most influential person in Europe. Putin placed fifth as a "provocateur," Zelensky 14th as a "joker in the deck." The publication recalled an anti-corruption scandal in Ukraine and an attempt to curb the independence of NABU and the SAP.
In an interview accompanying his recognition as TIME's Artist of the Year, DiCaprio acknowledged the usefulness of AI for filmmaking but said that true art must come from humans. He also voiced criticism of the popularity of AI-generated music and virtual performers.
At the 2026 World Cup the referee will stop play in the 22nd minute of each half for a three‑minute hydration break. The rule will apply regardless of temperature, country or whether the stadium has a roof, and is intended to simplify match scheduling for broadcasters.
Paramount has offered $74.4 billion for Warner Bros. Discovery — $30 per share in cash — and is urging shareholders to reject the Netflix deal. The company says its bid includes the cable assets and reduces regulatory and financial risks.
Tests revealed that Atlas (OpenAI) and Comet (Perplexity) are operating inconsistently: they sometimes freeze, overload systems, and require user intervention. The issues are linked to website structure; users are calling for greater automation. OpenAI is updating the models.
OpenAI surveyed more than 9,000 employees at 100 companies and found that ChatGPT saves an average of 40–60 minutes per day. Engineers, communications, IT and accounting staff benefit the most; 75% report faster or higher-quality work.
The Kremlin approved the new U.S. National Security Strategy, calling it "aligned with our view." Peskov praised Trump for shifting foreign policy and for rejecting the portrayal of Russia as an adversary. European politicians condemned the document.
The footballer has entered a global partnership with U.S. AI company Perplexity: Ronaldo invested in the project, became an active user of the platform, and joined the launch of a CR7 hub with archival materials and merchandise.
Users in various countries on December 5 reported disruptions to Cloudflare services. Due to the outage, a number of websites, including Canva and the monitoring service Downdetector, were experiencing errors or were unavailable.
Trump unveiled the National Security Strategy with a focus on the Western Hemisphere. The document calls for bolstering the U.S. military presence in the region to combat drugs and migration and contains harsh criticism of Europe.
The Pantone Color Institute named PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer the Color of the Year for 2026 — a light, neutral white. It is the first white chosen in the program’s 26-year history; other forecasts had pointed to turquoise and earth tones as trends.
Samsung will hold its The First Look presentation on January 4 in Las Vegas, two days before CES 2026. The company will showcase TVs and home appliances with enhanced artificial intelligence capabilities and may hint at updates to the Galaxy lineup.
In its Year in Search 2025 report, Google named the most popular queries: the chatbot Gemini was the top trending search, while another AI, DeepSeek, ranked seventh. Among news topics were the India–England match and an attempted assassination of Charlie Kirk; film, food and sport were also mentioned.
The Trump administration cannot end the war in Ukraine due to a lack of a clear decision-making process. Several of the president’s advisers are acting independently, resulting in chaos in talks with Russia and conflicting peace plans.
An investigation confirmed that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth risked the security of American service members by transmitting secret attack plans via Signal. He sent details of strikes on Yemen to unauthorized individuals, including a journalist.
The release of two of Trump's strategic national-security documents was delayed amid disputes over wording on China. The Treasury Secretary demanded that the rhetoric be toned down because of trade talks with Beijing.
OpenAI is developing an experimental mechanism called Confession that requires the model to report instruction violations or manipulations of its responses. The system rewards candid explanations of the process, not just the correctness of the answer.
Meta has poached Alan Dye, who led Apple's interfaces team for more than ten years. He will work on AI features for glasses and VR headsets, report to Andrew Bosworth, and will start on December 31.
Five-hour talks between Witkoff and Kushner with Putin produced no results — the meeting with Zelensky was canceled, and the US peace plan was left in limbo.
The Android 16 QPR2 update is rolling out to Pixel 6 and newer models. Mail notifications have gained AI summaries and priority sorting. Icon settings, screen options, new calling features, and updates to security and parental controls have also been added.
Google is experimenting with AI-generated headlines in the Discover feed: some of the reworded headlines have proved misleading or inaccurate. The service is adding flagged summaries. The company says this is an experiment for a subset of users. Other product changes were also announced.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Russia’s war against Ukraine is the most illogical in the world. He called the current moment ideal for ending the conflict, saying it has turned into an exhausting confrontation with no winner.
Elon Musk said there could be 12 years of Republican rule: four years of Trump followed by two terms of Vance. The remarks were delivered virtually at a meeting of the former DOGE team amid fears of assassination attempts.
In November, seaborne exports of crude oil from Russia’s Baltic ports fell 15% from an October high after U.S. restrictions on Lukoil and Rosneft; volumes, fleet data and loss estimates are detailed.
U.S. President Donald Trump sent an atypical negotiating team to Moscow — business partner Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Officials consider such an approach to diplomacy dangerous because of the absence of a broad circle of advisers.
Iraq’s Ministry of Oil has begun negotiations with American companies to transfer management of the country’s largest oil field — currently operated by Lukoil, which has been hit by U.S. sanctions — to one of them.
U.S. President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of former GPB Capital manager David Gentile, who was convicted in a sprawling financial fraud. Gentile spent less than three weeks in prison; the case involved losses by more than 10,000 investors totaling $1.6 billion.
Companies have unveiled a service that lets users establish a connection between Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud in minutes rather than through days of configuration; Salesforce was among the first to test it.
After a meeting of the U.S. and Ukrainian delegations in Florida, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reported optimistic but cautious progress in efforts to advance a peace plan to end the war with Russia.
The U.S. president told reporters he has chosen a candidate for the post of Federal Reserve chair, but did not specify whether it was National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett.
In Morrow County, Oregon, nitrates in drinking water were found at levels up to ten times the standard. Researchers link the elevated levels to increases in cancer cases and miscarriages; large data centers operate in the region.
SIPRI reported that in 2024 the revenues of the world's 100 largest defence companies rose by nearly 6%, reaching a record high. The increase was driven by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as by rising military budgets.
In the beta version of the ChatGPT Android app (1.2025.329), lines in the code were found that hint at advertising — references to an "ads feature," "search ad" and "bazaar content." The release has not yet been published. Monetization via advertising and other updates had been discussed earlier.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that corruption in Ukraine still remains a problem and is complicating peace talks, but he sees a chance to reach a deal.
Thousands of Airbus aircraft have had flights suspended due to a software malfunction linked to solar radiation. About 6,000 A320-family aircraft were affected by the problem, which can corrupt data critical to flight control.
Democrats plan to use the "Trump slump" to reclaim the Nevada governorship in the 2026 election. They are trying to tie Republican Governor Joe Lombardo to Trump's unpopular policies amid the state's economic troubles.
Iran has refused to take part in the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington after the United States refused to issue visas to members of its delegation. Iran's Football Federation has appealed to FIFA to resolve the matter; it is unclear whether any exemptions for the event apply.
U.S. President Donald Trump called for the airspace over and around Venezuela to be considered closed. He addressed airlines, pilots and criminals amid a standoff between the countries, without providing further details.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order launching "Genesis Mission" — a plan to integrate AI into scientific research. The Department of Energy will open datasets and equipment to external researchers working with artificial intelligence tools.
Republicans are divided over strategy in Wisconsin’s April 2026 judicial race. Conservative candidates have lost the last three elections to the state Supreme Court, and now the party is debating whether to align with Trump or to distance itself from the party label.
Iran refused to take part in the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington after the United States denied visas to members of its delegation. The Iranian Football Federation has appealed to FIFA for assistance.
Donald Trump vowed to "permanently pause migration from Third World countries" after an Afghan citizen shot and killed a National Guard serviceman near the White House. The U.S. president pledged to toughen immigration policy and deport millions of people.
The Congress of European Gymnastics voted to reinstate Russian athletes at the organisation’s tournaments. The decision covers five disciplines and, according to the Russian federation, could pave the way to qualification for the 2028 Olympics.
In November, U.S. liquefied natural gas exports reached a record 10.7 million tonnes. The rise in shipments is easing pressure on markets in Europe and Asia; U.S. production could roughly double by the end of the decade.