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President Donald Trump installed a series of new plaques beneath presidential portraits outside the White House in January 2025 that make sweeping claims about his record, including that he “defeated inflation” and “ended eight wars.” This article reviews those assertions, comparing them with official data and open-source reporting to determine what is verifiable, what is … Read more
On Dec. 17, 2025, the U.S. government announced a package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion, a move timed with President Donald Trump’s nationally televised address. The State Department said the package comprises eight separate sales that include medium-range missiles, rocket artillery, howitzers and drones. Taipei welcomed the assistance as … Read more
British energy giant BP on Dec. 18, 2025 announced that Meg O’Neill, currently chief executive of Australia’s Woodside Energy, will take over as its next chief executive and will begin in April 2026. The board said Murray Auchincloss will leave the role after serving for less than two years. O’Neill will be BP’s first female … Read more
The Prince and Princess of Wales have shared their 2025 Christmas card: a relaxed family portrait taken in April in Norfolk that shows William and Catherine seated on grass amid daffodils with their children Prince George (12), Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis (7). The image, photographed by Josh Shinner, was posted on the couple’s official … Read more
Investors’ worries about Oracle’s debt burden intensified this week after reports that an asset manager pulled back from a planned $10 billion data-center deal, contributing to a sharp drop in the company’s shares and broader market weakness on Dec. 17–18, 2025. The Financial Times reported Blue Owl Capital stepped away from the financing over unfavorable … Read more
Lead Meg Ryan publicly mourned Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, after the couple were found dead at their Los Angeles home on Dec. 14. The actress, who starred in Reiner’s 1989 film When Harry Met Sally…, posted an emotional Instagram tribute thanking the pair for their belief in love and laughter. Ryan described the … Read more
On Wednesday, Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters visited the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank and were photographed with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav near landmarks including the Water Tower. The visit coincided with WBD’s board formally rejecting Paramount’s hostile $30-per-share tender offer, underscoring WBD’s public preference for Netflix’s earlier accepted proposal. … Read more
Lead Meta has paused its program to license the Quest operating system—rebranded as Horizon OS—to external headset makers, a move that shifts focus back to in‑house hardware and software. The licensing effort was announced in April 2024 and had targeted partners such as Lenovo and Asus. Meta says the pause allows it to concentrate on … Read more
Asian supply-chain reports in late 2025 indicate NVIDIA may cut GeForce RTX 50-series GPU production during the first half of 2026, with year-over-year output possibly down roughly 30–40% compared with H1 2025. Sources named by hardware outlets say the constraint stems not only from GPU VRAM but also from tight availability across GDDR6, GDDR7 and … Read more
Lead MINNEAPOLIS — The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-110 on Dec. 17, 2025, behind a team effort that saw Jaren Jackson Jr. finish with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Jock Landale added a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double as Memphis overcame the absence of Ja Morant to snap Minnesota’s recent surge. The Timberwolves were led … Read more
Lead On Dec. 18, 2025, European Union heads of state and government met in Brussels to decide whether to repurpose roughly €210 billion in Russian government assets frozen across Europe into a large loan package to support Ukraine’s military needs in 2026 and 2027. The proposal — championed by several member states and opposed by … Read more
Lead: President Donald Trump delivered an 18-minute address on Wednesday evening outlining what he described as the economic, security and social achievements of his second year in office. He made rapid-fire statements about wages, inflation, immigration, energy and pharmaceutical prices, some of which align with available data while others do not. This fact-check reviews eight … Read more
Lead On Dec. 17, 2025, from Mexico City and Washington, President Donald Trump ordered a partial blockade of oil tankers linked to Venezuela and declared that the United States will seek to reclaim claimed U.S. assets, saying, “We want it back.” The move targets tankers already under U.S. sanctions and accompanies an increased U.S. military … Read more
Lead: The U.S. government has formally acknowledged liability in the Jan. 29, 2025 midair collision over the Potomac River that killed 67 people, according to a federal court filing. The Justice Department said Army pilots of a Black Hawk failed to maintain proper visual separation from American Airlines Flight 5342 as the airliner was arriving … Read more
Lead On December 17, 2025, BP Plc appointed Meg O’Neill as chief executive officer, replacing Murray Auchincloss after his two-year tenure as the company seeks to revive its performance following a problematic shift toward renewables. O’Neill, who accepted the role after four years as CEO of Woodside Energy in Australia and more than two decades … Read more
