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16+ min ago (478+ words) Venezuelan leader expresses hope phone call marks beginning of "respectful dialogue" between Washington and Caracas. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has confirmed speaking with United States President Donald Trump by phone late last month amid a US military buildup that has raised fears of war. Speaking to state-run Venezolana de Television on Wednesday, Maduro said he decided to speak about his "cordial" call with Trump about 10 days ago because international media had reported certain information and he wished to avoid "microphone diplomacy". "During my six years as foreign minister, I learned diplomatic prudence, and then, in these years as president, with the experience of being foreign minister and having been mentored by our Commander Chavez, I value prudence," Maduro said, referring to the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, under whom he was foreign minister. "I don"t like diplomacy with microphones;…...

31+ min ago (217+ words) Tim Leiweke was accused of "orchestrating a conspiracy to rig the bidding process for an arena at a public university" Donald Trump quietly pardoned on Tuesday a sports and entertainment executive, Tim Leiweke, who was indicted by the president"s own justice department this year. Leiweke, who co-founded Oak View Group, was indicted in July for what federal prosecutors alleged was his role in "orchestrating a conspiracy to rig the bidding process for an arena at a public university in Austin, Texas. Leiweke had pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to restrict trade and was due to stand trial next year. "Unfair business practices, like those employed here, make it very difficult for the American people to pursue prosperity like our founders intended, Justin Simmons, the US attorney for the western district of Texas said in July. Simmons was…...

54+ min ago (39+ words) These are the key developments from day 1,379 of Russia's war on Ukraine. These are the key developments from day 1,379 of Russia's war on Ukraine. Here's where things stand on Thursday, December 4:...

1+ hour, 14+ min ago (359+ words) Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has declared Donald Trump and Fox News presenters "hypocrites" after the president was seen falling asleep in a cabinet meeting. Trump had often called out president Joe Biden for seemingly nodding off during public events, dubbing him "Sleepy Joe Biden" on more than one occasion. This has not landed well now that Trump also appears to be falling asleep in meetings, with Kimmel compiling a news package of criticism aimed at Biden for allegedly falling asleep. Kimmel pointed out there is absolute silence from those who criticised Biden's age now that Trump is showing the same signs of fatigue as the former president. The talk show host said Fox News and other supporters were "going into overdrive" to deflect from Trump seemingly falling asleep in cabinet meetings. Referring to a comment made where a doctor…...

1+ hour, 16+ min ago (461+ words) Macron's three-day visit aims at getting China to exert pressure on Russia for ceasefire deal with Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron told Xi Jinping that their two countries must overcome their "differences" during a trip to Beijing focused on economic and geopolitical cooperation. The two leaders met in China's capital Beijing on Thursday, holding wide-ranging talks at the Great Hall of the People that ranged from ending the war in Ukraine to redressing global economic imbalances. "Sometimes there are differences, but it is our responsibility to overcome them for the greater good," Macron told Xi. "Our capacity to work together is decisive," he said, making a direct reference to Ukraine. Reporting from Beijing, Al Jazeera's Katrina Yu said it was unclear whether any agreement was made. "Macron and other EU leaders have accused China of providing crucial economic support for Russia's…...

1+ hour, 22+ min ago (296+ words) Spotify Wrapped 2025 is here and the entire Internet is obsessing over their listening ages. Inside the Spotify app, Listeners can find collections of the songs they listened to the most this year, the artists that dominated their playlists, and podcasts that kept them company through a long and desolate 2025. But, the biggest draw is definitely the listening age feature in Spotify Wrapped. Are you unc? Show us your listening age. #spotifywrapped Here's how Spotify describes the new Listening age feature: "This story compares your musical tastes to others' in your age group, looking at the release years of the tracks you listen to most." To wit, having a really low Spotify Wrapped Listening Age can be the mark of an older user. (They still have their fastball when it comes to the lace and pop culture.) Or, a younger music…...

1+ hour, 23+ min ago (200+ words) President Donald Trump has issued a full pardon to Tim Leiweke, a media executive who co-founded the Oak View Group, according to CNN on Wednesday. The move is notable as, unlike many other controversial Trump clemencies for rich and well-connected people, this pardon is for a charge brought by his own Justice Department earlier this year. Ironically, according to the report, Leiweke has a history of criticizing Trump on social media, posting that he was the "single greatest Con man" and lauding former Vice President Mike Pence for standing up to Trump's scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Leiweke was represented in his quest for a pardon by former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), a former ally of the president. This comes just hours after Trump sent House Republicans into chaos by pardoning conservative Texas Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar, who was…...

1+ hour, 31+ min ago (485+ words) A legal expert swiftly shredded the Trump administration after a new report revealed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pre-authorized contingency plans on how to handle potential survivors during drug strike missions. "Adm. Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat," Hegseth said. "We have his back."But However, The New York Times reported Wednesday that Hegseth had previously approved contingency plans on how to handle potential survivors. "The military would attempt to rescue survivors who appeared to be helpless, shipwrecked and out of what the administration considered a fight. But it would try again to kill them if they took what the United States deemed to be a hostile action, like communicating with suspected cartel members," officials told the Times. Ryan Goodman, a former Department of Defense lawyer, laid into Hegseth in a thread on…...

1+ hour, 31+ min ago (679+ words) Pentagon report concludes defense secretary endangered troops as some Republican lawmakers scrutinize Caribbean operations " key US politics stories from 3 December 2025 A long-awaited Department of Defense report found that US defense secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies and put troops in danger when he shared secret information in a Signal messaging chat, a source familiar with the report said. The source said Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general, and instead provided a brief written statement in which he said he only shared information in the chat that would not have risked lives or endangered the mission, that he had the right to declassify material and that he considered the inspector general to be partisan. The report was shared with Congress, and an unclassified version is expected to be released later this week. The source said the report by…...

1+ hour, 44+ min ago (964+ words) Liu plays a dying widow whose schizophrenic son is obsessed with school shootings " and somehow it gets bleaker from there The post "Rosemead" Review: Lucy Liu Dives Head First Into Overwhelming Misery appeared first on TheWrap. Eric Lin's "Rosemead" begins when Lucy Liu, playing a widow who runs a print shop in Southern California, coughs a little. So we immediately know she's got terminal cancer. If you're coughing in a movie and you're not in a room full of smoke, and it's not already established that you've got a cold, it means you're dying from cancer. I don't make the rules, I just know them by heart. It's like when any woman throws up in a movie, and they're not drunk and they didn't get food poisoning, it means they're pregnant. Every. Single. Time. In "Rosemead," Lucy Liu plays Irene....