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Lead: In 2025 the US economy produced mixed signals: an unexpectedly strong third-quarter GDP reading contrasted with persistent price pressures and signs of weakening labor-market momentum. President Donald Trump hailed the data as evidence of a renewed economic boom, while official statistics show unemployment rising and job counts dipping in several months. Policymakers at the … Read more

How a Social-Media Tiff Built Texas’s $1B Parks Fund Lead: In 2025 an unlikely online spat between a Republican megadonor and an environmental campaigner morphed into a political partnership that helped create a $1 billion Texas state fund to buy parkland. The dispute began four years earlier on Twitter over wind turbines and bird mortality, … Read more

In southern Ukraine, an underground Cold War launch complex has been repurposed as the Museum of the Strategic Missile Forces, where visitors trace the history of Soviet strategic arms and the choice Ukraine made to dismantle its nuclear arsenal after independence. The site documents that 10 intercontinental ballistic missiles once stood on this base, each … Read more

Brigitte Bardot, the French actress who rose to international fame in the 1950s and later became a high‑profile animal‑rights campaigner and controversial political voice, has died at 91. Her death was confirmed Sunday at her home in southern France by Bruno Jacquelin of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Protection of Animals; no cause of … Read more

Consumers increasingly trade glazed pastries for products labeled “all natural,” “low-fat” or “organic,” believing they are choosing healthier options. But many of those items — from granolas branded as high-protein to plant-based milks and bottled smoothies — often contain significant added sugar that is not obvious on the shelf. Nutrition experts and recent labeling changes … Read more

On Saturday morning, Rainbow Six Siege operators detected an in-game security incident that let attackers manipulate moderation feeds and grant wide-ranging in-game rewards. Players and observers shared screenshots showing fake ban messages, unlocked developer-only cosmetics, and what appear to be roughly 2 billion R6 Credits credited across accounts. Ubisoft confirmed the issue via the game’s … Read more

Lead: In addition to a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment announced in October 2025, Social Security will see several other significant rule and benefit shifts taking effect in 2026. These include higher earnings-test thresholds, a larger wage base subject to payroll taxes, increases in the program’s top monthly benefit, and a higher dollar value for work credits. … Read more

Lead When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week, the encounter serves as more than a diplomatic reunion: it is the opening public moment of Netanyahu’s 2026 reelection campaign. Israel is officially set to hold elections in October 2026, though political crises — including an ultra-Orthodox conscription standoff … Read more

Lead: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET after weeks of intensified negotiations aimed at finalizing a peace framework. The meeting was announced two days in advance and follows intensive work by U.S. envoys to reconcile differences between Trump’s original … Read more

Lead Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell has warned jazz drummer Chuck Redd that the center will seek $1 million in damages after Redd canceled his Christmas Eve performance. The cancellation followed the board’s decision, made a week earlier, to rename the institution the Trump Kennedy Center. Grenell described the withdrawal as costly to the nonprofit … Read more

Lead Mercury—tiny, ultra‑close to the Sun and far denser than its size suggests—has confounded planetary scientists for decades. Historical flybys (Mariner 10 in 1974–75) and orbital data from MESSENGER (2011–2015) revealed a world with a disproportionately large metal core, volatile surface chemistry and an orbit that current formation models struggle to reproduce. A joint European–Japanese … Read more

Lead Saturday’s Powerball drawing on Dec. 27 produced the numbers 62-5-34-39-20 with a Powerball of 1 and a 2x Power Play. The advertised jackpot for that drawing was $21.1 million, with a $9.2 million estimated cash value after a record $1.817 billion ticket sold in Arkansas on Dec. 24, 2025. The win ranks as the … Read more

A rupture in a 34-inch natural-gas main near Castaic, California, prompted emergency crews on Dec. 27 to close both directions of Interstate 5 and order nearby residents to shelter indoors. The incident, first reported to authorities about 4:20 p.m., led to a shelter-in-place that affected roughly 14,900 people and snarled post-holiday traffic for several hours. … Read more

On Dec. 27, Russian forces launched a sustained, 10-hour bombardment of Kyiv that officials say killed one person and injured dozens, coming just days after U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff declared on Dec. 21 that Russia was “fully committed” to achieving peace. The Russian Defense Ministry publicly characterized the operation as a “massive strike,” saying … Read more

Lead: On Dec. 27, 2025, two income-oriented U.S. stocks — Realty Income and PepsiCo — stand out as dividend picks for long-term investors seeking yield and total-return potential. Realty Income offers a near-6% yield and a long record of monthly payouts, while PepsiCo combines a 53-year dividend-growth streak with strategic restructuring under activist pressure. Both … Read more