Former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia has died at the age of 80, her party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), said in a statement issued Tuesday. Zia, the first woman elected to lead Bangladesh as prime minister, spent decades at the center of national politics in a rivalry with Sheikh Hasina that dominated elections, street protests and governance for a generation. The BNP said Zia’s health had been fragile for years. She was freed from prison on medical grounds in 2020, but her family said the Hasina administration rejected at least 18 requests for her to seek treatment abroad. After…
Author: Emily Harper
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Asian stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday, while U.S. stock futures were little changed, as investors headed into the last sessions of 2025 with activity constrained by year-end holidays. With two trading days left before the year closes for many markets, trading volumes have been muted, and relatively small flows have had an outsized impact on prices. Most major exchanges are scheduled to be shut on Thursday for New Year’s Day, and some markets are expected to remain closed on Friday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 eased by less than 0.1% to 50,519.12. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.5% to…
A Full Moon That Stands Out The first full moon of the year arrives with unusual intensity as the wolf supermoon, a lunar event tied to mid winter traditions and named for the historic association with howling wolves across North America. This full moon is also a supermoon, meaning it appears slightly larger and brighter than an average full moon because it occurs near the closest point of the moon’s orbit to Earth. It marks the final supermoon in a recent sequence, giving it added visual impact and symbolic weight as a natural milestone in the night sky. Beyond its…
Citigroup said its board has approved the sale of its Russian subsidiary, AO Citibank, to Renaissance Capital, a Moscow-based investment bank, as the U.S. lender continues to unwind its remaining exposure in the country. The plan was disclosed in an SEC filing and a separate company statement dated December 29, 2025, with Citi indicating the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026. Citi said the approvals mean it will recognize the accounting impact in the fourth quarter of 2025, even though the deal is expected to close later. The bank added that the final loss could…
Security Guarantees at the Center of Negotiations The United States has proposed long term security guarantees for Ukraine as part of an ongoing peace initiative aimed at ending the war with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Washington is offering commitments covering a period of fifteen years, though he made clear that Kyiv would prefer guarantees lasting several decades. In his view, only a long horizon of protection can truly deter future attempts by Moscow to use force to seize Ukrainian territory. Zelenskyy stressed that without firm security guarantees, any peace arrangement would be fragile and unlikely to endure.…
Rising Tensions After a Fragile Truce Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have resurfaced after the Thai army accused its neighbor of breaching a recently agreed ceasefire along their disputed border. The truce had been welcomed as a critical step toward calming weeks of violent clashes that forced close to one million people to flee their homes and disrupted daily life across border communities. According to Thai military officials, the alleged violation involved the detection of more than 250 unmanned aerial vehicles crossing from the Cambodian side into contested areas during the night. Thai authorities described the incident as a serious…
Silver and gold futures fell steeply on Monday after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) increased the amount of collateral traders must post to hold positions in several precious-metals contracts. In early trading, silver futures sank about 8%, while gold futures slid roughly 5%, reversing part of a powerful year-end rally that had pushed both metals to fresh highs. The move came after the exchange published an advisory announcing higher “performance bond” requirements citing a routine review tied to elevated volatility. The updated requirements were set to take effect after the close of business on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, following a…
Passengers on an Australian cruise ship that ran aground on a reef off Papua New Guinea (PNG) are set to be flown home after crews were unable to refloat the vessel. The Australian-flagged Coral Adventurer became stuck at about 05:25 local time on Saturday, grounding on a reef off the country’s eastern coastline. Authorities in PNG said everyone on board was safe. The ship was carrying 80 passengers and 44 crew members, and there were no reports of injuries. The passengers had departed from Cairns, in northern Australia, on 18 December for a tour that included calls in several PNG…
Dominant Wins Sharpen a Historic Matchup Two unbeaten Japanese stars delivered statement performances that intensified calls for a landmark bout that would reshape the nation’s boxing landscape. Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani each emerged victorious on the same card, reinforcing their status among the sport’s elite and accelerating momentum toward a long discussed showdown. Inoue, the undisputed champion at junior featherweight, controlled his contest from the opening rounds, mixing speed, body work and combinations to overwhelm his challenger over the distance. While the bout lacked a finishing flourish, the scorecards reflected clear supremacy. Inoue spread his offense across multiple targets,…
A Quiet Return That Feels Like a Statement More than two years after stepping away from the spotlight at the end of his global tour, Harry Styles has resurfaced with a deeply emotional release that feels both intimate and intentional. A nearly nine-minute video titled “Forever, Forever” revisits the closing moments of his last concert from the Love on Tour era, offering fans a rare window back into a night that marked the end of a defining chapter in his career. Rather than centering the video solely on himself, Styles places the focus firmly on his audience. The opening scenes…
