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300 million: Since its February 15 release, a new Chinese sci-fi blockbuster, Wandering Earth, has brought in more than $300 million at the box office, making it one of the highest grossing films in the country's history. The movie details efforts by Earth's governments to save the planet from an unstable sun by attaching thrusters to the planet and ejecting it into another part of the universe in search of a new home. We leave it to you to decide what world leader the film's writers may have had metaphorically in mind.

$240,500: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is sporting a fancy new limousine just weeks ahead of his second summit with President Trump. The Mercedes Maybach S-600 will doubtless impress Mr. Trump, but we can't help noting that 2018 model's retail price of $240,500 is almost 200 times the per capita income of Mr. Kim's country.


1,000: After winning power in Madya Pradesh, India's fifth largest state, the opposition Congress party announced a plan to build 1,000 new shelters there for cows, an animal widely revered by Hindus. As national elections approach later this year, the resurgent Congress party is trying to chip away at the ruling BJP's bona fides among Hindu nationalists.

86: As he starts his third month in office, Mexico's new president, the left-wing nationalist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, boasts an enviable 86 percent approval rating. His policy of going after fuel thieves remains his most popular initiative.

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It’s official: Trump wants a weaker European Union

Trump, Putin, and Zelensky surrounded by tanks and negotiators.

The transatlantic relationship isn’t at a crossroads, it’s past one. America’s new National Security Strategy confirms what Europeans have feared since Vice President JD Vance’s speech in Munich last February: Washington now sees a strong, unified European Union as a problem to be solved, not an ally to be supported.The Trump administration’s NSS [...]
​Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo, Japan, on December 10, 2025.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives at her office in Tokyo, Japan, on December 10, 2025.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
In a show of force against Tokyo, Russian bombers joined Chinese air patrol for a joint flight around two Japanese islands on Tuesday.The flight was just the latest challenge for Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has faced plenty of turbulence in the 50 days since she took office. She started a war of words with China – without support of [...]
​Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 8, 2025.

Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 8, 2025.

REUTERS/Nir Elias
68 million: The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is tentatively holding, but conditions on the ground in Gaza remain dire. Most Palestinians are pitching tents in overcrowded camps, atop 68 million tons of rubble that will take years, and billions of dollars to clear. The level of debris is the equivalent of 186 Empire State Buildings, or 162 [...]
ANO party leader Andrej Babis signs a document on the day he is appointed as the country's new prime minister in Prague, Czech Republic, on December 9, 2025.

Czech President Petr Pavel looks on as the ANO party leader Andrej Babis signs a document on the day he is appointed as the country's new prime minister at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, on December 9, 2025.

REUTERS/Eva Korinkova
Babiš returns to power in CzechiaThe billionaire is back. Populist tycoon Andrej Babiš officially returns to the premiership of Czechia after decisively winning the election earlier this year. Babiš, a staunch Eurosceptic who last held power from 2017 to 2021, has formed a cabinet with the ultranationalist SPD party and the Motorists movement, [...]