Mortgage rates are finally dropping. An unusually strong storm is headed for the

East Coast and your cat might want to play fetch with you. We'll explain at the end of the show.

I'm Jeff Pierre and this is the Seven from the Washington Post.

It's Friday, December 15th.

Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories.

Number one, Ukraine took a big step

toward joining the European Union. Yesterday the EU agreed to open membership

talks with Ukraine. It'll be years before the country

can join the block, but the decision was an important sign of support as Ukraine continues

to fight off Russia's invasion. But it's not all good news for Ukraine. EU leaders also

failed to agree on a nearly 50 billion dollar fund for the country, exposing

divisions within the Union. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban has friendly

relations with Russia and he stalled EU decisions that don't favor Moscow.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin held a marathon news conference and call-in show yesterday.

This is kind of a tradition Putin does every year,

and he used this one to insist that his country will win the war in Ukraine. The house passed the annual defense policy bill yesterday.

That's our second story.

This $86 billion bill includes a 5.2% raise for military personnel

and funding to counter threats from Russia

and China. Now that it's passed the House and Senate, President Biden is

expected to sign it into law. The bill's passage was an unusual show of bipartisanship.

The House, as you know, is bitterly divided.

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