A joint committee of French lawmakers on Friday failed to reach a compromise on the state budget for next year, parliamentary sources said, meaning France would not have a 2026 budget by year end.
Vladimir Putin on Friday hailed his troops' progress in Ukraine during an annual press conference in Moscow -- a staple of his 25-year rule -- with the Russian president emboldened by battlefield gains in Ukraine during a US diplomatic push to end the almost four-year war.
The Trump administration announced on Thursday it will suspend a green card lottery that allowed a man believed to be behind both a mass shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor into the United States.
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Sports
Could fast-charging Manchester City top the Premier League at Christmas or will Arsenal cling on to the festive number one spot?
December 19, 2025
RECENT NEWS
EU agrees 90-bn-euro loan for Ukraine, without Russian assets
Politics
December 19, 2025
A dangerous Travis Head crunched an unbeaten 68 as Australia built an ominous 204-run lead Friday in the third Test as England's hopes of salvaging the Ashes slid away.
December 19, 2025
RECENT NEWS
Opener Devon Conway's epic 227 Friday led New Zealand to declare their first innings at 575-8 during the final session of day two of the third Test against the West Indies at Mount Maunganui.
December 19, 2025
The Bank of Japan hiked interest rates to a 30-year high of 0.75 percent on Friday, the first increase since January, as it said the economy had shown signs of improvement.
December 19, 2025
Brazil's top court struck down a law on Thursday that limits Indigenous people's rights to their ancestral lands, the latest twist in a long legal battle over native territory.
December 19, 2025
Politics
Australia will use a sweeping buyback scheme to "get guns off our streets", Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday as hundreds plunged into the ocean to honour Bondi Beach shooting victims.
December 19, 2025
RECENT NEWS
Opener Devon Conway's epic innings ended on 227 Friday as the West Indies showed some fight after lunch on day two of the third Test, but New Zealand piled on the runs to go past 500 at Mount Maunganui.
"We are ghosts on the night shift," says Leandro Cristovao from Angola, who has worked the graveyard shift at a south London market for seven years.
Asian markets rose Friday as a below-forecast read on US inflation boosted hopes for another interest rate cut next month, while blockbuster earnings from chip firm Micron helped soothe nerves over a tech bubble.
In the Christmas-mad Philippines, thousands cheer as hand-crafted lanterns towering six metres (20 feet) high light up the night sky in San Fernando, northwest of the country's capital.
December 19, 2025
Boulevard
TikTok boasts over a billion users worldwide, including more than 170 million in the United States, it says -- nearly half the country's population.
December 19, 2025
RECENT NEWS
EU leaders struck a deal Friday to provide Ukraine a 90-billion-euro loan to plug its looming budget shortfalls -- but failed to agree on using frozen Russian assets to come up with the funds.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin will hold his annual press conference -- a staple of his 25-year rule -- Friday, emboldened by battlefield gains in Ukraine and during a diplomatic push to end the almost four-year war.
After her husband was detained by US immigration authorities in September, Rosa found herself alone with her two children, wondering what would happen should she suffer the same fate as him.
When Takanori Kuzuoka began climbing the criminal career ladder, he didn't fancy joining Japan's old-school yakuza, with their tattoos, rigid hierarchy and codes of honour.
December 19, 2025
- Australia declares day of reflection for Bondi Beach shooting victims
- EU fails to agree Russian asset plan for Ukraine
- Trump signs $900 bn defense policy bill into law
- Stokes's 83 gives England hope as Australia lead by 102 in 3rd Test
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- Australia announces gun buyback, day of 'reflection' after Bondi shooting
- New Zealand Cricket chief quits after split over new T20 league
- England all out for 286, trail Australia by 85 in 3rd Test