Axios

Footage showing a previously unseen Chinese warplane scrambled aviation geeks Thursday, with some joking the clips were the perfect Christmas present.

Why it matters: The aircraft emerges amid fiery debates about the future of airpower — manned versus unmanned, mainly — in the U.S. and abroad.

Nippon Steel on Thursday delayed the closing date for its proposed $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. Steel, as it waits to learn if President Biden will block the deal on national security grounds.

Why it matters: The Japanese steelmaker is trying to play nice with the White House, rather than trying to force a quick decision by sticking with its original closing date of year-end 2024.

President Biden on Wednesday denounced Russia's large-scale Christmas Day attacks on Ukraine that damaged critical energy infrastructure and vowed to continue a U.S. surge in weapons deliveries to Kyiv.

The big picture: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on X called the attacks "inhumane," while Russia's Defense Ministry said the "long-range precision weapons and strike drones on critical energy infrastructure facilities" in Ukraine had achieved the goal of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's forces.

President Biden and President-elect Trump both delivered warm Christmas messages as a change in presidential administrations nears, though the Republican leader went on to take aim at Canada, the Panama Canal and Greenland.

The big picture: Biden in a post to X acknowledging this would be the last time as president he'd wish the nation a Merry Christmas said he hoped the U.S. would "continue to seek the light of liberty and love, kindness and compassion, dignity and decency."

Taiwanese antitrust regulators on Wednesday blocked Uber from buying the Taiwan unit of Foodpanda from Delivery Hero for $950 million in cash.

Why it matters: This would have been one of the largest foreign acquisitions ever of a Taiwanese company outside of the semiconductor sector.

Continuing an ancient church tradition, Pope Francis on Christmas Eve officially opened the 2025 Jubilee — a year dedicated to the service of prisoners, poor people and victims of war.

By the numbers: 32 million people are expected to make a pilgrimage to Rome during the celebration. The antiquated city has tackled hundreds of infrastructure improvements and maintenance projects to be ready.

Russian companies are using bitcoin to evade Western sanctions, thanks to a new law, the country's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov confirmed in a television interview.

Why it matters: Russia's economy has been hampered by difficulties in making and receiving international payments, even with countries like China that don't use the U.S. dollar as their reserve currencies.

War, financial anxiety and political unpredictability plaguing many nations are clouding this year's Christmas celebrations as nativity scenes go up.

Through the lens: Despite global unrest in the Middle East and Ukraine and migration crises around the world, Christians built and celebrated creative nativity scenes to seek moments of peace. Here are a few images from around the world.

Whether in a bedtime story, a mall or an advertisement, Santa Claus and his red suit have remained iconic fixtures of holiday culture.

The big picture: Santa, based on the fourth-century Greek bishop Saint Nicholas, has taken many different forms throughout the years, but his generosity remains a constant part of the holiday season.

Denmark is increasing defense spending in Greenland, said a Danish official Tuesday who called the announcement's timing with President-elect Trump's suggestion that the U.S. should own the territory an "irony of fate."

The big picture: Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told the outlet Jyllands-Posten on Tuesday of plans to spend a "double-digit billion amount" in krone, equivalent to at least $1.5 billion, on the self-ruled territory that's part of its kingdom to ensure a "stronger presence" in the Arctic.

Authorities in Australia have issued bushfire warnings and total fire bans in multiple states as extreme heat intensifies across the country over the holiday period.

The big picture: Total fire bans have been issued for parts of South Australia, Western Australia and the entire state of Victoria, where residents evacuated from a growing bushfire in the Grampians region this week. Victorian officials warn they're facing the biggest threat since the deadly Black Summer bushfire season of 2019-20.