Researchers from several universities have found that talking to a politically engaged AI chatbot is more effective than traditional political advertising in swaying voters to support opposition party candidates. The results of two studies were published in the journals Nature and Science, writes MIT Technology Review. In the experiment, two months before the 2024 US presidential election, more than 2,300 participants interacted with a chatbot trained to campaign for one of the candidates.

The Donald Trump administration has published an updated US National Security Strategy, which states a radical overhaul of the foreign policy of recent decades. The document argues that the previous course turned out to be erroneous and undermined the country's national power. The new strategy is built around the principle of America First and sharply narrows the list of issues that Washington considers the sphere of its vital interests.

The European Commission ordered the social network Twitter (X), owned by Elon Musk, to pay a fine of €120 million for violating the European Digital Services Act (DSA), Die Zeit reports . The complaints relate to three areas: misleading users with blue verification checks, refusal to provide data to researchers, and an opaque advertising system.

US officials are urging some European countries to block the use of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine. Bloomberg reports this, citing sources. According to the agency, American lobbyists told member states that the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank are necessary to conclude a peace agreement between Kiev and Moscow. For this reason, they insist that the funds not be used to help Kyiv. It is unclear which countries exactly the American diplomats were addressing.

Larisa Dolina stated that she would fully return the money to Polina Lurie, who bought her apartment. In an interview with the “Let Them Talk” program on Channel One, the singer admitted that she was going through a “very difficult” period and made, in her words, “the only right decision.” Dolina emphasized that she considers herself and Lurie “both victims” in the current situation.

The Guinness Book of Records will not accept applications for records from Israel and the Palestinian territories from 2023, The Telegraph reports . This became known after the Israeli charity Matnat Chaim, which helps voluntary kidney donors, tried to register a record - an event with the participation of 2 thousand people willing to donate kidneys in Jerusalem. A Guinness World Records spokesman said the temporary suspension was in effect from 2023 and was reviewed monthly.

New Zealand police said that after six days of monitoring the suspect, they were able to recover a Faberge pendant worth $19,000, NBC News reported . A man tried to steal a piece of jewelry - a Faberge egg on a chain - by swallowing it inside the Partridge Jewelers store in Auckland. The 32-year-old suspect was detained on November 28 after store employees called the police.

Three-year-old Indian Sarvagya Singh Kushwaha became the youngest chess player in history to receive a FIDE rating. The Guardian reports this. To receive a rating, a chess player must beat at least one other player who already has a FIDE rating. At the moment, Kushwaha has already beaten three, his rating in rapid chess is 1572 points. For comparison, the rating of the current world champion Magnus Carlsen is 2824 points.

The Russian Ministry of Digital Development has added several more sites to the white list - a list of services that should be available during mobile Internet outages. This is stated in a press release from the department.

ECONOMICS Berta Shapiro 5 December 2025 A new tax reform approved by the Russian parliament in mid-November is intended to squeeze enough money out of the economy to keep the war going. The change provides for an increase in the VAT rate and tighter conditions for small and medium-sized businesses. The updated regime will create serious problems for Russia's regions: with more money flowing to the capital, prices will rise, especially in remote areas.

Türkiye is preparing to abandon Russian S-400 air defense systems in order to open the way for the purchase of American F-35 fighter jets, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barak said, as quoted by Bloomberg. According to Barak, Ankara no longer uses the S-400, but the missile systems and related equipment are still in service. “My view is that these issues will be resolved within the next four to six months,” he said.

The federal appeals court for the District of Columbia temporarily lifted the ban on the presence of National Guard units in the US capital, thereby allowing Donald Trump to maintain the deployment of troops that began in the summer. The decision was made on December 4 and suspends the previous decree, according to which the military had to leave the city until December 11. The court has not yet examined the merits—we are talking about a temporary measure.

A 48-year-old Russian man who also holds Belgian citizenship has been jailed on what his family and lawyers say is a fabricated treason charge after traveling to Russia to visit his ailing father, the independent outlet Sever.Realii reported . The basis for the accusation was a money transfer he made to a former girlfriend in Ukraine. The man, Mikhail Loshchinin, has been held in pretrial detention since mid-August and was tortured after his arrest, according to his relatives.

First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said that Russia is ready to accept an unlimited number of Indian specialists as part of the agreement on labor mobility signed in New Delhi. According to him, the country needs at least 800 thousand additional workers in the manufacturing industry alone, about 1.5 million more people in trade, as well as significant amounts of personnel in the service sector and construction. “We are ready to accept an unlimited number [of Indians].

Yasser Abu Shabab, one of the most prominent leaders of the anti-Hamas armed groups, died in Gaza. He led the Popular Forces group, which operated in the Rafah area and collaborated with Israel. According to the group itself, Abu Shabab was shot dead during an attempt to resolve a conflict within the Abu Seneima clan. His fellow tribesmen from the Bedouin Tarabin tribe had previously said that he died “at the hands of the resistance” - that is, anti-Israeli forces.