A catastrophic apartment fire in Hong Kong's Wang Fuk Court has tragically claimed at least 128 lives, marking it as one of the city's deadliest blazes in decades. The inferno, fueled by flammable renovation materials and exacerbated by malfunctioning fire alarms, has sparked a rigorous investigation into alleged corruption and negligence, leading to multiple arrests.
Amidst renewed diplomatic efforts for peace, Russian drone and missile attacks struck Kyiv on Saturday, November 29, resulting in at least three fatalities and significant damage to residential areas. Concurrently, a major Russian oil terminal near Novorossiysk was forced to halt operations after sustaining damage from Ukrainian unmanned boats, showcasing Ukraine's continued strategy of targeting critical Russian infrastructure even as peace talks gain momentum.
In a monumental leap for sustainable energy, France's WEST facility shattered a world record on February 12, 2025, by sustaining a nuclear fusion plasma for an unprecedented 1,337 seconds, or over 22 minutes. This remarkable achievement, reaching 50 million degrees Celsius, significantly advances the global pursuit of fusion power by demonstrating critical long-duration plasma control and material resilience necessary for future commercial reactors.
The technology sector has experienced profound workforce reductions in 2025, with major companies like Intel, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google eliminating over 100,000 positions globally. This widespread downsizing is primarily driven by economic headwinds, the rapid advancement of AI and automation, and a strategic recalibration following pandemic-era overhiring.
Gaza's health ministry has reported a devastating milestone of over 70,000 people killed since the war between Israel and Hamas began more than two years ago, highlighting the immense human cost of the prolonged conflict. Despite a fragile ceasefire taking effect on October 10, 2025, an additional 352 Palestinians, including at least 67 children, have died, intensifying international calls for a robust and lasting peace amid a dire humanitarian crisis.
Russia officially designated Human Rights Watch as an "undesirable" organization on November 28, 2025, effectively banning its operations and imposing severe legal penalties, including potential prison time, for anyone affiliated with the group. This move is part of Russia's escalating repression against civil society and independent monitoring, prompting HRW to vow continued efforts to expose alleged Russian crimes despite the ban.
Airbus has issued a massive global recall for its A320 family aircraft, impacting thousands of planes worldwide, due to concerns that intense solar radiation could corrupt critical flight control data. This urgent directive, prompted by a recent mid-air incident and subsequent EASA directive, mandates immediate software or hardware modifications to prevent "uncommanded pitch-down" events, causing significant operational disruptions and flight cancellations globally.
Australian businesses significantly boosted their capital expenditure by 6.4% in the third quarter of 2025, marking the strongest quarterly rise in over four years and signaling a robust economic recovery. This impressive surge was primarily driven by dynamic non-mining sectors, particularly the rapid expansion of data centers and the acquisition of new aircraft, highlighting a notable shift in the nation's economic drivers.
In 2025, cancer research achieved significant milestones, introducing a new era of more precise, effective, and less toxic therapies that foster widespread optimism in the fight against cancer. This remarkable progress was fueled by intensified global collaboration and breakthroughs in areas such as immunotherapy, including bispecific antibodies and advanced CAR T-cell therapies, alongside the transformative integration of artificial intelligence in diagnosis and treatment planning.
Cyclone Ditwah has unleashed catastrophic flooding and landslides across Sri Lanka, claiming at least 123 lives and leaving 130 missing in the nation's worst flooding crisis in two decades. With nearly 15,000 homes destroyed and 44,000 displaced, the Sri Lankan government declared a State of Public Emergency, while neighboring India swiftly launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu' to deliver critical humanitarian aid.
President Donald J. Trump has launched the "Genesis Mission," an ambitious national artificial intelligence initiative designed to dramatically accelerate scientific discovery and double the productivity of American science and engineering within a decade. This program, initiated via an Executive Order, aims to leverage AI through a "closed-loop experimentation platform" to secure technological dominance in critical fields like biotechnology, nuclear energy, and space exploration, drawing inspiration from historical endeavors such as the Manhattan Project.
India's economy experienced a remarkable surge, expanding by an impressive 8.2% in the July-September quarter of fiscal year 2025-26, marking its fastest growth in six quarters and significantly surpassing most economic forecasts. This robust expansion was primarily fueled by a strong rebound in the manufacturing sector and sustained vigorous activity in the services sector, leading to widespread expectations that India's full-year growth will comfortably exceed 7%.