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EU named top-tier partner as Vietnam balances great powers

Vietnam and the European Union have elevated diplomatic relations as both sides seek secure footing amid global trade and security shocks. The announcement of a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" between Brussels and Hanoi last week places the EU side by side with China, the United States and Russia as one of Vietnam's top-tier diplomatic relationships. Vietnamese President

Study: Ultra-Processed Foods Engineered Like Cigarettes

A study by researchers at three United States universities claims to have identified similarities between the addictive characteristics of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and cigarettes, and has recommended similar levels of regulation. According to the study, which was published this week in the Milbank Quarterly healthcare journal, UPFs "share key engineering strategies adopted from the tobacco

Teen Swims Hours to Rescue Family Stranded Off WA Coast

A young boy swam for several hours in rough seas to alert authorities to his mother and younger brother and sister being stranded off the coast of Quindalup in Western Australia. Police said that Austin Applebee swam around 4 kilometers (roughly 2.5 miles) to raise the alarm after his family got into difficulties on their

Infantino Calls for Russia’s Return to International Football

FIFA President Gianni Infantino believes it is time to reinstate Russia, who has been banned since invading Ukraine in 2022, to football. Ukraine's sports minister Matvii Bidnyi said the words were detached from a "reality in which children are being killed." Russian and Belarusian athletes are about to compete as neutrals at the Winter Olympics

EU–India Deal Opens Door for German Carmakers

The trade deal agreed by India and the EU in January was described by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as "the mother of all trade deals" — buoyant language to hail an economic partnership between the world's largest trading bloc and its most populous nation. The agreement will reduce or remove tariffs on

Why Gold and Silver Prices Plummeted Last Week

What happened to gold and silver prices over the past week? After surging to a record high above $5,580 (€4,705) per ounce on Thursday, gold suffered its steepest one‑day decline in years on Friday, dropping by around 9%. The sell-off didn't stop there. By Monday, the slide had deepened, with the metal losing another 3.3% to

France Passes Contested 2026 Budget Amid Political Turmoil

France on Monday adopted a 2026 government budget, following months of negotiations and no-confidence motions in Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's minority government. "France finally has a budget," Lecornu wrote on X after the vote, hailing a "parliamentary compromise" which "curbs public spending" and "does not hike taxes for households and businesses." Lecornu survives challenges left and right

From Heckled Recruit to Germany’s Olympic Hockey Coach

When the German Ice Hockey Association (DEB) named Harold Kreis as the men's national team head coach three years ago, many observers saw his appointment as something of a no-brainer. By then, he'd simply seen and done it all in German hockey. But the Winnipeg native's arrival in the Ice Hockey Bundesliga, the predecessor to Germany's topflight

Vienna Reclaims Street Parking for Green Public Space

Anyone who has had the displeasure of finding a parking spot in a major city knows it can take a very long time to strike gold. Los Angeles residents sacrifice more than 80 hours a year hunting for a place to leave their cars and from London to Frankfurt, the situation in other urban centers is not

Trump’s ‘piece of ice’ remark echoes colonial land views

When US President Donald Trump referred to Greenland as "a piece of ice" during his recent speech at the World Eonomic Forum in Davos, the remark jarred: Greenland has been inhabited for close to five millennia and is home to over 56,000 people, mostly of Inuit descent.  It also echoed a long‑standing pattern by colonial powers to apply their own ideas of
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