United States President Donald Trump launched the Board of Peace on Thursday, saying it's one of the most consequential bodies ever created in the history of the world. This is all part of the agreement to reach a ceasefire in Gaza after more than two years of Israel's genocidal war on Palestinians in the territory. Trump said the board will work in partnership with the United Nations to address crises far beyond Gaza.
Rodriguez made this and other statements in an X post rejecting claims leveled by US President Donald Trump that Venezuela had been paying Cuba for security services. Rodriguez's post also underscored Cuba's right to purchase oil from whatever source it might choose after Trump on Saturday threatened to cut the island off from all money and oil because of his claims that Havana had helped Venezuela's ex-president, Nicolas Maduro.
"This text reads as nothing more than a globalist wish list of divisive cultural causes including climate, sexual and reproductive health, gender, and the perverse donor-recipient industrial complex," he continued. "It is completely at odds with the Trump Administration's bold and pragmatic foreign policy."
That said, I do think it will come down to the wire. Why I say that is because the United States and Sweden, who I think are the second-most-likely team to top the group, don't play each other until the final day of preliminary round action. Barring any major upsets, the Sweden-United States game on New Year's Eve should decide who tops Group A and who comes second.
Growing up in Australia, December 25 meant swimming in the backyard pool, playing cricket on the beach, and eating cold prawns for lunch. Whenever I watched American holiday movies, I felt like I was witnessing a completely different, surreal celebration unfold, complete with snow, fireplaces, and people bundled up in heavy coats. Those movies might as well have been depicting the holiday on another planet - I didn't even see snow in real life until I visited Europe as an adult.
Though the impetus for this investigation follows grave concerns about the extent of Russia's penetration of our political system, we must be clear-eyed too about the threat of interference now posed by the United States. In his recent national security strategy, President Trump outlined the US's new policy of cultivating resistance' within Europe. This reflects nothing less than an explicit call for interference in European politics including our own.
Travel patterns from Germany's main airports during the summer flight schedule (April to October 2025) reveal a number of trends among holidaymakers. While the total number of air travellers has not completely rebounded since the Covid pandemic, data released by the Germany's statistics office (Destatis) highlights shifts across domestic, short-haul and long-haul journeys. In total, 68.5 million passengers departed Germany for destinations abroad during the summer, marking a rise of 4.6 percent compared to the previous year.
For 75 years, the US has wielded wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces. The set-up has its origins in the Korean War which erupted in 1950 and largely ended with the truce of 1953. In simple terms, Seoul can command its troops only as long as there is no open conflict, and despite South Korean leadership taking on more and more responsibility in the intervening decades, a major breakout of hostilities would still see Washington take command.
Her report, which examines the role of 63 states in Israel's actions in both Gaza and the West Bank, calls out the multilateral system for decades of moral and political failure in a colonial world order sustained by a global system of complicity. Through unlawful actions and deliberate omissions, too many states have harmed, founded and shielded Israel's militarised apartheid, allowing its settler colonial enterprise to metastasise into genocide, the ultimate crime against the indigenous people of Palestine, she said.
Illiberal populism has spread across the world, either challenging for power or entrenching itself in office, from Argentina to Italy, France to Indonesia, Hungary to Britain. But probably the most significant example of a relatively free, pluralist society and political system turning into something very different remains the US, now nine months into Donald Trump's second term. As it often does, the US is demonstrating what the future could be for much of the world.
Although the World Cup is still a little while away, the German Football Association (DFB) is busy with pre-tournament preparations. According to Bild (via @iMiaSanMia), the final friendly opponents ahead of the World Cup have been finalized. The last opponent before the tournament will be none other than one of the co-hosts, the United States of America. The dress rehearsal will be held in early June.
The beauty of an Airbnb is that, more often than not, it comes with a strong sense of place. Hotels can be successful at capturing the vibe of a city, but there's nothing quite like cosplaying a day in the life of a local, wandering around hidden gems, and exploring family-owned cafés. Plus, if you're not into understated spots, Airbnb also offers the opportunity to try out something one-of-a-kind, like a houseboat in Oregon or a converted grain silo in Missouri.
MINNEAPOLIS - Hundreds of people in the U.S. have died in mass shootings over the past 25 years in offices, stores, theaters and other places, but the carnage perhaps hits hardest when it happens in schools and colleges where children and young adults are often the victims. In some cases, the victims are children who still have some of their baby teeth. Others are newly adult students with career and family dreams, and teachers or religious leaders who frequently become role models and mentors to their young students. Wednesday's mass shooting at a church where Catholic school students were attending Mass in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the latest in a long list of attacks targeting students since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado.
Cannabis has been part of human culture for thousands of years, woven into rituals, medicine, recreation, and trade across civilizations. While its roots can be traced back to ancient China, India, and the Middle East, the plant's global journey has been shaped by differing laws, cultural practices, and social attitudes. In today's world, cannabis is both one of the most controversial and celebrated plants-criminalized in some regions, normalized in others, and increasingly legalized for medicinal or recreational use.
According to the World Population Review, each person in New Zealand eats, on average, 28.4 liters of ice cream per year. The U.S. ranked second at 20.8 liters per person, nearly 8 liters behind the Kiwis.
On Aug. 7, 1974, French highwire artist Philippe Petit performed an unapproved tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York, chronicled in the Academy Award-winning documentary Man on Wire.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened a 35 percent tariff on all Canadian goods if no trade agreement is reached between the two countries. His warning was communicated in a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, shared on his social media platform, Truth Social. The letter emphasized that the implementation of tariffs could be avoided if Canadian companies manufacture products within the United States.
The United States has become a global powerhouse for billion-dollar companies, helping its stock market to far outvalue the world's leading economies due to its deep capital markets and regulatory support.
The story of the United States and Ireland is one of perseverance, hope, and partnership. Our relationship is rooted in history, but its future will be defined by our actions today and our vision for tomorrow.
