Data from the German Federal Employment Agency show that by the end of this year, more than 500 million euros in child benefit (Kindergeld) will be transferred abroad, wrote the daily "Bild". At the end of 2023, the benefit was paid to around 313,000 children abroad, including many in Poland.more

A plane crash at Muan International Airport in South Korea has killed 179 people. Two people - both flight crew members - have survived what could be the country's worst aviation accident.more

Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) said preliminary findings indicated that the crash of a passenger plane it owned that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday was caused by "external physical and technical interference." Thirty-eight people died in the crash.more

On January 1, Milan will ban smoking in public spaces, including the street. The exception will be when a person smoking is within 10 meters of others. The ban does not apply to electronic cigarettes.more

Tariffs will be one of the main tools of both economic and foreign policy for Donald Trump. However, experts warn that they could lead to chaos and upset the system created by and for America's interests.more

From today, portable electronic equipment sold in the EU, such as mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, readers, headphones and even computer mice, among others, must be equipped with the same charging port, namely USB-C. From April 2026, these requirements will also apply to laptops.more

The Parker probe flew just 6.1 million kilometers (3.8 million miles) from the surface of the Sun on Tuesday, making it the closest it has ever been to our star, NASA said today. The mission is intended to study the star's atmosphere, including solar storms that could affect communications systems on Earth.more

Family and friends hold grave fears for an Australian man captured by Russian soldiers while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region. Australian officials have urged Russian counterparts to adhere to humanitarian obligations in their treatment of 32-year-old Melburnian Oscar Jenkins.more

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier today dissolved the Bundestag and called early parliamentary elections for 23 February 2025. He thereby acceded to the request of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose minority government did not receive a vote of confidence on 16 December.more

Belgium has recorded its first case of the new, more contagious monkeypox virus, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Belgian national health institute Sciensano reported.more

Russian air defences downed an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday. more

China has approved a project to build the world's largest hydroelectric dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River on the Tibetan Plateau, Reuters reported. Concerns about the project's environmental impact have been raised by downstream countries like India and Bangladesh.more

Thursday is a day of national mourning in Azerbaijan following the crash of a passenger plane in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people. State flags were lowered to half mast and at midday, traffic was halted across the country and a moment of silence was observed to honour the victims.more

US President-elect Donald Trump plans to restore the former name of Mount McKinley to Alaska's Denali, the highest peak in North America, Fox News reported.more

A billion people in 64 countries watched the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, when three astronauts celebrated Christmas outside Earth's orbit for the first time in history. Since then, Christmas traditions have been celebrated in space, including a celebratory dinner and presents.more

European sailors in the Age of Discovery often named newly discovered places after the day they spotted them from the stork's nest. But no holiday has given its name to more places on the world map than Christmas, according to Conde Nast Traveler magazine.more

Poland is the fifth largest cheese producer in the European Union, according to Eurostat. The amount of cheese produced in Poland has been growing every year for over a decade. Germany remains at the top of the ranking, followed by France, Italy and the Netherlands.more

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will “track” Santa’s sleigh’s journey through the air for the 69th time today. The U.S. military began “tracking” the sleigh in 1955, in the midst of the Cold War, because of a call to the command’s top-secret emergency number.more

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This year, the Odra-Niemen Association solemnly celebrated its fifteenth anniversary. The establishment of the association is inextricably linked to the social program "Compatriots for Heroes". The campaign to support veterans has expanded far beyond the borders of Poland and today reaches our compatriots scattered across the most distant lands of the former Republic of Poland, and even further.more

The perpetrator of the attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg several years ago repeatedly attracted the attention of the services by threatening to commit crimes. He was sentenced to 90 days in prison for disturbing the public peace, said Christian Pegel, the Minister of the Interior of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.more

A controversial 2020 scientific paper that showed the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine showed promise in treating Covid-19 has been retracted. The paper, which drew criticism from the research community from the start, has been cited almost 3,200 times, making it the most cited study on COVID-19.more

The agreement to form Iceland's government was signed yesterday by the leaders of three parties: the social democratic Alliance, the liberal Revival and the People's Party. It was agreed that the citizens would decide in a referendum on the resumption of negotiations on EU accession.more

In Rome, just in time for the inauguration of the Holy Year and the expected arrival of millions of tourists and pilgrims, the famous renovated monuments are regaining their splendour. The restoration of the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona has been completed. Work on the Trevi fountain is nearing completion, with the scaffolding already gone.more

President-elect Donald Trump has warned the European Union that its exports will face tariffs if member states do not buy more US oil and gas, Bloomberg reported yesterday.more