News
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Cuba on the Brink | Foreign Affairs
In 2014, after the Obama administration and Cuba’s government announced an agreement to restore diplomatic ties, the world descended on Havana. Everyone from the Rolling Stones to would-be investors rushed to claim a stake in the island’s future. Raúl Castro, the long-serving minister of defense, had assumed power from his ailing elder brother Fidel several years earlier and launched moderate…
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Everything we know about Minnesota’s massive fraud schemes
As 2025 draws to a close there is one story that has captured the nation’s attention. It’s not the striking of boats off the coast of Venezuela allegedly transporting drugs, or China’s announcement of military maneuvers around Taiwan. It is the story of fraud in Minnesota, which federal prosecutors estimate could top $9 billion. A viral social media video by…
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Burj Khalifa lit up with fireworks on New Year’s Eve
Fireworks at Burj Khalifa during New Year’s Eve The Burj Khalifa in Dubai lit up, and fireworks went off on New Years Eve on Wednesday, December 31. The building was lit up with a 360-degree fireworks. Ahead of it, in the buildup to the New Year, people gathered around the Burj Khalifa, while others were at Business Bay, slowly heading…
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Cheaper medicines, rules for cash and new state laws: what will change in Australia on 1 January? | Australia news
Cheaper medicines on the PBS, a Medicare phone service and new laws mandating businesses to accept cash payments are just some of the major changes coming into effect in the first week of 2026. Indexation increases to social security payments, changes to childcare settings and a new online mental health service will also kick in from the beginning of January.…
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Meet five new species discovered in 2025 : NPR
This artist’s rendering depicts a herd of ancient sea cows foraging on the seafloor. A new species of ancient sea cow, Salwasiren qatarensis, is one of the many species described in 2025. Alex Boersma hide caption toggle caption Alex Boersma Even as some scientists search for signs of life beyond Earth, other researchers have been discovering new species on our…
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Can Digital Therapeutics Unlock Better Health Outcomes in LMICs?
Over recent decades, Moore’s Law predicting the doubling of microchip processing power potential every two years has driven the integration of transformative technologies across all aspects of our daily lives, from professional to leisure activities. Devices and software are increasingly being used not just to gather data but also carry out treatment interventions (i.e. therapeutics) based on these data inputs.…
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20 movies to look out for in 2026, from The Odyssey to The Devil Wears Prada 2
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know…
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New Year celebrations sweep across India amid tight security
New Delhi: India welcomed the New Year with grand celebrations, countdown parties and festive gatherings, as state governments across the country stepped up security measures to ensure that the celebrations passed off smoothly and without incident. In major metropolitan cities, including Delhi and Mumbai, large crowds thronged iconic landmarks such as India Gate, Connaught Place and Marine Drive to usher…
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How the ‘postcode lottery’ of parenting impacts young children
Emma Barnett,Presenter of Today and broadcaster, Luke Mintz,BBC Newsand Vanessa Clarke,Education correspondent BBC At a children’s centre in south London, six soon-to-be parents are comparing notes on the size of their unborn babies. They are all discussing how big the foetus is at various stages of pregnancy, using fruit and vegetables as a guide. Dan from Edinburgh says that his…
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How an AI-Fueled Romance Scam Drained a Bitcoin Retirement Fund
Key takeaways A recently divorced Bitcoin investor lost his entire retirement fund, one full Bitcoin, to an AI-powered romance scam orchestrated by a sophisticated criminal using deepfakes. Pig butchering scams are relationship-based frauds that rely on emotional manipulation and AI-generated deepfakes to build trust before extracting maximum financial value from victims. The scammer used AI to create synthetic portraits and…
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