• Russian President Vladimir Putin maintains alliances despite sanctions, keeping Russia's economy afloat.
• Countries like India and Vietnam balance relations with both Russia and the West.
• These alliances are crucial for Russia to navigate trade restrictions and economic challenges.

Russian President Vladimir Putin may be heavily sanctioned and running a country that faces sweeping trade restrictions, but he still has friends.

Russia's friends — or frenemies — aren't all pariah states or US rivals. Some of them, like India and Vietnam, have good relations with the West, too.

"Putin is eyeing strategic swing nations like India, which opposes China and trades with Russia," Sean McFate, a military strategist and author of "The New Rules of War," told Business Insider in September.

Moscow is also trying to emerge from diplomatic isolation, looking to forge strategic relationships beyond autocratic partners like China, North Korea, and Iran, he said.

Still, among the nations Putin has been cozying up to, some are more important to Russia because they keep trade humming.

These are five key countries for Russia's sanctions-skirting economy:

1. China

It's no secret that China and Russia have a special relationship.

Not only did Beijing and Moscow declare their "no limits" friendship in a joint statement on February 4, 2022, when Putin visited China for the Beijing Winter Olympics, but the Russian leader wasted no time buttering up China after his election victory in March this year.

China was the first country Putin visited after he was inaugurated for his fifth term as president.

As authoritarian regimes, Russia and China have close historical and political roots. Beijing's rivalry with the US and the West also plays right into Russia's script.

China has consistently ranked as one of Russia's most important trading partners since the mid-2000s.

Last year, China's trade with Russia jumped 26%, to a record $240 billion.

2. India

While China's ties with Russia are based on their antagonistic relationships with the West, Moscow's relationship with India is more nuanced.

New Delhi has been getting closer to the US in recent years. The world's largest democracy, India is a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a security pact that includes the US, Japan, and Australia.

It's also a top supply chain hotspot alternative to China.

At the same time, India has become one of Russia's top trading partners after Moscow pivoted most trade away from Europe, following sweeping sanctions.

Russia's relationship with India goes back to the Cold War, and trade between the two countries has grown since Russia started the war in Ukraine. India is a major buyer of Russian oil and Russia is India's biggest arms supplier.

In June, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russia and met Putin, showing New Delhi isn't afraid to forge its own path in diplomacy.

3. Brazil

Russia and Brazil have what each other needs, making for a mutually beneficial relationship.

Russia exports oil and fertilizers to Brazil and Brazil exports agriculture products — including soybeans, coffee, and meat — to Russia.

In 2023, bilateral trade between Russia and Brazil reached $8.4 billion, off a record high of nearly $10 billion in 2022.

In recent years, Brazil has become important to Russia as part of the BRICS group, which Putin sees as a counterweight to the West-led world order.

Like Putin, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva backs a multipolar world and has championed an alternative to the almighty US dollar in global trade and payments.

"Every night I ask myself why all countries have to base their trade on the dollar," the Brazilian leader said in April 2023.

4. Turkey

Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are both longtime strongmen leaders.

Russia is one of Turkey's top trading partners, so there are compelling reasons why Ankara would want to deepen ties with Russia.

Just half a year into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Erdogan took up Putin's offer to create a "natural gas hub" as Europe weaned itself off natural gas imports from Russia.

Since the war's outset, Turkey — a NATO member — has been positioning itself as an intermediary between the West and Moscow, brokering grain export deals between Russia and Ukraine and offering to host peace talks between the two sides.

Turkey has also expressed interest in joining BRICS — which Russia is a member of — and has been given partner country status.

5. Kazakhstan

Former Soviet republics, Russia and Kazakhstan are close trade partners and their economic relationship has only deepened amid the Ukraine war.

In 2024, trade turnover between the two countries reached $27 billion — nearly 40% higher than the $19.7 billion in 2019.

Kazakhstan has come under scrutiny for its role as a key hub of goods to and from Russia, including parallel imports. The Kazakhstan government has been cracking down on such deals, but some trade persists.

In August, Serik Zhumangarin, Kazakhstan's deputy prime minister and its minister of trade and integration, told Bloomberg that some sanctions against Russia have affected the central Asian country's economy.

Kazakhstan "won't blindly follow the sanctions" if it means major local companies are affected, Zhumangarin said.

• Disney is remaking a number of animated classics into live-action movies.
• Some are remakes while others are origin stories or sequels to existing live-action adaptations. 
• Among its current remakes are a live-action "Moana" and "Lilo & Stitch."

Despite Disney's late 2024 live-action release, "Mufasa: The Lion King," making substantially less ($35 million) than its 2019 "The Lion King" CGI-fueled release ($191.7 million) in its opening weekend at the domestic box office, the studio still has plans for two live-action adaptations of beloved animated movies coming in 2025: "Snow White" and "Lilo & Stitch."

And there are plans for more beyond that. Here's everything we know about the upcoming live-action releases of Disney's animated classics. 

Kirsten Acuna contributed to a previous version of this story.

"Snow White" is set for March 21, 2025.

Disney is working on a live-action version of its first animated classic, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Marc Webb ("The Amazing Spider-Man") directs the upcoming adaptation with "West Side Story" star Rachel Zegler playing the iconic Disney princess. Gal Gadot assumes the role of her stepmother, the Evil Queen.

"Snow White is the girl you remember, but she's definitely made for the modern age," Zegler told the D23 crowd in 2022. "There's such an emphasis on what it really means to be the fairest of them all. For Snow White, it's coming to terms with finding herself and finding her inner voice and finding a sense of agency so that she can be a just ruler and a wonderful queen."

The fairy tale will have new music by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who wrote the songs for "The Greatest Showman" and "La La Land." 

Disney will release a live-action adaptation of "Lilo & Stitch" on May 23, 2025.

Emmy winner Courtney B. Vance will play Cobra Bubbles in the film, according to Deadline. Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen will also star. Maia Kealoha will play Lilo. Dean Fleischer Camp ("Marcel the Shell With Shoes On") will direct.

The director of the original movie, Chris Sanders ("The Wild Robot"), will return to once more voice Stitch.

"Moana" will be released July 10, 2026.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announced Disney's working on a live-action "Moana" during a pre-recorded video for a Disney shareholders meeting in early April 2023.

Johnson will reprise his role from the hit 2016 movie as Maui.

"I'm deeply humbled and overcome with gratitude to bring the beautiful story of 'Moana' to the live-action big screen," Johnson said in a statement released by Disney.

"This story is my culture, and this story is emblematic of our people's grace and warrior strength," he added. "I wear this culture proudly on my skin and in my soul, and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reunite with Maui, inspired by the mana and spirit of my late grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, is one that runs very deep for me."

Auli'i Cravalho announced on Instagram she won't reprise her role as the Disney princess. Instead, she'll serve as an executive producer.

This follows the animated box office hit "Moana 2" released at the end of 2024, which has become the studio's "hottest IP."

A live-action "Hercules" is expected to get a theatrical release.

The DisInsider first reported the 1997 animated film about the son of Zeus will get a live-action remake.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Avengers: Endgame" directors Anthony and Joe Russo will produce, but not direct, the film. Guy Ritichie, who directed "Aladdin," will direct.

Joe Russo described the film in November 2022 as a musical that will be "a little bit more experimental in tone."

Danny DeVito and James Woods lent their voices in the animated film. Ariana Grande performed a solo six-part harmony of the movie's "I Won't Say I'm In Love" in 2020, prompting many fans to suggest she'd be the perfect Meg. It's unclear at this time whether music will be a part of the film.

Disney is working on an adaptation of 1996's "Hunchback of Notre Dame," but it's in limbo.

Deadline reported in 2019 that a live-action version of Disney's 1996 movie about an orphaned Quasimodo living in the bell tower of Notre Dame was in the works. Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, who teamed up on "Pocahontas," will write the music, while Josh Gad ("Frozen") is producing.

Deadline reports the live-action film will adapt both the 1996 Disney film and the Victor Hugo novel. It's not clear whether or not the remake will be for Disney's streaming service or a theatrical release. 

Gad has said the script is "one of the best" he has read and expressed his hope that Disney will let them make the live-action adaptation.

In May 2023, Menken gave ComicBook.com an update: "It's a tough one, because the Hunchback movie, Hunchback story involves a lot of real, real issues that are important issues and should be explored to be discussed. And there has to be an agreement about how we deal with those issues... It sits in this limbo right now."

"Robin Hood" is getting remade for Disney+.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the remake will be directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada and will head to Disney+.

In June 2022, Chris Evans said he'd love "a crack" at playing the character since he's a big fan of the animated film.

A sequel to the live-action "Aladdin" may still be in the works, but the star doesn't seem hopeful.

Variety reported that John Gatins and Andrea Berloff are writing a sequel to the 2019 film with producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich returning.

Lin told Business Insider in August 2019 they were discussing a sequel.

"I can't talk too much about the sequel just yet, but know that we are hearing fans' desires to see another 'Aladdin' movie and feel like there's more story to tell," Lin told BI after the film crossed $1 billion at the box office.

Director Guy Ritchie told Collider in February 2023 he "would very much like to" return for a sequel, adding they've "been kicking some ideas around."

However, in March, star Mena Massoud sounded less hopeful, telling fans on Twitter a sequel was "very unlikely at this point."

Disney released two popular direct-to-video sequels for "Aladdin" in the '90s, including "The Return of Jafar" and "Aladdin and the King of Thieves." Variety reported the sequel will be completely original and not based on the straight-to-video films.

Disney has not officially announced the sequel.

An Aladdin spinoff, featuring Prince Anders, is in development at Disney+.

In 2019, THR reported that Billy Magnussen's "Aladdin" character would get his own spin-off movie on Disney Plus. The film is not supposed to be a sequel.

Anders is a prince who unsuccessfully sought Princess Jasmine's hand in marriage in the 2019 film.

In May 2022, Magnussen told Screen Rant the film was still moving forward and in the process of rewrites.

 

Disney is reportedly remaking 1963's "The Sword in the Stone," which follows a young King Arthur and his lessons with the wizard Merlin.

The remake will be written by "Game of Thrones" writer and producer Bryan Cogman. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo was named as the director in January 2018.

In 2024, Fresnadillo, who directed the Netflix movie "Damsel," gave an update to Collider on the project: "I was attached a long time ago, and I prepped a lot for Disney for that movie. I don't know exactly what happened, but the studio decided to hold the project. So right now it's in a holding situation, and I don't know what's going to happen, to be honest. But I think it's a great story. I would be so keen to make it if they decided to greenlight the project."

"Bambi" will be getting remade for a new generation.

According to Variety, the remake of the 1942 film won't be live-action with a real deer, rabbit, and skunk. Disney will utilize the technology that helped bring "The Lion King" remake to life to look photorealistic.

In 2023, Deadline reported that Sarah Polley ("Women Talking") was on board to direct, but a year later The Wrap reported that she had exited the project.

We haven't heard updates on the rest of these films in a while. "The Jungle Book" sequel was originally announced years ago.

Before the release of Disney's remake of 1961's "The Jungle Book," the studio already started planning a sequel. The movie was a huge success, grossing nearly $1 billion at the box office.

According to The Hollywood Reporter in 2016, Jon Favreau was expected to return to the director's chair for "The Jungle Book 2" along with Justin Marks to return for the sequel. There is no set release date for the movie.

Peter Pan's fairy companion Tinker Bell was reportedly getting her own live-action film, too.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote about a movie in 2015 that would star Reese Witherspoon. 

Disney was reportedly in talks to remake Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach," which was adapted as a stop-motion film in 1996.

No new information has been released since 2016. 

• Tricia Goh is a final year computer science student at the National University of Singapore.
• Unlike most of her peers, Goh says she is not gunning for a job at a FAANG company.
• Goh received a job offer after competing a six-month internship at a Norwegian software company.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tricia Goh, 22, a senior at the National University of Singapore studying computer science. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified her education and employment history.

Landing a job in the tech industry isn't as easy as it once was. It's scary to read news stories about how tough the job market is for computer science graduates these days.

Computer science has also become more popular and competitive as a major. There are nearly a thousand students in my batch. This means that each of us could end up fighting with hundreds of people for the same number of roles.

Interestingly, studying computer science wasn't always on the cards for me. Like most Singaporean youths, I had no idea what I wanted to study at university when I graduated from junior college.

To get a better sense of what I wanted to do, I spent the nine months I had before college doing internships. I ended up doing two internships — at a primary school where I taught English and mathematics and at a local IT company that focuses on enterprise software.

Working at that IT company was a transformative experience.

I had the benefit of getting one-to-one guidance from the company's founder, and got to learn more about the tech industry and ecosystem.

The internship ended up sparking my interest in computer science.

In fact, even when school started, I still found myself heading back to the company to help out and brush up on my understanding of areas like cybersecurity and software engineering.

Interning my way to a full-time job

It wasn't easy adapting to university life during my first few semesters.

The curriculum was challenging, and I thought my grades didn't accurately reflect what I could contribute to a company if hired as a full-time employee. That drove me to do more internships to accrue hands-on experience.

This year, I did a six-month internship at a Norwegian software company. The company recently set up its headquarters in Singapore, and I participated in its efforts to break into the Asian market.

At the end of this internship, I was offered a full-time job.

Rejecting the FAANG rat race to walk my own path

Many of my peers are gunning for top high-paying jobs at FAANG companies like Facebook and Google.

People like me who don't aim for those positions often get asked questions like, "Why aren't you going for the best jobs out there? Why aren't you trying to get a job at Google?"

However, I have no regrets about prioritizing my own growth by working at a smaller company.

Working at a FAANG company may be something that many computer science students see themselves doing, but such a goal isn't in line with what I want out of my career.

My long-term goal is to become an entrepreneur and start my own company. I know that I won't be happy earning lots of money if it means working long hours.

I would rather do something more fulfilling that still allows me to support my family and live well. I don't mind opting out of the hustle of chasing big-name companies for smaller learning experiences instead.

Do you have a story to tell about your tech or finance career? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].

• Blake Lively filed a legal complaint against Justin Baldoni, her "It Ends With Us" costar and director.
• Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and a retaliation campaign to damage her reputation.
• A PR expert said Baldoni, who denied the claims, has "an uphill battle" to try and win the lawsuit.

Blake Lively's lawsuit accusing her "It Ends with Us" director and costar Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and retaliation could end in a settlement or play out in a very public trial. Either way, PR and legal experts say Baldoni has an "uphill battle" ahead.

News that Lively filed a complaint Friday with the California Civil Rights Department sent shockwaves through Hollywood over the weekend. The news comes months after rumors of a feud between Lively and Baldoni — then thought to be over creative control — overshadowed the August press cycle for "It Ends with Us," the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel of the same name.

In the legal complaint obtained by Business Insider, Lively said she attended a meeting during filming with Baldoni and producer Jamey Heath, who runs Baldoni's company Wayfarer Studios, to address the "hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production of the film."

In a statement, Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, called Lively's claims "completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."

Mike Fahey, founder and CEO of Fahey Communications, told Business Insider that Lively's suit was thoughtful and well-timed.

"This is a masterclass in PR," Fahey said. "She and her team brilliantly waited a beat and listened. The Baldoni camp is definitely trying to grasp at straws to try to say that this is Blake's attempt to rehab her reputation."

Experts said Lively's suit was exceptionally detailed, and its timing was smart

In the legal filing, Lively said that after addressing the workplace concerns, all parties agreed to several stipulations, including hiring an intimacy coordinator. Other agreements included "no more mention of Mr. Baldoni or Mr. Heath's previous 'pornography addiction'" to Lively, referenced in the complaint as BL, and "no more showing nude videos or images of women, including the producer's wife to BL or her employees."

Lively's complaint alleged that the online backlash she endured over the summer was the result of a "sophisticated press and digital plan in retaliation for Ms. Lively exercising her legally protected right to speak up about their misconduct on the set, with the additional objective of intimidating her and anyone else from revealing in public what actually occurred."

Camron Dowlatshahi, a partner at MSD Lawyers in Los Angeles, a law firm that specializes in entertainment and employment law, told BI that Lively's camp filing the suit so close to the holidays, when Baldoni's team would be more likely to get caught flat-footed, speaks volumes.

"It was pretty strategic to have it this week and still get the benefit of the media attention just for a few days before Justin and his production team really get a chance to hit back immediately," Dowlatshahi said.

Lively's suit was also packed with details, making the case that Baldoni and his team coordinated a smear campaign against her. It included screenshots of messages that Lively's team said were from Baldoni, his publicist Jennifer Abel, and crisis communications specialist Melissa Nathan, whom Baldoni hired over the summer, discussing the strategy to ruin Lively's reputation.

Dowlatshahi said that this much detail and evidence in a complaint is rare. "You often don't have the actual text messages all ready to go," he added.

In his response, Baldoni's attorney Freedman called Lively's legal complaint "yet another desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions."

Dowlatshahi called this a typical attorney response, though he added that Freedman "did add some color to some of the allegations" beyond the usual boilerplate statement and denial of Lively's claims.

Lively's complaint shed light on the dark side of PR

Lively's 80-page complaint garnered attention for its detailed account of the alleged PR strategy intended to damage her reputation — a facet of the entertainment industry that the average person isn't typically privy to or even aware of.

Fahey said that it's common for PR teams to anticipate a worst-case scenario and discuss possible situations. Still, he added, "You do not orchestrate an in-depth plan preparing how you are going to go after someone in the media."

Fahey added that Baldoni's team's alleged plan doesn't reflect the PR industry as a whole. "I would feel very confident saying it's not what's happening every single day," he said. "Are there coordinated campaigns? Yes, but I would hope for our society as a whole that people are not spending their time figuring out if they can bury someone for court."

Erik Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management, agreed. "This is not the only way to do crisis PR," he said. "Everybody makes their own choice, but I think there are a lot of people in the industry who would be taken aback at the weaponizing of astroturfing here and the general attitude."

While the legal complaint sheds new light on the backlash Lively faced during the "It Ends With Us" press tour, some online still dislike Lively.

"The issue is that the damage that's already been done to Lively isn't going to be undone by this," Bernstein said.

Bernstein said if Lively were his client, they'd assess how much damage has been done, what steps could be taken to shift public opinion, and how to distill her case into something digestible for her audience, like sharing a statement with her 45.3 million followers on Instagram or taking her side of the story to a national media platform.

The impact on Baldoni's career and reputation will likely be more severe. Since the news of the suit broke, the actor-director has been dropped by WME, the same agency that reps Lively.

Baldoni will have a hard time rehabbing his reputation in Hollywood, experts say

Dowlatshahi said that because the case is already so high-profile, "I would certainly go on the offensive if I were him, assuming he has some evidence to help himself out."

If Baldoni doesn't have enough evidence to publicly defend himself, Bernstein suggested that the actor stay silent until the dispute blows over.

"I don't want to over-speculate, but if he doesn't have evidence to really back up to and defend himself, this could drastically alter the course of his career," Fahey said. "This is not some small lawsuit. These allegations are very, very serious. Blake Lively isn't a PA on set. Blake Lively is one of the biggest names in Hollywood."

If Baldoni chooses to settle the case or fight in court, what happens next is up to him. Fahey thinks the dispute isn't looking good for him.

"The case that's already being presented is very damning against Justin Baldoni," Fahey said. "So he already has an uphill battle to try to even win this lawsuit."

Although most cases of this nature settle, Dowlatshahi said he thinks there's a chance Lively's complaint against Baldoni plays out publicly, like Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's 2022 defamation trial did.

"If he wants to make this his hill to die on, he'll fight back," Fahey said of Baldoni. "He'll take this to trial and this could be like a Johnny-Depp/Amber-Heard-type situation. That is your most dramatic case scenario. On the other hand, if Justin wants this to go away quietly, he will settle and let everything go away," he said.

"I think that pride and reputation are what will dictate what happens next."

• Our family looks forward to a busy holiday event attended by thousands in our town each year.
• We've given the oldest of our four kids more independence, even at this crowded event.
• We use technology and the trust we have in our community to keep our kids safe.

Each year, on the first Saturday of December, our town hosts its annual holiday light-up night to kick off the festive season. Our quaint main street is packed with vendors, goodies, local musicians, and reindeer games. Local businesses sling seasonal cocktails for the grownups and set up craft stations for the kids. The town kicks off the evening by welcoming Santa and Mrs. Claus to the town center where everybody cheers as the massive Christmas tree comes to life with thousands of twinkling lights. If I'm being honest, it's a scene straight out of a holiday movie.

My husband and I have been attending this event for a decade, ever since we relocated to the tiny Pittsburgh borough of Bellevue with infant twins and a toddler in tow. Since our first light-up night, the event has grown substantially — and so has our family. I'll admit it hasn't always been easy helping four kids navigate a main drag packed with a couple of thousand neighbors, but we trudge the two blocks to the center of town religiously every year. It's a chance to hug neighbors, let the kids run free, and celebrate the loving community we are so thankful to be a part of.

We created our village

I often hear other moms bemoan the "loss of the village," and the way modern motherhood can feel insular and lonely. This is true on many levels. Shifts in the fabric of American society have left today's mothers with less support than our moms had, and the 24-hour news cycle has left even more mothers fearful of leaning on their community.

Thankfully, that has not been our experience. While I would like to say we magically found our "village," the truth is that sometimes we have to create one.

It's not easy to lean on neighbors (or strangers), but I've learned over our decade in this little town that people are willing to look out for each other, if you open up your heart and let them.

A few years ago, we briefly lost our youngest child at this very same holiday event. While those moments when she wasn't in our eyesight were terrifying, I knew in my gut during those frantic moments that the adults in our town were looking out for her. As a neighbor I barely knew hoisted my kiddo above the crowd so I could find her, I teared up. This community we are a part of looks out for one another.

Giving our kids independence

Our kids are older now; 13, 11 (twins), and 6. We've given our big three more independence in our walkable town throughout the year. With kid-safe cell phones in hand and kid-friendly debit cards at their fingertips, we trusted our village enough to set them loose on the main street once that giant evergreen was shining brightly at the center of town. While my 13-year-old and one of my 11-year-old twins spent some time with us throughout the evening, our son Ezra disappeared into the festive fray almost immediately. I wasn't surprised. He's extroverted and confident and has never met a festival he didn't love.

For many parents, not seeing their fifth grader for two hours on a dark and chilly evening may induce panic, but this village we've built and come to rely on gave us the confidence to let him test his wings. The location dot on his cell phone let us know he was still at the event, and a few spending notifications told us he was well hydrated and warm, thanks to a pair of LED gloves he purchased from a street vendor.

It seems like our son had a great night

We heard snippets about Ezra's evening from others. Our town librarian heard the DJ say his name at one point, and another friend let us know he helped pass out raffle baskets to the winners at the end of the evening. A fellow parent let me know she told his friend group to move their horseplay away from some younger kids, and they readily complied. I thanked her for being willing to offer guidance when I didn't have eyes on him. "Sure," she said. "I would want you to do the same if you saw my kid being a knucklehead, too." We laughed, but I know she means it.

Once the festivities had concluded, Ezra sent us a text asking if he could help the adults in charge clean up the event. We often say his big personality is paired with an even bigger heart. Of course we said yes.

Once he finally burst through our front door at the end of the evening, brought home by a friend's older cousin, he was cold and exhausted. It was after 10 p.m. and he crashed quickly into bed. I asked him how his night went since we had not seen him for over two hours. "It was fun," he said. "I think I did everything they had to do." Within minutes, he was out cold.

I'm glad we can trust our children — and our town — to do the right thing

A few days later, a local photographer shared a photo album from the festivities. Within an hour I had a dozen text messages telling me to take a look. I opened the link and gasped. There was Ezra, on stage, holding a tambourine. The thousand-watt smile on his face says it all. He had the best night. I have never seen a photo that better encapsulates my son.

Modern parenting is designed to provoke anxiety. From online urban legends and hysteria to a general lack of trust in our neighbors, it's easy to give into the temptation to clip our kids' wings and worry about how the world may harm them.

I know the world is scary. I worry every day about my kids' safety. I worry about gun violence, online bullying, and the general divisiveness and hatred that seems to permeate today's culture. Rather than give into the temptation to shelter them at home, though, I've found strength in leaning on our community and working hard to foster independence in our kids. With a bit of help from modern technology and a whole lot of help from trusted adults, teaching our kids to navigate the world on their own feels like the best possible tool we can give them.

A trial for the man accused of a second assassination attempt on President-elect Trump was delayed until next year by a federal judge in Florida on Monday.

The big picture: Ryan Wesley Routh's defense team sought a delay from the scheduled trial start of Feb. 10 to December 2025, but U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled this was "excessive" and moved the trial to September.

• Routh, 58, has pleaded not guilty to five counts in West Palm Beach, Florida, including the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.
• He's accused of waiting for Trump at his Florida golf club for hours last September before a Secret Service agent spotted him pointing a rifle through a fence.

Driving the news: Routh's defense cited the need to review an "extraordinary volume of discovery" and "evaluate potential defenses," along with "logistical difficulties" associated with his detention in Miami, according to Cannon's order.

• Cannon noted that Routh's lawyers have indicated "that mental health evaluations are ongoing to assess a potential insanity defense and competency evaluation."

Editor's note: This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.