Unreliable. Creating more problems than solving them. A negative force on the world stage. This is how large shares of America's closest allies view the U.S., according to new polling, as President Donald Trump pursues a sweeping foreign policy overhaul.
Pluralities in Germany and France — and a majority of Canadians — say the U.S. is a negative force globally, according to new international POLITICO-Public First polling. Views are more mixed in the United Kingdom, but more than a third of respondents there share that dim assessment.
Near-majorities in all four countries also say the U.S. tends to create problems for other countries rather than solve them.
The findings offer a snapshot of how Trump’s reshaping of U.S. foreign policy — including through an expansive trade agenda, sharp rhetoric toward longtime allies and reoriented military posture — is resonating across some of Washington's closest allies.
When asked whether the U.S. supports its allies around the world or challenges them, a majority of Canadians say the latter, as well as just under half of respondents in Germany and France. In the U.K., roughly 4 in 10 say the U.S. challenges, rather than supports, its allies, more than a third say it cannot be depended on in a crisis, nearly half say it creates problems for other countries, and 35 percent say the U.S. is a negative force overall.
Trump has blurred traditional lines of global alliances during his first year back in office, particularly in Canada and Europe. He called Europe a “decaying” group of nations led by “weak” people in a recent POLITICO interview and his sweeping National Security Strategyargued that the continent has lost its “national identities and self-confidence."
By contrast, the strategy reserved less scathing language for Russia — even as U.S. allies in Europe gear up for what leaders have called a “hybrid war” with Moscow.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the administration’s approach when asked about European criticisms, saying the transatlantic alliance remains rooted in shared “civilizational” values. “I do think that at the core of these special relationships we have is the fact that we have shared history, shared values, shared civilizational principles that we should be unapologetic about,” Rubio said at a briefing last week.
But as Trump disrupts long-standing relationships, skepticism among allied leaders may be seeping into public sentiment, said Matthew Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.
“Public opinion in democracies often reflects elite opinion,” he said. “What you're probably seeing there is that you do have politicians in these countries expressing skepticism about the United States and about the Trump administration, and that's being reflected in the public opinion polling.”
That dynamic is playing out across Europe and Canada, as leaders across the countries try to keep the increasingly strained relationships intact.
In Germany, wavering U.S. military support for Ukraine, questions about Washington’s commitment to NATO and Trump's tariff war have added urgency for Chancellor Friedrich Merz to move beyond the country’s long-established limits on defense spending and economic policy. Weeks before taking office, Merz secured a historic spending overhaul that unlocked hundreds of billions of euros for defense and infrastructure investments after years of self-imposed austerity.
“Every foreign policy statement by Trump is followed closely, and often discussed in light of what it may mean for U.S. policy shifts regarding European security issues, such as commitment to NATO, future U.S. troop presence in Europe, and support for Ukraine,” said Dominik Tolksdorf, a transatlantic expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations.
In France, where skepticism toward the U.S. has long run deep, President Emmanuel Macron has pursued personal diplomacy with Trump while using the president’s unpredictability to bolster arguments for greater European strategic autonomy.
“Handing over one’s sovereignty to another power is a mistake — De Gaulle said nothing else,” one high-ranking French military officer, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, told POLITICO. Another defense official said Trump’s National Security Strategy had increased “awareness that something is not right.”
In the U.K., Trump remains polarizing, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer has largely avoided public confrontation. His priorities now include finalizing a U.K.-U.S. trade deal and coordinating a European response to Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine — without angering the White House, the delicate balance many allied leaders are trying to strike.
Canada, meanwhile, has seen the sharpest deterioration in relations, which have soured amid a punishing trade war and Trump's intermittent rhetoric on annexation.
Flavio Volpe, the president of Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, described the economic disruption linked to Trump's trade moves. "People lost their jobs — ones they worked their entire lives — and billions of dollars in Canadian capital evaporated in an unexplainable turn away from the bankable post-Cold War balance of power by the White House," he wrote on LinkedIn.
Overall, Americans still view their country more favorably than their allies do. Nearly half — 49 percent — say the U.S. supports its allies around the world. A majority, 52 percent, say it can be depended on in a crisis, and 51 percent say the U.S. is a positive force globally.
But Democrats — who have displayed deeply pessimistic views about their country since Trump’s return to office — hold far more negative views.
Almost half of voters who backed former Vice President Kamala Harris last year — 47 percent — also say the U.S. is a negative force in the world overall, compared with just 13 percent of Trump voters. Three in four Trump voters say the U.S. is a positive force in the world.
Many Democrats also don’t just express skepticism about the U.S., but view other countries and international blocs as stronger models: 58 percent of Harris voters say the European Union is a positive force in the world, and nearly two-thirds — 64 percent — say the same about Canada, greater than the shares who say the same about the U.S.
"This tracks with our other research on the rapid change of perceptions of the U.S. over the last year,” said Seb Wride, head of polling at Public First. “Americans themselves are not blind to it.”
Prior to the 2024 election, strong majorities of both Democrats and Republicans — 71 percent and 69 percent — said the U.S. was a positive force in the world over the course of its entire history, Public First polling from October of last year found.
Exactly one year later, Democrats have sharply changed their views, with 77 percent of Trump voters still saying the U.S. is positive, compared with just 58 percent of Democrats.
“That's around 1 in 8 Democrats changing their views on the role the U.S. has played in its entire history, in just one year,” said Wride.
Voters who backed Trump last November overwhelmingly view the U.S. in a positive light, but subtle differences emerge within his coalition. Eighty-one percent of self-identifying MAGA Trump voters say the U.S. is a positive force in the world overall, compared with 71 percent of non-MAGA Trump voters. Still, 17 percent of non-MAGA Trump voters say the opposite, that the U.S. is a negative force.
POLITICO’s Matt Honeycombe-Foster contributed reporting from the United Kingdom, Victor Goury-Laffont and Laura Kayali contributed from France, Nette Nöstlinger contributed from Germany and Nick Taylor-Vaisey contributed from Canada. Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing also contributed.
© Illustration by Anna Wiederkehr/POLITICO (source images via AP)
中国加大传播淫秽信息处罚力度，从明年1月1日起，向好友私下发送淫秽信息也违法。
据《南方日报》报道，明年1月1日起，新修订的《中华人民共和国治安管理处罚法》将正式施行，其中第八十条对传播淫秽信息的处罚规定作出明确细化，加大了处罚力度。
报道称，以往公众存在“私下传播淫秽信息仅属道德问题”的认知误区，新规修订明确纠正这一认知。
新《治安管理处罚法》第八十条明确删除了传播场景的限制，将利用信息网络传播淫秽信息的所有行为均纳入规制范围，无论传播对象是多人还是单人、场景是公开还是私密，只要实施传播行为并被查证属实，即可启动行政处罚程序。
新法明确将“利用信息网络、电话以及其他通讯工具传播淫秽信息”纳入治安处罚范畴，无论传播场景是公开微信群还是私人私聊，只要证据确凿，均可处以10日以上15日以下拘留，可并处5000元（人民币，下同，约914新元）以下罚款；情节较轻的，也将面临五日以下拘留或1000元以上3000元以下罚款。
报道还引述了一个案例。在广东省惠州市龙门县人民法院审理的一宗传播淫秽物品案中，路姓被告人多次使用手机微信账号向自己的微信好友转发淫秽小视频共54个。
法院经审理后认为，路姓被告人法律意识淡薄，利用互联网和移动通讯终端向他人传播淫秽电子信息，虽然不是以牟利为目的，但行为侵害了社会主义道德风尚和良俗，产生了社会危害性，已触犯刑律，构成传播淫秽物品罪。
这一消息在互联网上引起争议。有网友认为，新法管得过宽了，“夫妻之间发个情趣图片也要抓吗？”；还有网民担忧网络监控无处不在，“你和别人的私密聊天内容，在监管那里都是透明的。”
《环球时报》前总编辑胡锡进也发微博称，要防止片面、歪曲解读新修订的《治安管理处罚法》，反对在司法实践中过度定义传播淫秽信息，“夫妻之间、情侣之间点对点发信息示爱、调情，不应被列入‘传播淫秽信息’的范畴。那太过了。”“性有善恶之分，没有对性的兴趣，生育如何提高？”
胡锡进认为，从《南方日报》的报道看，更像是司法实践中的问题，是层层加码的结果。
中国短视频平台快手上出现大量色情内容，快手称，平台遭到黑灰产攻击，已报警。
据红星新闻报道，很多网友星期一（12月22日）晚反映，快手直播间出现大量色情内容，包括播放淫秽影片、主播擦边低俗表演等，有的直播间观看人数上万。
北京公安局海淀分局接线工作人员表示，目前已接到多个群众报案，正在了解相关情况。
快手方面回应称，星期一晚上10时左右，平台遭到黑灰产攻击，目前已紧急处理修复中，平台坚决抵制违规内容，相应情况已上报给相关部门，并向公安机关报警。
© Gilles Sabrié for The New York Times
ReutersThe US Food and Drug Administration has approved a pill version of the weight-loss drug Wegovy, according to maker Novo Nordisk.
It marks a first in this new era of weight-loss medications with Wegovy being the only so far to gain approval for the pill version of their GLP-1 drug, which has only been available as an injection.
Wegovy's Danish makers Novo Nordisk said the once-daily pill was a "convenient option" to the inject-able and would provide the same weight loss as the shot. It comes after Wegovy was approved by the FDA specifically for weight loss.
Others like Ozempic, which has similar weight-loss effects, were primarily approved for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.
The BBC has contacted the FDA for comment.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.
President Donald Trump has announced that the US will commission a new series of heavily armed Navy "battleships" named after himself, as part of a revamped "Golden Fleet".
Construction on the Trump Class USS Defiant ships, which will be equipped to carry an array of weapons, is expected to begin soon, with Trump saying they will be operational in two-and-a-half years.
The announcement is part of a larger planned expansion of the US Navy by President Trump in both manned and unmanned vessels, including larger missile-armed warships and smaller vessels.
Officials have warned that the US currently lags behind China in both shipbuilding capacity and total output.
Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago golf club in Florida alongside defence secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan on Monday, Trump said he approved the construction of two new battleships to start, with a plan to build up to 25.
"They'll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built," Trump said.
Once completed, Trump said the armed vessels would be equipped to carry hypersonic and "extremely lethal" weapons, and would be the flagships of the US Navy.
Trump, who spoke while flanked on both sides with posters of renderings of the "Trump class" ships, said the vessels would be built domestically, and their construction would create "thousands" of jobs.
ReutersIn a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Phelan said that Trump had specifically asked for a "big, beautiful" battleship-type vessel as part of the fleet, which will also include dozens of support and transport vessels.
On 19 December, another new set of vessels, based on the US Coast Guard's Legend-class National Security Cutter, were announced by the US Navy.
"Recent operations from the Red Sea to the Caribbean make the requirement undeniable - our small surface combatant inventory is a third of what we have," Chief of Naval Operations Daryl Caudle said in a video statement about the new ships.
"We need more capable blue water small combatants to close the gap and keep our [destroyers] focused on the high-end fight," he added.
ReutersA similar vessel, the Constellatio-class frigate - which Trump approved during his first term in office - was cancelled in 2024 after repeated delays and cost overruns.
Only two ships were reportedly expected to be delivered after approximately $2bn (£1.49bn) was spent on the project.
US officials and defence analysts have repeatedly warned that the US is lagging behind China, its main potential maritime rival, in shipbuilding capacity.
Over 60% of the world's orders this year went to Chinese shipyards, and its navy is already the largest in the world.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has vowed to revive the US shipbuilding industry.
"We used to make so many ships," Trump said in March. "We don't make them very much, but we're going to make them very fast, very soon. It will have a huge impact."
In October, Trump and Finnish President Alexander Stubb penned a deal for the US to purchase 11 Finnish-designed icebreakers, including seven built in the US with Finnish expertise.
The president's announcement also comes as US naval and air assets have surged to the Caribbean amid rising tensions with Venezuela.
The US started attacking vessels in September that were alleged to be carrying drugs, with strikes leaving at least 100 people dead.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump claimed that thousands of American lives had been saved because of the boat strikes by stopping lethal drugs from entering the US.
The attacks have been criticised by some experts, who said they could violate international laws governing armed conflict.
Variety via Getty ImagesVince Zampella, who co-created the widely-popular video game Call of Duty, has died in a car crash in California, aged 55.
Zampella's death was confirmed by Electronic Arts, which owns Respawn Entertainment, a game studio he co-founded.
The influential video game developer died after his car crashed and caught fire on a highway in Los Angeles on Sunday, US media report.
"This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts are with Vince's family, his loved ones, and all those touched by his work," a spokesperson for Electronic Arts told the BBC.
中国宣布改革3C认证标志，将对充电宝、燃气燃烧器具、电动自行车等高风险产品的3C认证标志新增追溯二维码。自2026年3月起对部分产品开始试点，经一年过渡期后（即2027年3月起）将扩大试点产品范围。
据新华社、中新社星期一（12月22日）报道，中国国家市场监管总局（国家认监委）近日发布公告，对充电宝、燃气燃烧器具、电动自行车等高风险产品实施3C认证标志试点改革，共计三类11种产品。
国家市场监管总局星期一指出，近年来，充电宝、燃气燃烧器具、电动自行车等高风险领域陆续发生多起质量安全事件。在相关事件的调查认定中发现，现行3C认证（即强制性产品认证）标志实施于20余年前，不具备认证信息的可追溯性，造成质量溯源与责任认定困难。
此次试点改革措施充分考虑生产企业成本负担和经营活动影响，未突破现行3C认证管理制度要求。调整后的3C认证标志式样，仅在原有标志图案右侧标注追溯二维码，二维码信息由认证机构在签发认证证书时免费向获证企业提供。
当局介绍，通过3C认证标志中的追溯二维码，社会公众和监管部门通过“一键”扫描认证标志中的追溯二维码，即可查询该产品是否获得3C认证证书、证书状态是否有效，以及生产者名称、产品规格型号、发证机构名称等责任主体的关键信息。
自2026年3月起，试点产品范围内新获得3C认证证书的产品型号，应标注CCC追溯二维码后，方可出厂、销售、进口或者在其他经营活动中使用。
经一年过渡期后（2027年3月起），试点产品范围对应的全部新出厂的获证产品型号，应满足试点改革要求。
市场监管部门下一步也将及时评估上述试点改革实施效果，不断优化强制性产品认证制度，适时扩大试点产品范围，加速构建质量安全追溯链条，着力防范产品质量安全风险。
美国九名共和党籍国会议员连署致函美国战争部长赫格塞斯，敦促五角大楼将人工智能（AI）初创公司深度求索（DeepSeek）、智能手机制造商小米集团和电子屏幕制造商京东方科技集团等中国科企列入涉军中企清单。
据路透社报道，在美国总统特朗普上星期四（12月18日）将1万亿美元的国防法案签署成法当天，美议员向赫格塞斯发出上述信函。目前已列入清单的中国企业，包括最大科技之一腾讯控股和全球最大电动汽车电池制造商宁德时代。
小米在声明中说，将他们列入清单的做法毫无依据。声明指出，“小米不是中国军工企业，也与中国军工实体毫无隶属关系。公司过去及现在一直是一家消费产品企业，只提供民用及商业用途的产品与服务”。
路透社6月引述一名美国高官报道，深度求索曾协助中国军方规避美国的出口管制。美议员向五角大楼提出在2030年前，将美国苹果公司供用商京东方剔除供应链的诉求。
中国和菲律宾执法部门密切合作，近日抓获绑架杀人嫌犯施纯芳。两国执法人员星期一（12月22日）将他押解上飞机，从菲律宾遣返回中国。
中国驻菲律宾大使馆星期一通报上述消息，并指施纯芳涉嫌多起针对中国公民的绑架、杀人等严重刑事案件。中菲两国执法部门经过两年多调查和追捕，近期发现施纯芳在菲律宾的藏匿地点，经过周密布控，最终一举将他抓获。
中国驻菲使馆表示，此次执法行动充分彰显了中国政府打击犯罪除恶务尽、誓为受害者伸张正义的坚定决心，也是中菲两国联手打击跨国犯罪的又一重大成果。
中国驻菲使馆还表示，北京期待同马尼拉继续加大执法合作，严厉打击网络博彩、绑架勒索、人口贩卖等犯罪活动，维护中国公民生命财产安全，为两国正常人员往来提供保障。
中国A股年成交额首次突破400万亿元（人民币，下同，73万亿新元）。
综合人民财讯和财联社报道，截至星期一（12月22日），中国A股今年总成交额超过405万亿元，这是A股历史上首次年成交额超过400万亿元。
A股整体换手率也明显向好，年内平均换手率接近1.74%，有望创出2016年来新高。
从个股来看，多达19只个股今年成交额超过万亿元，中际旭创、东方财富、新易盛等个股年内成交额均超两万亿元；寒武纪-U、宁德时代、胜宏科技等个股年内成交额均超1.8万亿元。
© Eric Lee for The New York Times
© Doug Mills/The New York Times
Getty ImagesAttorney General Pam Bondi took to X over the weekend with a bold statement: "President Trump is leading the most transparent administration in American history."
Her post was about efforts to release documents concerning the attempted assassination of Trump last July.
But the folks commenting in the replies had a completely different investigation in mind – the one into Jeffrey Epstein.
And they weren't buying it.
"Liar," snapped several people – along with many much harsher insults. One conservative YouTuber who mixes blistering tirades with Bitcoin promotions wrote: "I will vote for whatever President ... campaigns on arresting Pam Bondi over the cover up of the Epstein Files."
After folding into his coalition many non-traditional voters from the more fringe corners of the internet, Trump and members of his administration now find themselves coming face to face with the conspiratorial thinking they have stoked.
"This is the greatest cover-up by a president and for a president in history," said one member of a Facebook group devoted to sleuthing about the case. "Epstein is the story and don't let up."
At issue isn't so much the previously unreleased pictures of people like Bill Clinton, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson and legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite in Epstein's company – which is not an indicator of any wrongdoing – but the sea of blacked-out redactions in the files themselves.
On the campaign trail last year, Trump suggested that he would support the release of investigation files. In February, Bondi said they were "sitting on my desk right now to review".
But after so much time and anticipation, Friday's release landed with a whimper.
Joe Uscinski, an associate professor of political science at the University of Miami who studies conspiracy theories and conspiratorial thinking, says Trump's coalition is now more about scepticism and antagonism towards institutions - and less about traditional Republican Party goals.
Many in the movement, he says, believe that huge numbers of children are being used for sex trafficking, beliefs that are bolstered by Epstein's very real crimes as well as conspiracy theories like QAnon.
"People don't necessarily want documents released - they want documents released which tell them that what they believe is true."
Getty ImagesThe potential for political trouble is not lost on Trump's inner circle. In a Vanity Fair article published prior to the document release, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles described the people compelled to vote for Trump because of his promises on Epstein as "Joe Rogan listeners" – in other words, younger men who aren't traditionally into politics.
Wiles has called the story a "hit piece". But she has not disputed specific quotes, including her assertion that Trump has not yet solidified a lasting Republican majority.
"The people that are inordinately interested in Epstein are the new members of the Trump coalition, the people that I think about all the time – because I want to make sure that they are not [only] Trump voters, they're Republican voters," she told the magazine.
Polls and experts back up the chief of staff's concerns about the tenuous nature of Trump's coalition.
A survey released in early December by the right-wing Manhattan Institute think tank labelled nearly a third of Trump's supporters "New Entrant Republicans" – people who voted for the party for the first time in 2024. And the poll found that just over half of that category would "definitely" support a Republican in the 2026 mid-term elections.
"These voters are drawn to Trump but are not reliably attached to the Republican Party," the institute concluded.
The possible fragility of the Trump coalition is playing out on several different levels.
One crucial group is a collection of social media stars and podcasters who stand mostly outside traditional Republican circles but have clout and influence online.
They were instrumental in keeping social media attention on the Epstein story long after the convicted sex offender's death.
A group of influencers – including "Libs of TikTok" creator Chaya Raichik, conspiracy theorist and Turning Point USA activist Jack Posobiec, and elections organiser Scott Presler – were even invited to an event at the Department of Justice (DoJ) and given binders, which Bondi described as a "first phase" of Epstein document releases.
Little if anything new was in the binders, which caused a backlash. Outrage swelled further in July after the DoJ released a memo saying that there was no Epstein "client list" and rejecting conspiracy theories about his death in prison.
Yet following the most recent release, many of these same conservative influencers have been curiously silent.
Laura Loomer, a popular Maga social media influencer who has helped spread Epstein conspiracies online, claimed that they exonerated Trump from any wrongdoing.
"Maybe now the media will stop obsessing over these files," wrote Loomer, who has mentioned Epstein at least 200 times on X this year alone.
Others - including several who were at the DoJ binder event - have not mentioned the document release at all, positively or negatively.
Their silence has been noted by other right-wing and far-right commentators, sparking online Maga infighting. And the row over the Epstein case is just one controversy currently roiling the movement, with arguments over free speech, anti-Semitism and Charlie Kirk's legacy bursting out into the open at an annual conference put on by Turning Point USA this week.
Jared Holt, senior researcher at Open Measures, a company that analyses online extremism, says the debate over the Epstein files is just one controversy contributing to the challenges facing the Maga movement.
"At the beginning of the year, Maga was a triumphant intimidating cultural force, now the train is falling off the tracks and there's no clear sign that it will be stabalising or rebounding anytime soon," he says.
"It seems like the die-hard Trump base has atrophied over the course of the year," Holt says, but notes that it's too soon to tell if the recent heavily redacted document drop will have any significant impact on the sorts of "Joe Rogan listeners" Wiles is concerned about.
Getty ImagesProminent voices in Congress have been less shy than the influencer class about criticising the justice department. Soon-to-be-ex-Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene lambasted the release, calling it "NOT MAGA".
Thomas Massie, the Republican member of the House of Representatives from Kentucky who spearheaded legislation leading to the document release, spent the weekend lambasting the justice department online and on US weekend talk shows.
He accused Bondi and officials of being in violation of the law requiring the release of the files, and has joined forces with Democratic Representative Ro Khanna to push for greater transparency.
Massie has suggested that they could move to charge Bondi with "inherent contempt" for ignoring a congressional order - a move which could force further document disclosures.
Regardless of whether or not that happens, there may be further revelations in the next few days. Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, has promised hundreds of thousands more documents before the end of the year.
Tony and Becs Wadley say they can't spend Christmas at home after insulation installed under a government scheme has caused black mould in several rooms, and their asthmatic son can't be inside the property.
Mr Wadley says the situation is tearing the family apart: ''It's awful. Elliott can't come into our house, it's as if he's been ostracised from his own home.''
The couple are among more than 300 people who have contacted the BBC in recent weeks to tell us about insulation that has gone wrong in their homes.
The government has been contacted for commented.
Becs WadleyMr and Mrs Wadley got a government grant to have energy efficiency measures fitted in their Gower Peninsula house because they hoped a warmer home would help Elliot's asthma. The grant covered the cost of insulating his bedroom walls.
But months after the work was completed, the Wadleys discovered black mould was growing behind the insulation boards. It was removed by the installer and replaced with a new insulation system. But this also had to be removed along with all the plaster after it became damp. Elliott, 19, hasn't entered the house since April, instead staying with his grandmother during university breaks.
''I miss him like you wouldn't believe'," says Mrs Wadley.
The family are going to stay with Mr Wadley's sister for Christmas so they can all be together.
Billions of pounds of public money has been spent on insulating homes over the last 15 years.
The Wadley's home was insulated under a government scheme known as ECO4. In October, the National Audit Office (NAO) spending watchdog found that 29% of internal wall insulation carried out under ECO4 had been so poorly installed it needed to be repaired.
It said there had been "weak" government oversight and regulatory ''failure''.
In response to the NAO report, Energy Consumer Minister Martin McCluskey, said at the time: "We are fixing the broken system by introducing comprehensive reforms to make this process clear and straightforward, and in the rare cases where things go wrong, there will be clear lines of accountability, so consumers are guaranteed to get any problems fixed quickly."
Becs WadleyIn the downstairs rooms of the Wadleys' home the insulation has also failed and has had to be removed. There is black mould on the walls while electric sockets hang loose with the wires exposed. The family says it has been in this condition for months.
The installer, Stellar Energy, says it has ''no record of any immediate safety hazards being flagged.'' It says the descriptions of the exposed wires and sockets was "highly inconsistent" with their standard operating procedures, which required all such work to be made safe.
Building surveyor, David Walter, says the insulation wasn't fitted correctly and says the installer ''didn't understand what they were doing and what they were doing to the building which is why we've got these problems.''
Stellar Energy told the BBC the design was ''technically correct for a stone house and was installed...in strict accordance with the mandatory technical specifications of ECO4.''
Mr Wadley says he wouldn't have signed up for the grant if he'd known what would happen. ''You wouldn't put your family through this. Nobody would. Somebody needs to take responsibility.''
Stellar Energy says it ''sincerely regrets any distress this situation has caused the family'' and says its priority is ''providing a final resolution to ensure the home meets the high standards'' it strives for.
Scott Proudman contacted the BBC about the botched external wall insulation fitted to his Bristol home in 2021.
His family had been eligible for a government grant because of his eight-year-old daughter's disabilities. Born 24 weeks premature, she has cerebral palsy, a partial visual impairment and a shunt. She was recently diagnosed with autism.
''I feel like a failure every time I come home because this was meant to be something to look after my family, to make life easier, and it hasn't," he says.
When the work was done, insulation boards were fixed to the outside of the house and render was applied to make it waterproof. But the render has been falling off for years.
Scott ProudmanBuilding surveyor Mr Walter, says poor design and poor workmanship has caused the render to disintegrate. He says rainwater will very likely get under the cracked render and behind the insulation and will likely cause dampness inside.
''It's like a timebomb. It's going to get worse and worse, affecting the inside of the property," he says.
Mr Walter says all of the render and insulation will have to come off and will cost tens of thousands of pounds to put right.
Right now the family is stuck with the repair bill because the installer, SPMS Wales, is being liquidated and Mr Proudman says they weren't given the required guarantee for the work. Trustmark, the organisation responsible for overseeing quality, says it can't help because the company lost its accreditation soon after the work was completed.
Mr Proudman says he chose the company ''because it was on a government website and was Trustmark registered. I can't believe how few rights consumers have.''
Brett Langdon, a director at SPMS Wales says he is ''very sorry the Proudmans have ended up in this situation'' and says all works ''were done to the manufactures specification.'' He says he gave a guarantee to the Proudmans but has told the BBC he can't remember who the guarantee is with. He says the delamination of the render was "due to a failure of the system".
In a statement TrustMark said it was ''very sorry to hear about what's happened to Mr and Mrs Proudman and Mr and Mrs Wadley and the conditions both families' homes have been left in. It is totally unacceptable and we are in discussions with the relevant Scheme Providers and guarantee providers to help resolve these situations.''
And it said it underlined ''the need for reform to the current system''.
ReutersThe US Food and Drug Administration has approved a pill version of the weight-loss drug Wegovy, according to maker Novo Nordisk.
It marks a first in this new era of weight-loss medications with Wegovy being the only so far to gain approval for the pill version of their GLP-1 drug, which has only been available as an injection.
Wegovy's Danish makers Novo Nordisk said the once-daily pill was a "convenient option" to the inject-able and would provide the same weight loss as the shot. It comes after Wegovy was approved by the FDA specifically for weight loss.
Others like Ozempic, which has similar weight-loss effects, were primarily approved for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.
The BBC has contacted the FDA for comment.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.
Getty Images"How much did Santa's sleigh cost? Nothing, it was on the house."
The joke is met by groans that echo through a warehouse in Lambeth, London.
We're at a joke-testing session with Talking Tables, a London company that makes supplies for gatherings. Its repertoire includes Christmas crackers.
The firm's founder and chief executive, Clare Harris grins, almost apologetically at the gag. But the joke has made the cut and will feature in future crackers.
"You measure the joke by the number of groans and the loudness of the groans around the table," Ms Harris says.
The key to a good Christmas cracker joke is not the same as a good gag per se. It is all about the context - in this case, the shared laughter of the Christmas dinner table with grandparents, children and potentially the neighbours or friends who've joined this year.
"You want the joke to be something that brings the eight-year-old together with the 80-year-old," Ms Harris says.
Joke selection takes place on the upper level of the warehouse, where a handful of staff from across the company gather to pitch and assess the latest jokes they have come up with.
The jokes being worked through today will be the last few to make it into crackers for 2026.
The firm works at least a year in advance of the next batch of crackers.
"What do monkeys sing at Christmas?" asks Ms Harris. "Jungle bells, jungle bells."
On this occasion, there are more emphatic "noes" than groans, and Ms Harris accepts defeat this time around. It won't be found in a cracker next year.
"We have a database," she says. "But each year we make sure we bring our favourites from when we've used them at home."
Cracker joke material comes from a variety of sources including the internet, word of mouth and the company's own joke books.
Asked whether they've yet succumbed to the lure of artificial intelligence, Ms Harris responds with a firm denial.
She says the aim of the session is to work out what their favourites were and which delivered the greatest emotional reaction.
"Does it do what we want around the Christmas table?" she asks.
Chloe Lloyd, from the sales team, pitches a joke she has heard earlier that day.
"What does the moon do when it needs a haircut?," she asks. 'Eclipse it!"
That's an instant hit, the group says.
Gathering to enjoy shared laughter is not only nothing new, experts say, it is likely to be pre-human.
Laurence Cawley/BBC"So when you are laughing with people around the Christmas table you are dropping into what's almost certainly a really ancient mammal play vocalisation," says Prof Sophie Scott, the director of University College London's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Shared laughter, she says, helps make and maintain social connections between people.
Researchers have found the lack of such interactions can seriously damage mental and physical health.
"The people you talk to, and laugh with, it leads to enhanced levels of endorphin uptake," says Prof Scott.
Endorphins are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are released both to reduce stress and pain and in response to pleasurable experiences, such as laughing with friends over a truly terrible Christmas cracker joke.
"You're not just laughing at a silly joke with a Christmas cracker," Prof Scott says. "You are actually doing a lot of the really important work of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with those you love."
And it is not just humans that laugh.
Laughing, says Prof Scott, is an invitation to play and build social bonds. Rats and a number of other mammals do it too.
Laurence Cawley/BBCBut what is actually happening inside the brain when we hear a joke?
An awful lot happens in response to humour, it turns out.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a type of brain scanner which shows which parts of the brain are working harder, Prof Scott and her team has been able to map the areas that receive more blood.
Testing involves scanning the brains of healthy participants and then subjecting them to a database of funny words, accompanied by either a neutral "crunchy" noise, or pre-recorded laughter, and to then examine which parts of the brain are working hardest.
"In the scanner we got a really interesting pattern of activation," says Prof Scott.
A joke activates not just the parts of the brain responsible for hearing and interpreting speech, but also brain areas involved in both planning and initiating movement and those involved in vision and memory.
Put all of this together, says Prof Scott, and people hearing a joke have a complex set of neural responses that underpin the laughter we hear - they not only listen to and understand the joke, but prime the motor functions needed to prepare to laugh, and have their response influenced by images from memory.
Getty ImagesResearchers discovered that when a funny word is paired with laughter there is a greater response in the brain than the same word when followed by a neutral sound.
"This was in parts of the brain that you would use to move your face into a smile or a laugh," Prof Scott says.
It means people are not just responding to funny words or jokes, they are responding to the laughter that accompanies them.
Laughter, says Prof Scott, can be contagious.
So what does this mean for the laughter found around a Christmas table?
"You laugh more when you know people," says Prof Scott, "and you laugh more when you like them or love them."
When it comes to Christmas cracker jokes, she says, the feel-good factor is more likely to be caused not by the joke itself, but from the response to it.
"It's the laughter. The joke is the terrible Christmas cracker joke, and it's just a reason to laugh together."
Will we ever discover the perfect joke?
Probably not, but that has not stopped experts from trying to.
In 2001 Prof Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, in Hatfield, set up LaughLab, the scientific search for the world's funniest joke.
More than 40,000 jokes later, with ratings lodged on those jokes by 350,000 people around the world, Prof Wiseman has a better idea than most as to what works and what does not.
The perfect Christmas cracker joke needs to be short, he says.
"But they also need to be poor jokes, jokes that make us groan," Prof Wiseman adds.
The more "terrible" the joke, he says the better.
"This is because if no-one laughs – it's the joke's fault, not yours.
"What's interesting about the Christmas cracker jokes is that none of us find them funny.
"That's a shared experience around the table and I think it's lovely."
浙江金融资产交易中心今年11底发生200亿元（人民币，下同，36.6亿新元）投资产品暴雷后，其理财产品主要发行方祥源集团实际控制人俞发祥星期一（12月22日）晚被通报刑事立案。
祥源控股集团有限责任公司旗下三家上市公司——祥源文旅、交建股份、海昌海洋公园星期一晚同步发公告，披露公司实际控制人俞发祥因涉嫌犯罪，已被绍兴市公安局采取刑事强制措施，相关案件正在调查过程中。
公告显示，截至星期一，三家上市公司均未收到有关机关要求协助调查的通知。公司控制权也未发生变化，生产经营一切正常，上述事项暂未对公司正常生产经营产生重大影响。
公开资料显示，俞发祥1971年出生于浙江嵊州，现任祥源控股集团董事长，旗下掌控祥源文旅、交建股份、海昌海洋公园三家上市公司，2025年10月以145亿元身家位列《胡润百富榜》第465位。
祥源控股始创于1992年，以文旅投资建设运营为主导，布局50余个文旅项目，覆盖多处世界遗产及A级景区，同时涉足基建和地产板块。祥源集团陷入危机，与中国低迷的房地产市场有关。
澎湃新闻星期二（23日）指出，此次事件并非突然爆发，而是祥源系债务风险持续发酵的结果。回溯事件脉络，自11月28日起，浙江浙金资产运营股份有限公司（原浙江金融资产交易中心，下称“浙金中心”）平台上，由祥源控股及俞发祥提供连带责任担保的多款金融资产收益权产品陆续出现到期无法兑付或无法兑付收益的情况，涉及规模高达200亿元。
祥源控股执行总裁沈保山当时回应称，到期未兑付的产品约二至三款，相关方正积极沟通处理。
祥源文旅集团旗下两家上市公司祥源文旅和交建股份12月7日发布公告，回应网络传闻，强调相关产品与上市公司无关、不承担担保责任。公告同时提到实控人俞发祥承担连带保证责任的金融产品出现部分逾期兑付，并表示祥源控股及公司实控人正在与相关方就逾期兑付的具体情况进行沟通处理。
债务风险爆发后，监管部门迅速介入。为稳妥处置风险、维护投资者合法权益，绍兴市组建了帮扶祥源控股集团工作组，于12月12日正式进驻企业。工作组进驻后，一方面着手排查企业资产及负债情况，摸清企业经营困难与诉求；另一方面督促企业履行债务责任，确保生产经营正常开展。
绍兴市相关部门当时曾明确表示，将对排查中发现的涉嫌违法犯罪线索移交公安机关查处。
在债务风波和工作组进驻的同时，祥源系核心股权已被大量冻结。交建股份12月16日率先披露，控股股东祥源控股及实控人俞发祥所持公司股份已被司法冻结、轮候冻结及司法标记。
具体数据显示，祥源控股持有交建股份2.74亿股，占总股本44.32%，其持股100%被冻结、标记及轮候冻结；俞发祥持有1572.91万股，占总股本2.54%，同样被全额冻结。
冻结原因包括金融借款担保合同纠纷诉前保全及关联债务风险等；绍兴市公安局也是冻结申请人之一。随后，祥源文旅也披露了类似的股权冻结情况。
目前，祥源系三家上市公司在公告中均强调与控股股东在资产、业务、财务等方面保持独立，不存在非经营性资金占用、违规担保等情况。截至目前，案件具体涉嫌罪名尚未披露，祥源控股及相关方也未进一步回应后续处置措施。
中国官方通报，将设工作组调查南京博物院馆藏古画流失风波。
中国央视新闻星期二（12月23日）引述中国国家文物局消息称，文物局成立工作组，就南京博物院文物管理中的有关情况开展核查。
中国近现代收藏大家庞莱臣后人捐给南京博物院（简称南博）的一件明代仇英《江南春》图卷，出现在一场艺术拍卖预展中，估价达8800万元人民币（1610万新元），引发舆论对南博处理馆藏古画情况。
南博回应称，庞莱臣后人捐赠的137幅庞家收藏画作中，五幅画作1960年代已被专家鉴定为伪作。博物院1990年代依照《博物馆藏品管理办法》对这五幅画作进行了处置。
上述事件星期一（22日）再掀新风波，一名自称南博退休职工的男子称，实名举报前院长徐湖平，但一直未收到有效反馈。
对于“南博事件”相关事宜，南京博物院名誉院长龚良则对中国新闻周刊表示，“这个事情，我没什么可说的，抱歉。”
中国人工智能（AI）初创公司MiniMax和智谱赴港首次公开募股（IPO）获证监会备案。
据中国证监会网站消息，中国证监会国际合作司星期一（12月22日）发布关于MiniMax Group Inc.（简称MiniMax）境外发行上市备案通知书，公司拟发行不超过33577240（约3357.72万）股境外上市普通股，并在香港联合交易所上市。根据通知书，MiniMax的境内运营实体为上海稀宇极智科技有限公司。
中国证监会国际合作司同日也发布关于北京智谱华章科技股份有限公司（简称智谱）境外发行上市及境内未上市股份“全流通”备案通知书，公司拟发行不超过43032400（4303.24万）股境外上市普通股，并在香港联合交易所上市。
据通知书，智谱57名股东拟将所持合计178282205（约1.78亿）股境内未上市股份转为境外上市股份，并在香港联合交易所上市流通。
港交所网站显示，智谱12月19日已通过港交所聆讯并披露了招股书，据悉有望以全球大模型第一股的身份登陆港交所。MiniMax在12月21日公布港交所聆讯后资料集，据了解有望刷新纪录，成为从成立到IPO历时最短的AI公司。
彭博社12月11日引述知情人士报道，总部位于上海的MiniMax最快将于明年1月赴港上市。智谱也规划在同个时间到香港上市。两家公司都获得阿里巴巴集团和腾讯控股等中国科技巨企的支持。
山西大同星期一（12月22日）晚发生4.2级地震，是当地四个月来至少第三次地震，北方多地有震感。
中国地震台网测定，山西大同市灵丘县星期一晚上8时31分在发生4.2级地震，震源深度八公里，震中位于北纬39.32度，东经114.39度。
山西、河北、北京、天津等地网民在社交平台表示有震感，“石家庄有震感”“我在北京丰台感觉床晃悠了一下”“天津感觉到了”。河北保定、北京昌平等地网民也表示均有同感。
此前，山西大同云州区今年8月16日在一分钟内发生两次地震，当天下午4时46分22秒，先发生3.8级地震，震源深度11公里。大约一分钟后，又发生3.5级地震，震源深度10公里。
© Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Login
