Japan’s Cabinet OKs record defence budget that aims to deter China

Too hot to handle? Searing heat looming over 2026 World Cup

Cape Town’s housing crisis meets Airbnb boom

North Korea’s Kim orders more missile production in 2026: state media

Trump says U.S. military struck ISIS terrorists in Nigeria

White House to present plans for Trump’s East Wing ballroom in January

Some of the players to watch at the world junior hockey championship

Malaysia’s financial scandal: 1MDB

U.K. tech campaigner sues Trump administration over U.S. sanctions

Much of N.L. under winter storm warnings as heavy snow and winds hit the coast

Egypt denies appeal of prominent economist sentenced to 5 years

Expert calls 2025 flu ‘more infectious,’ as provinces see rise in infected children

Raids carried out at Mexican homes linked to former Olympian Ryan Wedding

Poland intercepts Russian plane over Baltic, reports airspace breaches from Belarus

Jimmy Kimmel jokes about fascism in an ‘alternative Christmas message’ for Britain

Russia makes ‘proposal’ to France over jailed researcher

Türkiye starts examining black boxes from jet crash that killed Libya’s military chief and 7 others

Russian court sentences pro-war activist and Putin critic to six years in prison

All schoolchildren accounted for after Nigeria kidnapping: Church

Women wanted after officers find dead dogs inside home’s fridges, officials say

Kenyan church celebrates birth of ‘Black Messiah’ at Christmas

Israeli settler attack injures Palestinian baby, five arrested

Virtual reality opens doors for older people to build closer connections in real life

Polar bear in northern Manitoba adopts second cub in the wild in rare case

12-year-old boy in Long Island stops burglar in his home

French victim of Bondi attack laid to rest in Israel

Syria says senior ISIS leader killed, arrests operative near Damascus

Israeli military says it killed a member of Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon

King Charles III calls for kindness and unity in Christmas message amid global conflicts

A helicopter on a rescue mission crashes on Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, killing all 5 on board

Student’s notes spark citywide “ripples of kindness” effect. Meet the mysterious author behind them.

Daughters of King Charles’ brother Andrew join royals for Christmas service

Pat Finn, actor and comedian of ‘Friends’ and ‘The Middle’, dead at 60

Kenyans protest after roaming elephants kill 4 people in a week

Saudi Arabia calls on Yemen separatists to leave 2 governorates as anti-Houthi coalition strains

Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsonaro undergoes double hernia surgery

Turkiye detains 115 alleged ISIS members

Gold is set for its best year since Jimmy Carter was president

Israel calls countries condemning new West Bank settlements ‘morally wrong’

Mogadishu votes in first local elections in decades under tight security

Kremlin says Putin wished Trump a Merry Christmas

Public release of Epstein records puts Maxwell under fresh scrutiny amid her claims of innocence

Pope Leo XIV remembers Gaza’s suffering in first Christmas homily and calls for peace

King Charles III picks Westminster Abbey as the site of his Christmas Day broadcast

Blast at mosque in Nigeria kills 5 and injures more than 30 in apparent suicide attack

Renowned Palestinian actor and director Mohammed Bakri dies at 72

Albanese announces bravery award for heroes of Bondi antisemitic attack

Storm system threatens more rainfall Christmas Day over waterlogged Southern California

A Powerball player in Arkansas has won a US$1.817-billion lottery jackpot

Christmas cold for the West, freezing rain in Ontario and winter storms in the East