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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Santa Claus is coming to town ... on a Jet Ski.

Dozens of children with disability gathered on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach on Tuesday to receive presents — and joy — from the white-bearded man himself, a joint effort by the city’s firefighters and nonprofit associations.

Under 27 Celsius degrees (80 Fahrenheit), firefighter sargeant Thiago Carvalho de Paiva wore Santa Claus costumes in tropical Rio, moving through the water as beachgoers cheered.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday added the 27 countries that make up the European Union to the list of trade partners he’s threatening with tariffs — unless the group takes steps to import more U.S. goods.

“I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas,” Trump posted shortly after 1 a.m. on social media. “Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday added the 27 countries that make up the European Union to the list of trade partners he’s threatening with tariffs — unless the group takes steps to import more U.S. goods.

“I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas,” Trump posted shortly after 1 a.m. on social media. “Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!”

Russian general in charge of radiation, chemical and biological protection forces has been killed in an explosion in Moscow, the country’s investigative committee has said. Lt Gen Igor Kirillov was killed outside an apartment building on Ryazansky Prospekt, which starts 7 km (4.35 miles) south-east of the Kremlin. The explosion was caused by a device hidden inside an electric scooter, according to the committee.

Kirillov’s assistant also died in the blast, which was triggered by an explosive device placed in a scooter, officials said. Russian investigators have opened a case into the two deaths, the committee’s spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said.

Sources in Kyiv have confirmed that Ukraine’s SBU carried out the killings in Moscow.“We were involved in the operation,” the source told the Guardian.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian leadership would face imminent revenge for the killing of a top Russian general, RIA news agency reported. “Realising the inevitability of its military defeat, it launches cowardly and despicable strikes in peaceful cities,” he said.

Russian general in charge of radiation, chemical and biological protection forces has been killed in an explosion in Moscow, the country’s investigative committee has said. Lt Gen Igor Kirillov was killed outside an apartment building on Ryazansky Prospekt, which starts 7 km (4.35 miles) south-east of the Kremlin. The explosion was caused by a device hidden inside an electric scooter, according to the committee.

Kirillov’s assistant also died in the blast, which was triggered by an explosive device placed in a scooter, officials said. Russian investigators have opened a case into the two deaths, the committee’s spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said.

Sources in Kyiv have confirmed that Ukraine’s SBU carried out the killings in Moscow.“We were involved in the operation,” the source told the Guardian.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian leadership would face imminent revenge for the killing of a top Russian general, RIA news agency reported. “Realising the inevitability of its military defeat, it launches cowardly and despicable strikes in peaceful cities,” he said.

In Europe, Chinese dominance over this production — as well as in the extraction of critical resources required for the green transformation — has become a headache. On the one hand, windmills, solar panels and cheap plug-in cars are needed to meet decarbonization objectives but, at the same time, there’s a need to avoid excessive dependence and protect national industries from a Chinese sector that’s strongly subsidized by Beijing.

China is responsible for 60% of the world’s wind turbine manufacturing capacity, more than 80% of solar cell manufacturing, and almost 40% of heat pump manufacturing.

According to the Lowy Institute, the Asian giant has 7% of the world’s lithium reserves, but processes nearly 70% of global lithium. And according to Reuters, it also refines more than 90% of the world’s graphite.

Michael Pettis, an expert on Chinese finance. He believes that, to undertake this green transition, at least in the short-term, it would be better to buy from the country that has the greatest comparative advantage in the production of these goods. That is, China. But the long-term is another matter. “These importing countries have to make a calculation. What’s more worthwhile: this flood of products that are cheap, but create unemployment in the [Eurozone]? Or the cost of imposing tariffs?”

Romania’s Constitutional Court ordered a complete re-run of the presidential elections after the country’s intelligence agency claimed there had been foreign interference on behalf of far-right front-runner Calin Georgescu.

The Constitutional Court said it was annulling “the entire electoral process concerning the election of the president of Romania” so far, as procedures for a free vote were not upheld.

The government will set a new date for the elections, and the process will restart from the beginning, the court added.

Cross post worldnews

European officials report up to 100 Russian-linked “hybrid attacks” in 2023, including cyber-attacks, sabotage, and espionage.

NATO’s Brussels meeting focused on countering these threats, with measures like intelligence sharing and critical infrastructure protection.

Germany warns of heightened risks, including assassination plots, undersea cable sabotage, and incendiary devices. NATO may invoke Article 5 if attacks escalate.

Russia’s reliance on unconventional methods, after losing diplomatic spies in Ukraine war fallout, has intensified tensions. Analysts warn the West’s delayed response has left it vulnerable to Moscow’s increasingly bold tactics.

• Court acts after surprise win by far-right candidate
• Court ruling raises concerns about electoral process
• TikTok's role in election under scrutiny
• TikTok has dismissed concerns about its role

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Crosspost worldnews: The shadow banking sector is trying its hand at trading in debt-based products such as collateralised loan obligations

Ukraine’s air force has said Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at the city of Dnipro, which if confirmed would be the first time the long-range weapon has been used in any armed conflict.

The claim was not immediately accepted by others, however. ABC News reported, citing western officials, that this was an exaggeration and that the weapon was in fact a shorter-range ballistic missile, similar to the types used repeatedly by Russia against Ukraine during the war.

Update: President [ Putin] says hypersonic missile (Oreshnik) fired at Dnipro military site in reply to Kyiv’s strikes in Russia with western missiles