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Christmas is one of the most globally celebrated holidays in the world. But not everybody celebrates the same way—or even on the same day. Beyond the familiar traditions like Santa Claus, a fir tree, caroling and gift-giving, a number of countries—including the U. S.—bring their own unique twists, both old and new, to the holiday. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In the U.

On a gray, blustery November afternoon in Detroit, John Kish watches vigilantly as his four-year-old grandson, also named John, frolics on a towering play slide. If the day was sunny, there might be a line to use it, but given the weather, they have it to themselves. “It’s a long climb, but it gives them something to do,” Kish says, laughing, as the youngster carefully crosses a bridge within the structure.

Will the second Trump Administration greenlight Israeli annexation of the West Bank? Several of the President-elect’s recent appointments have suggested at least a friendliness to the idea. Donald Trump’s choice for U. S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who has said in the past that “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian,” has told Israel’s Army Radio that “of course” Israeli annexation is a possibility, though nothing has been decided.

MOSCOW — An explosive device planted close to a residential apartment block in Moscow killed the head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defence Forces, Lt. General Igor Kirillov, early Tuesday, Russia’s Investigative Committee said. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Kirillov’s assistant also died in the blast, triggered by the device which was placed in a scooter, officials said. The bomb was triggered remotely, Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing unnamed sources in the emergency services. Russian investigators have opened a case into the two deaths, according to the committee’s spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko. “Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene,” she said in a statement.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Every dramatic development in the Middle East this year has left Iran weaker. In 2024, the Islamic Republic lost in Gaza, in Lebanon, and, most spectacularly, in the Syrian Arab Republic, the linchpin of the “Shiite Crescent” collapsing so quickly this month that Tehran had to scramble to evacuate its officers of the Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force.

(BERLIN) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the German parliament on Monday, putting the European Union’s most populous member and biggest economy on course to hold an early election in February. Scholz won the support of 207 lawmakers in the 733-seat lower house, or Bundestag, while 394 voted against him and 116 abstained.