TOP NEWS

Xi Jinping's China
Xi Jinping purges China's top military ranks

Over the past three years, Xi Jinping has carried out a purge of the military's top brass that is unprecedented in modern Chinese history, according to a New York Times analysis of Chinese state media and official statements.

Of the six men who in March 2023 made up the Central Military Commission, the highest commanding body in the People's Liberation Army, only General Zhang Shengmin remains today. He was responsible for the purge and now appears to be tasked with ensuring political discipline and loyalty in the military, according to the newspaper.

A total of seven out of 30 generals and admirals have been purged since the beginning of 2023, according to the NYT. They have either been dismissed, replaced, become the subject of investigation or have disappeared from public view.

Last week, it was reported that China's top general Zhang Youxia is under investigation. According to sources to the WSJ, he is suspected of leaking nuclear secrets to the United States.

Putin's Russia
Putin: Russia's growth was one percent last year

Russian growth on an annual basis was no more than one percent in 2025, President Vladimir Putin said, according to AFP.

- This is lower than what was measured previously, as we all know: in 2023 and 2024, growth was 4.1 and 4.3 percent, respectively, he said during a government meeting.

In 2026, growth is expected to fall to between 1 and 1.3 percent, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said, according to Reuters.

At the same time, the investment rate among companies decreased to 0.5 percent in the first nine months of 2025, he added, according to the Moscow Times.

Trump's USA The future of Republicans
Marjorie Taylor Greene: Maga was a big lie

Donald Trump's slogan "Make America great again" was one big lie. That's what Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former loyal Trump ally and now defected Republican congresswoman, said, according to The Hill.

The administration is putting the interests of one group above all others: the wealthy donors, who donate to projects like the White House Ballroom, Greene said in an interview with radio host Kim Iversen.

“They are the ones who get special treatment. They get the government contracts, they get pardoned, or their loved ones get pardoned.”

Taylor Greene also accuses the administration of prioritizing foreign policy over its own citizens. Scores of innocent people are being murdered in Gaza so that “some new real estate project can be built,” she said. 

Iran-US Relations
Netanyahu to US ahead of talks: Don't trust Iran

Don't trust the Iranians. That was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's message to US envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting on Tuesday, news agencies report.

"Ahead of Witkoff's meeting with an Iranian representative, the prime minister made clear his position that Iran has repeatedly proven that their promises are unreliable," a statement from Netanyahu's staff reads.

Later this week, the US and Iran will meet to de-escalate the tense situation. Despite a clash in the Arabian Sea today, where the US shot down an Iranian drone and Iranian boats chased a US-flagged ship, the meeting will take place, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

- President Trump always prefers diplomacy first, but it requires reciprocity, she says according to AFP.