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Gina Morello, originally from the USA and now based in Portugal, has achieved the remarkable feat of visiting all 193 United Nations member countries. In about two decades, she embarked on solo journeys, with 90 per cent of her travels undertaken alone. Once an aviation consultant, she transitioned to freelance work after the COVID-19 pandemic. Among her unique adventures, Morello has explored the isolated Wakhan Valley in Tajikistan, accessible only after a five-day horseback ride from Kabul, Afghanistan. She ventured to the Matsés people in the Amazon Rainforest via a two-day boat trip and visited the Bijago tribe in Guinea-Bissau, where women lead families. She’s also been to Sealand, the world’s smallest country, an offshore platform in the North Sea, and braved the extreme cold of Russia's Yamal Peninsula, where temperatures can drop to -50°C. Each destination offered her rare and extraordinary experiences, showcasing the diversity of the world’s most unconventional places.

NBC's Meet the Press, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump shared significant policy plans for his upcoming term, providing insight into his priorities. The wide-ranging conversation touched on immigration, foreign policy, social security, and tax reforms, among other issues. Trump’s remarks signal the ambitious and often controversial changes he intends to pursue from day one in office.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the militant leader whose stunning insurgency toppled Syria's President Bashar Assad, has spent years working to remake his public image, renouncing longtime ties to al-Qaida and depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. In recent days, the insurgency even dropped his nom de guerre and began referring to him by his real name, Ahmad al-Sharaa. The extent of that transformation from jihadi extremist to would-be state builder is now put to the test. Insurgents control capital Damascus, Assad has fled into hiding, and for the first time after 50 years of his family's iron hand, it is an open question how Syria will be governed. Syria is home to multiple ethnic and religious communities, often pitted against each other by Assad's state and years of war. Many of them fear the possibility Sunni Islamist extremists will take over. The country is also fragmented among disparate armed factions, and foreign powers from Russia and Iran to the United States, Turkey and Israel all have their hands in the mix.

Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton and chemistry laureate Demis Hassabis on Saturday insisted on a need for strong regulation of artificial intelligence, which played a key role in their awards. «AI is a very important technology to regulate but I think it's very important that we get the regulations right and I think that's the hard thing at the moment is it's such a fast moving technology,» Hassabis told a news conference in Stockholm. Hassabis, who jointly won with Americans David Baker and John Jumper for revealing the secrets of proteins through AI, said such evolutionary speed posed a giant challenge.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The worst argument of the West that I have encountered is that fake news changed public opinion and gave the world Donald Trump, and that this sort of propaganda creates the myth of other strongmen across the world. Like some bad Western theories, the view has developed the aura of a common truth even as evidence grows that it is highly unlikely and this view itself could be a piece of fake news.

The comments from the minister come even as there seems to be some unease among southern states when it comes to dealing with the Adani group, especially after the second richest Indian Gautam Adani and others faced charges of bribing officials to secure contracts. Rajeev said Kerala has a big investment from the Adani group in the Vizhinjam Seaport near its capital Thiruvananthapuram and added that the current government decided to go ahead with the project signed by the predecessors only because the benefits accrued to the state and its people through the ambitious transshipment port.

For years, patients in the U.S. health care system have grown frustrated with a bureaucracy they don’t understand.Doctors are included in an insurer’s network one year but not the next.

Donald Trump's win in last month's US election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to congratulate the president-elect: «History's greatest comeback!» he gushed. If Trump's staunchly pro-Israel first term and his nominations for top administration positions are any indication, Netanyahu's glee is justified. But much has transpired since Trump left office in early 2021. The wars in the Middle East, the lofty ambitions of Netanyahu's far-right governing coalition and Netanyahu's personal relationship with him could dampen that enthusiasm and complicate what on the surface looks like a seamless alliance. «For Bibi, this is his dream. He wanted this,» said Mazal Mualem, an Israeli journalist and Netanyahu biographer, referring to the Israeli leader by his nickname. «For Bibi, it's too good to be true.»

«The world didn't even count India on the economic front when XLRI came into being 75 years ago. Today, we are the fastest-growing economy and fifth-largest economy in the world, with a size of US 3 trillion. We will be the third-largest economy in the next three years at USD 5 trillion. Our economy will grow to USD 30 trillion by 2047,» he said. «We have to be wealth creators, job creators. We have the potential to create millions of jobs. The world is looking at India for digital public infrastructure… 46 per cent of digital transactions in the world take place in our country. We have become self-reliant in the service sector,» he said.

Israeli military said Sunday it also sent troops to «other places necessary for its defence,» and that the force deployment was meant to provide security for residents of the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. It added it was «not interfering with the internal events in Syria.» Israel captured that territory from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed it, a move not recognized by much of the international community, which views the territory as occupied. A later ceasefire agreement created a demilitarised buffer zone between the two countries' territories, prohibiting military presence or activity from either side in the area. United Nations peacekeepers have patrolled the area since 1974.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India have crossed the USD one trillion milestone in the April 2000-September 2024 period, firmly establishing the country's reputation as a safe and key investment destination globally. According to data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the cumulative amount of FDI, including equity, reinvested earnings and other capital, stood at USD 1,033.40 billion during the said period. About 25 per cent of the FDI came through the Mauritius route. It was followed by Singapore (24 per cent), the US (10 per cent), the Netherlands (7 per cent), Japan (6 per cent), the UK (5 per cent), UAE (3 per cent) and Cayman Islands, Germany and Cyprus accounted for 2 per cent each. India received USD 177.18 billion from Mauritius, USD 167.47 billion from Singapore and USD 67.8 billion from the US during the period under review, as per the data.

Guyana is revisiting a dark history nearly half a century after U.S. Rev. Jim Jones and more than 900 of his followers died in the rural interior of the South American country

slapping therapy" workshop. Hongchi Xiao, 61, from Cloudbreak, California, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence in July after a jury in Winchester, southern England, found that he was responsible for the death of 71-year-old Danielle Carr-Gomm. The incident occurred in October 2016 during a session meant to help Carr-Gomm manage her diabetes. Xiao was found to have «unlawfully killed» Carr-Gomm while leading a «paida lajin» workshop, a controversial alternative therapy where participants are slapped or encouraged to slap themselves. The jury concluded that Xiao failed in his duty of care by not seeking medical assistance when Carr-Gomm was suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially fatal condition caused by a lack of insulin.

Marine Le Pen teamed up with a left-wing coalition to topple the French government, pitching the country into a prolonged period of turbulence that’s likely to further unsettle investors. A majority of lawmakers in the National Assembly backed a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s three-month-old administration following a dispute over next year’s budget. It was the shortest tenure for a premier since France’s Fifth Republic was founded in 1958. In the US, job growth picked up in November, a month after employment was constrained by two hurricanes and a commercial aircraft machinists’ strike. The unemployment rate, however, rose as long-term joblessness reached an almost three-year high.

solar power contract, which is at the centre of bribery allegations, has tariffs that are lower than competition and can find new buyers in case the pact is cancelled, according to analysts. US authorities have charged Adani Group Founder-Chairman Gautam Adani and others for being part of a scheme to offer USD 265 million bribe to Indian officials to gain a contract to supply 8 gigawatt of electricity generated from solar energy by Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL). The group has denied all charges. «If Adani promoters are found guilty, we believe the size of potential penalty is manageable given it is up to three times the value of the bribe,» Nomura said in a report. The brokerage said there are about 1.8 GW solar projects commissioned in Gujarat from February-March 2024, with tariff of Rs 2.42 per unit under the 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs).

balloons near Taiwan between Saturday and Sunday, according to Taiwan's Defence Ministry, as Beijing ramps up pressure on the island it claims as its own. China's military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organise military drills around the island in response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's recent visit to Pacific allies, including US stops in Hawaii and Guam. China claims Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy of 23 million people, as its own territory, and bristles at other countries' formal exchanges with Taiwan. The United States, like most countries, doesn't recognize Taiwan as a country but is its main unofficial backer and sells it arms.

Donald Trump takes office. Trump's November election victory has cast doubt on the future of American aid for Ukraine, providing a limited window for billions of dollars in already authorized assistance to be disbursed before he is sworn in next month. The package features drones, ammunition for precision HIMARS rocket launchers, and equipment and spare parts for artillery systems, tanks and armored vehicles, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Donald Trump said on Saturday that the US military should stay out of the escalating conflict in Syria as a shock opposition offensive closes in on the capital, declaring in a social media post, «THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT.» With world leaders watching the rapid rebel advance against Syria's Russian-and Iranian-backed president, Bashar Assad, President Joe Biden's national security adviser separately stressed that the Biden administration had no intention of intervening. «The United States is not going to… militarily dive into the middle of a Syrian civil war,» Jake Sullivan told an audience in California. He said the US would keep acting as necessary to keep the Islamic State — a violently anti-Western extremist group not known to be involved in the offensive but with sleeper cells in Syria's deserts — from exploiting openings presented by the fighting.

TikTok users spent heavily to buy merchandise from a range of vendors on the ecommerce platform TikTok Shop so far this holiday shopping season, according to TikTok estimates and a Reuters analysis of spending patterns measured by data from Facteus. The patterns show that TikTok Shop, which launched in the US in September 2023, has likely gained market share in ecommerce at a critical moment. TikTok Shop serves as an ecommerce channel for major brands such as e.l.f. Cosmetics, Ninja Kitchen, among other products. TikTok Shop said in a press release in late November that its sales had reached $100 million on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when bargain-hunting American consumers spent heavily online. Previously, it said the number of people purchasing goods on TikTok Shop each month had nearly tripled. Reuters could not independently verify its claims.

AI firm G42, Axios reported on Saturday, citing two people familiar with the deal. Microsoft invested $1.5 billion in G42 earlier this year, giving the U.S. company a minority stake and a board seat. As part of the deal, G42 would use Microsoft's cloud services to run its AI applications. The deal, however, was scrutinized after US lawmakers raised concerns G42 could transfer powerful US AI technology to China. They asked for a US assessment of G42's ties to the Chinese Communist Party, military and government before the Microsoft deal advances.

Wearing new designer vestments and carrying a staff cut from one of the roof beams that survived the inferno, Laurent Ulrich joined hundreds of VIPs inside the Gothic masterpiece for a two-hour ceremony. Ulrich commanded the cathedral to «open your doors» and he entered the magnificently-restored edifice.