Alaska Natives defy Democrats, champion push to revive Arctic drilling that Biden shut down
FIRST ON FOX: Democrats sounding the alarm of potential harms to Alaskan communities if their efforts were reversed and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) was further opened to energy development got a very different response than they may have been expecting from a consortium of local Natives. Using the Congressional Review Act, the Senate voted Thursday night to pass a resolution from Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, that formally reversed a Biden-era rule restricting more than 1 million acres to development in the refuge, where Native communities like Kaktovik reside. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., notably spoke out on the Senate floor against the effort, saying that Congress rightly established the refuge in 1980 but neglected to properly protect the “very fragile ecosystem” there from development, calling it “America’s Serengeti.” TRUMP ADMIN ANNOUNCES BIG STEP TOWARD ‘ENERGY DOMINANCE’ WITH MASSIVE ALASKA LNG PROJECT ALLIANCE “So far, we’ve been able to protect the coastal plain and keep it intact as it has been for millions of years, and many Americans had hoped we had moved on,” Cantwell said. Using “the Congressional Review Act to drill in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge (could) very well backfire on our drilling advocates. If Congress votes to overturn the Biden record of decision today, it would create legal and regulatory chaos, not clarity.” Additionally, several Democrats and at least one Republican supported a separate bill in April that would designate the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as statutorily protected wilderness, shutting out any development whatsoever. LEE ZELDIN: START YOUR RIGS: ALASKA IS OUR ‘GATEWAY TO ENERGY DOMINANCE’ “There are some places too special and too amazing and too ecologically and culturally significant to allow them to be permanently despoiled by oil and gas,” House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Jared Huffman, D-Calif., said at the time as chief sponsor. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., also led that bill’s introduction along with Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania moderate from the Philadelphia suburbs. Despite such claims that development would damage the land and adversely affect those living there, Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat (VOICE) — a group representing the communities in and around the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, were ecstatic at the Senate’s reversal of the restrictive rule. TRUMP ADMIN’S ENERGY AGENDA HAILED FOR CRUCIAL ‘WINS’ AS GREEN ACTIVISTS LASH OUT “These joint congressional resolutions are a positive sign that congressional decisionmakers support our Iñupiaq self-determination,” VOICE President Nagruk Harcharek said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. Harcharek said that the vote is turning the tide on years of “lopsided relations” with Congress and the executive branch. Our “communities are cautiously optimistic for the people of Kaktovik following this vote — supported by our local and regional leaders — in our Indigenous homelands.” BIDEN’S REGULATIONS WORSE THAN NORTH KOREA, TRUMP ENERGY SECRETARY SAYS Kaktovik Mayor Nathan Gordon Jr., added that the “Kaktovikmiut” — the community’s residents — overwhelmingly support responsible development projects in their native lands because it provides a prime way for them to provide for themselves and their regional economy. “Kaktovik is the only community within ANWR, but the federal government and Congress have disregarded our voices for generations,” Gordon said. A whaling captain who also attended a joint appearance in the region by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright also praised the news, crediting such officials for making efforts to engage with the Native community on issues that impact their lands. ENERGY GROUPS CELEBRATE TRUMP’S LATEST MOVE TO UNLEASH ALASKA DRILLING “Moving forward, we are hopeful to continue this positive relationship built on mutual respect with both Congress and the executive branch,” Charles C.C. Lampe said. In a statement after the vote, Begich remarked that “America is strongest when Alaska is empowered to responsibly develop its resources.” Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, also expressed the importance of listening to their state residents’ needs rather than the assumptions of the bureaucracy. BURGUM, ZELDIN, WRIGHT: THIS IS HOW AMERICA WILL ACHIEVE ENERGY DOMINANCE Murkowski said previous Democratic administrations “paused everything, illegally canceled every lease, and then rewrote the program to ensure that neither leasing nor development would occur.” “Their worldview was exactly backwards,” she said. “Today, we are on the cusp of righting this wrong, rolling back the lawless lock-up of ANWR, and unleashing good-paying jobs and opportunity for Alaska’s working families,” added Sullivan. Fox News Digital reached out to Cantwell, Markey, Huffman and Fitzpatrick for comment.
Teenage cancer patient’s final fight becomes law as House passes landmark pediatric bill
A teenage girl who spent her final years advocating for young people battling cancer is forever memorialized in history, thanks to a key bill passed by the House of Representatives. Mikaela Naylon was just 16 when she died five years after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who helped lead the landmark legislation that became her namesake, said Mikaela spent much of that time fighting to give fellow children a chance to survive cancer. He told Fox News Digital that he viewed childhood cancer patients as “the best advocates” for their cause, calling them his “better angels.” TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO HARNESS AI IN FIGHT AGAINST CHILDHOOD CANCERS “Mikaela was a great example of that,” McCaul said. “She was very sick. She’d just undergone radiation and chemotherapy. She wasn’t feeling very well, and I could tell. But she still made the effort to come to Washington, to go to members’ offices and advocate for the legislation.” The Mikaela Naylon Give Kids A Chance Act is aimed at expanding children’s access to existing cancer therapy trials, as well as incentivizing development of treatments and solutions for pediatric cancer. It reauthorizes funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support pediatric disease research through fiscal year 2027, and extends the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) ability to expedite review of drugs aimed at helping certain pediatric illnesses. FORMER NBA STAR TEAMS UP WITH GOP LAWMAKER TO HELP YOUNG CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM STUTTERING DISORDER “It’s probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve done is to not only draw awareness to childhood cancer by forming the [Childhood Cancer Caucus] and then having an annual summit, but to be able to pass legislation that results in saving children’s lives. I don’t think there’s anything more important than that,” McCaul said. His bill passed the House unanimously on Monday, with both Republicans and Democrats speaking out in strong support for the legislation. Mikaela’s family was in attendance to watch both its passage and the speeches lawmakers gave in favor of it. “Nothing will take the place of her. But it helped fill kind of a void, an emptiness they have right now. And they’re very proud of that, that her legacy is carried on through this legislation,” McCaul, who also gave the Naylon family a tour of the U.S. Capitol, said. Mikaela’s parents Kassandra and Doug, and her brother Ayden, told Fox News Digital that she had “faced every day with hope, purpose and a fierce determination to make the world better for the kids who would come after her.” “She believed that all children, no matter how rare their diagnosis, deserve access to the most promising treatments and a real chance at life. This legislation reflects that mission,” the Naylon family told Fox News Digital. They thanked McCaul as well as Reps. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., for championing the bill, as well as advocacy groups who also helped shepherd it forward. “Their commitment ensures that Mikaela‘s voice, and the voices of so many brave children like her, will forever be heard in the halls of Congress,” the family said.
Fresh Trump-linked case puts Boasberg back in GOP crosshairs
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is again facing scrutiny for his assigned cases after California Rep. Eric Swalwell’s high-profile lawsuit accusing a senior Trump housing official of brazen misconduct landed in his court. Some Republicans have criticized Boasberg’s docket, given his assignment to an earlier legal challenge involving President Donald Trump‘s removal of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to a Salvadoran prison in March and his role in presiding over the so-called “Signalgate” lawsuit, which, as of this writing, is all but mooted. But like other federal courts, the D.C. District Court assigns its cases to judges via a randomized computer system — a process that former federal judges outlined to Fox News Digital in a series of recent interviews. A Fox News Digital review of the cases assigned to judges in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., showed the same — putting Boasberg on the lower side of Trump-related case assignments compared to some of his colleagues in the district. Judges are “totally reactive” by design, Philip Pro, a former U.S. district judge and Reagan appointee, said last month about the cases judges are tasked with hearing. SHELTERS, JESUS, AND MISS PAC-MAN: US JUDGE GRILLS DOJ OVER TRANS POLICY IN DIZZYING LINE OF QUESTIONING “We’re sitting in our districts. The cases are randomly assigned,” Pro said. “There is nothing ‘rogue’ about these decisions.” Boasberg’s earlier work on the FISA Court — and his rulings in cases tied to the Trump era — have long made him a focal point for Trump’s criticism. In 2014, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts appointed him to serve a seven-year term on the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, or FISA Court — a court composed of 11 federal judges hand-selected by the chief justice. After returning full-time to the federal bench, Boasberg oversaw the sentencing of former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty to doctoring a 2017 email asking to extend surveillance permissions for the wiretap of former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page. Boasberg declined to sentence Clinesmith to prison time and instead ordered him to 12 months of probation and 400 hours of community service — a notable decision, given his own background on the FISA Court. He said in his sentencing decision that he believed Clinesmith’s role at the center of a years-long media “hurricane” had provided sufficient punishment. Trump has since zeroed in on Boasberg, now the chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., as he continues to rail against so-called “activist judges” — though Boasberg is far from the only district judge to draw the former president’s ire. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, for example, has presided over cases involving the Trump administration’s attempt to restrict or ban transgender U.S. service members, and an early challenge to Trump’s National Guard deployment. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in November sought to temporarily block the continued deployment of National Guard troops in D.C. Cobb also issued a temporary order in September blocking Trump from immediately firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Other challenges heard by judges in the district involve mass layoffs at government agencies in the early months of the Trump administration, efforts to reshape U.S. international aid programs — including funding previously allocated by Congress — and one of the consolidated tariff cases appealed to the Supreme Court. Still, the notion that Boasberg has an outsize share of the cases persists. This is likely due in part to the longevity of the J.G.G. v. Trump litigation, which centered on the Trump administration’s use of a 1798 Alien Enemies Act statute to quickly deport hundreds of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador in March. Despite Boasberg’s emergency order blocking the flights from leaving U.S. soil, the planes arrived in El Salvador hours later — kicking off a separate, months-long review of whether senior government officials knowingly defied his court order. A list of declarations from government officials is due Friday as part of that process, which Boasberg said he will use to determine which officials he plans to call as witnesses in the contempt proceedings. “The Senate has made great mention of the fact that the judiciary should not be involved in that decision,” former U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady said about the Alien Enemies Act case in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. EXCLUSIVE: BONDI DOJ TRANSFERS DEATH ROW INMATES COMMUTED BY BIDEN TO ‘SUPERMAX’ PRISON Boasberg “didn’t pluck this issue out of the sky and say, ‘Oh, I’m going to refuse this, because I don’t believe that the Alien Enemies Act is appropriately being used,’” said O’Grady, who spent 16 years as a judge in the Eastern District of Virginia and was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to serve on the FISA Court, where he overlapped with Boasberg. Boasberg “has a case before him where one side is saying, ‘it can’t be used,’ and the executive branch is saying, ‘it can be used,’” O’Grady said of the Alien Enemies Act case. “And it’s up to him to make that decision.” Former judges note that the D.C. District Court, by design, has jurisdiction over a large share of cases that emanate in the nation’s capital, including lawsuits against government agencies or administrative actions. JUDGES V. TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA It’s not the first time Trump’s allies in Congress have attempted to cast doubt on the randomized assignments. Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the D.C. clerk’s office in May seeking more information about how cases are assigned in the district, after Boasberg was assigned to an earlier case brought by the American Oversight group in response to the so-called “Signalgate” controversy. The lawsuit accused the Trump administration of potentially violating federal recordkeeping laws when they exchanged sensitive information — including a planned strike in Yemen — in the Signal messaging app. “While the District Court’s allocation process is intended to produce an ‘equal distribution of cases to all judges,’ in practice
State-level AI rules survive — for now — as Senate sinks moratorium despite White House pressure
The Senate is quietly winning the battle over states’ abilities to craft their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations, but there is still a desire to chart out a rough framework at the federal level. The issue of a blanket AI moratorium, which would have halted states from crafting their own AI regulations, was thought to have been put to bed over the summer. But the push was again revived by House Republicans, who were considering dropping it into the annual National Defense Authorization Act. However, Republicans in the lower chamber have pulled back from that push, even as the White House has pressed Congress to create a federal framework that would make regulations more cohesive across the country. LAWMAKERS UNVEIL BIPARTISAN GUARD ACT AFTER PARENTS BLAME AI CHATBOTS FOR TEEN SUICIDES, VIOLENCE A trio of Senate Republicans, Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who banded together to block the original proposal, cheered the provision’s apparent rise from the grave. Hawley told Fox News Digital that it was good news that the provision would not be included in the defense authorization bill, but warned that “vigilance is needed, and Congress needs to act.” “I mean, for everybody out there saying, ‘Well, Congress needs to act and create one standard,’ I agree with that,” he said. “And we can start by banning chat bots for minors.” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee, initially pushed for a moratorium to be included in Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill. His position on the issue has been to unchain AI to give the U.S. a competitive edge against foreign adversaries like China. But that attempt was nearly unanimously defeated over the summer and stripped from the bill. And Cruz hasn’t given up. “The discussions are ongoing, but it is the White House that is driving,” Cruz told Fox News Digital. PROTECTING KIDS FROM AI CHATBOTS: WHAT THE GUARD ACT MEANS Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged that getting the moratorium into the defense authorization bill would be difficult earlier in the week. “That’s controversial, as you know,” Thune said. “So, I mean, I think the White House is working with senators and House members for that matter to try and come up with something that works but preserves states’ rights.” Trump declared last month that the U.S. “MUST have one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes,” and argued that over regulation at the state level was threatening the investment, and expected growth, of AI. The White House reportedly drafted an executive order that would have blocked states from regulating AI that would have withheld certain streams of federal funding from states that didn’t comply with the order, and enlisted the Department of Justice to sue states that crafted their own regulations. So far, Trump has not taken action on the order. AI COULD DRIVE US UNEMPLOYMENT TO 20%, SENATORS WARN AS NEW BILL TARGETS JOB TRACKING Blackburn, who was the leading player in thwarting Cruz’s previous attempt to assert an AI moratorium into Trump’s marquee tax bill, also wants some kind of federal framework, but one that is designed to “protect children, consumers, creators, and conservatives,” a spokesperson for Blackburn told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Senator Blackburn will continue her decade-long effort to work with her colleagues in both the House and Senate to pass federal standards to govern the virtual space and rein in Big Tech companies who are preying on children to turn a profit,” the spokesperson said. And Johnson, another key figure in blocking the moratorium earlier this year, argued to Fox News Digital that it was an “enormously complex problem. It’s my definition of a problem.” But unlike his counterparts, he was more skeptical about Congress producing a framework that he would be comfortable with. “I’m not a real fan of this place,” Johnson said. “And I think we’d be far better off if we passed a lot fewer laws. I’m not sure how often we get it right. Look at healthcare, look at how that’s been completely botched.” “What are we gonna do with AI? Hard to say, but we just don’t go through the problem-solving process,” he continued. “And again, I’m concerned, the real experts on this have got vested interests. Whatever they’re advising is, can you really trust them?”
Democrats reveal whether they believe US citizens or drug boat traffickers are more important
As scrutiny mounts on the Trump administration’s use of force in its targeting of suspected cartel members in the Caribbean, lawmakers on Capitol Hill were asked whether they believe U.S. citizen victims or drug traffickers are more important. Republicans, such as Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., said the answer is easy. “I can’t speak for anybody else, but my top concern is American citizens, their lives, their health. So, for me, it’s an easy choice. Kill drug dealers, save Americans,” said Sheehy. Democrats, however, had less black and white opinions on the strikes. “Look, I fully support doing whatever we can within the legal means to make sure that we’re stopping drug trafficking,” said Rep. Johnny Olszewski, D-Md., adding, “We should absolutely be concerned about the victims of drug trafficking and people who have lost their lives to drug violence.” SENATE REPUBLICANS BLOCK BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO HALT MILITARY ACTION, DRUG BOAT STRIKES IN THE CARIBBEAN “We support all efforts to [interdict], arrest, hold people accountable who are trying to smuggle drugs into this country. However, we have a rule of law, and we have rules of engagement for a reason. And so, we need to make sure that we have full transparency in terms of how these strikes are happening,” Olszewski went on. He added that “if the reporting is true, it’s very likely” that the administration’s drug boat strikes are “in violation of our laws and may in fact be a war crime.” “So, it merits full investigation; it merits the details being released. And you know, again, I fully support doing all that we can to stop drug trafficking, but that means that we have to make sure that we’re doing it within the rule of law and the rules that we have in this country.” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., pushed back on the question, asking, “Is this going to do anything to truly help them?” “Cocaine’s still flowing, the demand is still there,” Smith said, adding, “You see a drug dealer on the street, that’s a bad person. That person is selling drugs. Let’s say they’re selling actual fentanyl, not the cocaine that we’re hitting here. Would you support allowing anyone to execute that person who wants to on the spot? … You want to be tough on drug dealers. Drug dealers are bad people. Why do we need due process? Why do you need probable cause?” COMMANDER OF SEPTEMBER ATTACK BELIEVED SURVIVORS WERE CONTINUING DRUG RUN, REPORT SAYS “Don’t give me this crap about how this proves you don’t care about [selling drugs],” he said. “I care about selling drugs. I don’t want a fascist regime that gets to decide who they can kill when they want to kill them without any check on that power. That simply doesn’t make sense in the United States of America, or at least not the United States of America that I want us to have.” Meanwhile, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., answered, “We have to do our best to disrupt drug distribution. Also, we have to invest in drug health care and drug education, et cetera. We have to do all the things. The real question is, how do you do it right?” Pressed on whether the government should be prioritizing drug victims above the traffickers, Reed responded, “I’ve commented and thank you for asking,” before walking away. SCHUMER ACCUSES TRUMP OF PUSHING US TOWARD ‘FOREIGN WAR’ WITH VENEZUELA Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., simply answered, “Congress has to do its job: oversight,” and walked away. Republicans, meanwhile, were much more unilateral in their responses. “If it disrupts the flow of one drug coming into West Virginia, I’m all for it,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. “I come from a state that has historically had enormous drug problems. A lot of deaths from fentanyl, from overdoses,” said Capito. “So, I’m supportive of whatever the president can do to end the flow of fentanyl. And [with] the narco-terrorism, the intelligence around these strikes, from my understanding, is pretty solid.” “For too long, politicians have been satisfied to have a hundred thousand Americans die every year of drug overdoses. Finally, President Trump has stepped up to the plate and said, ‘No more,’” said Rep. Glenn Grothman. “If you’re going to attack our country, and these people know full well Americans are dying because of what they’re doing. If you’re going to attack our country, we’re going to fight back, about time,” Grothman added.
Biden says ‘we’re the United States of Amerigotit’ in latest gaffe at DC conference
Former President Joe Biden said, “We’re the United States of Amerigotit” in his latest gaffe during a speech on Friday at the International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. Biden was urging elected officials, leaders and advocates to “continue the fight” for equality when he slurred his words. “We just have to get up. As long as we keep the faith … and remember who the hell we are. We’re the United States of Amerigotit, that’s who we are! We’re the U.S.!” Biden said. ‘THIS GUY’: SLURRING BIDEN TAKES SHOT AT TRUMP, THOSE TRYING TO ‘ERASE OUR HISTORY’ AT JUNETEENTH CHURCH EVENT Biden continued to affirm that it is time to “fight back” and protect the Constitution in the face of the Trump administration’s policies and actions. “All of us are dismayed by the present state of the union,” he added. “This is no time to give up. It’s time to get up. Get up and fight back. Get up. Continue to fight. And what’s the fight all about? … it’s about protecting the Constitution. It’s about protecting the Constitution.” TRUMP DOUBLES DOWN ON VOIDING BIDEN AUTOPEN ACTIONS, INCLUDING PARDONS AND COMMUTATIONS The former president accused President Donald Trump and his loyalists of attempting to “distort and derail our fight for equality” and “further divide the country.” He continued, “They’re trying to turn it into something scary, something sinister. But folks, it’s really not about anything that’s all that complicated. At its core, it’s about making every American given the opportunity to be treated with basic decency, dignity, and respect they all deserve. That’s what every single American deserves, every American.” Biden was awarded the Chris Abele Impact Award during the event for his role in advancing LGBTQ+ rights during his administration. The award was named after LGBTQ+ Victory Action board member Chris Abele. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,381
These are the key developments from day 1,381 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 6 Dec 20256 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here’s where things stand on Saturday, December 6: Fighting A Russian drone attack killed two men, aged 52 and 67, in the Ukrainian city of Izyum as they were unloading firewood from a truck, according to local officials. Russian forces also killed a 12-year-old boy in an attack on the Vasylkivska community in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, and wounded more than a dozen Ukrainians in attacks on the Kherson, Donetsk and Sumy regions, local officials said. Ukraine’s national grid operator, Ukrenergo, announced that electricity restrictions would be in place nationwide from Saturday due to “previous Russian massive missile and drone attacks on energy facilities”, in a post on Telegram. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said that a Ukrainian drone hit and damaged a building in Grozny, the capital of Russia’s southern Chechnya region, and promised to retaliate. The attack caused no casualties, he said. A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Belgorod region wounded the mayor of the village of Berezovka, according to officials, while Ukrainian assaults on energy facilities in Russian-occupied Luhansk caused electricity outages. Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency claimed attacks on military targets in Russian-occupied Crimea, including a Su-24 tactical bomber, while the Ukrainian military said it launched drone assaults on Russia’s Temryuk seaport in Krasnodar Krai and the Syzran Oil Refinery in Samara region overnight on Friday. The Russian Ministry of Defence said it downed 41 Ukrainian drones overnight on Friday, according to the TASS news agency. Russian investigators charged a Ukrainian Armed Forces commander with terrorism, in absentia, over the death of journalist and Russian Channel One military correspondent Anna Prokofieva in March this year, TASS reported. Politics and diplomacy Advertisement United States President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff held “productive” talks with Ukraine’s senior negotiator Rustem Umerov in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, a White House official said on Friday. “Progress was made,” the White House official said, according to the Reuters news agency. “They will reconvene later today after briefing their respective leaders.” The meetings in Florida came after Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this week, in what Yury Ushakov, the Kremlin’s top foreign policy adviser, described on Friday as “truly friendly” discussions. Ushakov also said that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, is working “frantically” to resolve the war between Russia and Ukraine in his role as a US negotiator, TASS reported. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said they held “very constructive” talks with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever on Friday over a European Union plan to use Russian frozen assets to fund Ukraine, which Belgium has so far refused to endorse. The Save Ukraine NGO said it has returned 18 Ukrainian children, aged two to 17, from Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine’s Kherson region over the last week. International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors said on Friday that arrest warrants for Putin and five other Russians accused of war crimes in Ukraine will stay in place even if a blanket amnesty is approved during US-led peace talks. Putin said that Moscow is ready to provide “uninterrupted shipments” of fuel to India, as he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday, despite US sanctions. Bulgaria’s maritime authorities, border police and navy are attempting to recover sanctioned Russian tanker Kairos, which was hit in the Black Sea last week by a Ukrainian drone in Turkiye’s exclusive economic zone, leading to its crew being rescued after it caught fire. Adblock test (Why?)
Afghan, Pakistani forces exchange heavy fire as tensions flare
Relations have soured between former allies Afghanistan and Pakistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. By News Agencies Published On 6 Dec 20256 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Afghanistan and Pakistan’s forces have exchanged heavy fire along their border as tensions between the South Asian neighbours escalate after peace talks in Saudi Arabia failed to produce a breakthrough. Officials from both sides said the skirmishes broke out late on Friday night, with the two countries accusing one another of opening fire first. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list In a post on X, the spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, Zabihullah Mujahid, said Pakistani forces had “launched attacks towards” the Spin Boldak district in the Kandahar province, prompting Afghan forces to respond. A spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it was the Afghan forces who carried out “unprovoked firing” along the Chaman border. “Pakistan remains fully alert and committed to ensuring its territorial integrity and the safety of our citizens,” spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi said in a statement. Unfortunately, this evening the Pakistani side once again launched attacks towards Afghanistan in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar, prompting the Islamic Emirate forces to respond. — Zabihullah (..ذبـــــیح الله م ) (@Zabehulah_M33) December 5, 2025 Residents on the Afghan side of the border told the AFP news agency that the exchange of fire broke out around 10:30pm local time (18:00 GMT) and lasted about two hours. Ali Mohammad Haqmal, head of Kandahar’s information department, told AFP that Pakistan forces attacked with “light and heavy artillery” and that mortar fire had struck civilian homes. “The clashes have ended, both sides agreed to stop,” he added. Advertisement There were no immediate reports of casualties from either side. Strained ties Relations have soured between Afghanistan and Pakistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, largely due to Islamabad’s accusations that Kabul is providing sanctuary to several armed groups, including the Pakistan Taliban (TTP). The TTP has waged a sustained campaign against the Pakistani state since 2007 and is often described as the ideological twin of the Afghan Taliban. Most recently, on Wednesday, a roadside bombing in Pakistan near the Afghan border claimed by the TTP killed three Pakistani police officers. Pakistan also accuses Afghanistan of sheltering the Balochistan Liberation Army and a local ISIL/ISIS affiliate known as the ISKP – even though the ISKP is a sworn enemy of the Afghan Taliban. The Afghan Taliban denies the charges, saying it cannot be held responsible for security inside Pakistan, and has accused Islamabad of intentionally spreading misinformation and provoking border tensions. A week of deadly fighting on their shared border erupted in October, triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in the fighters stepping up attacks in Pakistan. About 70 people were killed on both sides of the border and hundreds more wounded before Afghan and Pakistani officials signed a ceasefire agreement in Qatar’s capital Doha on October 19. That agreement, however, has been followed by a series of unsuccessful talks hosted by Qatar, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia aimed at cementing a longer-term truce. The latest round of talks, held in Saudi Arabia last weekend, failed to produce a breakthrough, although both sides agreed to continue their fragile ceasefire. Despite the truce, Kabul has accused its neighbour of carrying out repeated air strikes in Afghanistan’s eastern provinces over recent weeks. One attack reportedly carried out by the Pakistani military on a house in Afghanistan’s southeastern Khost province in late November reportedly killed nine children and a woman. Pakistan denied that it carried out any such attack. Adblock test (Why?)
Australia sanctions Afghan Taliban officials over women’s rights abuses
Canberra said the Taliban officials are guilty of oppressing women and girls, as well as ‘undermining good governance’. The Australian government has imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on four officials in Afghanistan’s Taliban government, citing the deteriorating human rights situation in the country, particularly for women and girls. Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement on Saturday that Canberra had established a “world-first” autonomous sanctions framework for Afghanistan, which would allow it to “directly impose its own sanctions and travel bans to increase pressure on the Taliban”. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The new framework also introduces an arms embargo, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said, as well as prohibitions on “providing related services and activities to Afghanistan”. The department named the sanctioned Taliban officials as Minister for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice Muhammad Khalid Hanafi; Minister of Higher Education Neda Mohammad Nadeem; Minister of Justice Abdul-Hakim Sharei; and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani. The Australian Government has established a world-first autonomous sanctions framework for Afghanistan, as part of our ongoing efforts to hold the Taliban to account. In effect from today, we have also announced the first listings under the new framework. — Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) December 5, 2025 Wong said the officials had been sanctioned due to their involvement “in the oppression of women and girls and in undermining good governance or the rule of law”. “This includes restricting access to education, employment, freedom of movement and the ability to participate in public life,” she said. Advertisement Canberra said its new framework “builds on” the 140 individuals and entities it already sanctions as part of the United Nations Security Council’s Taliban framework. Afghanistan’s Taliban government is yet to publicly respond to Canberra’s latest measures. In July, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Chief Justice Haqqani, alongside the Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhunzada, for alleged crimes against humanity for persecuting women and girls. Announcing the sanctions, the ICC said the Taliban has “severely deprived” girls and women of the rights to education, privacy, family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion. Since returning to power following the withdrawal of United States and NATO troops – of which Australia was a part – from Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has enacted severe restrictions on the rights and freedoms of women and girls, including the right to work and study. The Taliban has rejected accusations of violating women’s rights, claiming they are respected “within the framework of Islamic law”. In December 2022, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Higher Education banned female students from the country’s universities until further notice, in a move widely condemned by the international community. Last year, the UN said the Taliban government had “deliberately deprived” at least 1.4 million girls of their right to an education during its time in power, totally about 80 percent of school-age girls. Afghans have also been plunged further into poverty since the Taliban takeover, fuelled in part by the ban on female participation in the workplace, with vast swaths of the country’s population now heavily reliant on humanitarian aid to survive. In her statement, Wong said the Australian government “remains deeply concerned at the deteriorating situation” in the country, continuing that a “humanitarian permit” had been carved out in the new sanctions framework, allowing the continued provision of aid. “Our thoughts are with those suffering under the Taliban’s oppression, as well as the Afghan community in Australia,” she said. Adblock test (Why?)
India makes BIG move amid PM Modi-Putin meet, announces free 30-day e-visa facility for Russians
In a joint press statement with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their talks at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Friday, PM Modi stated that for decades, the people of both countries have shared deep affection and that several new steps have been taken to deepen these bonds.