© Ramil Sitdikov/Reuters
© Linh Pham for The New York Times
© Andrei Pungovschi/Getty Images
NurPhoto via Getty ImagesTikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with US and global investors to sell the majority of its business in America, TikTok's boss told employees on Thursday.
Half of the joint venture will be owned by a group of investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX, according to a memo sent by chief executive Shou Zi Chew.
The deal, which is set to close on 22 January, would end years of efforts by Washington to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns.
The deal is line with one unveiled in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app unless it was sold.
In the memo, TikTok said the deal will enable "over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community".
The White House referred the BBC to TikTok when contacted for comment.
© Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times
日本和菲律宾防长星期四（12月18日）对中国军机向日本自卫队飞机照射雷达，以及中俄轰炸机在日本周边开展联合巡航，表达强烈关切。
据共同社报道，日本防长小泉进次郎星期四与菲律宾防长特奥多罗举行视频会谈，一致反对在东海和南中国海单方面改变现状的尝试。
两国防长还就推进防卫装备和技术方面的合作达成一致。菲律宾也对日本自卫队的防空导弹表现出关注，双方正在进行非正式磋商。
中日关系因日本首相高市早苗11月7日发表“台湾有事论”持续紧张月余，中国航母打击群本月在靠近日本的海域航行并举行演练，引发双方军机海上对峙。
日本指中国辽宁号航母舰载机歼-15，12月6日在冲绳岛东南方向的国际海域，两度对日本航空自卫队F-15战机进行雷达照射。
中国外交部发言人郭嘉昆12月8日在例行记者会上强调，舰载机在飞行训练时开启搜索雷达，是各国惯常做法，也是确保飞行安全的正常操作。
另一方面，中国和俄罗斯本月内第二次举行联合军事行动，12月9日在西太平洋展开的空中战略巡航，引发日韩出动战机监控，并表达严重关切和严正抗议。
自2019年7月以来，中俄执行军机联合飞行任务达10次。在去年11月底第九次联合巡航和2022年11月底第五次联合巡航时，日韩也分别出动了战机应对。
台湾立法院蓝白阵营星期五（12月19日）宣布弹劾总统赖清德。
综合台湾《联合报》和TVBS新闻网报道，立法院国民党团和民众党团星期五召集全体在野党立委，在立法院议场前开“弹劾违宪总统，反帝制、反专制、反独裁”记者会，宣布提案弹劾赖清德。
现场摆出超大张弹劾文全文，以及把赖清德PS成袁世凯的图片，弹劾文也以袁世凯比拟赖清德，并说为维护“中华民国”的宪政体制，反帝制、反独裁、反专制扩权，对赖清德提出弹劾案。
民众党立法院党团总召黄国昌说，将会正式在全院委员会提案，并到全台各县市举办公听会，每县市至少一场，向每位选民报告，立法院通过《财划法》，却被赖清德剥夺，如此违反宪法，在自由民主地区中不应该有容身处。
黄国昌也说，他们负责任地把弹劾文全文公布，并称：“我们要阻止赖清德变袁世凯”。
《联合报》曾引述消息人士称，蓝白星期五开记者会宣布弹劾赖清德后，预计程序委员会下星期二（23日）正式提案，并列入下星期五（26日）院会议程，届时蓝白会提出弹劾案处理日程，并召开全院委员会、公听会等，预计将延长战线在一个月后送交院会表决。
要弹劾总统，需由立法院全体立委二分之一以上提议、全体立委三分之二以上决议，声请司法院大法官审理，若经宪法法庭判决成立时，被弹劾人应即解职；在宪法法庭中弹劾要成立须经大法官现有总额三分之二同意，且同意人数不得低于九人，但台湾目前大法官仅八人。
法国总统马克龙本周警告不排除对华采取更多保护主义措施，中国商务部新闻发言人星期四（18日）回应并呼吁欧洲保持市场开放，克制审慎使用限制性经贸工具。
中国今年对欧盟贸易顺差逼近300亿美元（387.3亿新元）历史新高，中欧贸易失衡已被欧洲领导人视为攸关欧洲工业存亡的问题。马克龙星期二（16日）表示，倾向于与中国合作重新平衡经济关系，但不排除采取更多保护主义措施。
中国商务部新闻发言人何亚东星期四在例行新闻发布会上回应称，北京始终认为，中欧经贸关系的本质是优势互补、互利共赢。他自出，中欧经贸合作是双方经济发展阶段、产业结构差异、市场需求变化等多种因素共同作用的结果。
何亚东续指，近期欧盟不断加大对华经贸限制力度，今年以来对中国发起12起贸易救济调查、三起外国补贴调查，阻止多家中国企业参与欧盟成员国公共采购和绿地投资。
何亚东表示，希望欧盟与中国一道，恪守中欧领导人会晤达成的重要共识，共同反对保护主义，保持市场开放，克制审慎使用限制性经贸工具，为中国企业赴欧开展贸易和投资合作提供公平、透明、非歧视、可预期的营商环境。
马克龙星期二在英国《金融时报》发表评论文章，表示对来自中国的进口商品征收关税和设定配额，是解决中国与欧盟贸易失衡问题的一种“缺乏合作性的回应”。
他写道，“迫切”需要进行中欧贸易再平衡，并呼吁双方采取措施。他表示，欧盟必须解决竞争力问题并促进创新，而中国则应采取更有利的财政政策，促进国内消费并加大对欧洲的投资。
马克龙在星期二发表的专栏文章中也表示，欧洲需要“让企业更容易扩大规模，与全球同行竞争”。
他补充说：“要么我们以合作的方式重新平衡经济关系——让中国、美国和欧盟建立真正的伙伴关系——要么欧洲将别无选择，只能采取更多保护主义措施。我更倾向于合作，但如有必要，我也会主张采取后者。”
在此之前，马克龙12月3日至5日对中国进行三天国事访问后，在12月7日发表的法国《回声报》（Les Echos）采访中警告称，如果北京未能解决与欧盟日益严峻的贸易失衡问题，欧盟可能被迫对中国采取“强力措施”，包括可能加征关税。
PHOENIX — Members of the MAGA faithful gathered here Thursday to kick off Turning Point USA’s America Fest, the largest meeting for the organization since its founder, Charlie Kirk, was shot to death on a Utah college campus in September.
Despite that somber backdrop, the event quickly devolved into a spectacle of MAGA infighting.
Ben Shapiro, the first speaker after widow Erika Kirk, ripped into those who would take the same stage in the coming hours and days. He called out conservative commentators, blasting Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Steve Bannon as “frauds and grifters.”
“The conservative movement is in serious danger,” Shapiro said, arguing the danger is not just on the left, but “from charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty.”
He called Bannon “a PR flack for Jeffrey Epstein” ahead of the imminent release of files related to the late convicted sex offender, while praising President Donald Trump and his administration's handling of the issue. Trump pushed to stop Republicans in Congress from voting to release the files, though he signed the legislation once it was passed. Both Bannon and Trump appear in photos with Epstein that were released by House Democrats.
Shapiro particularly focused on Carlson — both for elevating Owens’ conspiracy theories about Kirk's murder and for his recent interview with far-right influencer Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust denier who has repeatedly pushed antisemitic tropes. Carlson, a former Fox News host, now hosts his show on X and routinely garners millions of views.
“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, adding later: “If you host a Hitler apologist, Nazi-loving, anti-American piece of refuse like Nick Fuentes … you ought to own it.”
Both the Fuentes interview and Owens’ conspiracies have embroiled the party in recent weeks. On Wednesday, Shapiro called on the Heritage Foundation, the powerful conservative think tank whose president defended the interview, to change its tune about Carlson’s elevation of Fuentes.
Carlson responded with heat of his own from the stage Thursday.
“That guy is pompous,” Carlson said, saying he “laughed” while watching clips of Shapiro's speech backstage. “Calls to deplatform at a Charlie Kirk event? That’s hilarious.”
Carlson went on to rail against cancel culture, and promised the crowd that he was not antisemitic. “Antisemitism is not just naughty, it’s immoral,” he said.
Erika Kirk addressed the MAGA movement’s fractures, while casting her late husband as a rare unifier and pleading with the crowd to embrace disagreement. “You won’t agree with everyone on this stage this weekend,” she said. “And that's okay. Welcome to America.”
The event wasn’t entirely heated. Actor Russell Brand — who spoke between Shapiro and Carlson — focused on Christianity, while sprinkling attacks on vaccines and the pharmaceutical industry into his remarks. And earlier in the day, attendees danced to upbeat music, repeatedly chanted “USA” and celebrated Trump’s return to the White House at the Phoenix Convention Center, which is plastered with imagery of Charlie Kirk. More than 30,000 people gathered for the event.
Kirk’s influence on young people was particularly evident, with thousands of high school and college attendees, some of whom posed for photos in front of a tent that resembled the one Kirk was speaking in front of when he was shot during “The American Comeback Tour.”
Erika Kirk — who now serves as Turning Point’s CEO — said 80 percent of attendees had never been to America Fest before, and one-third of them were students. More than 140,000 people have submitted requests to join the organization since Kirk’s death, bringing the membership to over 1 million people across 4,000 chapters at high schools and colleges, she added.
While the group has welcomed speakers from across the conservative movement, it made clear choices about which politicians to welcome to the stage, providing a glimpse into how the organization hopes to shape the future of the GOP. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and GOP Rep. Mike Collins, both candidates for Senate, and gubernatorial hopefuls Andy Biggs of Arizona and Byron Donalds of Florida, were given slots on the main stage.
Erika Kirk also made a point of promising to elevate Vice President JD Vance — who will close the event on Sunday — to the White House in 2028. Vance leads early polls of the likely GOP field.
“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said.
© Jon Cherry/AP
© Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Getty ImagesThe Australian government has announced a gun buyback scheme in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack - its deadliest mass shooting in decades.
The scheme is the largest since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, which left 35 people dead and prompted Australia to introduce world-leading gun control measures.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured on Sunday when two gunmen, believed to have been motivated by "Islamic State ideology", opened fire on a Jewish festival at the country's most iconic beach.
On Friday police said a group of men who were arrested in Sydney after travelling from the state of Victoria had "extremist Islamic ideology".
Police allege Sunday's attack, which they have declared a terrorist incident, was committed by a father-son duo. Naveed Akram, 24, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act. His father Sajid was killed during the attack.
The day after the shooting, national cabinet - which includes representatives from the federal government and leaders from all states and territories - agreed to tighten gun controls.
Speaking to media on Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there are now more than 4 million firearms in Australia - more than at the time of the Port Arthur massacre.
"We know that one of these terrorists held a firearm licence and had six guns, in spite of living in the middle of Sydney's suburbs... There's no reason why someone in that situation needed that many guns.
"We need to get more guns off our streets."
Earlier on Friday, a senior New South Wales police officer told national broadcaster ABC seven men arrested by counter terrorism police in Sydney on Thursday evening may have been on their way to Bondi.
Tactical officers swarmed on the group, who had travelled from Victoria and were known to police there, in dramatic scenes in the suburb of Liverpool.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said "some indication" that Bondi was one of the locations they were considering visiting, but "with no specific intent in mind or proven at this stage".
Rarely used national security powers were relied upon to swoop before their plans developed.
"We made the decision that we weren't going to … take any chances in relation to what they might be doing," he said.
Officers found a knife, but no guns or other weapons, Mr Hudson added.
Whale breath collected by drones is giving clues to the health of wild humpbacks and other whales.
Scientists flew drones equipped with special kit through the exhaled droplets, or "blows", made when the giants come up to breathe through their blowholes.
They detected a highly infectious virus linked to mass strandings of whales and dolphins worldwide.
The sampling of whale "blow" is a "game-changer" for the health and well-being of whales, said Prof Terry Dawson of King's College London.
"It allows us to monitor pathogens in live whales without stress or harm, providing critical insights into diseases in rapidly changing Arctic ecosystems," he said.
The researchers used drones carrying sterile petri dishes to capture droplets from the exhaled breath of humpback, fin and sperm whales, combined with skin biopsies taken from boats.
They confirmed for the first time that a potentially deadly whale virus, known as cetacean morbillivirus, is circulating above the Arctic Circle.
The disease is highly contagious and spreads easily among dolphins, whales, and porpoises causing severe disease and mass deaths.
It can jump between species and travel across oceans, posing a significant threat to marine mammals.
The researchers hope this breakthrough will help spot deadly threats to ocean life early, before they start to spread.
Nord University"Going forward, the priority is to continue using these methods for long-term surveillance, so we can understand how multiple emerging stressors will shape whale health in the coming years," said Helena Costa of Nord University, Norway.
The study, involving King's College London and The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in the UK, and Nord University in Norway is published in BMC Veterinary Research.
When bullets began flying at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday, strangers Wayne and Jessica found themselves in the same nightmare scenario. They couldn't find their three-year-olds.
In the chaos, separately, they desperately scanned the green. People who'd gathered to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah screamed and ducked. Others ran. Some didn't make it far.
The 10-odd minutes that followed were the longest of their lives.
Wayne's body was acting as a human shield for his eldest daughter, but his mind was elsewhere: with his missing daughter Gigi.
"We had to wait all that time for the gunshots to stop. It felt like eternity," he tells the BBC.
Unbeknown to him, Jessica's gaze had caught on a little girl in a rainbow skirt, confused, scared and alone - calling out for her mummy and daddy.
In that moment, the pregnant mother couldn't protect her own child, so she'd protect this one, she decided. She smothered Gigi's body with her own, and uttered "I've got you", over and over again. They could feel the moment a woman about a metre away was shot and killed.
By the time the air finally fell silent, Wayne had become all but convinced Gigi was dead.
"I was looking amongst the blood and the bodies," he says, growing emotional.
"What I saw - no human should ever see that."
Eventually, he caught a glimpse of a familiar colourful skirt and found his daughter, stained in red - but okay, still shrouded under Jessica. Her son too would soon be found, unharmed.
"She said she's just a mother and she acted with mother instincts," Wayne says.
"[But] she's a superhero. We'll be indebted to her for the rest of our lives."
It is one of the incredible accounts of selflessness and courage that have emerged from one of Australia's darkest days.
Declared a terror attack by police, it is the deadliest in Australian history. Dozens were injured and 15 people - including a 10-year-old girl - were killed by the two gunmen, who police say were inspired by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
Chris Minns/FacebookMore people undoubtedly would have been harmed if it weren't for Ahmed al Ahmed.
A Syrian-Australian shop owner, he'd been having coffee nearby when the shooting began. His father told BBC Arabic Ahmed "saw the victims, the blood, women and children lying on the street, and then acted".
Footage of the moment he sprung out from behind a car and wrestled a gun off one of the attackers immediately went viral. He was shot multiple times, and may lose his arm.
Another man, Reuven Morrison, was also seen on the video hurling objects at the same attacker in the moments after Ahmed disarmed him.
Sheina Gutnik easily recognised her dad in the footage.
"He is not one to lie down. He is one to run towards danger," Ms Gutnick told BBC partner CBS News.
He had jumped up the second the shooting started, she said, and was throwing bricks at one of the gunmen before he was fatally shot.
"He went down fighting, protecting the people he loved most."
The first two victims of the assault, Boris and Sofia Gurman, were also captured on dashcam footage grappling with one of the men for his weapon. When they succeeded, he got another gun from the car he'd just climbed out of and killed them.
"While nothing can lessen the pain of losing Boris and Sofia, we feel an overwhelming sense of pride in their bravery and selflessness," the couple's family said in a statement.
"This encapsulates who Boris and Sofia were - people who instinctively and selflessly tried to help others."
The list goes on.
Chaya, only 14 years old, was shot in the leg while shielding two young children from gunfire.
Jack Hibbert - a beat cop just four months into the job - was hit in both the head and the shoulder but continued to help festival attendees until he physically couldn't, his family said. The 22-year-old will survive, but with life-changing injuries.
Lifeguard Jackson Doolan was photographed sprinting over from a neighbouring beach during the attack, armed with critical medical supplies. He didn't even pause to put on shoes.
Alexandra Ching/InstagramOthers at Bondi rushed from the beach into the fire, their red-and-yellow lifesaving boards working overtime as stretchers. One lifeguard even dived back into the surf to save swimmers who'd been sent into a panic by the shooting.
Student Levi Xu, 31, told the BBC he felt he could not shout for help, as he didn't want to draw attention to himself or risk any potential saviours being targeted.
But lifeguard Rory Davey saw him and his friend struggling, and dragged them back to shore.
"We stood up and wanted to thank him, but he had already gone back into the sea to rescue other people," says Mr Xu.
Thousands of Australians flocked to donate blood, dwarfing the previous record.
Authorities say many off-duty first responders travelled to Bondi on Sunday - from as far as two hours away - simply because they knew there was a need.
Healthcare workers rushed to hospitals when they heard of the attack, whether or not they were on shift, confronting unspeakable trauma to save lives.
"Normally on a Sunday night, there is staff available to run one operating theatre [at St Vincent's Hospital]. There were eight operating at once," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
State premier Chris Minns, too, has been quick to praise the heroics of ordinary, everyday Australians.
"This is a terrible, wanton act of destructive violence. But there are still amazing people that we have in Australia, and they showed their true colours last night," he said, the day after the attack.
Wayne says he shudders to think what would have happened without people like Jessica and Ahmed.
When he speaks to the BBC, he's just attended a funeral for the gunmen's youngest victim, 10-year-old Matilda.
"I was sitting at this funeral and I was just thinking, tears pouring out of my eyes... I could have been in the front... It could have been my little girl."
"There could have been so much more devastation without the bravery of [these] people... someone who could run just comes in. Someone who could worry about their own child looks after another child.
"That's what the world needs more of."
Additional reporting by Fan Wang.
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中共中央军委装备发展部推行军队装备领域职业道德行为规范，强调开展装备采购管理相关工作应当坚持公平、公正、公开，坚持有序、开放、竞争，确保武器装备建设质量和效益。
中共中央军委机关报《解放军报》报道，为引导装备领域明大德、守公德、严私德，进一步规范职业行为、培塑职业精神、强化职业操守，中央军委装备发展部推行这项规范。
规范提出，开展装备规划计划和项目立项工作，应当强化战略管理，坚持以战领建、体系建设、集约高效、科学把关，以最有效、最快捷、最节省资源的方式实现战略目的和作战需求。开展装备预研、研制、综合研究、技术基础相关工作，应当坚持自主创新、自主可控、开放交流，把装备能力建设牢固确立在打赢强敌对手上。
规范强调，开展装备试验鉴定相关工作，应当坚持面向实战、规范严谨、客观公正、科学敏捷，强化独立权威履职，牢固立起刚性标尺。开展装备订购相关工作，应当始终以作战需求为牵引，坚持计划管理、体系建设、质量至上、竞争择优，为部队提供适应实战、性能先进、质量优良的武器装备。开展装备价格管理使用相关工作，应当通过规范诚信报价、依法审价、严格评审和依规用价，不断提高装备价格管理使用水平。
此外，规范也提出，开展合同履行监管相关工作，应当强化依法、独立、公正履职，当好军工一线的“装备尖兵、质量卫士”。开展装备技术合作相关工作，应当坚持服务装备建设，实现最大综合效益。开展装备管理保障相关工作，应当坚持全面学装、深入知装、规范管装、科学用装，贯彻装备科学化、制度化、经常化管理要求，加强武器装备实战化运用，推动武器装备成建制成体系形成作战能力和保障能力。
《解放军报》就这项规范发短评写道，装备人职业道德如何、行为是否规范，直接影响装备质量、决定行业风气。立起装备人的职业道德行为规范，装备领域行业治理就有了方向、旗帜、标准。行业治理是一个系统工程，瓶颈藩篱，不破不行；不立不破，立字当头。
该报强调，只有坚持破立并举，把该立的积极主动立起来，该破的在立的基础上坚决破，把握好“立”和“破”的辩证关系和承接顺序，实现“立中破”与“破中立”的动态平衡，建立健全行业部门指向鲜明、行之有效的职业道德行为规范，用清正廉洁的价值观念、思维模式、行为方式感染熏陶官兵，营造崇廉拒腐的良好风尚，才能推动行业治理在“得其法”中不断取得新成效。
军事采购是中国打击解放军腐败的重点领域之一。中央军委装备发展部曾在2023年7月决定，开展装备采购招标评审专家违规违纪清查整肃治理活动，公开征集2017年10月以后的违纪违规问题线索。此后，多名高级将领落马，相信都与装备采购腐败有关。
“军队采购网”星期一（12月15日）发布《关于征集空军部队违规采购问题的公告》。公告称，为进一步畅通违规采购问题反馈渠道，广泛接受社会监督，现面向社会公开征集违规采购问题有关信息。
中国中央戏剧学院院长郝戎涉嫌严重违纪违法，主动投案，正接受审查调查。
中共中央纪委国家监委驻教育部纪检监察组、河南省纪委监委星期五（12月19日）消息，中央戏剧学院党委副书记、院长郝戎涉嫌严重违纪违法，主动投案，目前正接受中央纪委国家监委驻教育部纪检监察组纪律审查和河南省许昌市监委监察调查。
公开信息显示，54岁的郝戎毕业于中央戏剧学院表演系，戏剧戏曲学硕士。历任表演系台词教研室主任、表演系副主任、表演系党支部书记、表演系主任、中央戏剧学院院长助理、副院长。他于2018年11月任中央戏剧学院院长，至此番被查。
《新京报》报道，郝戎也担任教育部高等学校戏剧与影视学类教学指导委员会副主任委员，中国音乐剧协会副主席，中国文联特约研究员，世界戏剧教育联盟秘书长，亚洲戏剧教育研究中心理事长等职。
© Sara Stathas/Reuters
© Sara Stathas/Reuters
PHOENIX. Arizona — Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk has endorsed Vice President JD Vance for president, an early sign of influential support for a likely leading candidate in 2028.
Kirk, who took over leadership of Turning Point after her husband, Charlie, was killed in September, announced her decision during a speech Thursday at the organization’s America Fest conference in Phoenix.
Vance is scheduled to speak at the conference on Sunday.
“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” Kirk said.
Vance has not yet committed to running in 2028, but as vice president he is widely expected to seek the White House. TPUSA — founded by Charlie Kirk — holds major influence for the MAGA movement, particularly among young conservatives, and the early endorsement could give an early lead among the Republican hopefuls.
“My attitude is the American people elected me to be vice president,” Vance told the New York Post in October. “I’m going to work as hard as I can to make the president successful over the next three years and three months, and if we get to a point where something else is in the offer, let’s handle it then.”
Kirk made the endorsement in front of a crowd of thousands of people, many of whom are ardent supporters of President Donald Trump — and they responded with resounding applause.
Vance and Charlie Kirk were particularly close before Kirk's death.
© Jon Cherry/AP
CBSA former Nascar driver is believed to be among seven people who have died in a plane crash at a regional airport in North Carolina, an official says.
The Cessna C550 aircraft is owned by a private company associated with Greg Biffle, a retired Nascar driver, CBS, the BBC's US partner, reported.
The small aircraft crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport around 10:20 local time (15:20GMT), aviation officials investigating the incident told reporters.
Congressman Rich Hudson of North Carolina appeared to confirm Biffle's death on X, writing that he was devastated by the loss of the racer, his wife Christina and their children.
"Greg was a great NASCAR champion who thrilled millions of fans. But he was an extraordinary person as well, and will be remembered for his service to others as much as for his fearlessness on the track," Hudson wrote, praising their aid work during hurricanes in North Carolina and Jamaica.
Professional baseball player Mitchell Garret wrote on Facebook that Biffle and his family were on their way to spend the afternoon with him.
"Unfortunately, I can confirm Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina, daughter Emma, and son Ryder were on that plane… because they were on their way to spend the afternoon with us," he wrote on Facebook. "We are devastated. I'm so sorry to share this."
Statesville Airport director John Ferguson described the aircraft as a corporate jet and said that it was already engulfed in flames when he arrived on the scene.
The business jet took off around 10:06 local time and was in the air briefly before the crash.
It crashed on the east end of the runway and authorities do not yet have information on the cause of the crash.
Statesville Airport will remain closed until further notice as crews clear debris off the runway, Mr Ferguson told reporters.
Officials did not provide any information about deaths or people aboard the aircraft during the media conference.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation, said it was launching a go team to investigate the fatal crash. The team expects to arrive on scene on Thursday night.
The Statesville Regional Airport (KSVH) is owned by the City of Statesville, which is about 45 minutes north of Charlotte.
It also provides aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several Nascar racing teams.
Getty ImagesBiffle, whose racing career spanned two decades, was named one of Nascar's 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023. The 55-year-old won 19 Cup Series races in the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series.
Known as The Biff, the Vancouver, Washington, native received national notice in 1995 when during that year's Nascar Winter Heat Series., according to his Nascar profile.
He quickly made a name for himself in the Craftsman Truck Series, winning the 1998 Rookie of Year award and the 2000 series championship.
He went on to be named 2001 Rookie of the Year in the Xfinity Series and to win the 2002 championship, becoming the first driver with championships in both the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series.
He also co-founded the organisation's Sand Outlaws Series. Although he scaled back on racing after 2016, he seemingly came out of retirement in 2019 for a one-off race at Texas Motor Speedway, which he won.
"Racing is racing," he told Nascar.com in 2021. "It's that adrenaline, you want to be better than the competition, you want to build a better piece and have a faster car. I just enjoy the competition."
NurPhoto via Getty ImagesTikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance has signed binding agreements with US and global investors to sell the majority of its business in America, TikTok's boss told employees on Thursday.
Half of the joint venture will be owned by a group of investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX, according to a memo sent by chief executive Shou Zi Chew.
The deal, which is set to close on 22 January, would end years of efforts by Washington to force ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns.
The deal is line with one unveiled in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app unless it was sold.
In the memo, TikTok said the deal will enable "over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community".
The White House referred the BBC to TikTok when contacted for comment.
Getty ImagesThe Australian government has announced a gun buyback scheme in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack - its deadliest mass shooting in decades.
The scheme is the largest since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, which left 35 people dead and prompted Australia to introduce world-leading gun control measures.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured on Sunday when two gunmen, believed to have been motivated by "Islamic State ideology", opened fire on a Jewish festival at the country's most iconic beach.
On Friday police said a group of men who were arrested in Sydney after travelling from the state of Victoria had "extremist Islamic ideology".
Police allege Sunday's attack, which they have declared a terrorist incident, was committed by a father-son duo. Naveed Akram, 24, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act. His father Sajid was killed during the attack.
The day after the shooting, national cabinet - which includes representatives from the federal government and leaders from all states and territories - agreed to tighten gun controls.
Speaking to media on Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there are now more than 4 million firearms in Australia - more than at the time of the Port Arthur massacre.
"We know that one of these terrorists held a firearm licence and had six guns, in spite of living in the middle of Sydney's suburbs... There's no reason why someone in that situation needed that many guns.
"We need to get more guns off our streets."
Earlier on Friday, a senior New South Wales police officer told national broadcaster ABC seven men arrested by counter terrorism police in Sydney on Thursday evening may have been on their way to Bondi.
Tactical officers swarmed on the group, who had travelled from Victoria and were known to police there, in dramatic scenes in the suburb of Liverpool.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said "some indication" that Bondi was one of the locations they were considering visiting, but "with no specific intent in mind or proven at this stage".
Rarely used national security powers were relied upon to swoop before their plans developed.
"We made the decision that we weren't going to … take any chances in relation to what they might be doing," he said.
Officers found a knife, but no guns or other weapons, Mr Hudson added.
这些年，经常听到中文世界有人讲“平庸的恶”或“恶的平庸”。这是汉娜·阿伦特的说法，用老百姓的话来说，就是随波逐流干坏事，像希特勒时代的纳粹官员、像文革时代的红卫兵，像现在中国体制内的一些大大小小官员。
阿伦特对纳粹德国的说法有一定道理，但她不是个有深度观察能力和深度思考能力的人，对很多事务的评论，都流于表面。在恶的问题上，也是这样。她有本书，名叫《艾希曼在耶路撒冷》。艾希曼是纳粹德国的犹太事务主管，组织杀害了很多无辜的犹太人。德国投降后，他逃到阿根廷，被以色列特工绑架到以色列受审。
阿伦特旁听了审判，写了几篇文章，后来结集成书。她把艾希曼描绘成一个不善言辞、平凡普通，没有思考能力的人，说他组织杀犹太人，完全是执行纳粹德国的政策，在当时并不违法。
从后来披露的一些有关艾希曼的材料看，也从我个人对邪恶现象的观察来看，没有思考能力的不是艾希曼，而是阿伦特。她的整个叙事完全被艾希曼牵着鼻子走，所谓“平庸的恶”或“恶的平庸”，成了她为艾希曼总结的辩护词。
任何一位有经验的律师，都能识破被告这种把戏：假装无辜，假装头脑简单，假装体制的受害者，干坏事的是体制，不是他——他只是体制大机器上一颗小小的螺丝钉。阿伦特掉进艾希曼这种自我辩护的套路中，对艾希曼的表演和伪装照单全收，成了艾希曼玩弄于股掌之间的useful idiot。“平庸的恶”或“恶的平庸”就是阿伦特这么“思考”出来的。当然，这里的“思考”是加引号的。
更奇特的是，不少人把这当成深刻。中文世界一些知识分子这样做，尤其令人不解。中国这两代人经历了文革，现在又经历文革2.0版，体制内外各色人等，作恶都是争先恐后，一点都不平庸。在现实中，尤其是在中国的现实中，恶不但不平庸，而且相当积极，十分乖巧。很多看似平庸的人作恶，不是因为随波逐流，而是因为不甘平庸，想通过作恶的捷径往上爬。
在以前的节目中，我曾经给大家讲过“短语的奴隶”——slave of phrases。这是教育普及后出现的一个观察力萎缩现象。人们从书上看到一个词，一个短语，像“平庸的恶”“恶的平庸”之类，就被这个词，这个短语牵着鼻子走，成了短语的奴隶，不再观察，不再思考，不再用现实来矫正概念的偏颇。明明现实中的恶，一点都不平庸，但不少人一看到阿伦特说“平庸的恶”“恶的平庸”，就觉深刻，就放弃了自己的眼睛和头脑。
这些年，我在观察历史和现实时，越来越感到一种不安。用阿伦特“平庸的恶”来解释纳粹德国，解释毛时代的文革，解释土皇帝的文革2.0，解释无差别杀人的恐怖分子，虽然方便，但太轻描淡写，太虚假了。“平庸的恶”成了一块遮羞布，不但遮蔽了现实中令人毛骨悚然的恶，也掩盖了作恶者主动作恶的冲动和意图。
阿伦特去耶路撒冷看审判艾希曼。她看到被告席上是个唯唯诺诺、满口套话的中年男人。从这种浮皮潦草的观察，她得出结论，说艾希曼不是恶魔，他只是不思考，他只是盲目服从命令。阿伦特不知道，大部分有头脑的被告，在法庭上都是看起来唯唯诺诺、满口律师教的套话。这是被告席上的常态。何况艾希曼曾经是纳粹德国负责犹太事务的官员。他的头脑显然比阿伦特的要复杂一些。
一个人在放手作恶时的行为方式，跟他在被告席上的行为方式，完全就是两码事。就像一个杀人越货的劫匪，被抓获归案后，上了被告席，跟他端着枪抢银行的时候，会判若两人。这本来应该是观察人的基本常识，但阿伦特缺少这种常识。她用艾希曼在被告席上的言行，来推断他作为纳粹官员，组织灭绝犹太人时的行为方式和心理状态。没有比这更荒唐的思路了。
在纳粹体制中，艾希曼相当精明，在作恶方面极度乖巧。在执行灭绝犹太人的国策时，他 不是机械地服从，而是创造性地发挥。为了提高运输犹太人的效率，他主动设计方案，协调铁路，克服物流困难。甚至在战争后期资源紧张的时候，他仍然超额完成杀人指标。说这是“平庸的恶”，简直跟精神错乱差不多。
所谓“平庸”，不过是艾希曼在成为阶下囚之后，为了保命而精心设计的一张面具。他把自己伪装成一颗没有灵魂的螺丝钉。但他不是螺丝钉，他是作恶者。恶都是人主动作出来的。人不主动去作恶，世界上就不会有恶。这是能撬动“恶”这个问题的阿基米德支点。阿伦特的头脑中，没有这个支点。
在中国的现实中，我们看到的更多的是“乖巧的恶”，就是为了乖巧地迎合上意，积极主动地去作恶。在文革中，他们发明出各种折磨人、羞辱人的方式方法；在新冠封城清零中，他们不断加码，像对待牲口一样对待居民；在文革2.0中，他们主动出击，小题大做、无中生有，攻击文明的声音。他们不甘平庸，乖巧地作恶，从意图、出发点到结果，都是损人利己，甚至毁人利己。
有央企背景的中国量子科技龙头企业国盾量子46岁的董事长吕品在办公室内意外去世，警方通报已排除案件。
国盾量子星期四（12月18日）晚间公告，公司董事长吕品不幸逝世。
公告指出，吕品于2025年5月起担任公司董事长，并担任战略与投资委员会主任委员、薪酬与考核委员会委员。截至公告披露日，吕品不持有公司股票，也不存在应当履行而未履行的股份锁定承诺。
公告称，吕品的逝世不会导致公司董事会成员人数低于法定人数，不会影响公司董事会的正常运作。公司经营管理团队正常履职，公司将尽快完成董事补选及董事长选举的相关工作。
公开资料显示，国盾量子由中国电信全资子公司中电信量子集团控股，实控人为国务院国资委。公司成立于2009年，是中国量子科技的龙头上市公司。
国盾量子公司所在地安徽合肥的当地警方于星期四发布警情通报，称当天下午1时许，公安局高新技术开发区分局接报警称，46岁吕姓男子在望江西路与孔雀台路交口某公司一办公室内失去意识。
经120（中国急救人员）现场确认，吕姓男子已无生命体征。经公安机关勘查调查，已排除案件。
据第一财经报道，吕品也任中电信量子信息科技集团有限公司董事长、党委书记，是中国量子科技产业化的重要推动者。
中国外交部副部长马朝旭与韩国副部长朴润柱，星期四（12月18日）在北京举行两国外交部门高级别战略对话。朴润柱向中国阐明韩国政府的朝鲜半岛政策方向，呼吁北京在营造首尔和平壤重启对话条件方面发挥作用。马朝旭则重申，中国将为朝鲜半岛和平与稳定继续发挥建设性作用。
此次中韩外交部门高级别战略对话，是继去年7月后、时隔近一年半再次举行，也是李在明政府今年6月上台以来首次。
韩联社引述韩国外交部消息报道，马朝旭与朴润柱星期四在北京举行第11次中韩外交部门高级别战略对话，就中韩关系、朝鲜半岛问题、地区和国际局势等共同关切交换意见。
两国副外长评价称，中韩领导人上月会谈成功举行，推动两国全面修复战略合作伙伴关系，希望两国基于紧密沟通，落实领导人会谈的后续措施。
两国副外长还一致认为，为实现东北亚地区的稳定与繁荣，区域国家应基于相互尊重开展建设性合作。双方还商定，在基于平等合作发展互补经济关系的同时，也深化稳定民生方面的合作，携手应对跨国犯罪等。
双方并决定进一步加强两国高层往来，就推动友好文化交流以拉近两国人民之间距离的方案交换意见。双方还就中国在黄海的中韩暂定措施水域（PMZ）内、设置构造物的问题进行了讨论。
中韩暂定措施水域是两国专属经济区重叠的海域。根据《联合国海洋法公约》，每个沿海国家有权设立最远至其海岸线200海里（约370公里）的专属经济区，在该区域内拥有对自然资源的勘探与开发的主权权利。
在李在明政府上台前，韩国今年4月、5月先后就中国在PMZ设置钢制构筑物、设立禁航区表达关切。
中国外交部官网引述马朝旭在星期四的对话中指出，中韩互为重要近邻和合作伙伴，在两国元首战略引领下，两国关系呈现积极向好发展势头。
马朝旭表示，中国愿韩国方一道，落实好两国元首重要共识，密切沟通对话，深化务实合作，保持多边协调，推动中韩战略合作伙伴关系沿着正确轨道向前发展。
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