But there is one country that has stood by Russia’s side for the duration of the war—and it’s not China. Despite Xi Jinping’s proclamations of having a “no limits” friendship with Moscow, the Chinese leader remains concerned about breaking U.S. export rules to help Russia acquire sensitive military technology. But North Korea, the small, poor, isolated nuclear-armed state in Northeast Asia, has offered Putin a degree of political support that makes Beijing’s look pale in comparison....

But are we drinking a little too much of the Pyongyang kool-aid these days? To be sure, North Korea caught many analysts, including myself, off-guard by testing a long-range missile, or ICBM, in 2017. But are we now buying into a North Korean nuclear narrative that is shaped more by high-resolution images that go viral on social media than actual fact-based analysis? You have to admire North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un’s media mastery....

Kim’s message first appeared on China’s state-run Xinhua News Network, which reported Monday that Chinese President Xi Jinping had exchanged spoken messages with the North Korean ruler via representatives of China, officially the People’s Republic of China, and North Korea, formally the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The exchange was then carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency. Kim informed Xi of the results of his ruling Korean Workers’ Party 8th Party Congress in January, “as required by the times that call for intensifying the strategic communication between the two parties on the basis of deep comradeship....

Both the police and FBI are investigating the reported explosion which left the 45-year-old member of staff, who was later taken to hospital, with “minor injuries to his hand.” The device had been sent to Northeastern’s virtual reality center. A second suspect package was found nearby by Boston Police’s bomb squad, close to the city’s Museum of Fine Arts. Law enforcement insiders told CNN the first package included a note criticizing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, along with academic work in the field of virtual reality....

“I am deeply troubled by the vicious bullying and badgering that the students responsible for that coverage have endured for the ‘sin’ of doing journalism,” Charles Whitaker, the dean of Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, said in a statement on Tuesday. Students criticized The Daily Northwestern’s methods of covering Sessions’ November 5 event, which included reporters posting photos of protesters on their Twitter accounts and texting students asking if they would be willing to be interviewed....

Norvir falls into the broad category of antiretroviral drugs. It is a protease inhibitor (PI), which works by stopping part of the HIV virus’ life cycle, preventing it from making copies of itself. Without the ability to replicate itself, HIV can be suppressed to undetectable levels, which keeps the immune system functioning and also reduces the risk of transmitting the virus to others. Norvir is also available as a generic product under the name ritonavir....

Funny thing: he hadn’t. Last week Time apologized to Doder, agreeing to pay $262,000 to settle his U.K. libel suit. The magazine will also pay Doder’s legal bills, estimated at upwards of $1 million. Time said it ““had no evidence, and did not mean to suggest that the KGB exercised control over Doder’s reporting.'' Doder, 59, is now a senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, in Washington, D....

A number of companies across the Atlantic—both old and new—are doing the same. Across the developed world, the first group of baby boomers are still healthy and eager to work (and many have to, thanks to pension cutbacks). Yet age-discrimination suits across much of America and Europe are running at near-record highs, as companies push older workers out in favor of younger, cheaper staff, willing and able to work round the clock....

The fact Chelsea are even competing for the title after such a disastrous 10th-place finish in 2015-16 is incredible, and the whole squad can hold their heads high despite a painful, Dele Alli-inflicted defeat. Antonio Conte’s side remain top of the table and five points clear. The Blues have not suffered a humbling like this - or, indeed, any loss at all - since another disappointing day in north London, against Arsenal, in September....

John R. MacArthur, the young publisher of Harper’s magazine, spent his war, as it were, in the courts. A few days before the bombing of Baghdad began, he joined with a few other “small, primarily left-wing weeklies and monthlies” to test the constitutionality of the Pentagon’s rules for coverage. The suit eventually was dismissed, but MacArthur has now filed a provocative, well-honed polemic, Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War (260 pages....

The report, citing unidentified sources, said Smith will have the procedure done Thursday to repair a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee. MORE: 2016 NFL mock draft | ND’s Fuller declares for Draft | Prosise too Smith had declared his intention to leave Notre Dame to enter the NFL Draft, but that plan could be in jeopardy, although the report said he’s still plans to apply for draft eligibility....

Brandon Wimbush and Ian Book helped Notre Dame to a 10-3 season in 2017, capped with a Citrus Bowl victory against LSU. The Irish have a top-10 ranking in Sporting News’ way-too-early top 25 poll as well, making the competition between Wimbush and Book more heated this spring than last season, when the former was the undisputed starter. MORE: Notre Dame 2018 lookahead What should we expect at Notre Dame?...

Miami fired coach Don Treadwell after an 0-5 start to the 2013 season and an overall record of 8-21. The RedHawks won the 2010 Mid-American Conference Championship game, but have gone 8-28 since the 2011 season. Martin won back-to-back NCAA Division II titles at Grand Valley State in 2005 and 2006.

Everyone has a track record. Tommy Rees does, too. What makes anyone at Notre Dame think this time around will be any different from the previous three maddeningly inconsistent seasons? MORE: New Irish uniforms | New Shamrock cleats, too | ND gauntlet mishap “He has the power now,” says Notre Dame wideout T.J. Jones. Which is to say, Notre Dame needs Tommy Rees more than Rees needs Notre Dame. And after three years of the other way around, that might not be such a bad thing....

Steve Cooper has been heavily backed in the transfer market by owner Evangelos Marinakis as the Welsh boss looks to plot a path to safety this season. As part of a major overhaul of his squad, Cooper has spent around £146m ($168.6m), the fifth-highest amount by Premier League club this summer. Only Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United have spent more than Forest, who set a British record of 21 signings in a single window....

The National Hockey League has a couple of proposals to combat the virus as it gets ready to face off another season in January. One idea is to play more outdoor games similar to the wildly-popular Winter Classic. The other proposal? How about the league making a private purchase of the new vaccine for all of its teams, which would include players and coaches. Canadian hockey broadcaster John Shannon tweeted Thursday that the NHL plans to privately purchase the COVID-19 vaccine “for all constituents involved in the potential upcoming season....

The lawsuit in question is only a fishing expedition by a conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, that has been trying for years to expose the political activities of the U.S. Commerce Department during the tenure of the late Ron Brown. But the political implications are obvious and troubling: Brown himself was a former chairman of the DNC, and Huang, who got a top-level Commerce job in 1994, moved over to the DNC as a party fund raiser just in time for the ‘96 campaign....

The Washington Post reported how many within the NRA and in political circles were uneasy at the response by Wayne LaPierre to the Sandy Hook Massacre in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012, in which 20 children were gunned down by Adam Lanza, who turned the gun on himself. In the aftermath of the tragedy and with the help of advertising firm Ackerman McQueen, LaPierre announced in a series of combative public performances that the NRA would spearhead a program to train armed security guards to protect schools from shooters....

“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine,” reads Vindman’s opening statement. “I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma [the Ukrainian gas company Biden’s son, Hunter, worked for], it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained,” the statement continues....

That is increasingly difficult to find in American classrooms. According to the National Education Association, the number of male schoolteachers is hovering at a 40-year low. Only one quarter of our 3 million teachers are men. In elementary schools, the problem is more acute—just 9 percent are men, down from 18 percent in 1981. “If kids do not see males in the classroom, they begin to believe teaching is only for females,” says Reg Weaver, president of the NEA....