Breaking
Wealth World News
Archive

2025

Browsing
Politics

European talks reshape Ukraine’s peace plan as Zelenskyy refuses territorial concessions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that Kyiv is nearly ready to present a refined peace plan to the United States after days of talks with European partners, even as he maintains that Ukraine cannot give up any territory to Russia.

Zelenskyy said he reviewed the results of negotiations held in London with European national security advisors and that Ukraine and its European partners had further developed their components of potential steps toward ending the war. He said Kyiv is prepared to share the updated documents with Washington and is in ‘constant contact’ with the United States as the process moves forward.

‘We are working very actively on all components of potential steps toward ending the war,’  Zelenskyy posted on X. ‘The Ukrainian and European components are now more developed, and we are ready to present them to our partners in the U.S. Together with the American side, we expect to swiftly make the potential steps as doable as possible.’ 

‘We are committed to a real peace and remain in constant contact with the United States,’ he wrote. ‘And, as our partners in the negotiating teams rightly note, everything depends on whether Russia is ready to take effective steps to stop the bloodshed and prevent the war from reigniting. In the near future, we will be ready to send the refined documents to the United States.’

The update came one day after Zelenskyy insisted his country cannot cede territory to Russia, complicating earlier peace proposals. 

‘Under our laws, under international law — and under moral law — we have no right to give anything away,’ Zelenskyy told reporters Monday, per The Washington Post. ‘That is what we are fighting for.’

Zelenskyy on Tuesday is in Brussels to meet with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, after meeting in London with British, French and German leaders.

The Ukrainian leader is under growing pressure from the U.S. to accept a framework to end the war after close to four years of fighting with Russia.

An initial draft of the 28-point plan, brokered by White House envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, spooked Ukrainian and European leaders who said it was too deferential to Russia’s demands. Ukrainian officials met with Witkoff and whittled the plan down. 

Zelenskyy told reporters that in European talks the ‘obvious anti-Ukrainian points were removed.’ 

Trump on Sunday accused Zelenskyy of not keeping up with the latest on peace talks.

‘I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago,’ Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center in D.C. Sunday. ‘His people love it, but he hasn’t.’

‘Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it, but Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy is fine with it,’ Trump added.

Leaked versions of the initial deal had offered Russia swaths of Ukrainian territory, both lands it has occupied throughout the war and the Donbas region, which it has yet to seize in full.

It offered Ukraine no path to NATO but Europe and U.S.-backed security guarantees that were not definitive. 

Ukraine views NATO membership as essential to preventing a Russian attack — seeking a path to NATO is enshrined in its constitution. 

Ukraine is entering one of the hardest stretches of the nearly four-year war, giving new urgency to the negotiations. Russian troops are pushing forward in the east as Kyiv struggles with shortages of ammunition and manpower. Meanwhile, Moscow’s continued strikes on Ukraine’s power grid have left the country facing rolling blackouts and widespread outages at the start of the winter months. 

Zelenskyy said in the past week alone, Russia launched more than 1,600 drones, roughly 1,200 guided aerial bombs, and nearly 70 missiles of various types against Ukraine.

And talks are heating up in tandem with a brewing scandal in Ukraine that has already pushed out Andrii Yermak, Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff and powerful gatekeeper who was leading negotiations, along with his justice and energy ministers. 

Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, has taken over negotiations, but is rumored to be caught up in the corruption investigation. 

Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Politics

Senate Republicans land on Obamacare fix, tee up dueling vote with Dems

Senate Republicans have finally landed on a plan to tackle expiring Obamacare subsidies to counter Senate Democrats, but both are likely to fail in a vote set for later this week. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., announced Tuesday that Republicans had coalesced around a proposal from Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who chairs the Senate health panel, and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, to counter Democrats’ legislation. 

The Senate is set to vote on the dueling proposals on Thursday. 

Cassidy and Crapo’s plan was given the thumbs up by the majority of Republicans during the conference’s closed-door meeting Tuesday afternoon, Thune said. 

Their proposal, which was unveiled Monday night but has been in the works for weeks, would abandon the enhanced premium subsidies in favor of health savings accounts (HSAs), funneling the money that has gone directly to insurers through the program to consumers instead.

Thune argued that Senate Democrats’ plan, which was unveiled by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., last week and would extend the subsidies for three years, would do little to curb the cost of healthcare in the country, and instead benefit affluent Americans and insurance companies. 

‘This program desperately needs to be reformed,’ Thune said. ‘The Democrats have decided we’re not going to do anything to reform it. And so we’ll see where the votes are on Thursday. But we will have an alternative that we will put up that reflects the views of the Republicans here in the United States Senate about how to make health insurance more affordable in this country, how to ensure that it’s not the insurance companies that are getting enriched, that it’s actually benefiting the patient.’

Republicans’ decision comes as more and more proposals were pitched among their ranks, reaching nearly half a dozen plans on the table for lawmakers to choose from. 

Cassidy and Crapo’s plan would seed HSAs with $1,000 for people ages 18 to 49 and $1,500 for those 50 to 65 for people earning up to 700% of the poverty level. In order to get the pre-funded HSA, people would have to buy a bronze or catastrophic plan on an Obamacare exchange.

The bill also includes provisions reducing federal Medicaid funding to states that cover illegal immigrants, requirements that states verify citizenship or eligible immigration status before someone can get Medicaid, a ban on federal Medicaid funding for gender transition services and nixing those services from ‘essential health benefits’ for ACA exchange plans, and inclusion of Hyde Amendment provisions to prevent taxpayer dollars from funding abortions through the new HSAs.

Both plans are likely to fail, however, given that Senate Democrats have rejected doing away with the subsidies in favor of HSAs, and Republicans contend that reforms to the credits — like income caps and more stringent enforcement on taxpayer dollars funding abortions — are must-haves for their support. 

Schumer argued that the ‘only realist path’ to preventing premiums from hiking ahead of the end of the year deadline to extend the subsidies would be for Republicans to cross the aisle and vote for their plan. He charged that the GOP’s plan was a ‘phony proposal’ that did nothing to extend the sunsetting subsidies. 

‘That’s what’s driving the price up, and they’re doing nothing about it,’ Schumer said. ‘The bill not only fails to extend the tax credits, it increases costs, adds tons of new abortion restrictions for women, expands junk fees, and permanently funds the cost-sharing reductions. Their bill is junk insurance. It’s been repudiated in the past.’

Both sides face a math problem in mustering bipartisan support for their respective proposals. And it’s unlikely that lawmakers break ranks from their party’s position, meaning both bills are doomed to fail. For some, the debate has devolved into a finger-pointing contest on which side was actually serious about addressing the growing healthcare affordability issue. 

‘It’s not a realistic plan that the Democrats have,’ Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said. ‘If the Democrats were actually coming to the table, I’d say, yes, we need to, but what they’re doing isn’t realistic.’ 

Before Thune’s announcement, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said that Republicans were in charge, not Democrats. 

‘They’re in charge of putting together the votes to pass something,’ Murphy said. ‘And so far, they have done zero outreach on this issue of any significance to Democrats, as far as I can tell.’ 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Four lasting lessons from CFP committee’s bracket choices and rankings

CFP selection committee specializes in chicanery.
Committee will pretend a conference championship game never happened, if it needs to, to build bracket it desires.
Committee’s snubs include Texas and the Big 12.

If you skipped all of the College Football Playoff rankings shows except the final one, you probably saw a pecking order that seemed within reason.

If you’d been following along with the weekly rankings along the way, well, you could be forgiven for feeling confused, outraged or hoodwinked.

This selection committee acted deceitfully.  

It pulled a bait and switch on Notre Dame, it acted as if Alabama’s win against Auburn was a great “feather in the cap,” and it pretended as if some games never happened.

Did we learn anything? For one, the CFP committee specializes in chicanery.

Here are four more lessons:

1. Conference championship results won’t bump a team from CFP bracket

The committee had a way out of the Notre Dame or Miami dilemma. It could have selected both and dumped Alabama after the Crimson Tide tumbled rump over teakettle in a pitiful loss to Georgia. The committee resisted. It ignored the SEC Championship game result and didn’t budge Alabama an inch after its woeful performance.

In doing so, the committee cemented an unwritten rule: A team that’s in the CFP bracket entering December and loses in the conference championship cannot be bumped by an at-large qualifier. In other words, the conference title game becomes a free swing if you’re in the bracket entering that weekend.

This meshes with the precedent the committee set last season. SMU was in the bracket entering the ACC Championship game, where it lost to Clemson. The Mustangs dropped in the seedings after that result but retained their bid as the last team in.

The committee went a step further this year, not even altering Alabama’s seeding, despite a 21-point loss.

In the four-team playoff era, a loss in a conference championship game could eliminate a team from the bracket. After the bracket grew to 12 teams, the committee has adopted the stance no conference runner-up should be punished to the extent it loses a bid it otherwise would have received, if conference title games did not exist.

Unlike Alabama, Brigham Young dropped in the rankings after its loss in the Big 12 title game, but the Cougars weren’t in the bracket entering the weekend. They needed to win to nab a bid.

Alabama was safe, no matter what happened in Atlanta.

The committee’s machinations amount to a bending over backward to preserve conference title games.

Lesson 1: If the committee wants a conference runner-up in the bracket, it’s willing to pretend a conference championship game never happened.

2. Initial rankings are an untrustworthy carnival, all for ESPN

The committee consistently valued Notre Dame more than Miami when the rankings were just ESPN programming. In the initial rankings on Nov. 4, the committee put the Irish at No. 10 and the Hurricanes at No. 18.

The first several batches of rankings are nothing more than a TV show. The committee can and will reverse course on Selection Sunday.

Since the initial rankings, the Irish and Hurricanes each blew out four opponents that ranged in quality from bad to mediocre. Notre Dame dropped in the rankings, while Miami moved up eight spots.

What gives?

When the rankings stopped being a carnival for ESPN’s benefit and became an exercise to choose the playoff qualifiers, the committee picked Miami and booted Notre Dame, based on the Hurricanes’ head-to-head victory.

The committee reached a justifiable destination, but it charted a cruel and unnecessary course to reach the point of Miami being ahead of Notre Dame. The Hurricanes always should have been ahead of the Irish — or, at least, never eight spots behind them.

“We’re just really frustrated that we had the rug pulled out from underneath us,” Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said on the “Dan Patrick Show.”

Totally understand the frustration, even if I disagree with the Irish’s response to opt out of a bowl game.

Lesson 2: The first several rankings amount to a dog and pony show performed purely for ESPN’s benefit. The penultimate rankings offer some substance. Any rankings before that are meaningless.

3. Record still matters — a lot

Indiana, the lone undefeated team, earned the No. 1 seed. Nobody would argue with that.

Then come six one-loss teams.

Next come two-loss Oklahoma and Miami, with three-loss Alabama in between. The committee treated Alabama as a two-loss team, because it decided conference title game losses don’t count for teams already in the bracket.

Strength of schedule can offer a boost among teams with equal records (although it didn’t help Texas A&M), but the committee is not swayed by metrics as much as it is by record.

Just like last season, the committee had a chance to select a 9-3 SEC team, Texas, with a lofty strength of schedule, but it didn’t. Texas had a better resume than any of the SEC’s three-loss teams from 2024, but the Longhorns weren’t even among the first two teams left out of the bracket.

Texas and Georgia are the only teams with three wins against teams in the top 15. One of Texas’ losses came against Ohio State, now 12-1.

The Longhorns have a pristine strength of schedule, but they lost to a bad Florida team, and Georgia thumped them. Despite those Florida and Georgia losses, if Texas had swapped Boston College into Ohio State’s spot on its schedule, I think it would be safely in the field at 10-2.

Texas owns a head-to-head win against playoff qualifier Oklahoma. The committee can justify selecting the Sooners (10-2) based on record. It couldn’t justify that choice if the Longhorns were 10-2.

Lesson 3: Pains me to say it, but schedule nonconference cupcakes. The juice of a marquee nonconference win is not worth the risk of a loss. Texas A&M beat Notre Dame, but it’s positioned at the bottom of one-loss teams. Texas lost a close game to Ohio State, amassed fancy metrics, and finished a few spots short of a bid. Yummy cupcakes build playoff records.

4. Playoff committee still doesn’t love BYU or the Big 12

BYU owns a top-25 strength of schedule, per ESPN metrics. Its only two losses came against Texas Tech, seeded fourth in the bracket.

It amassed the most wins, 11, among Power Four teams left out of the field. For the second straight season, the committee stiff-armed BYU and stuck the Big 12 with just a single bid.

It’s hard to argue that outcome, if basing an evaluation of BYU on its showings against the Red Raiders. The Cougars were blown out twice, but Texas Tech profiles as a national championship contender.

BYU has more wins and a stronger SOS than either Miami or Notre Dame, but it’s ranked behind them. Clearly, the Cougars’ only path to playoff qualification required beating Texas Tech at least once. They didn’t, and the committee was not swayed by BYU’s win total, making it an outlier to Lesson No. 3.

Lesson 4: The Big 12 needs the bracket to expand to 16 teams, as much or more as any conference needs playoff expansion.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Lionel Messi wins 2025 MLS MVP award in landslide vote

Three days after helping Inter Miami win its first MLS Cup, Lionel Messi added another milestone to his impressive collection of individual and club honors.

Messi was named Major League Soccer’s MVP for the 2025 season on Tuesday, Dec. 9. He became the first player in league history to win the MVP award in consecutive seasons and just the second player to win MVP honors twice, joining Preki, who took home the honors in 1997 and 2003.

Messi earned 70.43% of the total vote in a landslide win over San Diego FC’s Anders Dreyer (11.15%), Los Angeles FC’s Denis Bouanga (7.27%), FC Cincinnati’s Evander (4.78%) and Nashville SC’s Sam Surridge (2.42%). MLS players, media and club executives vote for the award.

Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or recipient and 2022 World Cup winner with Argentina, finished the 2025 regular season with 48 goal contributions (29 goals, 19 assists) in 28 Inter Miami matches, winning the MLS Golden Boot. Messi is the only player in league history to record at least 36 goal contributions in multiple seasons (2024-25) and is the second player to lead the league in both goals and assists, joining Sebastian Giovinco (2015).

On Saturday, Dec. 6, Messi earned MLS Cup MVP honors while playing a vital role in Inter Miami’s 3-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps in the league championship game at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Messi had two assists in the win, which earned Inter Miami its third trophy in the club’s six-season history (2023 Leagues Cup, 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield). For Messi, it was the 47th trophy that he’s won for both club and country.

Landon Donovan MLS MVP award winners

2025 — Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
2024 — Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
2023 — Luciano Acosta, FC Cincinnati
2022 — Hany Mukhtar, Nashville SC
2021 — Carles Gil, New England Revolution
2020 — Alejandro Pozuelo , Toronto FC
2019 — Carlos Vela, Los Angeles Football Club
2018 — Josef Martínez, Atlanta United
2017 — Diego Valeri, Portland Timbers
2016 — David Villa, New York City FC
2015 — Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC
2014 — Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy
2013 – Mike Magee, Chicago Fire FC
2012 – Chris Wondolowski, San Jose Earthquakes
2011 – Dwayne De Rosario, D.C. United
2010 — David Ferreira, FC Dallas
2009 — Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy
2008 — Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus Crew
2007 — Luciano Emilio, D.C. United
2006 — Christian Gómez, D.C. United
2005 — Taylor Twellman, New England Revolution
2004 — Amado Guevara, MetroStars
2003 — Preki, Kansas City Wizards
2002 — Carlos Ruiz, LA Galaxy
2001 — Alex Pineda Chacon, Miami Fusion
2000 — Tony Meola, Kansas City Wizards
1999 — Jason Kreis, Dallas Burn
1998 — Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United
1997 — Preki, Kansas City Wizards
1996 — Carlos Valderrama, Tampa Bay Mutiny

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Politics

As GOP political power hangs in the balance, Wiles says Trump will ‘campaign like it’s 2024’ ahead of midterms

President Donald Trump will be deployed on the campaign trail next year ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles indicated during an appearance on ‘The Mom VIEW.’

Wiles said that ‘so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters,’ and that she had not ‘quite broken it to him yet, but he’s going to campaign like it’s 2024 again,’ for the individuals he assists.

While Trump does not help everyone, ‘for those he does, he’s a difference maker,’ she said, adding that the president is ‘a turnout machine.’

‘The president started raising money for the midterms the day after the election. And he’s sitting on a huge war chest to help these people,’ she said, noting that ‘he’ll use it.’

Trump took office earlier this year after Republicans in 2024 clinched a trifecta, winning the White House back, maintaining their House majority and taking back control of the Senate.

But the GOP’s political power will be on the line in 2026 since Republicans could potentially lose their majority in one or both chambers.

In the 2018 midterm elections during Trump’s first term, Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate but lost their House majority.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Politics

Mamdani will introduce British antisemitism, taxes to US: Former UK prime minister

Liz Truss, the former British prime minister who staked her brief tenure on tax cuts and deregulation, is warning Americans about New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda will mirror the high-tax, high-regulation model she fought in the U.K.

‘I’ve seen what’s happened with Mamdani being elected,’ former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. ‘We have characters like that in Britain. They are never satisfied. They keep putting up taxes. They keep putting up more regulations. We have seen in Britain appalling development of antisemitism. That’s what I fear for New York.’

Mamdani plans to pay for his ambitious campaign promises, including fast and free buses, universal childcare and city-run grocery stores, by raising taxes on corporations and the top 1% of New Yorkers. As the 34-year-old mayor-elect prepares to move into Gracie Mansion, critics have compared his agenda to European-style social welfare programs.

The British conservative served just 49 days as prime minister of the U.K. in 2022 before resigning amid market turmoil over her administration’s dramatic attempt to implement a pro-growth economic agenda. Now that the dust has settled, Truss has launched a private club for ‘pro-growth leaders,’ the Leconfield, and a YouTube show, ‘The Liz Truss Show.’

‘The Leconfield is about economic growth,’ Truss said. ‘It’s about prosperity. It’s about building that network of senior business executives, entrepreneurs, political leaders to create new opportunities in Britain and around the world. We need to see economic growth. That is the most important thing.’

Truss said her new members-only club will unite business leaders in Mayfair in co-working spaces and executive suites. The Times reported that Truss has requested £500,000 from each of the 700 Leconfield founding members for the lifetime membership.

‘This will bring together people in real-life to exchange those ideas, but it will also provide a space in London where people can do business. Currently, people end up in hotel lobbies. They are trying to work in clubs that maybe ban laptops or mobile phones. This will have boardrooms, executive space where people can get business done,’ Truss said.

According to a 2025 analysis by Henley & Partners, a global investment-migration consultancy, the United Kingdom is losing millionaires and billionaires faster than any country in the world.

‘Our taxes are too high,’ Truss explained. ‘Our regulation is too high, and our energy prices are also sky-high. This has meant people leaving, businesses leaving. It’s difficult to build new buildings because of all the regulations, and even though we’re sitting on masses of oil and gas, fracking is banned, so our energy prices are high, and it’s not surprising that that makes us uncompetitive.’

While Truss briefly lifted a ban on fracking in the U.K. in 2022 in an attempt to unleash energy production, her successor, Rishi Sunak, reinstated the moratorium that ended support for new fracking projects.

Like Truss, President Donald Trump has moved to reverse key Biden-era climate regulations as part of his key campaign promise to ‘unleash American energy,’ signing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July, which includes rollbacks on clean-energy incentives and repeals green energy mandates.

As Trump’s sweeping second-term agenda reshapes U.S. and global markets, his reciprocal and retaliatory tariffs have pushed some countries to reopen trade talks amid heightened market tensions.

Asked about Trump using tariffs to pressure the U.K. and the rest of Europe to pay more for certain goods, including U.S. medicine, Truss offered a surprisingly complimentary view of his strategy.

‘I was trade secretary in Britain, and I signed 60 trade deals as trade secretary, and I know that in order to get deals done you have to negotiate and you have to use leverage, and it’s exactly what I did as trade secretary, so I know that is how you get the deals done,’ Truss told Fox News Digital.

Her stance is a sharp departure from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has urged Trump to scale back tariff measures that could hurt the British economy.

Truss told Fox News Digital that her new YouTube channel, ‘The Liz Truss Show,’ will be a ‘free speech’ platform for exploring British and Western politics outside the mainstream media bubble.

Mamdani’s transition team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Politics

China sharpens confrontation with Japan following reported radar run-in

Beijing escalated its war of words with Tokyo after Japan said Chinese fighter jets aimed a fire-control radar at Japanese F-15s flying near Okinawa, an action Tokyo called ‘dangerous’ and ‘extremely regrettable.’

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his German counterpart Johann Wadephul in Beijing that ‘Japan is threatening China militarily,’ a stance he called ‘completely unacceptable,’ after the radar incident, Reuters reported.

Wang accused Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of ‘trying to exploit the Taiwan question — the very territory Japan colonized for half a century, committing countless crimes against the Chinese people — to provoke trouble and threaten China militarily. This is completely unacceptable,’ Wang said, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. He added that Japan, as a World War II ‘defeated nation,’ should act with greater caution.

China expert Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital, ‘China, with Saturday’s radar-lock incidents against Japan and other belligerent acts recently, looks like it wants to start a war. In any event, these incidents could easily spiral into war, especially because China cannot act constructively or deescalate.’

Japanese officials say the confrontation unfolded Dec. 6, when Chinese J-15 fighter jets operating from the aircraft carrier Liaoning twice aimed radar at Japanese F-15s over international waters near Japan’s Okinawa islands.

‘These radar illuminations are a dangerous act that goes beyond what is necessary for the safe flight of aircraft,’ Takaichi told reporters, adding that Japan had lodged a protest with China and calling the incident ‘extremely regrettable,’ Reuters reported.

Japan’s government later said the Self-Defense Force fighters ‘were maintaining a safe distance during their mission’ and denied China’s accusation that its jets obstructed Chinese operations, according to comments by Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, according to The Associated Press.

The radar clash came on the heels of remarks by Takaichi that have already put relations on edge. In early November, she told parliament that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a ‘survival-threatening situation’ for Japan and potentially trigger a military response under Japan’s 2015 security laws, Reuters reported. Beijing condemned those comments as ‘egregious,’ accused Tokyo of severe interference in its internal affairs and warned of ‘serious consequences’ if they were not retracted.

Chinese officials and state media have since portrayed Takaichi as hyping up an external threat to justify Japan’s military buildup and closer alignment with Taiwan. In parallel, Chinese spokespeople have accused Japan of ‘hyping up’ the radar incident itself and ‘deliberately making a false accusation’ to build tension, according to official statements carried by People’s Daily and other Chinese outlets.

Chang said, ‘China has not been able to get Prime Minister Takaichi to back down, so its choices are to accept its humiliation or ramp up the crisis. It will ramp up. China is now proving Takaichi right: Beijing is creating a ‘survival-threatening situation’ for Japan.’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Which WNBA superstar was named TIME’s 2025 Athlete of the Year?

The 6-foot-4 South Carolina native earned her second WNBA scoring title, third Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award and fourth MVP (the first in league history to accomplish the feat) weeks before winning her third championship. The now two-time Finals MVP and the Aces swept the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Finals.

Wilson is the first player in WNBA or NBA history to win a championship, Finals MVP, regular-season MVP and DPOY award in the same season. She’s also one of four players in the WNBA or NBA to win four MVP trophies before the age of 30. Fittingly, Wilson wore a Thanos-inspired glove to Las Vegas’ championship parade earlier this year to celebrate.

“When you’ve collected everything, that’s Thanos,” Wilson told TIME. “And this year, I collected everything. I don’t really talk much s—, I mean crap. I kind of let my game do it. This was my biggest moment of doing it, because no one’s ever done what I’ve done. And I think people really needed to understand that.” 

Wilson was part of several TIME honorees for 2025, including KPop Demon Hunters as the 2025 Breakthrough of the Year, YouTube’s Neal Mohan as the CEO of the Year and Leonardo DiCaprio as the Entertainer of the Year.

Her ascension to the greatest year in her career did not come without some struggles. At the midway point of the WNBA season, the Aces were sitting at .500 and were on the receiving end of a 50-plus blowout loss to the Minnesota Lynx.

Then, a switch flipped. Las Vegas rattled off 16 straight wins to get to the postseason, and endured back-to-back playoff series that required the team to play every game possible (three against the Seattle Storm and five against the Indiana Fever) before getting to the Finals.“Sometimes you’ve just got to get knocked down to get built back up,” Wilson said. “I think 2025 was a wake-up call that I needed, to let me know that I can’t be satisfied with anything. There’s somebody out there that’s going to try to take your job. You need to make sure you’re great at it, every single day.”

Wilson further cemented her legacy and perhaps her TIME Athlete of the Year award when she hit a game-winning shot against the Mercury during Game 3 of the WNBA Finals. The shot, released with a fitting 2.2 seconds left on the clock (a subtle ode to her No. 22 jersey), cemented the series for the Aces and catapulted Wilson into the conversations for the WNBA’s greatest player of all time. Still, the WNBA star wouldn’t quite put herself in that category just yet. That said, she believes that she’s making it hard for people to chase after her.

‘When you think about a lot of GOATs, they have those career-defining shots that solidify you as the best…’, she said. ‘I didn’t really have one of those. I had championships, yeah. But it was never really like a moment of like, ‘Whoooooooo. That’s why she is who she is. She’s exactly who she thinks she is.’”

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Sports

NBA power rankings: Celtics make big jump amid winning streak

The NBA Cup knockout rounds have arrived, presenting an opportunity for one team to claim some early supremacy in the 2025-26 season.

And the field is fascinating, particularly in the West, where three of the Top 5 teams in the conference – including the top two in the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers – will try to win some hardware.

And it is those Thunder, winners of 15 consecutive games, who remain on historic pace and have a very real chance to challenge the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors’ NBA record for most wins in a season (74).

Not every top team is still competing for the NBA Cup, however, including the best team in the Eastern Conference – both in the standings and in USA TODAY Sports’ NBA power rankings after Week 7 of the 2025-26 regular season.

USA TODAY Sports NBA power rankings

Note: Records and stats through Dec. 8. Parentheses show movement from last week’s rankings

NBA Week 7 power rankings: Top 5

1. Oklahoma City Thunder, 23-1 (—)
2. Denver Nuggets, 17-6 (+3)
3. Detroit Pistons, 19-5 (—)
4. Los Angeles Lakers, 17-6 (-2)
5. Houston Rockets, 15-6 (—)

With Luka Dončić missing a pair of games due to the birth of his second daughter, the Lakers had to scramble a bit and are 2-2 over their last four. The schedule has been softer as of late, but the Nuggets are getting massive games out of Jamal Murray, who’s averaging 36.3 points over his last three games. And the Rockets suffered a pair of disappointing losses recently (to the Mavericks and Jazz), but they’re second in defensive rating (110.7) and net rating (10.8).

NBA Week 7 power rankings: Nos. 6-10

6. New York Knicks, 16-7 (—)
7. Boston Celtics, 15-9 (+8)
8. Minnesota Timberwolves, 15-8 (+1)
9. San Antonio Spurs, 15-7 (-2)
10. Toronto Raptors, 15-10 (—)

The Celtics have won five in a row, including games against the Cavaliers, Knicks, Lakers and Raptors. With Boston protecting the ball and ranking first in turnover rate (12.3%), the offense is rolling; the Celtics trail only the Nuggets in rating (122.0). Minnesota is plugging along with its five-game winning streak and the best thing the Timberwolves are doing is sharing the ball; three different players – Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels – have led the team in scoring during the winning streak. Victor Wembanyama (calf) is approaching a full month of being sidelined, but De’Aaron Fox has taken over the San Antonio offense.

NBA Week 7 power rankings: Nos. 11-15

11. Phoenix Suns, 13-10 (+1)
12. Orlando Magic, 14-10 (+2)
13. Miami Heat, 14-10 (-5)
14.  Atlanta Hawks, 14-11 (-3)
15. Cleveland Cavaliers, 14-11 (-2)

The Suns have been aggressive on defense, leading the NBA in steals per game (10.9), which has fueled their offense. Opposing defenses have thrown a ton of zone at the Heat, slowing down their pace and efficiency, leading to the current three-game losing streak. And the Cavaliers are tumbling, losing five of their last seven games.

NBA Week 7 power rankings: Nos. 16-20

16. Golden State Warriors, 13-12 (+1)
17. Philadelphia 76ers, 13-10 (-1)
18. Memphis Grizzlies, 11-13 (—)
19. Dallas Mavericks, 9-16 (+3)
20. Milwaukee Bucks, 10-15 (-1)

In the face of injuries, Warriors two-way player Pat Spencer has been electric and has helped stabilize the team’s offense. The Mavericks are far more competitive now with Anthony Davis back on the floor, with recent victories over the Nuggets, Heat and Rockets. And the Bucks, in the face of the swirling rumors about the future of star player Giannis Antetokounmpo, have lost 10 of their last 12 games.

NBA Week 7 power rankings: Nos. 21-25

21. Portland Trail Blazers, 9-15 (—)
22. Utah Jazz, 8-15 (+2)
23. Chicago Bulls, 9-14 (-3)
24. Charlotte Hornets, 7-17 (-1)
25. Sacramento Kings, 6-17 (+2)

The Bulls are in total fee fall, owners of the NBA’s longest active losing streak (seven games), and some of those defeats have come against some of the weaker teams in the league. Keyonte George (22.2 points and 6.7 assists per game) has shined for the Jazz, and the Trail Blazers need to limit their turnovers, giving the ball away a league-high 17.0 times per game.

 NBA Week 7 power rankings: Nos. 26-30

26. Indiana Pacers, 5-18 (-1)
27. Brooklyn Nets, 6-17 (+2)
28. Los Angeles Clippers, 6-18 (-2)
29. Washington Wizards, 3-19 (+1)
30. New Orleans Pelicans, 3-21 (-2)

The Pacers are finally trending closer to being healthy, and the Clippers continue to have a subpar defense, ranking 25th in rating (118.6). The Pelicans will be without Zion Williamson for the near future, and a full rebuild may be the only move.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By
Sports

Former Rays star set for new trial in abuse case

A Dominican Republic appeals court ordered a new trial for Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who has already been convicted of sexually abusing a minor.

In June, Franco received a two-year suspended sentence after his attorneys sought to have the conviction overturned. Authorities wanted a five-year jail term for the 24-year-old Franco.

Franco was arrested last year and accused of having a relationship with a 14-year-old girl and of having money sent to the girl’s mother for consent to the relationship.

‘The court understood that there were many flaws, many omissions…many issues, and decided to send the case to a new trial,’ said Teodosio Jáquez, Franco’s attorney.

Franco has not played for the Rays since Aug. 12, 2023. He was formally charged in the Dominican Republic with sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of a minor and human trafficking in July 2024 and placed on Major League Baseball’s restricted list, where he still remains.

Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million guaranteed contract with the Rays in 2021 and has not been paid since he was charged.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
Keep Reading
By