A stolen baby Jesus figurine was left at a Fort Collins fire station with an apology note after being taken from a Nativity scene in the Colorado town.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition. Scholz lost a confidence vote on Dec. 16 and leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on Nov. 6 when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy. Leaders of several major parties then agreed that a parliamentary election should be held on Feb. 23, seven months earlier than originally planned.
Mayotte has changed beyond recognition since a cyclone devastated the Indian Ocean territory, sparking an environment and biodiversity crisis that could last for a decade or more, scientists say.Officially Mayotte has 320,000 inhabitants -- with unregistered undocumented migrants probably adding another 100,000 -- packed into a territory of 374 square kilometres (144 square miles), resulting in a population density eight times that of mainland France.
South Korean lawmakers impeached acting president Han Duck-soo on Friday, sinking the country deeper into a political crisis triggered by his predecessor's martial law declaration that shocked the world.Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, who stepped in as South Korea's new acting president, pledged to do all to end the political turmoil gripping his country.
Calming techniques for trying times can be useful in 2025 as well.
Wildfires may be in the news this winter across the southern tier of the US as drought persists and expands across the region, experts told USA TODAY Friday.
As the Hawaii senator charts his path up the Senate hierarchy, he reflects on his party’s major challenges.
Dorthy Moxley, the mother who fought for decades to bring her teenage daughter’s killer to justice in a roller-coaster Connecticut murder case that captured the nation’s attention for years, has died. She was 92.
Oleksandr deserted from the front line in eastern Ukraine after watching his fellow servicemen being pulverised by Russian bombardments for six months.It was the final straw for Oleksandr, 45, who had been holding the line in the embattled Lugansk region in the early months of the war.
South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach prime minister and acting president Han Duck-soo on Friday, less than two weeks after parliament stripped President Yoon Suk Yeol of his powers over his short-lived martial law order that plunged the country into political disarray.
Taiwan’s presidential office held a “tabletop” exercise on Thursday simulating military escalations by China, a first-of-its-kind drill involving government agencies beyond the armed forces that highlights Taipei’s urgency in ensuring preparedness against an increasingly assertive Beijing.
China on Friday slapped sanctions on seven US companies after Washington's approval last week of a $571.3 million military aid package to Taiwan, which Beijing said infringed on its "sovereignty and territory".Last Friday, US President Joe Biden authorised the drawdown of up to $571.3 million for defence assistance to the self-ruled island, which China regards as its own territory.
A Malaysian man was caned at a mosque in the northeastern state of Terengganu on Friday for the Islamic crime of close proximity with a non-family member of the opposite sex, local media reported, in a rare public sentencing. Muslim-majority Malaysia practices a dual-track legal system, with Islamic criminal and family laws applicable to Muslims alongside secular laws. Mohd Affendi Awang, 42, was convicted of the Islamic crime of "khalwat" and sentenced to six strokes of the cane and a fine after he pleaded guilty to the offence last month.
Asian markets mostly rose on Friday, with Japanese shares gaining on a weaker yen, although Seoul shares plunged as South Korea's political crisis deepened with a second impeachment vote.In Seoul, the market closed down by 1.02 percent after the won plunged to a 16-year low of 1,480.20 per US dollar on Friday morning.
China has launched its first next-generation amphibious assault ship, adding a powerful cutting-edge warship to the country’s fast-expanding navy as it races to rival the military power of the United States.
The U.N. air crew member hurt in an air strike on Yemen's main international airport on Thursday suffered serious injuries but is now recovering in hospital, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization said on Friday. Israel said it struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen, including Sanaa International Airport, and Houthi media said at least six people were killed.
The US government long had the nation’s biggest tech giants in its sights, and in 2024 it hit bullseye. But Wall Street doesn't appear rattled — yet.
A North Korean soldier who was captured while fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine has died of his wounds, South Korea's spy agency said on Friday. "It has been confirmed through an allied intelligence agency that the North Korean soldier captured alive on December 26th has just passed away due to worsening wounds," the South's spy agency said in a statement.
Storms across both the Western and Southern United States threaten to disrupt flights as millions of holiday travelers prepare to close out the year.
China will extend licence age limits for drivers of medium-sized and large buses as well as trucks, as part of broader efforts to address the challenges posed by an aging population, falling birth rate and a shrinking labour pool. Keeping older transportation workers on the payroll will be key to helping maintain stability across China's vast transportation system in the medium-term as the sector plans to adopt more autonomous vehicles. Just over a decade ago, the capital Beijing allowed male bus drivers to retire five years earlier - at the age of 55 - for health reasons, as it was concerned about operational safety.
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