WATCH LIVE: Blinken holds press conference on sidelines of OSCE Ministerial Council in Stockholm

A family in California lost four members after a crash with a drunken driver on 20 November (the suspect is now arrested). But this week brought more bad news: the family’s home in North Highlands, near Sacramento, was burgled.

Their relatives have started a crowdfunding campaign to help the family and have already raised more than $100,000.

💬 Putin and Biden will have direct contact in the near future, Blinken says

Blinken: Moscow is "well aware" of the range of possible consequences that will come in case of aggression against Ukraine

❗ The United States has approved a new package of sanctions against Belarus: the new restrictions target 20 individuals, 12 organisations, and three aircraft. The sanctions also affect Lukashenko's middle son Dmitry, the Belarusian Potash Company, and the Presidential Sports Club.

⚡ US issues directive restricting transactions in Belarusian sovereign debt

Paul Whelan told his relatives that Russian prosecutors have started investigating his complaints about "corruption" in the colony

Nearly half of American households report financial hardship, a Gallup poll said: "45 percent of Americans report financial hardship triggered by increased prices; 10% describe the hardship as threatening their current standard of living [and] Seven in 10 lower-income Americans (those making less than $40,000 a year) experiencing hardship."

After a notorious smash-and-grab attack at a Nordstrom store last month, the Walnut Creek City Council raised its security budget by $2 million to beef up its police presence

⚡ Democratic, Republican Senate Leaders reach deal on funding government to avoid shutdown

❗The US is ready to help the implementation of the Minsk agreements, Moscow believes that this capability can be used, Russian FM Lavrov said

⚡ UN HQ surrounded by police responding to man armed with shotgun

The area near the UN headquarters in New York is now cordoned off due to an unknown person entering the building. New York Police told Sputnik's correspondent that they received a call about an armed man in the area of the UN headquarters

UN personnel urged to shelter in place amid ongoing police activity at New York headquarters

Sputnik's correspondent managed to photograph the man, although his identity remains unknown

Shortly after being released from a three-year prison sentence, Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former lawyer, entered the non-fungible tokens market (NFT) to sell digital representations of his badge from Otisville Prison in New York. Cohen called the sales of his NFTs a merging of "art, technology and politics all into one."

Apart from the badge, which will be sold at a fixed price on 12 December, Cohen is also auctioning a handwritten page from his 2020 memoir "Disloyal" about his time as Trump's so-called "fixer."

🇺🇸🇷🇺 Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he had “candid” exchanges with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on their different perspectives on Ukraine as they met on the sidelines of an OSCE meeting in Sweden

▪️The two agreed to report back to their respective presidents, who are expected to engage in direct talks this month;

▪️They also had a "good" conversation on Iran, and Russia appeared to share the "basic perspective" of US on the issues discussed;

▪️The recent moves by Iran still do not provide a lot of optimism, and the next day or so will reveal whether it intends to engage in good faith, according to Blinken.

❗The United States will be ready to consider, under certain circumstances, the possibility of expanding military assistance to Ukraine, Jen Psaki said