The Director of National Intelligence General James Clapper was not only adamant that Russia interfered in the US 2016 presidential election when giving testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee investigating the alleged interference on Thursday, but also promised to reveal Russians’ motives next week as to why they wanted Donald Trump to win. Clapper described the Russian efforts to influence the election as a "multifaceted campaign" but stopped short of calling it "an act of war" when questioned. Russia has denied all US claims of hacking. 

Four suspects have been charged with hate crime, kidnapping and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon against an 18-year-old special needs man in Chicago. The attack was broadcast live on Facebook. In the 30-minute video, the victim is tied and gagged while the assailants can be seen cutting the victim's clothes and repeatedly kicking and punching him. The video has taken on clear racial overtones in US media reports as one attacker can be heard shouting “F--- Donald Trump! F--- white people”. The victim is white and the attackers are African-American.

Employers and hospitals are coercing people into "donating" blood as some local public institutions strive to meet growing demand, workers and patients' relatives have claimed, according to an investigation by the Chinese news outlet thepaper.cn. The investigation spoke to people who said that public institutions in East China’s Jiangsu Province are forcing their employees to "donate" blood by threatening them with bad annual work evaluations if they do not comply. The Global Times newspaper previously reported that China faced a serious "blood crisis" at the start of 2016, with 80 percent of surgical operations having to be postponed in some hospitals due to lack of blood.

China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba has, for the first time, taken legal action against two firms for selling counterfeit goods on its Taobao platform. Alibaba sued the vendors for allegedly selling fake Swarovski watches for a reported 1.4 million yuan (201,671 US dollars) in damages. The legal action follows a US watchdog blacklisting Taobao in the US for failing to sufficiently act against the “high level” of fake goods being sold on the website. 

At least two people, including a policeman, were killed in a car bomb attack on a courthouse in the western Turkish city of Izmir. The car was driven up to the courthouse entrance, sparking an exchange of fire between the attackers and the police. Police killed two of the attackers while a third person is thought to have escaped. "Based on the preparation, the weapons, bombs and ammunition seized, it is understood that a big atrocity was being planned," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak told reporters. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack although Izmir’s governor said Kurdish terrorists were suspected.

Four Yemeni inmates have been flown from Guantanamo Bay prison to Saudi Arabia in what is being viewed as a final push by US President Barack Obama to reduce the prison’s inmate numbers before leaving office on January 20. Family members greeted the four detainees at the airport in Riyadh. The release comes despite President-elect Donald Trump's demand for a freeze on transfers from the prison. When Obama came to office eight years ago, Guantanamo held 242 detainees; that number now stands at 59.

US Acting Drug Enforcement Administration Chief Chuck Rosenberg has announced that he will visit Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Beijing starting Monday in a three-day trip to discuss the issue of synthetic drugs, often referred to as “legal highs,” being produced in China then exported to the US. Rosenberg will meet with officials from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and its Narcotics Control Bureau. The visit comes after a Chinese delegation visited Washington in September. 

Following several record-breaking and high-profile football transfers, the Chinese government has said it will “set the upper limit” for transfer fees and salaries to control “irrational investment” and ensure the long term financial health of the sport. A spokesman of the General Administration of Sport described clubs as “burning money” on importing foreign talent in what is seen as a direct reference to Shanghai SIPG spending 74 million US dollars on Brazilian midfielder Oscar.