Cyber Intrusions, Italian Budget Triumph, and Syria's Diplomatic Shift

Good Morning,

The US Treasury Department was hacked by alleged Chinese hackers, Italy’s government approved the country’s 2025 budget in a victory for Premier Giorgia Meloni, and Syria’s foreign minister stated the nation’s new government is interested in a partnership with Ukraine.

Top Stories

• Treasury says Chinese hackers remotely accessed workstations, documents in ‘major’ cyber incident (AP)

• Exclusive: The Russian billionaires whose chemical factories fuel Russia's war machine (RT)

• House GOPers push plan to hand Trump their budgetary power (MSNBC)

• Dow closes down 400 points as Wall Street limps into year-end (CNBC)

• Italy’s far-right government wins final approval for its 30-billion-euro budget (AP)

• Trump Loses Appeal of Carroll’s $5 Million Award in Sex-Abuse Case (NYT)

• U.S. Pending Home Sales Rose in November (WSJ)

• South Korea authorities seek arrest of Yoon over martial law declaration (AJ)

• Officer describes confronting Apalachee High School shooter in smoky hallway and says the tragedy could have been much worse (CNN)

• As Gaza suffers, experts call on hunger monitor to redefine famine (RT)

• Politician among protesters arrested in Kenya while calling for an end to alleged abductions (AP)

• Spanish Inflation Ticks Higher Than Expected as ECB Mulls Rate Cuts (WSJ)

• Syria eyes 'strategic' ties with Ukraine, Kyiv vows more food aid shipments (RT)

• Bernard Madoff's victims collect $4.3 billion as US government fund completes payouts (RT)

United States and Canada

• Trump gives US House Speaker Johnson 'complete and total endorsement' (RT)

• Border arrests are little changed in December, ending Biden’s term at lowest level (AP)

• $100 Million for One Square Mile: Deal to Protect Land in Grand Tetons (NYT)

• US sets state funeral, day of mourning for Jimmy Carter (RT)

• UnitedHealth’s Army of Doctors Helped It Collect Billions More From Medicare (WSJ)

• Ex-NYPD official admits a relationship with subordinate, but denies he demanded sex for overtime pay (CNN)

• Why has Russia rejected Trump’s Ukraine truce plan? (AJ)

• Assault Charge Against Oklahoma Police Officer Is Dismissed (NYT)

• New York prison where a handcuffed man died after being beaten will get a new leader (AP)

Africa

• Despite Attacks, an Underground Church for L.G.B.T.Q. Africans Thrives (NYT)

• At least 71 killed in Ethiopia road accident (RT)

• Mozambique: Mondlane announces break in election protests (AN)

• Nigeria says its Warri Refinery is back after a decade of closures (RT)

• Kenya: Butterfly collector aims to protect research centre (AN)

• Senegal’s foreign minister on sovereignty, alliances, and change (AJ)

• Senegal: Sonko presents his program, opposition remains skeptical (AN)

Middle East

• An Iraqi couple is charged in Germany with keeping and abusing Yazidi girls as slaves (AP)

• Syria appoints some foreign Islamist fighters to its military, sources say (RT)

• Syria FM says will visit Saudi Arabia in first official trip abroad (AJ)

• Syrian elections could take up to 4 years to organize, de facto leader says (CNN)

• Israel and Hamas Each Claim Wins in Fierce Fighting in Northern Gaza (NYT)

• Syria’s Islamist Rulers Name Maysaa Sabrine First Woman to Head Central Bank (WSJ)

• Displaced Gaza newborn freezes to death and twin fights for his life as rain floods tents (RT)

Indo-Pacific

• Hotel fire in popular Bangkok tourist area kills 3 foreigners (AP)

• China Has Limited Firepower to Counter U.S. Tariffs (WSJ)

• For South Korean Families, a Grim Wait for Bodies After Plane Crash (NYT)

• China hands lengthy jail terms to two teenagers for murdering classmate (RT)

• Boeing Shares Drop After South Korean Crash (NYT)

• Fires still burning in the Australian state of Victoria as conditions are predicted to worsen (AP)

• Malaysia attorney-general's office says house arrest bids must go to pardons board (RT)

Europe

• Hundreds of soldiers freed in the latest prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine (AP)

• Elon Musk wants weak Europe, says Germany's vice chancellor (RT)

• The Progressive Moment in Global Politics Is Over (WSJ)

• Putin apologizes over ‘tragic’ Azerbaijan Airlines crash, without admitting responsibility (CNN)

• Catholic priest in Belarus sentenced to 11 years as crackdown on dissent continues (AP)

• Serbia indicts 13 for railway station awning collapse (RT)

• French prime minister unveils recovery plan for devastated Mayotte after Cyclone Chido (AP)

Latin America

• Venezuela to free additional 413 election protesters (RT)

• Mexican authorities find 11 clandestine graves with 15 bodies near border with Guatemala (AP)

• Disidencias de las Farc abandonaron explosivo en iglesia de Jambaló, Cauca (SM)

• Trinidad and Tobago declares state of emergency on expected spike in gang violence (RT)

• Renunció el ministro de Axel Kicillof acusado por corrupción y lo reemplaza otro hombre de Sergio Massa (CA)

• Mexico to investigate a town that thanked a drug lord for holiday season gifts for children (AP)

• Blinken habló con María Corina Machado y Edmundo González: «Washington está comprometido con una restauración pacífica de la democracia en Venezuela» (LN)