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Pope Leo has appointed Bishop Aldon Ronald Hicks, 58, as the next archbishop of New York, replacing Cardinal Timothy Dolan, 75, who is retiring after about 16 years in the post. The appointment was announced on Thursday and is scheduled to take effect with an installation at St Patrick’s Cathedral on 6 February 2026. Hicks, … Read more

Lead: On Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, European Council leaders approved a financial package committing 90 billion euros ($105.5 billion) in support for Ukraine covering 2026 and 2027. EU Council President Antonio Costa confirmed the deal on X, saying member states reached agreement on funding measures after weeks of debate. The package will be financed through … Read more

Lead: Greg Biffle, a three-series NASCAR winner and respected figure in the racing community, died Thursday at age 55 in a plane crash near Statesville, North Carolina, that also killed six others including his wife and two children. A native of Washington state who rose through grassroots racing, Biffle amassed 842 national series starts and … Read more

Lead On Dec. 18, 2025, a Wisconsin state judge, Hannah C. Dugan, was convicted of obstructing federal agents after prosecutors said she guided a man away from officers waiting outside a courthouse courtroom. The jury found Dugan guilty of the obstruction charge but acquitted her of a lesser count of concealing a person from arrest. … Read more

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS made its closest recorded approach to Earth on Dec. 19, 2025, passing about 168 million miles (270 million km) away at roughly 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT). Observatories and spacecraft around the solar system — including NASA’s Europa Clipper, ESA’s XMM-Newton and ground-based telescopes — captured multiwavelength data before and during the … Read more

Lead On Thursday night, Dec. 18, 2025, the Seattle Seahawks overcame a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Los Angeles Rams 38-37 in overtime. The prime-time victory, sealed by a two-point overtime conversion, clinched a playoff berth for Seattle and moved the team into first place in the NFC West and the top spot in … Read more

Lead Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, acting at former President Donald Trump’s direction, ordered the suspension of the US diversity visa (DV1) or “green card lottery” program on 19 December 2025, following the shootings linked to Brown University and MIT. Police in Providence, Rhode Island, said the suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, a Portuguese national, first … Read more

Valve’s Steam Winter Sale runs from December 18, 2025, through January 5, 2026, offering discounts across major releases and indie hits. Highlights include Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 at $40 (down from $50), Silent Hill f at $42 (40% off), and Assassin’s Creed Shadows for $35 (regularly $70). Several well-known indie titles are also deeply reduced … Read more

Los Angeles authorities have charged 32-year-old Nick Reiner with two counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of his parents, actor-director Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. The alleged killings occurred in Los Angeles; prosecutors say the charges carry penalties up to life without parole or the death penalty. Nick Reiner remains jailed ahead … Read more

Lead: Fortnite’s annual Winterfest celebration arrived in December 2025, bringing snow to the northern half of the Battle Royale island, multiple high-profile collaborations and a mix of free and paid cosmetics. The seasonal event runs through January 5 and reintroduces winter weapons, special presents, and a new playable boss. Key collabs confirmed include Harry Potter, … Read more

In a quarterly report filed Dec. 18, 2025 covering the period through Nov. 30, Nike said sales rose 1 percent even as net income plunged 32 percent. The company cited a sharp contraction in Greater China — mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan — where revenue fell 17 percent, and continued weakness at its Converse … Read more

Lead: On Dec. 17, President Donald Trump delivered a rapid, prime-time address from the White House Diplomatic Room focused on the economy and affordability. The speech included a string of claims about inflation, wages, gasoline, groceries, immigration and tax cuts; several matched public datasets while many were inaccurate, misleading or lacked clear sourcing. Fact-checking against … Read more

Lead: The Financial Times reports that TikTok has signed an agreement to form a US-based joint venture aimed at addressing long-running regulatory and national-security concerns. The move, disclosed by the FT, would place certain operations and data-handling functions under a new U.S. entity. Officials and company representatives framed the deal as a step toward greater … Read more

Lead: On Dec. 18, 2025, a federal jury in Milwaukee convicted Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan of one felony count—impeding a proceeding—while acquitting her on a related misdemeanor concealment charge. The verdict, returned after 8:30 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Milwaukee, stems from an April 18 incident in which Dugan escorted a man through … Read more

EU leaders announced early Friday in Brussels a two-year funding package that will lend roughly $105 billion (about €90 billion) to Ukraine for 2026–27, financed initially through EU borrowing rather than by tapping frozen Russian assets. The move aims to cover roughly two-thirds of an IMF-estimated $160 billion funding shortfall for Ukraine over the next … Read more