Good morning.
The US military has carried out another lethal strike on a vessel it claimed was engaged in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific, according to the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.
The latest strike brings the death toll in the Pacific to 99 since the US began its campaign in September. The administration has not provided evidence that boats are engaged in drug trafficking, and the strikes have been condemned by critics as violations of international law and potential war crimes.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump accused Venezuela of taking US oil. American oil companies dominated Venezuela’s petroleum industry until the country’s leaders moved to nationalize the sector.
How do human rights groups view the airstrikes? The UN, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have described them as extrajudicial executions. The family of one man killed in a bombing, from Colombia, have filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging that he was killed unlawfully on 15 September.
Trump’s address suggests he is feeling the chill of opinion polls
“It will go down in history as the ‘Bah! Humbug!’ address,” writes our Washington bureau chief, David Smith. “Surrounded by Christmas trees and garlands before a fireplace, Donald Trump on Wednesday gave a convincing rendition of Ebenezer Scrooge.”
In a 20-minute, end-of-year presidential speech at the White House on Wednesday evening, Trump seemed to be addressing his slide in opinion polls in recent months – and he placed blame for the US’s ills at the feet of Biden, previous trade deals, immigrants and what he described as a corrupt system.
The president has repeatedly referred to “affordability” as a Democratic hoax. On Wednesday, he conceded that prices remained high while arguing that the US was “poised” for an economic boom. He claimed a sharp drop in gasoline prices, even though a White House graphic displayed by Fox News as he spoke showed only a slight decline in the national average.
What did the speech tell us? “This was not an address by a self-confident man dishing out Christmas presents to the nation,” Smith wrote. “It smacked of desperation from one who can feel the December windchill of opinion polls – a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday showed just 33% of US adults approve of how Trump has handled the economy.”
In other news …
As Morocco prepares to host the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament from Sunday, the country is accused of arbitrarily detaining of hundreds of gen Z protesters, amid allegations of “horrific” beatings condemned by human rights groups.
Nick Reiner appeared in court for the first time yesterday after being charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.
The chair of the Federal Communications Commission said it was not an “independent” agency, as Brendan Carr told a Senate committee yesterday, prompting fears of a power grab by Donald Trump.
European leaders are being urged to use Russia’s frozen assets to fund Ukraine’s defense, as a critical summit takes place in Brussels today.
Stat of the day: 91.7% of most-viewed streaming shows created by white people, UCLA says
Scripted series on streaming services showed a marked decrease in cultural diversity last year, according to UCLA. The Hollywood Diversity report found that of the 250 most-viewed current and library-scripted series in 2024, more than 91.7% were created by a white person, with white men accounting for 79% of all show creators.
The Filter recommends: Four rules for being a good guest this holiday season
Lauren Gould shares four suggestions on how to be a good guest this festive season. Getting a gift for your host? Great! But do it wisely – make sure you’re not creating more work for them. For example, if you’re bringing flowers, put them in a vase beforehand. Or, as well as a bottle of wine, why not bring pastries for the next morning?
Don’t miss this: Film-maker Mstyslav Chernov – ‘I kept seeing Ukraine as a victim of this invasion, I wanted to tell another story’
Mstyslav Chernov, a documentary film-maker, speaks about filming on the frontline in Ukraine, navigating the Oscar circuit with 20 Days in Mariupol and his new film, 2000 Meters to Andriivka –the Guardian’s No 2 film of 2025. In his review of the new feature, Peter Bradshaw notes that there is an “ultra-modern, even postmodern aspect of this film, but it coexists with an eerie resemblance to the eastern front of the first world war”.
Climate check: How global heating is putting the world’s food in peril – in maps and charts
From Puerto Rico to Portugal, and Australia to India, extreme weather is affecting crop yields around the world, with the effects rippling through supply chains, industry and communities. This interactive story visualizes the threats facing the world’s food system as a result of global heating.
Last Thing: When Secret Santa goes disastrously wrong
Workplace Secret Santa is meant to be fun – but when it goes wrong it can cause all kinds of trouble. Lucy Knight rounds up some spectacular mishaps: a game of solitaire accompanied by a nasty note; dog food for someone who just lost a puppy; a pair of “couple’s” mugs for a co-worker going through a breakup. Oops.
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