Britain’s King Charles III has told the U.S. Congress that despite an age of uncertainty and conflict in Europe and the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States remain united in defending democracy.

South Korea’s former first lady Kim Keon Hee was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison for stock manipulation and bribery, with her legal team saying she will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Two Jewish men were seriously wounded in a knife attack in north London, in what authorities are calling a terrorist incident targeting the Jewish community. The assault took place in Golders Green, a neighborhood with a significant Jewish population, intensifying concerns over a growing wave of antisemitic violence across Britain.

Iran’s economy is rapidly deteriorating under the strain of war, with more than one million people out of work and inflation soaring to crippling levels. According to The Wall Street Journal, another million jobs have been indirectly affected, as businesses shut down and supply chains collapse across the country.

President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Iran on Wednesday, declaring that patience is wearing thin as stalled negotiations threaten to reignite full-scale conflict in the Middle East.

A military convoy escorting civilians came under fire in northern Ghana on Monday, leaving at least three civilians dead and one injured, authorities said, highlighting ongoing violence in a region shaken by years of unrest.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday welcomed King Charles III and Queen Camilla to the White House, emphasizing the enduring alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom as the monarch continued a four-day state visit.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran is in a “state of collapse,” asserting that intensified U.S. pressure — including a blockade of Iranian ports — is forcing Tehran to reconsider its position and seek relief through reopening critical global waterways.

The United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday that it will withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, ending decades of membership in a move that could reshape global energy dynamics.

At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured after two trains collided near Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, officials said Tuesday, in one of the country’s deadliest rail accidents in recent years.

Israel’s Defense Ministry will deliver its first full Iron Beam high-energy laser battery to the IDF on December 30. The move marks the world’s first deployment of a high-power laser air-defense system into regular frontline service. Defense Ministry R&D chief Dani Gold confirmed the rollout date on Monday, calling it the system’s “first capability,” with more upgrades already in development.

Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed the Vatican’s long-standing support for a two-state solution on Sunday, declaring it the “only solution” capable of resolving the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The remarks, delivered during his first in-flight press conference as pontiff, marked his clearest public statement yet on the issue.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has submitted a formal request for a presidential pardon to President Isaac Herzog, a move unprecedented in modern Israeli politics and one that immediately triggered fierce national debate.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House meeting last week with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was “civil but difficult,” according to multiple U.S. officials cited by Channel 12 and Axios, with tensions flaring behind closed doors over the pace of Saudi–Israel normalization.

Israel announced a major expansion of its air-defense production last Thursday, accelerating manufacturing of Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and the emerging Iron Beam laser system amid warnings that two years of nonstop conflict have strained the country’s defensive readiness.

Israel has approved a multi-year plan to bring roughly 5,800 members of India’s Bnei Menashe community to the country by 2030, the government announced Sunday, calling the move both strategic and demographic in significance.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the United States has reaffirmed its pledge to preserve Israel’s strategic edge in the Middle East, even as President Donald Trump advances a controversial sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

The White House is heralding a better-than-expected jobs report as one of the first signs of what it says will be a “record successful year” in 2026, after a year of stalled jobs growth.

A wastewater overflow tied to the collapse of a major sewer pipeline continues to prompt responses from officials in Virginia, Maryland and Washington as repair work advances along the Potomac River.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer has filed a bill to give the pride flag the same legal standing as the U.S. flag and military banners.

Reverend Jesse Jackson, the influential civil rights campaigner and former presidential hopeful described by his family as “a servant leader,” has died at age 84.

Senate Republicans say they have enough support within their 53-member conference to pass the SAVE America Act, but overcoming a Democratic blockade may require reviving the rarely used “talking filibuster.”

The U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense have transported a small nuclear reactor by military cargo aircraft for the first time, marking a significant milestone in President Donald Trump’s push to expand advanced nuclear energy across the country.

President Donald Trump on Monday directed federal authorities to step in and coordinate cleanup efforts following what he called a “massive ecological disaster” in the Potomac River after a major sewer line collapse in Maryland.

A month after the LGBTQ+ community held its annual Amsterdam Pride Canal Parade in decorated boats, Christians sailed through the Dutch capital’s historic canals over the weekend with a message of hope: “Jesus Christ gives eternal life to anyone who believes in Him.”

Clashes between local security forces and Islamic fighters linked to crime gangs and designated terror groups killed more than 100 people across Nigeria over the weekend, with many victims identified as Christians, several sources confirmed Sunday.

Nearly 30 Christians in China’s Hubei province are on trial after being accused of organizing and using an “evil cult to undermine law enforcement,” charges rights advocates say are part of ongoing persecution of believers in the Communist-run nation.

Christians in Nigeria’s central Benue state were mourning on Wednesday seven believers reportedly killed by Islamic Fulani herdsmen in escalating anti-Christian attacks.

A Christian father in Pakistan’s city of Lahore continues to seek justice for his 13-year-old daughter, who was abducted in July by a Muslim man from the same neighborhood.

Members of Islamic extremist group Boko Haram killed at least eight Christians in two separate attacks across Borno State over the weekend, local sources and authorities confirmed.

Iran has detained dozens of Christians on charges of espionage and “anti-security activities” for Israel, drawing condemnation from rights groups who call the move part of a broader crackdown on the country’s tiny Christian minority.