The creator of HBO, who contributed greatly to the spread of cable television in the United States, billionaire Charles Dolan has died at the age of 98. His family owned an entire empire: sports complexes, in particular Madison Square Garden, basketball teams, as well as the cable company AMC Network and BBC America. The BBC reports this. Before moving to New York and getting into cable television, Dolan lived in Ohio and sold sports and production films.

The supreme leader of the Taliban terrorist group, which seized power in Afghanistan, has banned the installation of windows in new residential buildings overlooking places where women frequent. AFP writes about this.

Investigators questioned an airport dispatcher in Chechnya who coordinated the attempted landing of a plane en route from Baku to Grozny that crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan. It turned out to be a former player of Ramzan Kadyrov’s favorite club “Terek” Ali Idrisov, who said that at the time the plane landed he did not know about the air defense and the flight of drones over Grozny. The telegram channel “VChK-OGPU” writes about this.

Argentine authorities said they have charged five people in connection with their involvement in the death of One Direction singer Liam Payne. Payne, 31, died on October 16 in Buenos Aires after falling from a third-floor balcony. A forensic examination found a mixture of drugs in his blood - pink cocaine, crack and benzodiazepines. The BBC reports this.

A Moscow resident said that two of her children were poisoned by dumplings with salmonella bought at Vkusville. The retail chain assured that the product was withdrawn from sale, and examinations carried out on its order in two laboratories did not reveal any violations.

Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon said on his YouTube channel that a “historic meeting” will take place on December 30, which, according to him, will “end the hot phase of the war” between Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Kremlin hastened to answer that at present there are no prerequisites for this.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of involvement in the invasion of the Kursk region and long-range missile attacks on Russia. He stated this in an interview with TASS. Lavrov was asked to comment on Western accusations against Russia of escalating the conflict due to the involvement of North Korean soldiers in the war with Ukraine. “We have repeatedly commented on the hype on this issue, which is constantly fueled in the West.

Suffering huge losses, the Russian army is still moving forward, bombarding Ukrainian fortified areas with aerial bombs and throwing thousands of soldiers into “meat assaults.” They, in turn, are trying to somehow survive and hide from the ubiquitous drones, equipping their equipment with protection from scrap materials.

The charity Christian Aid calculated and analyzed available insurance benefits for 2024 and concluded that the 10 biggest disasters caused by climate change cost $229 billion and killed 2,000 people. The Guardian reports this. Christian Aid estimates that three-quarters of the financial damage occurred in the United States. For the first time since calculations began in 2018, the country experienced two hurricanes this year—Helen and Milton—each of which cost authorities more than $50 billion.

In Russia, from January 1, 2025, the minimum retail prices for vodka, cognac, brandy and alcoholic beverages stronger than 28% will be increased. This is stated in the order of the Ministry of Finance. Cognac will rise in price the most in the coming year. The minimum retail price for half a liter of this drink will increase by 95 rubles - from 556 to 651 rubles.

Ukrainian police have identified a Russian military man who is allegedly involved in the murder of 52-year-old Irina Filkina in Bucha. She was one of the first victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, revealed by a Reuters photo of her hand, which shows a red manicure with a heart on one of the fingers. This was reported by the Buchi city council.

US President-elect Donald Trump has lost his appeal over the rape of journalist Jean Carroll in a New York City fitting room in 1996. In addition to rape, he was also accused of spreading defamatory information about Carroll. The Guardian reports this. A three-judge panel at the U.S. federal appeals court in Manhattan rejected Trump's arguments for a new trial.