Protesters hold posters in support of Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski during a solidarity demonstration in Vilnius. Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski turned 62 on September 25, 2024. (Yauhen Yerchak/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Belarusian government announced Saturday that it has released 123 people, including foreigners, a Nobel Prize winner and several political opposition leaders, who were being held in prison on “espionage, terrorism, and extremism” charges.
Belarusian government officials said in a statement that the release is part of “agreements reached with U.S. President Donald Trump” and involves the United States lifting sanctions on the Belarusian potash industry.
U.S. Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale told reporters in Minsk Saturday that the U.S. was lifting sanctions against Belarusian potash producer Belaruskali, one of the European country’s largest state-owned companies.
Coale said the goal is to normalize relations between the U.S. and Belarus and that “more sanctions will be lifted” in the future.
Among the prisoners released were two prominent Belarusian activists, Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava.
Of the detainees, 114 were transferred to Ukraine while the remaining nine, including Bialiatski, were transferred to Lithuania, according to the Ukrainian government.
Shortly after her release, Kalesnikava was seen arriving at the Ukrainian border and reuniting with Viktar Babaryka and Maxim Znak, both of whom were former Belarusian prisoners.
Babaryka was imprisoned during the 2020 election while trying to run against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Kalesnikava was his campaign manager and took his place after he was arrested.
Bialiatski spoke with the press from Lithuania telling them, “being released means meeting with family, meeting with friends and continuing my work as a human rights defender.”
(NEW YORK) — Two U.S. soldiers and one civilian U.S. interpreter were killed in Syria Saturday after they were ambushed by a likely ISIS gunman, U.S. officials said.
The gunman was killed by “partner forces” during a skirmish, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Three other service members were injured during the incident in Palmyra, Syria, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. Two U.S. officials told ABC News the wounded were American.
“The attack occurred as the soldiers were conducting a key leader engagement. Their mission was in support of on-going counter-ISIS / counter-terrorism operations in the region,” Parnell said in a statement.
This marked the first combat deaths since President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office.
Two U.S. officials told ABC News that Saturday’s attack “took place in an area where the Syrian President does not have control.”
The identities of the soldiers were not immediately revealed due to ongoing next of kin notifications, officials said.
The three American fatalities in today’s attack in Syria are the first combat deaths in that country since 2019 when four Americans were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Manbij, Syria.
Prior to today there had been 10 U.S. military deaths in Syria, including a mix of hostile and non-hostile deaths. The most recent U.S. military death in Syria was a non-hostile death in February 2022.
Powerball lottery ticket forms at Bluebird Liquor on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025 in Hawthorne, CA. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Powerball jackpot prize has grown to $1 billion, a cash value of $457.7 million, for Saturday night’s drawing.
This is the game’s seventh largest prize ever, according to Powerball. The largest prize ever was $2.04 billion won on Nov. 7, 2022.
The Powerball jackpot was last hit on Sept. 6 by two tickets in Missouri and Texas that split a $1.787 billion prize. There have been 41 consecutive drawings with no wins.
The Powerball jackpot last rolled Wednesday night, when no ticket matched the five white balls — 10, 16, 29, 33, 69 — and red Powerball 22.
If a player wins on Saturday night, they will have the choice between annual payments worth an estimated $1 billion or an immediate $457.7 million lump sum payment.
According to Powerball, the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
The drawing will be held just before 11 p.m. ET in the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) discusses rising health insurance premiums as U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) (L) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) look on during a press conference in the U.S. Capitol Building on December 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans — led by Speaker Mike Johnson — unveiled Friday a narrow health care package to address rising costs, but the plan does not extend the expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The GOP proposal — which will receive a vote on the House floor sometime next week — would expand the availability of association health plans and what are known as “CHOICE arrangements”; impose new transparency requirements on pharmacy benefit managers to lower drug costs; and appropriate money for cost-sharing reductions to reduce premiums in the individual market.
Association health plans allow employers to band together to purchase coverage.
Notably, the 111-page measure would not funnel additional money into health savings accounts.
“While Democrats demand that taxpayers write bigger checks to insurance companies to hide the cost of their failed law, House Republicans are tackling the real drivers of health care costs to provide affordable care, increase access and choice, and restore integrity to our nation’s health care system for all Americans,” Johnson said in a statement Friday.
Republicans are also discussing staging a vote on an amendment to the health care package that would extend the ACA subsidies. The specifics of the amendment are still being discussed, according to GOP leadership aides.
The Rules Committee plans to mark up the bill at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. The House would then have to vote on an amendment related to extending the subsidies and then the underlying bill before sending it over to the Senate.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, President Donald Trump said he wants a health care plan that would directly funnel aid to patients, adding that money should be given to people for health care through an insurance account.
“I think what most Republicans want to see– what is what I want to see, and I leave it to them, and hopefully they’re going to put great legislation on this desk right here: we want to see all of the money that’s been squandered and given to insurance companies because Obamacare is horrible health insurance,” Trump said.
He added, “And we want the money to go to the people. They’ll go in the form of an insurance account, health care account, or any other form that we can create with a lot of different forms. We want to give the money to the people and let the people buy their own great health care, and they’ll save a lot of money, and it’ll be great,” he continued.
But Trump also kept the door open, slightly, on extending ACA tax credits, saying he was going to “look into” the possibility of doing so with the assurance that an extension deal would come with some caveats that Republicans want.
House GOP leadership aides hope to pass the health care package next week — the last legislative week of 2025 that the House is expected to be in session for.
“The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act will actually deliver affordable health care — and we look forward to advancing it through the House,” Johnson said.
Even if the measure does clear the House, the Senate is not likely to take any further major action on health care next week, leaving those enhanced premium subsidies all but certain to lapse.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the Republican proposal “toxic legislation” that doesn’t address the coming hike in ACA premiums.
“House Republicans are not serious about ending the healthcare crisis they have unleashed in this country,” Jeffries said in a statement. “After promising legislation for months, this 11th hour measure fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits that tens of millions of Americans rely on to afford their healthcare.”
Jeffries said Democrats are willing to work with Republicans on extending the subsidies, saying: “We are ready to work with anyone in good faith on the other side of the aisle who wants to prevent the Affordable Care Act tax credits from expiring at the end of the month.”
Ahead of the measure being introduced Friday, nearly a dozen House Republicans had publicly defied Johnson by trying to force a vote on extending the expiring subsidies.
As of Thursday, 11 Republicans had signed on to two discharge petitions — one filed by a Republican and the other by a Democrat — that would extend the subsidies.
In the Senate, two competing health care proposals aimed at addressing the expected premium spikes — one championed by Democrats and the other by Republicans — failed to advance earlier this week.
(NEW YORK) — Another atmospheric river is forecast to pound the Pacific Northwest with several inches of rain on Monday and Tuesday just after a short break in the rain.
Most river levels in Washington and Oregon are now beginning to fall and forecast to remain below major flood stage in the next few days.
A break in heavy rain is forecast on Saturday for Washington and Oregon, but rain will be back on Sunday with the heaviest falling Monday and Tuesday.
Some rivers are forecast to rise again on Wednesday due to this next atmospheric river event. There is no end in sight for this pattern — this is a classic La Nina pattern, and this is a La Nina winter.
Some models are forecasting another 5 to 10 inches of rain in the next seven days for the Pacific Northwest.
Eastern arctic blast Snow and cold alerts are issued for 27 states from Montana to New Jersey and down to Georgia.
A fast-moving storm system is expected to drop several inches of snow on Saturday into the night from the Midwest to the Northeast.
Snow will fall mostly in the Midwest from Iowa to Ohio and Indiana on Saturday, missing Chicago but hitting hard Indianapolis and Cincinnati where a winter storm warning has been issued.
Parts of the Midwest could see up to a half a foot of snow.
Later Saturday, in the early evening, snow and rain will arrive to I-95 corridor.
Rain will change to snow in New York City and Philadelphia late Saturday with heaviest snow falling after midnight and into the early morning hours.
A winter weather advisory has been issued for Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City for 1 to as much as 4 inches of snow.
If New York City and Philadelphia get at least 2 inches of snow, this would be the heaviest snow this early in the season since 2018.
Washington D.C. already saw snow this season, and is forecast to get 1 to 3 inches.
The snow is over by mid morning for the East Coast as the bitter cold takes over.
Extreme cold watches and warnings have been issued from the Dakotas all the way to Alabama.
In the Dakotas and Minnesota, the wind chill could drop as low as 45 below zero with actual temperature in the 20s below zero.
Even for Charleston, South Carolina, an extreme cold watch has been issued, where the wind chill could drop to 10 degrees.
A burned and unusable car is seen as firefighters continue to extinguish the fire that broke out in a house following the Russian drone attacks on Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine on December 13, 2025. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with missile and drone strikes in another “massive attack” Friday night into Saturday morning, Ukrainian authorities said.
“All necessary services are currently working to restore electricity and water supply in our communities affected by Russia’s overnight attack,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. “Once again, the main strike targeted our energy sector, the south of the country, and the Odesa region.”
Russia used almost 500 drones and missiles in a combined strike on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure facilities overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Saturday morning.
In total, Russia launched 465 drones as well as 30 air-, sea- and ground-based missiles. The main direction of the strike was the Odesa region, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed.
The air force said it shot down or suppressed 417 drones and 13 missiles. However, 33 drones and eight missiles struck areas at 18 locations, while downed ones fell at three locations. An additional six missiles did not reach their targets and the places of their fall are under investigation, according to the air force.
Two people were injured in the Odesa region and thousands of families remain without electricity in the Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv regions, according to Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy confirmed that the Russian drone and missile strikes targeted electricity generation, distribution and transmission facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.
Customers in the Odesa, Chernihiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv regions were without power as of Saturday morning, according to the ministry.
At least five people were injured in the Mykolaiv region, where all critical infrastructure facilities had to be switched to operating from generators as a result of the “massive attack,” according to Vitaliy Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration.
The attack also left all traction substations without power supply in Odesa, forcing the city to temporarily suspend tram and trolleybus services, according to Serhiy Lysak, head of the Odesa City Military Administration.
A burned and unusable car is seen as firefighters continue to extinguish the fire that broke out in a house following the Russian drone attacks on Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine on December 13, 2025. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with missile and drone strikes in another “massive attack” Friday night into Saturday morning, Ukrainian authorities said.
“All necessary services are currently working to restore electricity and water supply in our communities affected by Russia’s overnight attack,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. “Once again, the main strike targeted our energy sector, the south of the country, and the Odesa region.”
Russia used almost 500 drones and missiles in a combined strike on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure facilities overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Saturday morning.
In total, Russia launched 465 drones as well as 30 air-, sea- and ground-based missiles. The main direction of the strike was the Odesa region, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed.
The air force said it shot down or suppressed 417 drones and 13 missiles. However, 33 drones and eight missiles struck areas at 18 locations, while downed ones fell at three locations. An additional six missiles did not reach their targets and the places of their fall are under investigation, according to the air force.
Two people were injured in the Odesa region and thousands of families remain without electricity in the Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv regions, according to Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy confirmed that the Russian drone and missile strikes targeted electricity generation, distribution and transmission facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.
Customers in the Odesa, Chernihiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv regions were without power as of Saturday morning, according to the ministry.
At least five people were injured in the Mykolaiv region, where all critical infrastructure facilities had to be switched to operating from generators as a result of the “massive attack,” according to Vitaliy Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration.
The attack also left all traction substations without power supply in Odesa, forcing the city to temporarily suspend tram and trolleybus services, according to Serhiy Lysak, head of the Odesa City Military Administration.
In this handout satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Melissa churns northwest through the Caribbean Sea captured at 17:00Z on October 27, 2025. (NOAA via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Celebrities are dedicating their voices, time and talents to helping the island of Jamaica recover from one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfall in the Atlantic basin.
On Oct. 28, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in southwestern Jamaica as a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 mph. The monster storm then swept across western Jamaica, bringing catastrophic winds, flash flooding and storm surge throughout the island.
The destruction left in Melissa’s wake was extensive and widespread. Dozens of people were killed. Entire communities were either demolished or isolated from the direct hit. Power and water was cut off for much nearly 500,000 people. Debris and floodwaters littered roadways.
Officials made clear that the rebuilding process — still not complete from Hurricane Beryl’s impact in 2024 — would be lengthy. When prominent members of the entertainment industry got word of the devastation, they rallied to be of service.
“When I finally connected with some of my folks on the ground there, and they relayed the devastation … it definitely mobilized, for me personally, that I have to get boots on the ground to help,” Mona Scott-Young, famed producer of the “Love and Hip Hop” series, told ABC News.
On Monday, Scott-Young, along with rapper Busta Rhymes and actor and R&B singer Tyrese Gibson, flew to the island aboard a cargo plane filled with supplies.
Upon touching down, they immediately got to work — coordinating where the assistance was needed, getting their hands dirty and even using the gifts that made them famous to raise spirits within the community.
In Norwood, a community in St. James, Rhymes helped to rebuild a roof on a school, putting nails into the wood himself. In the underserved community of Flankers, Rhymes held an impromptu performance. A soccer game was also organized for the kids.
Over the multi-day mission trip, the aim was to lift spirits but also help those affected to gain a sense of normalcy.
“The spirit of the people of Jamaica is still there — just as strong,” Gibson said.
They worked with nonprofits such as Helping Hand for Relief and Development and the GrassROOTS Community Foundation, as well as local groups — a collective of people and organizations who love Jamaica.
Scott-Young “led the charge” and was instrumental in helping to organize such a large relief effort, Rhymes said.
Monday marked the second trip for Scott-Young and Gibson, who were on the ground in Jamaica within two weeks after Melissa battered the island.
They knew that once the hurricane passed, it wouldn’t be long before the public’s focus was no longer on Jamaica.
“We knew that people’s attention span towards the people of Jamaica was gonna be as short as it is on Instagram,” Gibson said.
During the first trip, Scott-Young and Gibson helped to survey the landscape and assess the needs of the island, Gibson said.
When the pair arrived in Flankers, a neighborhood in Montego Bay, they came across a medical center that had no medicine.
That’s when they realized they needed to step up their efforts. Once Rhymes became involved, the scale of the project multiplied exponentially, Gibson said. While they brought about a half a pallet of supplies on the initial trip, they were equipped with more than 50 pallets this week due to Rhymes’s far-reaching influence, Gibson said.
It was “incredibly gratifying” for the group to show up to the bare medical center with medicine, diapers and other provisions needed to care for the community, Scott-Young said.
Each has a direct connection to the island, they said.
Rhymes is Jamaican and has family and friends — many of whom he grew up with — who were affected by the hurricane.
“My whole family is Jamaican,” Rhymes said. “Everything about Busta Rhymes that y’all have known to grow and love was bought up and raised in a Jamaican household.”
Scott-Young, who is from Haiti, felt an interconnectedness with another Caribbean nation, especially as a regular vacation spot for her family, but also knows personally knows people who have lost everything. Gibson has a close family friend who is Jamaican and said he feels a closeness to the culture and its people.
What they witnessed has changed them forever and inspired them to do more, they said.
“This was exactly what God asked me to do,” Gibson said.
The island is still in a state of devastation. People are sleeping on the ground under tarps, Scott-Young said. Basic necessities, including communication and WiFi, are not yet up and running. Diseases are starting to spread, as is a growing rodent problem.
Many communities, especially those on the hillsides, “have not been touched,” Gibson said. They still don’t have water, electricity or any significant aid because the focus is primarily on the epicenter, where the hurricane hit the hardest, Scott-Young said.
Future efforts will especially be focused on reaching the communities in the surrounding areas that have not been the priority over the past six weeks.
The three are already planning more trips to Jamaica and enlisting the assistance of other celebrities connected to the island. Rhymes commended artists Shaggy and Sean Paul, who are both Jamaican, on their endeavors to help their home island as well.
“We’re gonna continue to do our part,” Gibson said. “…The tragedy is not over.”
‘NEVER ENOUGH’ album artwork. (Roadrunner Records)
Turnstile has premiered the video for “LIGHT DESIGN,” a track off the band’s new album, NEVER ENOUGH.
Befitting of the song’s title, the clip follows a spotlight that showcases the different Turnstile members. It’s co-directed by frontman Brendan Yates and guitarist Pat McCrory.
The “LIGHT DESIGN” video is now streaming on YouTube.
NEVER ENOUGH, the follow-up to 2021’s GLOW ON, was released in June. It was accompanied by a visual album that premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Festival.
NEVER ENOUGH is nominated for best rock album at the 2026 Grammys, while songs from the record will compete in the best rock song, best rock performance, best alternative music performance and best metal performance categories. Turnstile is the first act to receive nominations for rock, alternative and metal categories all in the same year.
Beyoncé performs with daughter Blue Ivy during the halftime show for the Baltimore Ravens/Houston Texans game at NRG Stadium on December 25, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Beyoncé invited the whole world to her hoedown in 2025.
Pollstar, which tracks the touring industry, has put Queen B on top of its year-end chart of the Top 200 Worldwide Top Touring Artists and the same chart for North America, thanks to her Cowboy Carter tour. The rankings are based on how much each artist made on the road from Nov. 14, 2024, through Nov. 12, 2025.
Worldwide, Bey was tops with $407.6 million; roughly $306 million of that came from North America alone. Other artists who made the top 10 on Pollstar‘s worldwide chart include Coldplay, Shakira, The Weeknd, Imagine Dragons, Lady Gaga and Post Malone.
In North America, the top 10 list also includes The Weeknd, Post Malone and Shakira, plus the Eagles and Taylor Swift.
Bey has also done a rare Q&A for Pollstar‘s year-end issue, in which she discusses her Cowboy Carter tour. The issue will be available on Dec. 15.
