TV News LIES

Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) helped Denis Kapustin, the founder of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) who was announced dead last week, to fake his death before claiming the bounty placed on his head by Russian security services, it said on Thursday.

Kapustin, 41, was previously reported killed by a Russian drone whilst carrying out a combat mission in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region overnight on Saturday, Dec. 27.

On Jan. 1, HUR said in a post on Telegram that a Russian special service operation ordering his murder, which had allocated a $500,000 bounty to carry out the crime, had successfully been foiled.

It added that it had procured the sum offered to “liquidate” Kapustin by Russia and this money would be used to strengthen Ukrainian drone capabilities against Russian forces.

HUR said that the murder of Kapustin – considered a “personal enemy” by Russian President Vladimir Putin – had been “commissioned by the special services of the aggressor state Russia, which allocated half a million dollars to carry out the crime.”

It added that a special operation lasting more than a month had successfully duped Russian intelligence services into believing that Kapustin was dead.

More...

The food pantry at Penn State Harrisburg saw an uptick in students during the fall semester. Aimee Wheeler, who oversees the pantry, says she expects this coming semester to be just as busy.

"I expect to see even more in January and February, because students will be coming back from winter break and be stocking up," Wheeler said.

About a year ago, she said the food pantry might have had about nine visitors in a week. But lately, it's been more like nine visitors in a single day.

"We've seen more students than ever," Wheeler said.

And it's not just Penn State Harrisburg.

"We're hearing that there [is] an uptick, an increase in visits and not enough resources to go around," said Renee Houle Catazano, a vice president at Swipe Out Hunger. The national nonprofit estimates that two in five college students face food insecurity, meaning they lack consistent access to nutritious foods.

Between the uncertainty of SNAP payments due to the government shutdown and the rising cost of living, Houle Catazano said many students feel financially strained.

More...

The Trump administration is facing a legal complaint from a group of government employees affected by a new policy going into effect Thursday that eliminates coverage for gender-affirming care in federal health insurance programs.

The complaint, filed Thursday on the employees’ behalf by the Human Rights Campaign, is in response to an August announcement from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that it would no longer cover “chemical and surgical modification of an individual’s sex traits through medical interventions” in health insurance programs for federal employees and US Postal Service workers.

The complaint argues that denying coverage of gender-affirming care is sex-based discrimination and asks the personnel office to rescind the policy.

“This policy is not about cost or care – it is about driving transgender people and people with transgender spouses, children, and dependents out of the federal workforce,” the Human Rights Campaign Foundation president, Kelley Robinson, said in a statement announcing the move.

The complaint, filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, includes testimonies from four current federal workers at the state department, health and human services and the postal service who would be directly affected by the elimination of coverage.

For instance, the postal service employee has a daughter whose doctors recommended that she get puberty blockers and potentially hormone replacement therapy for her diagnosed gender dysphoria, which would not be covered under the new OPM policy, according to the complaint.

More...

That’s the tactic they use,” said Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island senator, pondering whether Donald Trump might attach his name to the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “You float stuff and you float stuff and you float stuff until people get inured to what a stupid or outrageous thing it is that has been floated and then you pull the trigger.”

Whitehouse was sitting in his Senate office and speaking to the Guardian at 11am on Thursday 18 December. Two hours later, his word

In November Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Senate environment and public works (EPW) committee, launched a formal investigation into allegations of widespread cronyism, financial mismanagement and corruption at what he describes as a “secular temple to the arts”.

Democrats on the committee said they obtained documents that suggest the national cultural centre is being operated as a “slush fund and private club for Trump’s friends and political allies”, resulting in millions of dollars in losses and a significant deviation from its statutory mission.

s proved prophetic. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, announced on X that the Kennedy Center board had “voted unanimously” to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center.

By Friday workmen on scissor lifts were adding metal lettering to the building’s facade, before dropping a blue tarpaulin to reveal a sign saying “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For the Performing Arts”. Family members of Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, conhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/01/trump-kennedy-center-canceled-programsdemned the move as “beyond wild” and pointed out that an act of Congress is needed to alter its name.

The takeover of the national cultural centre began in February when, in what many critics regard as a case study in institutional capture, Trump ousted members of the Kennedy Center board appointed by former president Joe Biden, took over as chairman and installed Richard Grenell, a longtime ally and former ambassador to Germany, as its president.

In November Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Senate environment and public works (EPW) committee, launched a formal investigation into allegations of widespread cronyism, financial mismanagement and corruption at what he describes as a “secular temple to the arts”.

Democrats on the committee said they obtained documents that suggest the national cultural centre is being operated as a “slush fund and private club for Trump’s friends and political allies”, resulting in millions of dollars in losses and a significant deviation from its statutory mission.

More...

Donald Trump has denied falling asleep while attending public meetings and robustly defended his health after the first year of his second term in office raised growing questions.

Trump, who at 79 is the oldest person to assume the US presidency, told the Wall Street Journal “my health is perfect” and expressed frustration with scrutiny of his wellbeing.

In the interview, the president denied he had fallen asleep during White House meetings – when cameras have caught him with his eyes closed – instead insisting he was resting his eyes or blinking.

“I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink.”

More...

Speculation over former President Donald Trump’s health surged over the weekend after a viral video from his latest golf outing appeared to show him struggling with mobility. The footage, which quickly gained traction on social media, has prompted a wave of theories and discussions about the 78-year-old’s physical condition, with particular attention paid to his right leg.

The video in question was originally shared by Aleman’s Brothers LLC, a groundskeeping company that appears to service Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. It captures Trump engaging in one of his frequent pastimes, hitting the golf course on a sunny Sunday afternoon. However, it was not his swing that caught the internet’s attention, but rather his gait.

Numerous users on X (formerly Twitter) voiced their concerns, with many questioning whether the former president might be experiencing a significant health issue.

One user bluntly asked, “Is something wrong with Trump’s legs?” Others speculated that he was exhibiting signs of a neurological condition or musculoskeletal disorder.

More...

 

The U.N. said Thursday that a Palestinian boy in the Gaza Strip drowned in floods that engulfed his tent camp, with videos showing rescuers trying to pry his body out of muddy waters by pulling him by the ankle. It was the latest sign of the miseries that winter is inflicting on the territory’s population, with many left homeless by the devastation from two years of war.

Health officials also reported the death of another 9 year-old boy in Gaza Thursday, but the circumstances were not clear.

As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza. But Palestinians are still being killed almost daily by Israeli fire, and the humanitarian crisis shows no signs of abating. At least three Israeli soldiers have died in Gaza since the ceasefire came down, killed by militant attacks or explosive detonations.

UNICEF said Thursday that 7-year-old Ata Mai had drowned Saturday in severe flooding that engulfed his tent camp in Gaza City. Mai’s was the latest child death reported in Gaza as storms, cold weather and flooding worsen already brutal living conditions. Almost the entire population of more than 2 million people have lost their homes, and most are living in squalid tent camps with little protection from the weather.

UNICEF said Mai had been living with his younger siblings and family in a camp of around 40 tents. They lost their mother earlier in the war.

Video from Civil Defense teams, shown on Al Jazeera, showed rescue workers trying to get Mai’s body out of what appeared to be a pit filled with muddy water surrounded by wreckage of bombed buildings. The men waded into the water, pulling at the boy’s ankle, the only part of his body visible. Later, the body is shown wrapped in a muddy cloth being loaded into an ambulance.

More...

 

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s four-year term leading the nation’s largest city began Thursday with a seven-block long street party and guest appearances at his inaugural ceremony from the leading lights of the left.

On a freezing New Year’s Day, the 34-year-old democratic socialist was sworn on the steps of City Hall by Sen. Bernie Sanders after an introduction by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

"Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously," Mamdani said. "We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try to those who insist that the era of big government is over."

"I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist," he said.

Mamdani is the 112th person, but the first Muslim and the first person of South Asian descent, to lead the nation's largest city.

In 2025, Mamdani stunned political establishment by defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo first in the Democratic primary and again in the November general election. He ran on a progressive platform to address affordability, reshaping a mayor’s race that resonated even in the White House with Republican President Donald Trump.

More...