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Lead: On Christmas Day in Vatican City, Pope Leo XIV delivered his first Urbi et Orbi message, urging the faithful to abandon indifference toward people who have lost everything, including those in Gaza, the impoverished of Yemen and migrants crossing the Mediterranean and the Americas. The first U.S. pontiff spoke from the loggia overlooking St. … Read more
Lead On Christmas Eve a single ticket sold in Arkansas matched all six Powerball numbers to claim a $1.817 billion jackpot, making it the second-largest single-ticket prize in Powerball history. The winning sequence was 4, 25, 31, 52, 59 with red Powerball 19; the ticket-holder may choose an $834.9 million lump-sum cash option. The Arkansas … Read more
Lead: A single ticket sold in Arkansas matched all six numbers in the Dec. 24, 2025 Powerball drawing, capturing the $1.817 billion jackpot on Wednesday night. The drawing, held on Christmas Eve, produced winning white balls 4, 25, 31, 52 and 59 with a red Powerball 19 and Power Play 2X. The lone jackpot winner … Read more
On Christmas Eve in U.S. multiplexes, James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash topped the daily chart with an estimated $10.7 million, while the full market for the day was roughly $27.6 million. Limited early screenings (previews) helped momentum for two new releases: A24’s Marty Supreme drew about $2.0 million in previews and Sony’s Anaconda collected … Read more
Lead Russian forces and Ukrainian defenders exchanged hundreds of long-range drone strikes from Wednesday night into Thursday morning, with Kyiv reporting fatalities and damage across multiple regions. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 131 drones overnight, of which 106 were intercepted or suppressed and 22 struck targets in 15 locations. Local officials in Odesa, Chernihiv … Read more
Former exile Tarique Rahman, 60, returned to Bangladesh on the eve of landmark general elections after 17 years living in London. Rahman, the figurehead of the Zia political dynasty and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), arrived ahead of a vote that could hand the party executive power. His return follows the ouster of … Read more
Lead On Christmas Eve a single ticket sold in Arkansas matched all six numbers in the Powerball drawing, winning a $1.817 billion jackpot. The winning numbers were 4, 25, 31, 52, 59 and the red Powerball 19. The ticket-holder can elect an immediate lump-sum cash option of $834.9 million or the advertised annuity paid over … Read more
King Charles III and senior members of the royal family gathered at the private Sandringham Estate on Dec. 25, 2025, for the traditional Christmas morning service, while his brother Prince Andrew was not present. The group—led by Charles and Queen Camilla and including the Prince and Princess of Wales, their three children and extended relatives—walked … Read more
Published December 25, 2025 — Kanye West and Bianca Censori were reported to have attended a Los Angeles performance of The Nutcracker on Christmas Eve, staying for the entire program and leaving shortly after the final notes. According to an eyewitness account published by TMZ, the pair maintained a low profile throughout the evening: Bianca … Read more
Lead: King Charles recorded his Christmas message in the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey, invoking wartime solidarity and urging communities to “get to know our neighbours”. He marked the 80th anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day and praised acts of spontaneous bravery in recent violent incidents. The speech called for calm amid fast-changing social … Read more
At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Paris-based startup Smartlet unveiled a stainless-steel modular strap, priced from $418, that lets users mount a mechanical watch on the top of the wrist while tucking a smartwatch or fitness tracker underneath. The system supports a wide range of wearables — Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch, Google Pixel Watch, … Read more
Prince Andrew was absent from the Royal family gathering at Sandringham on Christmas Day, marking a second consecutive year he did not attend after being stripped of his titles in 2025. King Charles and Queen Camilla led the royals to the morning service at St Mary Magdalene church on the Sandringham estate, where hundreds of … Read more
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 25 December 2025 that Kyiv is prepared to convert the parts of the Donbas it still controls into a demilitarised zone (DMZ) if Russia likewise keeps its forces out. The proposal, presented as part of a US-backed 20-point peace plan, also includes a DMZ proposal around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear … Read more
Lead On Dec. 25, 2025, communities around the world marked Christmas with a mix of celebration and solemn remembrance, captured in a wide-ranging photo roundup. From a Christmas Eve service at the Syriac Catholic Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Basra to decorated graves of Ukrainian soldiers in Lviv, images showed both joy and grief. … Read more
Christmas services resumed in Bethlehem on Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, as morning mass took place at the Church of the Nativity and limited crowds gathered on Manger Square after a two-year pause. The return of public celebrations followed a suspension observed in solidarity with Palestinians affected by the Gaza war, but the festivities were muted … Read more
