The picturesque slopes of Sunday River ski resort in Maine, USA, were transformed into a vibrant sea of red and white this weekend as hundreds of participants descended the mountainside in full Santa Claus regalia. This whimsical annual tradition, now in its multiple iterations across winter destinations worldwide, combines festive cheer with philanthropic purpose as skiers and snowboarders don the iconic Santa and Mrs. Claus costumes to raise awareness and funds for local charitable organizations. The event represents one of the most visually striking charity gatherings in winter sports, creating a spectacular visual against the snow-covered landscape while demonstrating community solidarity during the holiday season. Participants ranged from expert skiers executing perfect parallel turns in their bulky costumes to novices who embraced the spirit of the occasion despite occasional tumbles in the fluffy white beards and oversized hats. Event organizers noted that this year’s turnout exceeded expectations, with many families returning as part of their holiday traditions while first-time participants expressed delight at the unique combination of winter sports and charitable giving. The convergence of athletic activity and costumed performance art created memorable moments of laughter and camaraderie among participants and spectators alike, with many describing the experience as ‘magical’ and ‘heartwarming’. Local businesses supported the initiative through sponsorship and donations, recognizing the event’s dual benefit of promoting tourism while addressing community needs through structured charitable mechanisms.
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Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles hits back at Vanity Fair ‘hit piece’
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has publicly challenged a Vanity Fair article that portrays the Trump administration in what she characterizes as a deliberately negative light. The 68-year-old political strategist, who made history as the first woman to hold the key West Wing position, took to social media platform X to accuse the publication of creating “an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative” by omitting “significant context” from her extensive interviews.
The controversial profile, based on nearly a dozen conversations with Wiles, contained startling character assessments of prominent administration figures. Wiles described former President Donald Trump as possessing “an alcoholic’s personality” despite his teetotalism, drawing parallels to her childhood experiences with an alcoholic father. She suggested this background made her particularly adept at handling strong personalities, noting Trump governs with the conviction that “there’s nothing he can’t do.”
Regarding Vice President JD Vance, Wiles referenced his past as a “conspiracy theorist” for approximately a decade before his political transformation into a Trump ally. When questioned by reporters, Vance responded that he only believes in conspiracy theories that are “true,” citing reports about President Joe Biden’s health as an example.
The most pointed criticisms were reserved for tech billionaire Elon Musk, who briefly led cost-cutting initiatives at the Department of Government Efficiency before departing in May. Wiles characterized Musk as an “avowed Ketamine [user]” who slept in a sleeping bag in the Executive Office Building and described him as an “odd, odd duck” whose approach to government restructuring was fundamentally flawed.
She specifically criticized Musk’s efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), stating she was “initially aghast” at the proposal. While acknowledging Musk’s drive for rapid execution, Wiles asserted that “no rational person could think the USAID process was a good one.”
The White House has rallied behind Wiles following the article’s publication. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement praising Wiles for helping Trump achieve “the most successful first 11 months in office of any President in American history” and emphasizing that the entire administration stands “united fully behind her.” Neither Trump nor Musk has publicly commented on the Vanity Fair piece.
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13-year-old Dubai expat wins gold at Italian, US piano competitions
A 13-year-old Indian expatriate in Dubai has achieved extraordinary success on the global classical music stage, securing top honors at two prestigious international piano competitions. Prapti Rajguru, a student at Melodica Music & Dance Academy, has made history as the first Indian pianist to win consecutive first prizes at both the Washington International Rachmaninoff Music Competition in New York and the Premio Bruno Mezzena Competition in Italy.
The young virtuoso’s remarkable journey began in July 2025 when she triumphed at the New York competition, earning the distinguished privilege of performing solo at the world-renowned Carnegie Hall. This achievement was followed by another spectacular victory in Montesilvano, Italy on November 30, where she outperformed international competitors in the prestigious European event.
Prapti’s accomplishments are particularly significant given her consistent record of podium finishes in UAE-based competitions, where she remains the only Indian national to achieve such sustained excellence. Her recent international successes mark a substantial advancement in her musical career, transitioning from regional recognition to global acclaim.
In an exclusive interview, Prapti shared her experiences performing on international stages for the first time: ‘Stepping onto a stage in completely new parts of the world came with considerable nerves, but winning in New York was especially meaningful as my first international competition. Performing at Carnegie Hall represented the realization of a dream shared by countless aspiring musicians.’
Regarding her European success, she added: ‘The Italian competition held particular significance as it marked my debut performance in Europe. Seeing the audience connect with my music made every hour of practice feel profoundly worthwhile.’
The young pianist’s achievements have fueled her ambition to become India’s first globally recognized concert pianist. Looking toward 2026, Prapti has set her sights on participating in Europe’s most prestigious events, including Switzerland’s Verbier Festival and various competitions in Germany, seeking to learn from world-leading performers and further develop her artistic capabilities.
Her success story exemplifies the growing presence of Indian classical musicians on the international stage and highlights Dubai’s emerging role as a nurturing ground for musical talent capable of competing at the highest global levels.
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Stanford University economist praises progress in China’s rural health system
A leading development economist from Stanford University has identified substantial advancements within China’s rural healthcare infrastructure and childhood nutrition initiatives as remarkable achievements. Dr. Scott Rozelle, who serves as co-director of the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions, provided a detailed assessment of the systemic reforms implemented over the past decade.
In a recent interview, Dr. Rozelle emphasized the successful creation of a unified medical network that seamlessly integrates county hospitals with township clinics and village health outposts. This strategic consolidation has fostered unprecedented collaboration among healthcare professionals across different tiers of rural medical institutions, significantly enhancing service delivery.
The functional scope of rural healthcare providers has been notably expanded to encompass comprehensive public health duties. These now include extensive vaccination campaigns, routine geriatric health assessments, and consistent home visitation programs. Improvements in transportation and communication infrastructure have been pivotal, enabling practitioners to effectively monitor elderly patients, promote wellness education, and ensure adherence to prescribed medications.
Official statistics from China’s National Health Commission reveal the establishment of 3,099 tightly-knit medical consortia operating across 2,199 county-level regions. These consortia, predominantly spearheaded by county-level hospitals, are specifically designed to augment the capabilities of smaller township health centers and village clinics.
Service accessibility has seen dramatic improvements, with over 85% of community health centers and township clinics now providing weekend vaccination services. Furthermore, 95% of these facilities offer long-term prescription services, allowing patients to obtain several months’ worth of medication in a single visit, thereby reducing the burden of frequent travel for chronic conditions.
Dr. Rozelle particularly highlighted the nation’s progress in pediatric health outcomes, citing increased hospital delivery rates, enhanced postnatal nutritional guidance, and substantially improved school meal programs. Regular infant wellness examinations now incorporate crucial nutritional education for parents, including the important recommendation to begin complementary feeding at six months.
These efforts, combined with a national program providing free nutritious meals to rural students, have yielded significant improvements in child nutrition metrics. The initiatives have contributed to reduced anemia rates and better cognitive and language development among young children.
Supporting data indicates systematic management rates for both pregnant women and newborns remain consistently above 90%. Concurrently, maternal and infant mortality rates have continued their downward trajectory, positioning China among the top-performing upper-middle-income nations globally. By the end of 2024, the maternal mortality ratio declined to 14.3 per 100,000 live births, while the infant mortality rate dropped to 4 per 1,000 live births.
Dr. Rozelle concluded that China’s developmental experience in healthcare presents valuable insights for other developing nations in Southeast Asia and Africa, though he stressed the importance of tailoring such approaches to specific local conditions.
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Meet the new benchmark for night photographers: HONOR Magic8 Pro lands as the UAE’s first 5.5G-ready smartphone
HONOR has redefined smartphone excellence with the launch of the Magic8 Pro, establishing a new paradigm in mobile technology through its integration of cutting-edge artificial intelligence, exceptional photographic capabilities, and unprecedented battery performance. As the UAE’s inaugural 5.5G-ready device, this flagship model represents a significant milestone in the region’s digital transformation journey.
The device’s most remarkable feature is its massive 7,100mAh silicon-carbon battery, which delivers extraordinary endurance that comfortably spans multiple days of intensive usage. This technological marvel defies physical expectations by maintaining a surprisingly lightweight profile despite its enormous power capacity.
Photographic excellence reaches new heights with the Magic8 Pro’s 200MP AI Ultra Night Telephoto camera system. The sophisticated imaging technology demonstrates exceptional proficiency during challenging lighting conditions, particularly during the elusive ‘Blue Hour’ period around dawn and dusk. The camera’s advanced stabilization, dynamic range optimization, and intelligent low-light processing produce consistently crisp results across various zoom levels and shooting scenarios.
Artificial intelligence integration transcends conventional implementations through a dedicated multifunctional AI button that provides intuitive access to enhanced functionality. The system’s contextual understanding enables sophisticated features including AI Search for effortless content retrieval and AI-powered editing tools that transform ordinary media into professional-grade content with minimal user effort.
Underpinning these capabilities is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile platform, which delivers exceptional processing efficiency, thermal management, and responsive performance. The device’s premium construction features brushed metal sides with ergonomic curvature, available in Sunrise Gold, Sky Cyan, and Black color options.
With pricing starting at Dh3,999 for the 12GB/512GB configuration and Dh4,699 for the 16GB/1TB model, HONOR enhances the value proposition through pre-launch incentives including VIP Care+ protection, Google AI Pro subscription, and complementary Watch5 Ultra smartwatch.
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Jane Austen fans celebrate the author’s 250th birthday in Britain and beyond
LONDON — Enthusiasts worldwide commemorated the 250th birth anniversary of literary luminary Jane Austen on Tuesday through a series of celebratory events spanning physical and virtual realms. The milestone honoring the revered author of “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility” culminated in a day of festivities centered in her historic English residences.
In the southern village of Chawton, Jane Austen’s final home and current museum housing personal artifacts hosted an immersive program featuring guided tours, scholarly talks, and live performances. The carefully preserved cottage served as the creative sanctuary where Austen authored all six of her completed novels during the latter years of her life.
Simultaneously, the rural parish of Steventon—Austen’s birthplace—conducted a commemorative church service incorporating musical tributes and selected readings from her works. The global community of self-proclaimed “Janeites” extended celebrations beyond the UK, with Regency-era balls and thematic festivals organized across the United States and other international locations.
The anniversary festivities incorporated both traditional and contemporary elements, concluding with a virtual gathering that attracted over 500 registrants worldwide. Event organizers explicitly encouraged period-appropriate Regency attire for the digital celebration, maintaining the historical authenticity that characterizes Austen fandom. Bath, the city where Austen resided for five formative years, recently hosted the Yuletide Birthday Ball as the grand finale to a yearlong series of costumed events honoring the author’s legacy.
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China’s Red Cross boasts 3.5m registered volunteers and 34,000 service organizations
The Red Cross Society of China has revealed an extensive humanitarian network comprising approximately 3.5 million registered volunteers and 34,000 dedicated service organizations across the nation. This announcement was made during a press conference on Monday by Vice-President Wang Bin, highlighting the organization’s significant capacity for emergency response and community support.
Throughout 2025, the humanitarian organization has demonstrated its operational capabilities by deploying rescue teams on 2,580 separate occasions, engaging a total of 29,921 personnel and volunteers. These deployments have provided critical assistance during numerous natural disasters, including earthquake relief operations in Myanmar and China’s Xizang autonomous region, alongside emergency responses to severe typhoons, torrential rains, and devastating floods affecting multiple regions including Beijing, Guangdong, Guizhou, Liaoning, Hebei, Gansu, and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
In the aftermath of the tragic residential fire in Hong Kong on November 26, the Hong Kong Red Cross activated its first local disaster relief emergency service team with support from the mainland organization. The Red Cross continues to monitor the needs of affected residents while supporting recovery and community rebuilding efforts through its Hong Kong branch.
The organization’s preventive health initiatives have included conducting 4.25 million emergency rescue certification trainings and installing 86,000 automated external defibrillators in public spaces such as schools, communities, and transportation hubs.
As the national manager of blood and bone marrow donations, China now maintains Asia’s largest bone marrow donor registry, ranking fourth globally with 3.72 million registered volunteers and 21,000 completed donations. The organization also reported that 7.28 million people have registered as organ donation volunteers, with over 60,000 posthumous donations resulting in the provision of 195,000 organs for transplantation.
Additionally, the Red Cross has established more than 6,000 community-based projects specifically designed to enhance disaster preparedness and provide volunteer assistance and care services to vulnerable populations.
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Chinese gamer recreates Old Summer Palace in Minecraft
In an extraordinary fusion of gaming creativity and cultural preservation, a Chinese Minecraft enthusiast has achieved a remarkable digital reconstruction of Beijing’s historic Yuanmingyuan, also known as the Old Summer Palace. The ambitious project, spearheaded by gamer Qiu Zekai (online alias Qiuxiaoniuer), represents one of the most detailed virtual recreations of the destroyed imperial complex within the popular sandbox video game.
The reconstruction showcases meticulous attention to architectural accuracy and historical detail, transforming the game’s block-based environment into a breathtaking digital replica of the palace grounds. Through countless hours of dedicated work, the creator has effectively resurrected the splendor of this cultural landmark that was largely destroyed during historical conflicts.
This virtual recreation allows viewers to experience serene fly-through perspectives of the palace complex, offering both educational value and artistic appreciation. The project demonstrates how modern gaming platforms can serve as unexpected mediums for cultural preservation and historical education, bridging the gap between digital entertainment and heritage conservation.
The achievement has garnered significant attention within gaming communities and cultural preservation circles alike, highlighting the growing intersection between digital technology and historical appreciation. Such projects represent a new frontier in how younger generations engage with and reinterpret cultural heritage through contemporary digital mediums.
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Rebels say they will withdraw from key DR Congo city at US request
In a significant diplomatic development, rebel forces in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed to withdraw from the strategically vital city of Uvira following direct US intervention. Corneille Nangaa, coordinator of the rebel coalition Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), announced the pullout as a “trust-building measure” responding to American diplomatic pressure.
The decision comes days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the rebel capture of Uvira violated existing peace agreements, warning that Washington would “take action to ensure promises made to President [Donald Trump] are kept.” The withdrawal commitment represents a notable victory for US diplomacy in the conflict-ridden region.
This development occurs against a complex geopolitical backdrop where the United States alleges Rwandan support for the rebels—a claim Rwanda consistently denies. Despite these tensions, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi signed a US-brokered peace accord on December 4th in Washington, which President Trump hailed as “historic” and “a great day for Africa.”
Meanwhile, the AFC coalition—which includes the powerful M23 rebel group—has been participating in a parallel peace process mediated by Qatar, a US ally with strong Rwandan ties. Nangaa emphasized that the withdrawal aims to give the Qatari-mediated negotiations the “maximum chance to succeed.”
The strategic significance of Uvira cannot be overstated. Located merely 27 kilometers from Burundi’s economic capital Bujumbura on Lake Tanganyika’s northern tip, its capture had dealt a severe blow to Congolese government forces and their Burundian military allies.
The conflict has created a severe humanitarian crisis, with approximately 200,000 people displaced since the latest fighting began early this month. UN reports indicate at least 74 fatalities, predominantly civilians, with 83 others hospitalized with combat injuries.
Eastern DR Congo has endured persistent conflict for over three decades, with numerous peace initiatives failing to achieve lasting stability. The Trump administration hopes its diplomatic efforts will not only pacify the region but also pave the way for increased US investment in the mineral-rich territory. The US State Department estimates $25 trillion in mineral reserves in DR Congo, including critical components for electronics, electric vehicles, and military hardware.
The rebels’ recent territorial advances began with capturing Goma, North Kivu’s capital, earlier this year, followed by Bukavu, South Kivu’s capital. The offensive on Uvira—the government’s last major stronghold in South Kivu—commenced days before Kagame and Tshisekedi traveled to Washington to ratify the June-negotiated agreement.
Nangaa did not specify a timeline for the withdrawal but called for deploying a “neutral force” to monitor ceasefires and prevent government forces from reclaiming lost territories.
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EU waters down plans to end petrol and diesel car sales by 2035
The European Union has significantly modified its ambitious climate policy by scaling back a proposed total ban on internal combustion engine vehicles. Originally mandating 100% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035, the European Commission has now proposed a 90% target following intensive lobbying from automotive manufacturers, particularly German automakers.
According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), market demand for electric vehicles remains insufficient to justify a complete phase-out of conventional vehicles. The association warned that maintaining the original mandate would expose manufacturers to potentially devastating financial penalties amounting to billions of euros.
Under the revised framework, the remaining 10% of vehicle sales may consist of traditional petrol or diesel cars alongside hybrid models. However, manufacturers must compensate for the emissions generated by these non-zero-emission vehicles through innovative environmental mechanisms. These include utilizing biofuels and synthetic e-fuels produced from captured carbon dioxide emissions.
Additionally, automakers will be required to incorporate low-carbon steel manufactured within the European Union into their vehicle production processes, representing a further effort to reduce the automotive industry’s overall carbon footprint.
Environmental advocacy groups have expressed strong opposition to the policy revision. Transport & Environment (T&E), a prominent green transport organization, has cautioned that this regulatory softening could critically undermine Europe’s transition to electric mobility. The group specifically warned the United Kingdom against following the EU’s example by weakening its own Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.
Anna Krajinska, T&E UK’s director, emphasized that “The UK must stand firm. Our ZEV mandate is already driving jobs, investment and innovation into the UK. As major exporters we cannot compete unless we innovate, and global markets are going electric fast.” Critics argue that this policy shift leaves European automakers vulnerable in the increasingly competitive global electric vehicle market, particularly against manufacturers from China and the United States.