The final batch of files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has been released, comprising millions of pages, images and videos.

The United States on Friday approved multibillion-dollar weapons sales to both Israel and Saudi Arabia, at a point of high tensions with Iran.

Newly released Epstein-related documents reference acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, the mother of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, in connection with a 2009 afterparty hosted by Ghislaine Maxwell.

 Catherine O’Hara, a gifted Canadian-born comic actor and “SCTV” alum who starred as Macaulay Culkin’s harried mother in two “Home Alone” movies and won an Emmy as the dramatically ditzy wealthy matriarch Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek,” died Friday. She was 71.

US federal authorities are investigating allegations that staff at WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms Inc. had access to message content despite the company marketing the app as protected by end-to-end encryption, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, to the Kremlin on Friday, in an unannounced high-level meeting.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz ordered the arrest and dismissal of TIPA and Wasa officials after a woman and her infant daughter died by falling into an open manhole near Bhatti Gate in Lahore.

The White House has proudly defended the growing library of footage showing Donald Trump apparently falling asleep during meetings, hailing it as a “world-class micro-napping ability” that places the president “at the absolute cutting edge of human alertness.”

Despite renewed diplomatic activity, Iran’s influence in Central Asia remains limited, with cultural ties failing to translate into strategic power. Decades of sanctions, policy inconsistency, and competition from stronger actors have left Tehran a secondary regional player.

India’s growing use of Oman’s Duqm port provides a politically safer, sanctions-insulated hub for its western Indian Ocean operations, reducing reliance on Iran’s Chabahar without replacing its unique overland access to Central Asia.

Iran’s BRICS membership has given Tehran symbolic legitimacy but little practical economic relief, as sanctions, dependency on China, and limited access to BRICS financial mechanisms continue to constrain its leverage.

Patience Quill’s fable shows how influence and authority can be manipulated: power can coerce, exploit, and control even the most celebrated voices.

Dubai is set to host the 2025 Asian Youth Para Games from December 10–13, bringing together 1,500 young para-athletes from 35 nations in a powerful celebration of resilience and inclusion

Authors takes a closer look at how the 27th Amendment created a five-star defense post without tenure, rules, safeguards, or global precedent — and why the delayed notification threatens constitutional coherence.

A new quiet resistance is emerging, one that honors lives over slogans and truth over heroism, as Iranians increasingly refuse to participate in the state’s staged remembrance.

Iran’s geographic advantage has been offset by sanctions, regulatory instability, and logistics concerns, leading Central Asian states to quietly pivot toward more predictable trade networks.