Extreme heat and drought has destroyed 70% of Jordan’s olive crop, endangering livelihoods of 80,000 families and a centuries-old tradition
Abu Khaled al-Zoubi, 67, walks slowly through his orchard in Irbid, northern Jordan, his footsteps kicking up dust from the parched earth beneath centuries-old olive trees. He stops at a gnarled trunk, its bark split and peeling from months of unrelenting heat.
He points out that the branches should be sagging under the weight of ripening fruit, but instead they stretch upward, nearly bare, with only a few shrivelled olives clinging to the withered stems.
“You mentioned second-bottom Newport’s visit to leaders Bromley – just above them there’s a ding-dong in my old stamping ground of Shrewsbury, with fourth-bottom Town hosting third-bottom Bristol Rovers in the first (of what may be many) big relegation six-pointer of 2026,” writes Jeremy Boyce. “I’m predicting a festive 0-1 and the second managerial departure of 2026 (Michael Appleton). Cheers!”
Full time in the early kick-off, and it’s finished Blackburn 0-2 Wrexham. Sam Smith opened the scoring before Ollie Rathbone smashed in an early goal-of-the-year contender for the visitors, who climb to eighth in the table.
The Israel Defense Forces is expediting preparations for a multi-front war with Iran in light of the internal unrest in the Islamic Republic, Hebrew media reported on Wednesday. Read More
Unless Hochul and the Legislature curb Mamdani's worst excesses and stop treating the wealthy like cash cows, New York will be next to learn that lesson.
DEI-obsessed educrats and activists insist that the screenings and tests for admission are somehow biased against minorities, despite one of New York's top courts slapping down that claim.
The Issue: Investigations into the day-care and welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota. No one can tell any right-thinking American that Gov. Tim Walz knew nothing about these outrages (“Walz ‘turned a blind eye’ to suspicions: pol,” Dec. 30). I suggest that Walz be removed from office and held accountable, and that Rep. Ilhan Omar and...
Leo celebrated a New Year’s Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and then delivered a special noontime prayer from his studio overlooking the piazza, which was full of pilgrims and tourists on the bright, chilly day.
The year 2026 is primed to be fuelled by a desire for authenticity and nostalgia, according to trend reports from Nourish Food Marketing and Pinterest. Experts are expecting a backlash over the artificial and “faux perfection” in the year ahead. Trend forecasts reveal a yearning for realness, connection and belonging in an increasingly fractured world. Read More
The president is scrutinising studio deals, and was rewarded with the promise of a Rush Hour reboot. With Supergirl, Hoppers and a live-action Moana on the way, can Hollywood stand up to Trump?
It’s fair to say that Hollywood is in crisis, or at least in transition. Studios getting taken over, culture wars all over the place, and gen AI rearing its head. The last thing they need is an interventionist president determined to wage war on the entertainment industry, as well as no doubt extracting what value he can. Donald Trump, as we know, is very interested in the movie business: in his pre-politics days, he made dozens of appearances in films, as well as on TV. It seems very likely that he’s eyeing a place at Hollywood’s top table after he leaves office (presuming he does).
Perhaps that’s what is behind his most spectacular recent intervention: demanding, and getting, a fourth Rush Hour movie from the new owners of Paramount Pictures, the studio that was recently taken over by David Ellison, son of Larry, one of Trump’s key allies. Coincidentally, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is one of the funders of Paramount’s subsequent bid to derail Netflix’s takeover of Warner Bros, with Trump himself suggesting he might influence US corporate regulators to prevent the Netflix deal from going ahead. And of course, in the background, is Trump’s threat of non-specific “tariffs” on the film industry, ostensibly aimed at keeping movie production inside the US. But, arguably, this could also be a way of keeping Hollywood’s top executives nervous and pliable.
The Colla Indigenous people claim Rio Tinto’s plans to extract the key mineral will harm fragile ecosystems and livelihoods
Miriam Rivera Bordones tends her goats in a dusty paddock in the russet mountains of Chile’s Atacama desert. She also keeps chickens and has planted quince and peach trees and grapevines, which are watered by a stream winding down the hills towards the Indigenous community of Copiapó.
But now the huge British-Australian mining multinational Rio Tinto has signed a deal to extract lithium, the “white gold” of the energy transition, from a salt flat farther up the mountains, and she fears the project could affect the water sources of several communities in the area.
The billionaire – who had no government experience – left various federal agencies in disarray while overseeing an ‘efficiency’ drive across Washington
As Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, splurged more than $250m on Donald Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign, the US president commissioned his new ally to oversee a sweeping “efficiency” drive across the federal government.
The Tesla and SpaceX boss, who had no experience inside government, was tasked with eradicating waste and cutting spending as part of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) – and was quick to stoke expectations.
With another year of MMA in the rearview mirror, lets take a look back at some of the craziest knockouts in 2025. Check out Scott Fontana, Erich Richter, and Jake Aryeh’s picks for KO of the year. Full Episode: https://youtu.be/-6UCsOVZM4w
Gabon’s government has announced the suspension of the national football team, the sacking of their coach and the kicking of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang off the squad in the wake of three defeats at the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Gabon’s acting sports minister announced on television the suspension of the national team after they finished last in their group and were eliminated from the tournament in Morocco.
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