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换鞋时，崔丽丽停顿了一下。
那是一双几年前买的黑色皮鞋，平底，她曾穿着它在不同城市之间奔波，出差、谈项目、赶航班。但这天，脚伸进去时，她感到脚趾被顶住，像一双新鞋。她感慨，长时间待在家里，鞋都变得不合脚了。
崔丽丽在安定医院等待就诊
过去十几年，崔丽丽几乎一半时间在路上。她曾是一家汽车零部件公司的销售总监，年薪百万。2023年，公司老板王某在出差途中强奸了崔丽丽。虽然对方获刑4年，崔丽丽却被解除劳动合同，患上创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）。职场性侵，夺走了她的工作、日常生活，也摧毁了她最基本的安全感。
但她选择抗争，走进人社局申请工伤认定。2025年8月，天津津南区人民法院判决生效，崔丽丽成为国内首位因职场性侵获工伤认定的当事人。
此前视频
崔丽丽的《认定工伤决定书》
但代价并未结束。9月23日，她穿着案发当日的衬衫出庭，与公司对簿公堂。随之而来的，是持续一个多月的网暴。一天夜里，崔丽丽吞下了6片劳拉西泮片。第二天清晨，丈夫老魏（化名）守在床前，红着眼睛对她说：“你要是死了，他们只会高兴，然后迅速把你忘记。”
风暴之中，这一家人比以往更加紧密地依靠着彼此。
拿到《认定工伤决定书》，崔丽丽的诉讼并未结束。2025年3月24日，津南区劳动人事争议仲裁委员会裁决天津德科智控股份有限公司（下文简称德科智控公司）继续履行劳动合同，并支付停工留薪期工资、加班费等共计113万余元。该公司不服裁决，提起诉讼。
2025年9月23日，崔丽丽与公司的劳动纠纷案首次开庭。她身着案发当天的衬衫出庭。她说，穿这件衬衫，是想直面创伤，同时表达“女性遭受侵犯与穿着无关”。这件衬衫不仅是“血衣”，更是“战袍”。她穿着“战袍”走进法庭的画面，引起广泛关注。
一周后，一段她自拍视频被广泛流传。视频中，崔丽丽愤怒地说：“‘最大最贪的女人’？轮得着你来给我封号吗？事发多久报案，那是老娘的权利……老娘要的是2000万加法办！”
这段视频源于一个月之前她对一条恶意留言的回怼。她解释，王某被捕后，检方向她征询是否出具谅解书，她提出了“2000万加法办”，用一个对方难以承担的金额，强调王某必须受刑事处罚。
但这条视频在一个月之后发酵了。她打开社交媒体，发现评论区已不堪入目。有人质疑她若真患PTSD，不可能穿着案发时的衬衫出庭。有网民称夫妻俩“做局陷害”王某。有人P出她与王某的“合照”，有人把老魏P成“绿帽”。私信中充斥着辱骂和脏话。
回忆起网暴最猛烈的那几天，老魏用了“煎熬”两个字，一上网，恶意就会袭来：“每天都有人拿你做文章，满嘴胡说八道。”现实中，夫妻俩一直在接亲友的电话，他们中有的因网络热议才得知崔丽丽的遭遇。国庆节到了，他们原本打算带女儿回老家，现在只能取消行程。
崔丽丽社交平台上私信收到的辱骂
一天晚上，崔丽丽吞了6片劳拉西泮片。早晨，察觉不对劲的老魏跑上楼，来到妻子床前。他红着眼睛对妻子说：“你要是死了，他们只会高兴，然后迅速把你忘记。”
崔丽丽最了解这个和她相伴了二十多年的男人。老魏是支撑她活下去的力量，是她生活、精神的拐杖。“哪怕我们离婚了，他也是我最亲的亲人。他为我付出这么多，见证了我人生中最好的年华。如果我死了，他该有多难过？”
时间回到2023年9月27日。性侵案发后的第四天，老魏接到崔丽丽的视频电话。屏幕对面，她声音微弱：“我好像被欺负了。”震惊之余，老魏有点生气：“什么叫‘好像’？有没有被欺负，你自己不知道吗？”崔丽丽眼泪“刷”地流下来，她什么都想不起来。
老魏气在不理解：她为什么不立即报警？为什么还忙着工作？后来他逐渐明白了妻子的处境：她受到打击，想不起来发生了什么。而且，她要顾虑很多事：家庭怎么办？工作怎么办？二十多年来的打拼，是不是就要毁于一旦？
老魏恨“死”了王某。他不明白，“都这个年纪的人了，为什么还会做出这种犯罪的事？”哪怕王某被判死刑，怎么弥补得了他对崔丽丽、对这个家庭、对老魏本人经年累月的伤害？
因为王某，那个他最熟悉的、总是充满干劲的妻子不见了。崔丽丽的快乐就是老魏和女儿的快乐。但现在，这份快乐消失了。
崔丽丽的《诊断证明书》
评论区，一群网民嚷着“离婚”。老魏觉得不可理喻：“她是我的家人，我的爱人。为什么她遭受了暴力伤害，我就要抛弃她？”
老魏在社交账号公开的6条视频，发布的都是支持妻子的内容。但如今，评论区已经很难找到一条友善的留言。“绿帽男”“钱到手就离婚”……
他分明是受害者，在他们口中却像是犯了错的人。老魏决定诉诸法律：“要让他们戴手铐，上法庭！”每天送完孩子，他就钻进书房收集证据，存满了一部256G的手机。为了取证，老魏一遍遍看，一遍遍听。他起初怒不可遏，后来只觉得可笑可悲：“无论留言，还是视频文案，都是复制粘贴的，连标点符号都一样。”
网暴像个无底洞，两个多月来，老魏都在处理这件事。“他见不得我被别人欺负，比我还要维护我自己。”老魏很少表露自己的感受，崔丽丽担心他心中愤怒却无处发泄。去医院时，崔丽丽问丈夫要不要也做个心理咨询？老魏摆摆手：“不要。”
10月底的一天，远方好友来探望崔丽丽，夫妻俩请她在小区附近吃饭。回家路上，一名路人男子问崔丽丽：“你就是那个网红吗？”崔丽丽说：“你认错人了。”
9月23日劳动纠纷案一审首次开庭后，由于当时崔丽丽的劳动能力鉴定结果未出，一审中止，待有鉴定结果后再行审理。
崔丽丽失去工作，老魏也暂停了生意，专心照顾妻子和女儿。等待开庭的日子里，时间仿佛凝滞。老魏外出总掐着表，不敢离家太久，生怕妻子发生意外。
睡眠仍是一件奢侈的事。崔丽丽排斥肢体接触，两年来一直与老魏分房而睡。她晚上十点左右上床，凌晨三四点被噩梦惊醒。若哪天能睡到清晨五点，她会觉得庆幸。
白天大部分时间，她独自待在阁楼书房里，反复翻阅厚厚的案卷。
崔丽丽在阁楼书房“安全屋”中
没有老魏陪伴，她几乎无法出门。她不敢开车，不敢乘坐公交或地铁，无法住酒店，酒店长长的走廊令她恐惧。一次媒体采访结束后，远远看见一名光头男子，她瞬间僵在原地，颤抖着哭了起来——那张脸让她想起施暴者。
崔丽丽从小性格要强。高中复读了两次，父亲劝她不要放弃，否则将来只能指望结婚生子。父亲认为，一个女孩不该被早早限定人生轨迹，她应该考个好大学，去更大的城市，为社会作贡献。
崔丽丽大学读小语种，兼职翻译，毕业后做了销售。这个岗位拼经验、拼体力。崔丽丽不怕苦，跑市场、进工厂，逐步打拼到公司高层。她热爱这样的生活。
崔丽丽的高中同学回忆，她是班里发展最好的同学之一。节假日也闲不住，组织同学聚会、带孩子郊游。案发后，崔丽丽变得沉默，朋友们的邀约也婉拒了。
崔丽丽在工作中获得的奖状
崔丽丽怀疑自己成了一个“没用的人”。每次出门，她都会发现城市在悄然变化：小区的树叶掉光了，街角开了新店。看到服务员、环卫工，她羡慕——她们都在工作，发挥价值。
老魏看在眼里，急在心里。他鼓励崔丽丽尝试新工作、出门旅行，提议养只小狗，遛狗也能出门散散步。但崔丽丽拒绝了。心理医生告诉老魏，不要勉强，只能等待“自然发生”。
老魏承担了大部分家务，像照顾孩子一样照顾妻子。崔丽丽一度味觉迟钝，想吃辣，老魏就陪她去吃湘菜；她说剁椒鱼头好吃，他便每周都带她去吃，一连吃了三个月。天气转凉，崔丽丽想喝冰杨梅汁，老魏担心对身体不好，不让她喝。
一次，崔丽丽看到路边的施工围挡，哭着说：“路都快修好了，我的病怎么也治不好。”老魏安慰她：“马路都能修好，你还能治不好吗？”
崔丽丽和老魏
过去，崔丽丽总在出差。现在，她每晚坐在女儿身边读书，想弥补缺失的陪伴。她把媒体报道发给女儿，希望她学会自我保护。
但女儿更想保护崔丽丽。她时不时上楼查看妈妈的情况，夜里躺在妈妈身边，陪她入睡后再回房间。她邀请妈妈去开家长会、接她放学，逛文具店。崔丽丽戴着口罩，生怕被认出影响女儿。但女儿鼓励她摘掉口罩：“妈妈，错的不是你。”
崔丽丽和丈夫起初没有告诉父母发生了什么。崔丽丽年逾七旬的母亲察觉异常，从河北老家赶来天津，崔丽丽才忍不住吐露了一切。
母亲听完后，对她说：“不要害怕，咱是正义的一方。你继续斗争，妈妈为你加油。”临走前，母亲偷偷往崔丽丽枕头下塞了一摞钱。崔丽丽后来又将这摞钱悄悄放回老家。
11月的一次心理治疗中，医生引导崔丽丽在想象中重返案发酒店。这一次，她看见老魏在走廊里来回走动，像是要挡住危险、救她出来。医生说，这是好迹象，说明内心的“好”正在对抗“坏”。
一天夜里，崔丽丽送记者走出小区。久违地站在夜色中，她发现周围的霓虹灯多了起来。她想起，从前她出差归来，无论多晚，老魏和女儿都会在小区门口等她。一家三口有说有笑，一起去吃夜宵。
2023年9月23日，一场商务宴请后，时任德科智控公司老板的王某，趁销售总监崔丽丽醉酒失去意识，将其抱入房间实施强奸。
2024年4月2日，王某因犯强奸罪，被滨江区人民法院判处有期徒刑4年，赔偿崔丽丽3000元。王某未上诉，判决依法生效。同年4月18日，崔丽丽被公司以“未遵守请假制度、无故旷工”为由解除劳动合同。当天下午，她前往津南区人社局，申请工伤认定。
崔丽丽始终认为，自己遭受的性侵属于工伤。侵害发生在出差期间、商务宴请之后，加害者又是用人单位负责人，符合工伤认定中“工作时间、工作场所、工作原因”的“三工”情形。
2024年12月2日，津南区人社局作出《认定工伤决定书》。德科智控公司不服，提起行政诉讼。2025年7月16日，津南区人民法院判决驳回公司诉求；同年8月，判决生效。崔丽丽由此成为国内首例因职场性侵获得工伤认定的当事人。
崔丽丽和老魏
崔丽丽把申报工伤的流程、证据清单及心理援助信息整理成“求生地图”，在网络公开分享，陆续有受害者向她求助。
2025年1月，杭州一名女员工出差时遭客户强制猥亵，后因创伤后应激障碍无法工作。这名女员工看到崔丽丽的报道后，也申报了工伤，并于当年9月获得认定。
还有一名女孩私信崔丽丽，讲述自己未成年时遭性侵的经历。在崔丽丽的鼓励下，她与施害者对峙并固定证据，前往派出所报了案。
回顾案件，崔丽丽认为，职场性侵的本质是权力关系中的掠夺：“他否认你的独立人格和尊严，把你当作附属品，不仅要求你贡献能力和才华，也试图占有你的身体。”她认为，用人单位有责任建立明确的职场保护机制，用制度保障劳动者的人身安全和尊严。
2025年12月17日，经过80多天的等待，崔丽丽收到了《劳动能力鉴定结论书》，鉴定结论为“伤残十级”。崔丽丽很激动：与公司的劳动纠纷案有望尽快恢复审理。
红星新闻记者问崔丽丽：“下次开庭，你还会穿那件衬衫吗？”
她回答：“我会穿，正大光明地穿。”
Official Charts CompanyKylie Minogue has scored this year's Christmas number one, deposing Wham!'s Last Christmas, which topped the chart in 2023 and 2024.
The pop star achieved the feat with her single XMAS, an irrepressibly jaunty anthem about "the presents underneath the tree" and kissing someone special "out in the snow".
Arriving 37 years after her first UK number one hit, I Should Be So Lucky in 1988, it makes Kylie the first female artist to top the charts in four different decades.
"It's hard to put into words how special this feels," said the singer, adding that she'd be celebrating Christmas by "obsessing over a jigsaw" with her family in Australia.
Getty ImagesXMAS is taken from a new, expanded edition of her 2015 album Kylie Christmas, and was available exclusively through Amazon.
You could argue that gave her a slight advantage because XMAS was prominently positioned on Amazon Music's Christmas playlist. But it also meant her song was unavailable on rival streaming sites like Spotify and Apple Music.
But the combination of her plays on Amazon and YouTube, and the availability of limited edition vinyl and CD singles, ultimately gave her the Christmas crown.
"Kylie really, really targeted this particular race. Her record label pulled out all the stops," said Martin Talbot, head of the Official Charts Company.
"When you have a superstar of her status really going for it, she's always going to be in with a chance."
According to chart data, Kylie's Christmas charm offensive gave the star her biggest sales week in 23 years, since 2002's Love At First Sight.
Despite that, Talbot said the competition for this year's Christmas number one was "tight right the way through the week".
At one point, only 10,000 copies separated the top five songs.
Mariah Carey and Brenda Lee were also in contention for the top spot as people pumped Christmas classics into their playlists.
It wasn't Kylie's first attempt to scale the festive summit.
Her duet with Jason Donovan, Especially For You, was a major contender for Christmas number one in 1988, but ultimately took the runners-up position behind Cliff Richard's Mistletoe and Wine.
Despite finally triumphing in the seasonal chart, she said she was planning a quiet Christmas after completing her massive, 66-date Tension World Tour.
That means settling down to watch the Boxing Day cricket Test match between Australia and England while chipping away at a jigsaw.
"We're not long-term puzzlers, but somehow a jigsaw puzzle was on the end of the dining table in the family house last Christmas," she explained.
"So all Christmas, you'd float past and, if someone else was working on it, you'd be like, 'Is now the right time? Are we on the same page? Should we work on separate zones?'
"But as time went by, we were getting nowhere. There were all these trouble zones - a bit of blue sky and a big patch of grass - and nobody could get them. No-one.
"Then, maybe about a month ago, my brother sent me a video of the moment the last piece of the puzzle went in.
"I was like, 'Oh my God! Hallelujah that he happened to be filming!'
"So this year, I know there's a new jigsaw puzzle with a $1 sticker on the box from our local op shop [charity shop]. It's another 1,000-piecer and we'll start all over."
Getty ImagesWham! had been hoping to become the first act to top the Christmas chart three times with the same song.
Last Christmas was famously denied the top spot when it was first released in 1984, due to the phenomenal success of Band Aid's charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?
It finally reached the summit in 2023, thanks to a wave of goodwill and strong streaming numbers. It topped the chart again last year with a massive 12.6 million streams in Christmas week alone.
Although Wham! were beaten by Kylie in the UK, Last Christmas has just topped Billboard's global 200 for the first time - meaning it's the number one song in the world.
BBC Radio 1's Jack Saunders, who presents the UK chart show, attributed the song's enduring popularity to its message.
"It's a fantastic pop song," he said, "but it also captures the true heart and soul of what Christmas means to people. It's family coming together, it's reigniting friendships, it's community.
"When you hear Wham! on the radio, you think, oh yeah we are all in this together, this is our song."
Other songs in the running for this year's Christmas number one included Together For Palestine's charity single, Lullaby, which is raising funds for aid for people in Gaza.
Based on the traditional Palestinian folk song Yamma Mwel El Hawa (Mama, Sing to the Wind), it features new lyrics by Peter Gabriel and was recorded by a group of Palestinian artists alongside British stars like Neneh Cherry, Celeste and Dan from Bastille.
"To me, the Lullaby will always be number one," said Nai Barghouti, who features on the track.
"I am beyond proud of and humbled by the overwhelming support that we have received globally. Thank you to each and every one of you."
Getty ImagesA Paris court has rejected an effort by the French government to suspend the website of fast-fashion giant Shein in response to it selling childlike sex dolls on its platform.
The court said the request for a three-month suspension was "disproportionate" - but did order age verification for the sale of adult products.
The action against Shein was taken after France's consumer watchdog last month reported it to authorities for selling "sex dolls with a childlike appearance" and weapons.
Shein said its priority remained protecting French consumers and ensuring compliance.
In its judgement, the court acknowledged the seriousness of selling the childlike sex dolls and weapons, but said these had been isolated incidents.
It noted that the Chinese company had taken action to remove the offending items once they were made aware of them, and that the issues related to a small number of the hundreds of thousands of products on sale on its site.
In response to the initial controversy, Shein announced it would be banning the sale of all sex dolls on its site internationally.
A request by the French government for Shein to be forced to suspend the sale of third-party items on its website - the source of the initial offending items - was also rejected.
In ordering age verification measures to be put in place for the sale of adult items, the court said the fine for each breach would be €10,000 (£8,700; $11,700).
The decision to suspend Shein's website in early November coincided with the company opening its first physical store in the French capital.
Its launch drew both shoppers and protesters, with opposition related to the sale of childlike sex dolls, and also its profile as a fast fashion retailer.
In a statement, Shein said: "We remain committed to continuously improving our control processes, in close collaboration with the French authorities, with the aim of establishing some of the most stringent standards in the industry.
"Our priority remains protecting French consumers and ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations."
Alexander NEMENOV/AFPRussia's President Vladimir Putin has said there will be no more wars after Ukraine if Russia is treated with respect - and claims that Moscow is planning to attack European countries are "nonsense".
In a marathon televised event lasting almost four and a half hours, he was asked by the BBC's Steve Rosenberg whether there would be new "special military operations" - Putin's term for the full-scale war.
"There won't be any operations if you treat us with respect, if you respect our interests just as we've always tried to respect yours," he asserted.
His remarks were in line with a recent comment in which he said Russia was not planning to go to war, but was ready "right now" if Europe wanted to.
He also added the condition,"if you don't cheat us like you cheated us with Nato's eastward expansion".
He has long accused Nato of going back on an alleged 1990 Western promise before the fall of the Soviet Union. It was denied years afterwards by late Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
The "Direct Line" marathon combined questions from the public at large and journalists from across Russia in a Moscow hall, with Putin sitting beneath an enormous map of Russia that encompassed occupied areas of Ukraine, including Crimea.
Russian state TV claimed more than three million questions had been submitted.
EPAAlthough it was largely choreographed, some critical comments from the public appeared on a big screen, including one that referred to the event as a "circus", another bemoaning internet outages and one that highlighted poor-quality tap water. Mobile internet outages have been blamed by authorities on Ukrainian drone attacks.
Putin also addressed Russia's faltering economy, with prices rising, growth on the slide and VAT going up from 20 to 22% on 1 January. One message to the president read: "Stop the crazy rise in prices on everything!"
The Kremlin regularly uses the end-of-year event to highlight the resilience of the economy and, as Putin spoke, Russia's central bank announced it was lowering interest rates to 16%.
Foreign policy issues were mixed with musings about the motherland, praise for local businesses, fish prices and the importance of looking after veterans.
But the issue of almost four years of full-scale war in Ukraine was never far away and it was often in the background of many of the questions.
Putin again claimed to be "ready and willing" to end the war in Ukraine "peacefully" but offered little sign of compromise.
He repeated his insistence on principles he had outlined in a June 2024 speech, when he demanded that Ukrainian forces leave four regions Russia partially occupies and that Kyiv gives up its efforts to join Nato.
Chief among Russia's demands is full control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas, including about 23% of Donetsk region which Russia has not been able to occupy.
Putin argued Russian forces were making advances across the front line in Ukraine and he ridiculed Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the front line at Kupiansk last week, when the Ukrainian leader was able to refute Russia claims that it had captured the town.
Putin has also demanded new elections in Ukraine to be included in the peace proposals that US President Donald Trump has submitted as part of his efforts to bring the conflict to an end. At his news conference, Putin offered to stop bombing Ukraine when voting took place.
Ukraine's SBU security service said on Friday it had for the first time hit an oil tanker operating as part of Russia's "shadow fleet" in the Mediterranean. Putin said it would not lead to the result that Kyiv wanted and would not disrupt Russian exports.
Most of the questions from Russian media or from the public made little attempt to challenge Putin, but two were allowed from Western correspondents, Keir Simmons of US network NBC and the BBC's Steve Rosenberg.
When Simmons asked if Putin would feel responsible for the deaths of Ukrainians and Russians if he rejected the Trump peace plan, Putin praised the US president's "sincere" efforts to end the war, but said it was the West not Russia that was blocking a deal.
"The ball is in the hands of our Western opponents," he said, "primarily the leaders of the Kyiv regime, and in this case, first and foremost, their European sponsors."
Trump has said a peace deal is closer than ever and, despite Putin's apparent refusal to compromise, the US president has said he hopes "Ukraine moves quickly because Russia is there".
A Ukrainian delegation is holding talks in Miami on Friday with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. German, French and British officials are also there, days after they met the US officials in Berlin.
Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev is also expected in Miami over the weekend, according to reports.
Putin told the BBC's Russia Editor: "We are ready to work with you - with the UK and with Europe in general and with the United States, but as equals, with mutual respect to each other.
"We are ready to cease these hostilities immediately, provided that Russia's medium- and long-term security is ensured, and we are ready to cooperate with you."
He accused the West of creating an enemy out of Russia. Skating over his decision to mount a full-scale invasion in February 2022, he said: "You are waging a war against us with the hands of Ukrainian neo-Nazis," he added, repeating his regular diatribe against Ukraine's democratically elected leaders.
European intelligence agencies have warned that Russia is only a few years away from attacking Nato. The Western defensive alliance's chief Mark Rutte said this month that Russia was already escalating a covert campaign and the West had to be prepared for war.
While many of the questions were benign, including several from children, from a one reporter from Yakutia in north-eastern Siberia highlighted a tenfold increase in energy prices in the past four years. Putin told her that his team would look into alternative sources of energy and "keep Yakutia in mind".
Towards the end of the TV marathon, Putin was asked a series of quickfire questions, touching on his views on friendship, religion, the motherland and love at first sight. He said he believed in love at first sight - then added that he himself was in love, without divulging any more details.
EPA/ShutterstockAt least three people have been killed and five others injured as a knife-wielding attacker went on a rampage in the Taiwanese capital Taipei.
The 27-year-old suspect set off smoke bombs at Taipei's main metro station on Friday, before running to another station in a busy shopping district, stabbing people along the way, Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai said.
The suspect later died after falling from a building, Cho added. His motive remains unclear.
Attacks of this kind are rare in Taiwan, which has low rates of violent crime. The last time a similar incident struck Taipei was more than a decade ago in 2014.
Friday's attack took place during the city's evening rush hour. Videos shared on social media show people fleeing the scene in panic.
Cho said the suspect had detonated smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails at Taipei's Main Station, which is connected to a busy underground shopping street.
A man reportedly tried to stop the attacker but was struck with a blunt object and later died in hospital.
The suspect then went to another subway station about 800m away, where he set off more smoke bombs and stabbed more people.
Cho said he had ordered increased security at metro and railway stations, as well as airports, in response to the attack.
"We will investigate [the suspect's] background and associated relationships to understand his motives and determine if there are other connected factors," Cho was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying.
Taiwan's President William Lai also promised a swift investigation.
The last major incident of this kind, in 2014, saw a man kill four people on an underground train in Taipei, shocking people in Taiwan. The perpetrator of that attack was executed two years later.
Getty ImagesThe widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has said the Turning Point USA organisation he founded will help elect JD Vance as president in 2028, despite the current US vice-president having yet to announce he is running.
Erika Kirk's endorsement on Thursday came on the opening day of Turning Point's annual America Fest conference, the organisation's largest gathering since her husband was shot dead in September.
"We are going to get my husband's friend, JD Vance, elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible," Kirk said, referring to the 48th president. Trump is the 47th.
Vance, meanwhile, is scheduled to speak at the event on Sunday.
Turning Point has been credited with helping Republican President Donald Trump expand his coalition of support, leading to his 2024 presidential election victory.
Her announcement ahead of Trump's one-year mark in office signals early jockeying to be his successor ahead of the 2028 election.
After Kirk gave her opening remarks, the stage at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona turned into a political mudslinging contest as tensions within the conservative movement were laid bare.
Podcaster Ben Shapiro lobbed attacks at media rivals Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Steve Bannon, calling them "fraudsters and grifters".
"The people who refused to condemn Candace's truly vicious attacks - and some of them are speaking here tonight - are guilty of cowardice," Shapiro said.
Owens, a former Turning Point employee who hosts a popular podcast, has been a thorn in Republicans' side and pushed various conspiracy theories, including baseless suggestions about Charlie Kirk's murder.
It comes at a time when there has been growing speculation about Trump's hold on the Republican party and infighting among factions of the president's supporters about the future of the Maga movement.
Shapiro also criticised former Fox News host Carlson for interviewing Nick Fuentes, a far-right political commentator and Holocaust denier, on his podcast in late October, drawing widespread condemnation.
After Shapiro, Carlson took the stage and shot back at Shapiro.
"That guy is pompous," Carlson said. "Calls to deplatform at a Charlie Kirk event? That's hilarious."
Charlie Kirk's Turning Point events were known for addressing controversial and divisive topics. Supporters saw it as necessary for free speech. Critics saw it as hate-mongering.
Authorities said Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin - Tyler Robinson - told his romantic partner that he killed Kirk because he "had enough of his hatred".
Erika Kirk told the Turning Point conference: "You won't agree with everyone on this stage this weekend. And that's okay. Welcome to America."
Since the assassination, she said, "we've seen fractures, we've seen bridges being burned that shouldn't be burnt".
Trump has recently encountered a series of setbacks within his Republican party, including a public falling out with his former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene and the impending release of the Epstein files, which a majority of Republicans voted for despite Trump's initial discouragement.
The four-day America Fest conference was scheduled to continue through the weekend, with Vance and Donald Trump Jr scheduled as guest speakers on Sunday.
Getty ImagesA Paris court has rejected an effort by the French government to suspend the website of fast-fashion giant Shein in response to it selling childlike sex dolls on its platform.
The court said the request for a three-month suspension was "disproportionate" - but did order age verification for the sale of adult products.
The action against Shein was taken after France's consumer watchdog last month reported it to authorities for selling "sex dolls with a childlike appearance" and weapons.
Shein said its priority remained protecting French consumers and ensuring compliance.
In its judgement, the court acknowledged the seriousness of selling the childlike sex dolls and weapons, but said these had been isolated incidents.
It noted that the Chinese company had taken action to remove the offending items once they were made aware of them, and that the issues related to a small number of the hundreds of thousands of products on sale on its site.
In response to the initial controversy, Shein announced it would be banning the sale of all sex dolls on its site internationally.
A request by the French government for Shein to be forced to suspend the sale of third-party items on its website - the source of the initial offending items - was also rejected.
In ordering age verification measures to be put in place for the sale of adult items, the court said the fine for each breach would be €10,000 (£8,700; $11,700).
The decision to suspend Shein's website in early November coincided with the company opening its first physical store in the French capital.
Its launch drew both shoppers and protesters, with opposition related to the sale of childlike sex dolls, and also its profile as a fast fashion retailer.
In a statement, Shein said: "We remain committed to continuously improving our control processes, in close collaboration with the French authorities, with the aim of establishing some of the most stringent standards in the industry.
"Our priority remains protecting French consumers and ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations."
Getty ImagesA court in the German city of Aachen has sentenced a man to eight-and-a-half years in prison for repeatedly drugging and raping his wife, filming the acts and then posting them online.
The man, named only as Fernando P in line with German privacy laws, was found guilty of aggravated rape, grievous bodily harm and violation of personal privacy.
The court found the 61-year-old, who is originally from Spain, guilty of sedating and raping his wife at their home for a period of several years from 2018 to 2024.
A spokesperson for the court, Katharina Effert, said the man also filmed the abuse and shared it online.
"He uploaded videos of these acts to chat groups and internet platforms, making them available to other users," she said.
Much of the trial was held behind closed doors to protect the identity of his wife.
Her lawyer, Nicole Servaty, told journalists that she "really had a voice in this proceeding", adding: "She was able to testify, to express her feelings and everything that has burdened her."
She said the ruling could not make up for what happened. "But it might help a bit to cope with things and process them."
The verdict is still subject to appeal.
Getty ImagesGerman media say the case bears similarities to the high-profile case in France last year concerning Dominique Pelicot.
He was found guilty of secretly drugging his wife, Gisèle, and inviting scores of men to rape her while she was unconscious for years.
Gisèle's decision to waive her anonymity and hold a public trial turned her into a feminist icon, celebrated for her powerful testimony and courage.
Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office, the BKA, says that the victims of sedation and subsequent sexual abuse are "almost exclusively women".
It says such crimes "usually take place by exploiting a relationship of trust" in marriage, partnerships, families or among close acquaintances.
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美国海关与边境保护局（CBP）周四晚间暂停进口由一家中国公司控股的塞尔维亚工厂生产的轮胎，原因是该工厂涉嫌强迫劳动。
法新社报道，美国海关与边境保护局在对有关该工厂存在强迫劳动的指控进行“调查和信息审查”后，下令在美国所有港口立即扣押玲珑轮胎公司位于塞尔维亚北部“兹雷尼亚宁”工厂生产的轮胎。
美国海关边保局表示，其评估基于“工人的证词、文件、照片、非政府组织的报告、新闻报道和学术研究”。
玲珑轮胎于2024年9月在塞尔维亚工厂启动量产，这是该公司在欧洲的首家工厂，也是北京在巴尔干地区支持的一项旗舰投资。
但该工厂在2021年建设期间曾登上新闻头条，当时数百名越南工人因招聘过程中存在欺诈行为而举行罢工。
2024年2月，塞尔维亚民间社会组织还报告了另外14名印度工人据称遭受强迫劳动的案件。
塞尔维亚当局驳斥了有关玲珑公司存在不当行为的指控，该公司也否认自己对此负有责任，声称这些工人是由其一家分包商雇佣的。
随后，欧洲议会要求对有关越南工人被贩运至塞尔维亚并遭受强迫劳动的指控展开调查。
美国国务院在2025年人口贩运报告中指出，塞尔维亚政府“在调查该工厂强迫劳动指控方面几乎没有进展”。
在暂停进口的决定中，美国海关与边境保护局表示，证据表明存在扣留身份证件、恐吓、隔离、过度加班、拖欠工资、债务奴役、虐待性工作条件、欺骗和剥削弱势群体等行为。
美国海关与边境保护局局长罗德尼·斯科特在该局网站发布的声明中表示：“信息很明确：美国不会容忍供应链中的强迫劳动。”
美国海关表示，进口商现在可以寻求将扣留的货物重新出口或销毁，或者证明这些货物并非使用强迫劳动制造的。
美国海关与边境保护局表示，（美国）进口商可以寻求将被扣留的货物再出口或销毁，或证明这些商品并非使用强迫劳动制造。
在2024年玲珑工厂的开业典礼上，塞尔维亚总统亚历山大·武契奇称赞这是塞尔维亚有史以来最大的“绿地投资”项目（指企业在第三国新建工厂的直接投资形式）。
他表示，这座耗资“10亿美元”的工厂已雇佣1200多名员工，计划再招聘600人，预计到2025年将创造5亿欧元的出口额。
法新社说，塞尔维亚作为欧盟候选国，因对中资企业监管不力而屡遭批评。
北京与贝尔格莱德去年七月签署的自由贸易协定将两国连接起来。
© Rj Sangosti/The Denver Post, via Associated Press
The Trump administration has indicated that it will fund a $1.6m study on hepatitis B vaccination of newborns in the west African country of Guinea-Bissau, where nearly one in five adults live with the virus – a move that researchers call “highly unethical” and “extremely risky”.
The news follows an official change in recommendations on hepatitis B vaccines at birth from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which called the shots an “individual” decision, despite decades of safe and effective vaccination and no evidence of harm. It is part of sweeping changes to childhood immunizations by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, which have global repercussions – including cutting funding for programs that bring vaccines to countries around the world.
“He has a fixed, immutable belief that vaccines cause harm,” said Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “He will do everything he can to try and prove that.”
The actions taken this year by Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, have “a global impact”, said Elizabeth Jacobs, professor emerita at the University of Arizona and a founding member of the grassroots group Defend Public Health. “It is spreading like an infection all its own throughout the globe.”
Testing established vaccines in a country with high rates of hepatitis B and a fragile health system “reeks of a neocolonialist attitude” and risks expanding global mistrust of the US and science, said Gavin Yamey, professor of global health at the Duke Global Health Institute.
When Kennedy announced in June that the US would end funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which has vaccinated more than 1.2 billion children and saved an estimated 20.6 million lives, he sent shock waves through global health – and he cited an unusual study from 2018 to justify the action.
The study made an alarming claim: the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine caused death in young girls in Guinea-Bissau. It was published by a group of Danish researchers, including a married couple named Peter Aaby and Christine Stabell Benn.
But when Kennedy made his announcement in 2025, he did not mention a 2022 paper from some of the same authors on the same topic finding completely different results, essentially nullifying the first study.
“We did not find that early-DTP was associated with increased female mortality as found in a previous study,” the researchers wrote.
It is one example of their questionable research, which has drawn criticism from other researchers and journalists examining their findings.
Now those same researchers will be the ones carrying out the new study on hepatitis B vaccination in Guinea-Bissau. US funding will go to the Bandim Health Project, led by Aaby and Stabell Benn, at the University of Southern Denmark.
Aaby and Stabell Benn did not respond to the Guardian’s inquiries about the details of the five-year study, set to begin in early 2026.
Babies in the randomized, controlled trial will or will not receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Researchers will then compare early-life mortality, illness and development between the groups, according to the award announcement from the CDC.
The World Health Organization recommends giving the vaccine to all babies at birth, but Guinea-Bissau has struggled to roll out the shots to every newborn, instead recommending the dose at six weeks of age. The country has pledged to fill that gap and plans on recommending hepatitis B vaccines to all newborns in 2027.
It is a major breach of scientific ethics to withhold an intervention that has been proven safe and effective. “It’s highly unethical to choose to give a vaccine to some children but not others,” Offit said.
Yamey noted: “There’s already an RCT [randomized, controlled trial] showing superior outcomes with the birth dose, so why is another one needed?”
The study does not appear to be looking at whether the vaccine is more effective at birth, which Jacobs said was “concerning” as “nowhere in this do they say that they’re going to study the efficacy of the vaccine itself.”
Instead, the trial will examine whether there are “overall health effects” – not specific outcomes, such as preventing infection from the virus – when the shot is given at birth, according to the Bandim Health Project.
“This announcement has set alarm bells ringing in the global health community,” said Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, calling it a symptom of “a policy desperately searching for evidence”.
“It is not clear what the research question is. It seems to be about the safety of the vaccine rather than its effectiveness, but both are already well-established, and to undertake such a study in a population where almost one in five of the adult population has a marker of infection seems extremely risky,” McKee said.
He also questioned whether participants could truly give informed consent, given the ethical concerns about how the study is being conducted.
In a recent survey, about 18% of Bissau-Guinean adults had hepatitis B, a virus that can lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer, especially among young children. If a baby is infected in the first year of life, there is a 90% chance they will develop cirrhosis or liver cancer; between the ages of one and five, there is a 25% chance. Among adults, about 5% have a chronic infection.
In a recent study of toddlers in Guinea-Bissau, about 11.2% already had hepatitis B infection, which means not enough babies are getting the shots, said Andrew Pollard, professor of paediatric infection and immunity and director of the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford. Across sub-Saharan Africa, only about 17% of babies receive the recommended birth dose, he added.
“The priority should be to increase vaccination with the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine and protect more babies from the risk posed by this virus,” Pollard said.
In the US, recommending the vaccine at birth to all babies – not just those who appeared to be at risk of infection – caused rates among children to drop precipitously, from 20,000 to about 20 a year.
“We virtually eliminated hepatitis B in children less than 10,” Offit said. Children may be infected at birth, but they may also come into contact with other children and adults carrying the virus – which can remain infectious on surfaces for up to a week.
The experts voiced concerns about how the study would take place. It is unusual for a trial like this to take place in Guinea-Bissau instead of the United States or Denmark, they said.
“Why on Earth is this study happening in a high-endemic setting where the birth dose matters the most?” Yamey asked.
In Denmark, where only three in 1,000 people have the virus, the shot is not currently recommended at birth either, which means the same study could be conducted there. Denmark also has health registries, making it easier to access complete medical records. Instead, by working in a country with precarious healthcare and high rates of the illness, studies like this may lead to “expanding distrust in global public health”, Jacobs said.
The US canceled much of its global aid and research earlier this year, Jacobs said.
“In the face of the US canceling all this funding for vulnerable countries, and then it’s still going to pay for this research to be done – that is really worrying,” she said. “It seems to say we don’t value your lives enough to continue to provide support overall, but we won’t hesitate to experiment with your population.”
The study is single-blinded, which means the patients will not know who got the vaccine and who didn’t, but the research team will – which can affect the way they collect and interpret the data. “This means they can stamp their own biases on the results,” Yamey said. And the endpoints – “overall health effects” – are “very squishy”, which leaves the results vulnerable to manipulation, Jacobs said.
Henrik Støvring, a professor of statistics and pharmacometrics at Aarhus University who co-wrote about red flags in Bandim Health Project research for the journal Vaccine this month, said “broad hypotheses like these carry a high risk of false positive findings, and in general the research group has previously been reluctant to use appropriate statistical methods to curb such a risk.”
“I think conflicts of interests are always an issue when the donor so explicitly seeks out a research group and funds a study,” Støvring said.
The Danish journalist Gunver Lystbæk Vestergård has also written about major issues with research conducted by Aaby and Stabell Benn.
After the CDC sparked outrage by changing the recommendation for hepatitis B vaccination with no evidence, Jacobs said, “they’re now funding this to try to give themselves cover for having done that.”
“Because Robert F Kennedy Jr is an anti-vaccine zealot, he will somehow contort that study to look like the hepatitis B birth dose causes harm” or that it is better to delay the shots, Offit said.
Scientists, doctors and medical organizations are speaking out against Kennedy, he said, but “this is a political problem, and it requires a political solution.”
In the meantime, children will bear the brunt of these decisions, Offit continued: “This breaks my heart. It really does. It’s hard to sleep knowing that children are constantly being put in harm’s way by the administration.”
Alexander NEMENOV/AFPRussia's President Vladimir Putin has said there will be no more wars after Ukraine if Russia is treated with respect - and claims that Moscow is planning to attack European countries are "nonsense".
In a marathon televised event lasting almost four and a half hours, he was asked by the BBC's Steve Rosenberg whether there would be new "special military operations" - Putin's term for the full-scale war.
"There won't be any operations if you treat us with respect, if you respect our interests just as we've always tried to respect yours," he asserted.
His remarks were in line with a recent comment in which he said Russia was not planning to go to war, but was ready "right now" if Europe wanted to.
He also added the condition,"if you don't cheat us like you cheated us with Nato's eastward expansion".
He has long accused Nato of going back on an alleged 1990 Western promise before the fall of the Soviet Union. It was denied years afterwards by late Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
The "Direct Line" marathon combined questions from the public at large and journalists from across Russia in a Moscow hall, with Putin sitting beneath an enormous map of Russia that encompassed occupied areas of Ukraine, including Crimea.
Russian state TV claimed more than three million questions had been submitted.
EPAAlthough it was largely choreographed, some critical comments from the public appeared on a big screen, including one that referred to the event as a "circus", another bemoaning internet outages and one that highlighted poor-quality tap water. Mobile internet outages have been blamed by authorities on Ukrainian drone attacks.
Putin also addressed Russia's faltering economy, with prices rising, growth on the slide and VAT going up from 20 to 22% on 1 January. One message to the president read: "Stop the crazy rise in prices on everything!"
The Kremlin regularly uses the end-of-year event to highlight the resilience of the economy and, as Putin spoke, Russia's central bank announced it was lowering interest rates to 16%.
Foreign policy issues were mixed with musings about the motherland, praise for local businesses, fish prices and the importance of looking after veterans.
But the issue of almost four years of full-scale war in Ukraine was never far away and it was often in the background of many of the questions.
Putin again claimed to be "ready and willing" to end the war in Ukraine "peacefully" but offered little sign of compromise.
He repeated his insistence on principles he had outlined in a June 2024 speech, when he demanded that Ukrainian forces leave four regions Russia partially occupies and that Kyiv gives up its efforts to join Nato.
Chief among Russia's demands is full control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas, including about 23% of Donetsk region which Russia has not been able to occupy.
Putin argued Russian forces were making advances across the front line in Ukraine and he ridiculed Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the front line at Kupiansk last week, when the Ukrainian leader was able to refute Russia claims that it had captured the town.
Putin has also demanded new elections in Ukraine to be included in the peace proposals that US President Donald Trump has submitted as part of his efforts to bring the conflict to an end. At his news conference, Putin offered to stop bombing Ukraine when voting took place.
Ukraine's SBU security service said on Friday it had for the first time hit an oil tanker operating as part of Russia's "shadow fleet" in the Mediterranean. Putin said it would not lead to the result that Kyiv wanted and would not disrupt Russian exports.
Most of the questions from Russian media or from the public made little attempt to challenge Putin, but two were allowed from Western correspondents, Keir Simmons of US network NBC and the BBC's Steve Rosenberg.
When Simmons asked if Putin would feel responsible for the deaths of Ukrainians and Russians if he rejected the Trump peace plan, Putin praised the US president's "sincere" efforts to end the war, but said it was the West not Russia that was blocking a deal.
"The ball is in the hands of our Western opponents," he said, "primarily the leaders of the Kyiv regime, and in this case, first and foremost, their European sponsors."
Trump has said a peace deal is closer than ever and, despite Putin's apparent refusal to compromise, the US president has said he hopes "Ukraine moves quickly because Russia is there".
A Ukrainian delegation is holding talks in Miami on Friday with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. German, French and British officials are also there, days after they met the US officials in Berlin.
Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev is also expected in Miami over the weekend, according to reports.
Putin told the BBC's Russia Editor: "We are ready to work with you - with the UK and with Europe in general and with the United States, but as equals, with mutual respect to each other.
"We are ready to cease these hostilities immediately, provided that Russia's medium- and long-term security is ensured, and we are ready to cooperate with you."
He accused the West of creating an enemy out of Russia. Skating over his decision to mount a full-scale invasion in February 2022, he said: "You are waging a war against us with the hands of Ukrainian neo-Nazis," he added, repeating his regular diatribe against Ukraine's democratically elected leaders.
European intelligence agencies have warned that Russia is only a few years away from attacking Nato. The Western defensive alliance's chief Mark Rutte said this month that Russia was already escalating a covert campaign and the West had to be prepared for war.
While many of the questions were benign, including several from children, from a one reporter from Yakutia in north-eastern Siberia highlighted a tenfold increase in energy prices in the past four years. Putin told her that his team would look into alternative sources of energy and "keep Yakutia in mind".
Towards the end of the TV marathon, Putin was asked a series of quickfire questions, touching on his views on friendship, religion, the motherland and love at first sight. He said he believed in love at first sight - then added that he himself was in love, without divulging any more details.
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