The Netherlands’ incoming coalition government has unveiled a sweeping policy blueprint that includes a so-called “freedom contribution,” requiring households and businesses to pay more in taxes to help finance sharply higher defense spending, while other social programs face cuts.
Norway’s royal family faced renewed turmoil Tuesday after the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit was detained by police on suspicion of assault just days before his trial in Oslo on 38 charges, including the rape of four women, while the crown princess herself faces questions over past contact with late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has laid out his most explicit vision yet for transforming China’s currency into a global reserve, calling for the renminbi to become widely used in international trade, investment, and foreign-exchange markets—and ultimately held by central banks.
The United States will reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18% after President Donald Trump announced a new trade agreement with India following a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The reduced rate marks a rollback from the 25% “reciprocal” tariff imposed last year, along with an additional 25% penalty tied to India’s purchases of Russian oil, the Wall Street Journal reported.
European royal houses have been shaken by fresh revelations from newly unsealed documents linked to the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit faces renewed scrutiny over years of contact with him, and Britain’s royal family continues to grapple with fallout from ties between Epstein and a senior royal.
A Russian drone strike on a bus carrying mineworkers in southeastern Ukraine killed at least 15 people on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said.
President Donald Trump’s promised U.S. military “armada” has now arrived in the Middle East, led by the aircraft carrier strike group centered on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Yet despite the high-profile deployment of naval power and advanced fighter aircraft, U.S. officials say a major American response against Iran may be delayed as the Pentagon focuses on fortifying air defenses across the region, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Rebel authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed Saturday that more than 200 people have died after a landslide collapsed several mines at a major coltan mining site in the troubled east of the war-torn African nation.
Russia and Ukraine say they have briefly halted strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure after U.S. President Donald Trump urged an end to attacks that left many people without power in freezing temperatures. Yet, differences remain over when the U.S.-brokered moratorium will expire.
Germany is in shock after an 18-year-old woman was reportedly killed when she was grabbed by a 25-year-old man from South Sudan on a subway platform in the city of Hamburg and thrown in front of an oncoming train. The man also died in the horrific incident late Thursday, officials said.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has claimed that European Union leaders were presented with plans to admit Ukraine into the bloc by 2027, warning that the move would divert billions of euros away from Central European nations ahead of the EU’s next long-term budget cycle.
A virus far deadlier than the coronavirus has resurfaced in India, with health officials confirming two cases of the highly lethal Nipah virus. The cases prompted authorities to rush to prevent it from spreading to other nations and, potentially, beyond the continent.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, braced for more financial turmoil after stocks suffered their deepest two-day rout in nearly three decades, underscoring growing investor unease about policies under former general-turned-President Prabowo Subianto.
Hungary’s government under longtime Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is preparing a legal challenge against the European Union’s decision to accelerate the phase-out of Russian oil and natural gas imports, the country’s foreign minister has confirmed.
The European Union on Thursday formally designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, marking a historic shift in the bloc’s Iran policy following years of internal debate and mounting pressure over Tehran’s violent repression of dissent.
President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Iran on Wednesday, declaring that “time is running out” for Tehran to negotiate over its nuclear program as a major U.S. naval armada moves into the Middle East. At the same time, key American allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced they would not support or facilitate any U.S. military strikes against Iran from their territory or airspace.
The progressive mayor of Budapest has condemned Hungarian prosecutors for seeking to fine him after hundreds of thousands of people joined a Pride march in the Hungarian capital despite a government-backed ban.
The United States has formally completed its withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, the State Department confirmed Tuesday, marking President Donald Trump’s second exit from the global climate pact and fulfilling a key pledge of his administration’s “America First” agenda.
Vladimir Putin met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Kremlin on Wednesday, as Russia moves to safeguard its remaining military bases in Syria following a dramatic shift in power in the war-torn nation.
Atomic scientists on Tuesday moved the symbolic “Doomsday Clock” to 85 seconds to midnight, the closest humanity has ever come to theoretical self-annihilation—yet the warning is not meant to declare destiny. For people of faith, the tightening of the hour carries prophetic weight, echoing past moments when global shaking preceded awakening, repentance, and renewal, serving as a call to restrain destructive paths and realign human choices toward life, wisdom, and peace.