Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, criticizes a new nuclear submarine agreement signed by the United States and South Korea, citing the country’s media reports that he is touring the country’s submarine production facility as a threat to the stability of the Korean Peninsula.
According to state news agency KCNA, Kim claimed the agreement between Seoul and Washington was an “offensive act severely violating]Pyongyang’s] security and maritime sovereignty and a threat to security that must be countered.”
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According to the report, Kim claimed that it was now urgent to “further accelerate the radical development of the modernization and nuclear weaponization of the North Korean naval force.”
Kim made the remarks during a tour of a facility where Pyongyang is “working on an 8, 700-tonnage nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine” on Wednesday.
The North Korean leader also oversaw the test of a new high-altitude long-range anti-air missile into the “East Sea of Korea,” as the news outlet called it on Wednesday.
Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, arrives on Wednesday at the site of a 8,700-tonne nuclear-powered submarine capable of firing surface-to-air missiles [KCNA via Reuters].
The missile successfully hit a mock target at a distance of 200 kilometers (124 miles) according to KCNA, which confirmed the test’s success.
Seoul announced today that it was looking into “standalone agreements” with the US to acquire nuclear-powered submarine technology, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Following a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, South Korea’s national security adviser, Wi Sung-lac, announced that US law forbids the transfer of nuclear weapons for military use.
According to Wi, Australia and the US are pursuing similar agreements to build their own nuclear-powered submarines, and negotiations are expected to start in the spring of next year.
[KCNA via Reuters] A long-range surface-to-air missile is fired near the Sea of Japan on December 24, 2025.
Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia, also emailed Kim a New Year’s greeting on Wednesday, thanking him for his persistent military support for the Ukrainian conflict. Since 2024, North Korea has deployed thousands of soldiers to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine and some of Russia’s roughest regions.
According to a report from KCNA, Putin said, “The heroic entry of Korean soldiers into the battles for liberating the Kursk region from occupiers and the subsequent activities of Korean engineers in the land of Russia demonstrated the invincible friendship and militant fraternity” between Russia and North Korea.
Tonight’s Amandaland Christmas special will be broadcast.
3 images to be seen
Joanna Lumley spoke about mortality earlier this year(Image: Jeff Spicer, Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
With a TV career spanning over 60 years, Joanna Lumley is one of the nation’s favorite actresses. This evening, the 79-year-old will reprise his role in Amandaland’s Christmas special.
The award-winning star recently shared her thoughts on growing older, disclosing that being conscious of time passing actually energises her more. The celebrated 79-year-old actress and entertainer also confessed she frequently reflects on her own death. “As you near the top of the hill you suddenly think, ‘Gosh, there’s not all that amount of time left’,” she said in a conversation with My Weekly earlier this year.
“All of my dear friends are beginning to leave,” I said. I don’t want to waste a second on this beautiful planet, but it must be coming quite soon. As Joanna continues to work on demanding projects, her zest for life shines through.
This year, she shone in the comedy series Amandaland, a spin-off of the award-winning sitcom Motherland, produced for the BBC. Its Christmas special is set to air on BBC One from 9.15pm tonight (December 25), while season two will arrive in 2026.
Joanna has also recently appeared in the Netflix drama Fool Me Once, and a three-part ITV travel documentary in which she explores Europe’s Danube River. Yet, things haven’t always been easy for the actress.
The actress previously revealed to Vernon Kay on BBC 2 that she has struggled with prosopagnosia for years, which makes recognition of faces difficult.
“I’ve got this weird thing with faces, I’ve got a face blindness,” she said a few years ago on the Tracks of My Years podcast, the Express reports. “It’s called prosopagnosia.
I need to be aware of who people are in advance. I always ask, “Please tell me who’s going to be there,” so that I can match the item’s name to that. It’s not at all related to the phrase “Oh, but you meet so many people,” but it’s completely different from that.
“I never knew what it was, and it has followed me.” I’d also give a test a try. When I first glanced at someone, I would close my eyes and consider whether I could see their face in my head. And I was unable.
According to the NHS, prosopagnosia frequently goes beyond recognising faces, making it difficult to tell a person’s gender, age, and gender difference between objects like cars or animals. Unfortunately, this condition doesn’t have a cure, but noticing its peculiarities might make it more bearable.
Official online NHS guidance explains: “You’ll still see the parts of a face normally, but all faces may look the same to you. It affects people differently. Some people may not be able to tell the difference between strangers or people they do not know well. Others may not recognise the faces of friends and family, or even their own face.”
Joanna continues to thrive despite these difficulties thanks to prosopagnosia. The 79-year-old has a distinguished acting career that includes roles in The New Avengers, Sapphire &, Steel, Absolutely Fabulous, Finding Alice, and Motherland.
In the ’60s, she was notably one of Ken Barlow’s first girlfriends in Coronation Street. And, on the big screen, she even worked alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street.
On Thursday, December 25, 2018, this is how things are going.
Fighting
Just days after a high-ranking Russian general was killed in the same area of the capital by a car bomb, three people were killed in Moscow, including two police officers.
The two police officers were targeted because they participated in Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, according to a GUR official from Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.
According to the capital’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Russian air defense units flew 16 Ukrainian drones into Moscow throughout the day.
No damage was reported, despite Sobyanin claiming that the drones were repelled over a period of about 17 hours and that emergency personnel were examining the fragments that had hit the ground.
According to the Russian government’s civil aviation authority, two of the four major airports that serve Moscow were forced to temporarily halt operations.
Nearly half of the 172 Ukrainian drones that were destroyed by Russia’s Ministry of Defense’s air defense units flew over Ukraine’s borders overnight.
Ukraine claimed that its drones had struck a storage facility for marine drones in Russian-occupied Crimea and the Yefremov synthetic rubber factory in the Tula region of Russia.
Dmitry Milyaev, the regional governor of Tula, claimed 12 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed over the region after debris from a downed Ukrainian drone caught fire at an industrial site.
Wildlife were killed and conservationists were alerted by a sunflower oil spill brought on by Russian aerial bombardments that had contaminated the shoreline of Odesa, southern Ukraine, according to the AFP news agency.
Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper stated in a statement that “some of the oil … spilled due to massive enemy attacks on port infrastructure.” On Wednesday, the Pivdenny port temporarily closed in the area to assist with the cleanup.
A Colombian man was given a 19-year prison sentence for fighting for Kyiv’s army by a Russian-backed court in occupied Ukraine.
Oscar Mauricio Blanco Lopez, 42, was sentenced to 19 years in prison by the Supreme Court in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, according to the prosecutor general of Russia. The Colombian, who had been “taken prisoner by Russian servicemen” in December 2025, arrived in Ukraine in May of that year in order to sign up for the Ukrainian army.
talks on a ceasefire
For the first time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, disclosed details of a deal reached by the negotiators of the US and Ukraine to end the conflict with Russia. After extensive negotiations, the US and Ukrainian negotiators agreed on a 20-point plan. Mosco has now reviewed it.
In line with the government’s strategy, President Zelenskyy stated that if Moscow also backed down and the region was transformed into a demilitarized zone under international surveillance, Ukraine would be prepared to withdraw its troops from the nation’s eastern industrial heartland.
According to Zelenskyy, a similar arrangement might be made for the region that is currently under Russian control around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Any peace plan in Ukraine would need to be put to a vote, according to the Ukrainian leader.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who met with US envoys in Florida over the weekend, reportedly received information from Russian envoys, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who asked about the most recent developments in the ceasefire talks.
Russia has not indicated whether it will support any form of reunification of Ukrainian territory. Ukraine has also urged that the Donbass, which it currently controls, be given over to it. The two Donbass regions, which are largely made up of Luhansk and Donetsk, are now largely under Russian control.
diplomacy and politics
According to Russian state pollster VTsIOM, the majority of Russians anticipate the end of the conflict in 2026, which suggests the Kremlin might be putting pressure on the public as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict get worse.
During the pollster’s year-end presentation, VTsIOM Deputy Head Mikhail Mamonov claimed that 55% of the 1,600 people concerned about the potential end of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine said they were optimistic about 2026.
The first public hearing in a criminal case against German sculptor Jacques Tilly, who is accused of discrediting the Russian military with his satirical Carnival floats, is scheduled for March 1 in a Russian court.
Due to the fact that Tilly is not a resident of Russia and faces up to 10 years in jail or a fine, the trial will begin on December 30 and proceedings will take place in absentia.
Zelenskyy claimed in his Christmas speech on Wednesday that despite marking the holiday with a “difficult” period, the spirit of the country is still present. The Ukrainian people are all together tonight, Zelenskyy said, adding that the war had “without a doubt” altered the country. He said, “It hardly matters what dishes are on the table; what matters is who is at the table.”
In Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, on December 24, 2025, artillerymen from the 44th Separate Artillery Brigade fire an M777 Howitzer at Russian troops.
Regional security
Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, stated that he had spoken with NATO’s Mark Rutte to talk about the “coalition of the willing” and the situation in Ukraine. We will continue the work that was begun in this framework, which Macron stated on social media, “to provide solid security guarantees to Ukraine,” starting in January.
Democratic US senators have urged President Trump to reverse the recall of nearly 30 of his former aides, warning that it will create a dangerous leadership vacuum that allows rivals like Russia and China to gain influence. In recent days, the Trump administration has directed career diplomats working in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe back to Washington to make sure that US missions abroad adhere to its “America First” priorities.
Economics
Due to bad weather, which slowed efforts to repair Russia’s loading infrastructure following last month’s drone strikes by Ukraine, Kazakhstan’s exports of its flagship CPC Blend oil will be at their lowest level in 14 months in December, according to two sources.
One of three jetties, operated by Ukrainian drones, were hit by Ukrainian drones on November 29 at Novorossiysk, near Russia’s Black Sea port, causing export delays. The difficulty of carrying out maintenance tasks that will help exports recover has grown due to the bad weather.
The Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance announced the settlement of a deal to restructure $2.6 billion in growth-linked debt.
According to media reports, a mosque in northeastern Nigeria was destroyed by an explosion that injured several people as they prayed their evening prayers.
According to Reuters and AFP news agencies, the explosion occurred in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Wednesday at around 6 p.m., according to witnesses.
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An explosive ordnance team was already present at the mosque in Maiduguri’s Gamboru market, according to police spokesman Nahum Daso, who confirmed the explosion.
No official announcement about the casualties.
However, Babakura Kolo, a militia leader, claimed at least eight people had died while mosque leader Malam Abuna Yusuf told the AFP that Babakura Kolo, a leader of the militia, said eight.
Musa Yusha’u, a different witness, claimed he witnessed “many victims being taken away for medical treatment.”
Although it was unknown as to what caused the explosion, it occurred in a city that has been the epicenter of an almost two-decade-old armed uprising waged by Boko Haram and ISIL’s (ISIL) affiliate in the area, known as the Islamic State West Africa Province.
According to the United Nations, the conflict has claimed the lives of at least 40, 000 people and displaced about 2 million of them from their homes since 2009.
Although the violence has decreased since its peak ten years ago, it has continued to spread to the neighboring countries of Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.
In some areas of the northeast, where armed groups continue to launch deadly attacks despite years of sustained military operations, are growing concerns about a resurgence of violence.
George Michael’s death on the morning of Christmas Day in 2016 caused hearts to break across the globe. However, he isn’t the only celebrity to pass away on the occasion.
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George Michael died in 2016(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Although Christmas Day is typically a holiday filled with joy and celebration, it also has experienced heartbreaking losses.
In 2016, the world was left in shock when pop icon George Michael was found dead on the festive morning. However, George isn’t the only star to have tragically passed away on Christmas Day.
Among the best and brightest stars who tragically perished on December 25 are listed here for a retrospective look.
Melanie Panayiotou and George Michael, respectively
At the tender age of 53, beloved pop star George Michael was discovered lifeless at his home in Goring-on-Thames, making the world mourn a tragic loss on Christmas Day 2016. Fadi Fawaz, the star’s partner, went to bed that morning to try to revive him, but he was unresponsive.
In a statement, Fadi shared: “We were supposed to be going for Christmas lunch. I went round there to wake him up and he was just gone, lying peacefully in bed. Everything had been very complicated recently, but George was looking forward to Christmas, and so was I.”, reports the Mirror.
The hairstylist expressed his deep regret over the split with George and Fadi, who had been together since 2012. He tweeted: “It’s Xmas, I will never forget finding your partner dead peacefully in bed first thing in the morning.” I’ll never stop missing you, “xx”.”
Up until March of the following year, a coroner determined George had died from natural causes, specifically dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver. The heart muscle’s ability to pump blood effectively throughout the body is affected by a condition called dilatation cardiomyopathy, which causes it to stretch and thin gradually.
Melanie Panayiotou, George’s sister, passed away on Christmas Day at the age of 59, in a tragic turn of events. Melanie “passed away suddenly” during the holiday season after entering a diabetic coma, according to the family’s statement.
Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin, a film legend, was raised in a difficult environment, with his mother’s conversion to a mental institution and a workhouse. The silent film icon, who had to overcome all odds, rose above poverty and became one of the most renowned and skilled performers in history.
Charlie’s well-being was beginning to significantly deteriorate by the 1970s. The icon found himself in a wheelchair and in need of round-the-clock assistance by October 1977 after having several strokes. In a bizarre way, Charlie passed away on Christmas Day of that year at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke while sleeping. The comedy legend’s private funeral service took place just two days later.
Charlie left over $100 million to his widow, which tragically led to a shocking incident where his body and coffin were taken as part of a ransom plot before being reburied in a reinforced vault.
James Brown
James Brown, a renowned funk musician, suddenly passed away on December 23, 2006. The 73-year-old’s dentist recommended immediate medical attention because he appeared “very bad… weak and dazed” during a dental appointment.
The music legend’s manager and close friend Charles Bobbit remained by his side as he was taken to the hospital.
James succumbed to congestive heart failure brought on by pneumonia complications in the early hours of Christmas morning. After revealing that James had told him, “I’m going away tonight,” Bobbit remained by his bedside until he passed away peacefully.
However, some fans and investigators have questioned whether James’ sudden demise and natural death presaged the singer’s death.
Dean Martin
Hollywood legend Dean Martin, who was born Dino Paul Crocetti on June 7, 1917 in Ohio, was a shy youngster who didn’t speak English until he entered the classroom at age five. When he discovered singing, everything changed, and he quickly rose to fame as a comedian, actor, and cultural icon of his time.
Dean had a lifelong heavy smoker, much like his fellow Rat Pack performers. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in September 1993, but he chose not to undergo the procedure that was suggested.
He passed away at his Beverly Hills residence at the age of 78 from acute respiratory failure just two years later. The Las Vegas Strip’s lights were turned on in honor of the legendary entertainer, who was receiving moving tributes as a show of respect.
In recognition of his extraordinary career, Dean was honored with a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in February 2009.
Eartha Kitt
Legendary singer Eartha Kitt passed away from colon cancer at her home on Christmas Day 2008 at the age of 81. During her final moments, her daughter, Kitt McDonald, was by her side and shared details of those final moments.
When she passed away, I was with her. She literally screamed at the top of her lungs as she left this world. She lived close to my house, and we almost always spoke. We were almost always together. When the doctor informed us that there was nothing they could do after her last few weeks, she was still at home. She continued to move up until the previous two days. She told Mommy Noire that the doctor had warned that she would leave very quickly and that her body would just begin to shut down.
“But when she left, she left the world in her current state of being. Literally speaking, she screamed her way out of this place. She was going to leave quietly or willingly because her survival instincts were so deeply embedded in her DNA. She was very funny because it was just the two of us hanging out [in the last days]. Because I always knew what she thought of me, we [could not talk].
The last few years of her life, she said, “We didn’t need these heart-to-heart conversations. We were just the love of her life.” She began to notice absentees. She assumed I could see them, but of course I couldn’t. I would make fun of her by saying, “I’m going to move to the other room and you’re here to talk to your friends.” “
After being brutally and publicly snubbed by their eldest child, Lady Victoria and Sir David Beckham are trying their hardest to make their Christmas merry and bright as they have decorated the tree and settled down for cocktails.
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The Beckhams are putting on a brave face at Christmas as a family feud rumbles along(Image: @victoriabeckham/instagram)
Lady Victoria and Sir David Beckham are putting on a brave front as they celebrate Christmas amid an explosive family fallout. The 51-year-old former Spice Girl and her 50-year-old former footballer husband have decked the halls and stocked up the fire as they prepare to celebrate the holiest time of year.
Although eldest son Brooklyn Beckham, 26, and his wife Nicola Peltz, 30, were noticeably absent, Lady Victoria gave fans an inside look at life together on Christmas Eve. A video of David starting to decorate a Christmas tree was captured on camera.
The retired sportsman appeared in an extra festive mood as he posed with a Santa hat. He enjoyed the decorative activity. And he and his wife later let their hair down to enjoy martinis, which Vicky revealed had been prepared by their youngest son, Cruz, 20. Sharing the clips online, Vicky highlighted the fact that her husband had been made a knight earlier in the year by King Charles III. She wrote a short caption stating: “Sir @davidbeckham giving us his best ‘Clark Griswold’.”
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The Beckham family’s turning point is when eldest son Brooklyn and his wife Nicola turned their backs on his parents and his siblings, which is when the holiday cheer came out. As fans noticed Brooklyn and his wife were nowhere to be seen while bottles were popping, the first cracks started to appear around David’s 50th birthday celebrations earlier this year.
The couple have since been slammed in the direction of the famous couple and their family as they seek their own lives abroad in the USA, but the pair completely snubbed the football player on his big day. Without the Beckhams present, Brooklyn and Nicola later recited their vows.
Brooklyn has since unfollowed his parents on social media, with fans accusing Victoria and David of doing the same in return. Cruz, Brooklyn’s younger brother, responded, saying, “NOT TRUE. Let’s get the facts straight, my parents would never unfollow their son. They both woke up blocked, just like I did.
A friend of the pair later claimed that they awoke dreading what the rest of the Beckham clan might have been posting about overnight, calling such updates “anxiety-inducing.” If the Beckhams could just back off and leave them alone for the time being, they said, according to them and the Mail Online. The Beckhams started these “blocking” game stories earlier this year, and they continue. It shouldn’t and shouldn’t be a story whether someone follows someone on Instagram or any other platform. Nothing has changed in this unfortunate circumstance.
Brooklyn and Nicola haven’t commented on anything. They merely desire tranquility. It would be best for everyone because it doesn’t help them [the Beckhams] to stop contacting, commenting, and briefing.
And it’s understood they aren’t best pleased about Cruz making his opinions known about the situation. The pal added: “They have requested that the Beckhams back off. They just want to be left alone. The Instagram stuff is just a media play.”
Fans were left perplexed by the apparent briefing, but a PR expert has now explained the strategy behind it, explaining how the language was meant to “flip the power dynamic” and leave the Beckhams with no choice but to remain silent.
Commenting on the narrative given by the unnamed source, PR guru Mayah Riaz told the Mirror: “This absolutely reads like a briefing. The irony here is hard to ignore. When a source uses emotionally loaded language like ‘manipulation’ and ‘gaslighting’, that is not accidental or neutral. That is narrative shaping. It positions Brooklyn and Nicola not just as hurt, but as victims of something darker and more deliberate. That is a very specific PR choice.
The “hidden spin” is “victimhood with credibility.” They are trying to change the power dynamic by describing themselves as gaslit. The Beckhams are extremely well-known, wealthy, media-savvy, and historically very underhanded in their brief. The narrative shifts from familial disagreement to emotional harm when Brooklyn and Nicola are cast as being psychologically worn down. They are now “people protecting their mental health,” according to PR, moving from “difficult children” to “people protecting their mental health.”
She continued, “Asking them to be left alone while being informed that they are being manipulated is not contradictory in PR logic, even if it is in human logic.” We are justified in our silence, not “we are silent,” but rather that the message is. Why they aren’t engaging directly are the objectives of this kind of briefing. Without having to speak for themselves, it gives them moral support.
The word “gaslighting” is a particularly interesting choice. It is a very online, very therapy-language term that appeals to younger audiences. Gen Z and millennial readers who are familiar with narratives with boundaries, toxicity, and emotional control are the target audience. That suggests that the focus should be on integrating their personal brand with contemporary values, not just about family.
I don’t believe this is about furthering the conflict, as a motive. It involves controlling future interpretation by drawing a line in the sand. This framing will already be present if more stories emerge. Anything the Beckhams say or do next can be seen through the lens of “pressure” or “manipulation.” That is effective positioning.
Because this is emotional PR, not corporate PR, is what causes the confusion. It is slightly messy, protective, and reactive. It resembles a couple who are overwhelmed but also understand that silence without context lets other people define you, rather than a long-term master plan. In summary, today’s discussion is not about winning the public debate. It’s about keeping their story alive tomorrow.
Brooklyn Beckham’s representatives have previously contacted The Mirror for comment.
