Media

The Kremlin is awash with Christmas gifts from Washington, D.C. and every move by the Trump administration seems to add to that perception. On Wednesday, appearing on the Russian state TV show “The Evening with Vladimir Soloviev,” Director of the Moscow-based Center for Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies Semyon Bagdasarov said that the U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis is “struggling to keep up” with the flurry of unexpected decisions by the U.S. President Donald Trump. The news that Mattis decided to step down sent shock waves across the world, being interpreted as “a dangerous signal” by America’s allies.

Last year, the Trump administration abruptly cut federal funding to the Obama-era Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, choosing instead to favor programs that promote abstinence. This week, NBC News reported that several Democratic senators have accused Trump of violating court orders by pushing abstinence research, citing a federal judge's ruling that the administration's funding cuts were unlawful.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it intends to lift sanctions against the business empire of Oleg V. Deripaska, one of Russia’s most influential oligarchs, after an aggressive lobbying campaign by Mr. Deripaska’s companies.

FRANKFURT — The Americans accused the Chinese of being modern-day mercantilists who steal intellectual property. The Europeans accused the Americans of provoking a crisis in the world trading system, threatening the global economy.