With 250 people on board, the second locomotive derailed and dragged the rest of the train with it. One of the four passenger cars plunged into a six-meter-deep ravine, and another was left partially suspended. The accident resulted in the deaths of 13 people and left approximately 100 injured, 36 of whom are still receiving medical attention, according to a statement from the Mexican Navy.
A case of measles was confirmed on December 24th in Contra Costa County, and officials have now issued a warning that anyone who was shopping at multiple stores in Walnut Creek before Christmas Eve could have been exposed. The infected person was apparently shopping at Anthropologie on December 17 or 19, at Macy's or the Apple Store on December 18, and several other locations. [KTVU]
From Jeff Bezos commandeering Venice for his lavish wedding at a time of a growing backlash over inequality, to the spectacle of Donald Trump returning to office for a second term, the material was endless for cartoonists, though often difficult to navigate. The less surreal included violence against Palestinians in Gaza by Israel, the entrenchment of the Russia-Ukraine war, the threat AI posed to human creativity and the return of the far right across Europe and the US.
China aims to impose a unique strategy to address a falling birth rate that threatens its long-term stability. As of January 1, 2026, the government will levy a 13 percent value-added tax (VAT) on various contraceptives, including condoms. The decision amends the Value Added Tax Law, which in 1993 exempted birth control products from taxation. At the time, the measure was part of China's effort to contain its accelerating population growth.
They didn't even give him a chance. They shot him more than 20 or 25 times. "One of our childhood friends was also with them, but he couldn't say anything. So he just saw our friend die in front of his eyes - and that's it." The matter of fact way in which Sudan forward John Mano recounts the death of his best friend Medo is at odds with the intense look burning in his eyes as he does so.
A diplomatic breakthrough after more than 30 years of international isolation, following its break-up from Somalia. But Israel's recognition of Somaliland as an independent state is drawing widespread condemnation. Somaliland is strategically located near the Bab al Mandeb, through which a third of the world's shipping crosses into the Red sea. That makes it vital for maritime security and intelligence operations in a volatile region.
The US fired Tomahawk missiles into Nigeria's Sokoto State late last week, claiming to target members of ISIS targeting Christians in the country, but the region hit by the strikes - and facing the brunt of ISIS attacks - is majority Muslim. Also, the world's first carbon tariff is set to take effect in Europe at the start of 2026.
In an unusually short period of time, three successive statements were issued within a single context, beginning with an official Yemeni request from President Rashad al-Alimi, the head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, the governing body of the internationally recognised government. This was followed by an operational response from the Saudi-led coalition, and then a political message by the Saudi minister of defence that defines the moves on the ground and the directions they take.
Israel has attacked more countries than any other country this year. In 2025, Israel attacked at least six countries, including Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, and Yemen. It also carried out strikes in Tunisian, Maltese and Greek territorial waters on aid flotillas heading for Gaza. According to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), an independent conflict monitor, from January 1 to December 5, Israel carried out at least 10,631 attacks, marking one of the broadest geographic military offensives in a single year.
United States President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and said the two leaders were getting a lot closer, maybe very close to a deal to end the war in Ukraine. Trump and Zelenskyy reported progress on two of the most contentious issues in the peace talks: security guarantees for Ukraine and the division of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region that Russia has sought to capture.
A week of extremes in the US as Arctic air plunges southwards across many states, sweeping away record-breaking warmth from last weekend. With low pressure in the west drawing up warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico, much of the south and midwest basked in spring-like weather this weekend with temperatures widely an extraordinary 15-20C above normal for late December.
The issue there is that royal commissions can be good at deciding facts. What the Richardson review will do is decide facts. Where royal commissions are not as good, is to consider things that are not agreed, where people have differences of views, and to enable, which is what it would do, a repetition of some of the worst developments, he said.
They have a big plant or a big facility where the ships come from. Two nights ago we knocked that out. The Republican was talking about the U.S. operation against drug trafficking in the Caribbean, focused on Venezuela. And if he said what he seemed to mean, he was confirming an attack the first strike on the ground after months of threatening to do so, escalating the offensive against Nicolas Maduro's government.
Kim Keon-hee took more than $200,000 in bribes and illegally intervened in state affairs, South Korean prosecutors say. A special prosecutor in South Korea has accused the wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol of interfering in state affairs in return for expensive valuables and money. Min Jung-ki's comments on Monday came a day after he wrapped up a yearlong investigation into Yoon's brief imposition of martial law and other scandals related to the once-powerful couple.
