“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” With this iconic Charles Dickens quote, Ursula von der Leyen began her one-hour-long State of the Union speech in Strasbourg, laying out solutions to cope with the “exceptional” challenges and the “incredible” change that Europe is undergoing. “In this world, Europe has chosen to forge its own path. And a stronger, independent Europe is now emerging,” she told lawmakers. “Europe is there for Europeans. And that in the cold fragility of today’s world, only Europe can provide true sovereignty to Europeans.” Here are the five takeaways from the…

The Canada Pension Plan Investments Board (CPPIB) and Brookfield on Tuesday launched a $50 billion “Maple Fund” that they say will funnel capital towards critical infrastructure and strategic industries across Canada. The announcement from the CPPIB, which manages the investments in the Canada Pension Plan, and investment management firm Brookfield was one of the main funding projects that came out from a recent two-day investment summit hosted by Carney and the premiers.With the Canada Pension Plan playing a central role in many Canadians’ retirement planning, many may be wondering what this decision means for their retirements.The Maple Fund will operate…

September 17, 2026 — 3:00amSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAWarning: This story contains graphic content.A Mullaloo mother will spend at least the next decade behind bars after she forced her three-year-old daughter to watch the woman have sex with her lover.The offending happened over the course of one day.iStockThe mother, 35, last week pleaded guilty to 18 charges, including procuring a child to engage in sexual behaviour and indecent dealing with a child under 13 years.Vile details of her offending were outlined during her sentencing in Perth District Court.The…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A Nigerian woman living in the United States as a permanent resident in Massachusetts illegally voted in at least two elections after lying about her citizenship, authorities said.Gladys Adaeze Okafor, 56, has been charged by the Justice Department with unlawfully voting as an alien for allegedly casting ballots in the 2024 presidential primary election and the 2022 midterm elections despite not being a U.S. citizen.She is expected to appear in a Boston federal courtroom on Wednesday.CANADIAN NONCITIZEN ACCUSED OF ILLEGALLY VOTING IN FEDERAL AND STATE ELECTIONS Okafor repeatedly falsified her citizenship status…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! President Donald Trump’s latest surgeon general nominee, Dr. Nicole Saphier, defended the MMR vaccine and rejected claims that childhood vaccines cause autism during a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.Saphier, a radiologist and a former Fox News contributor, would serve as the federal government’s top doctor and public health spokesperson at a time when measles cases are surging across the country.”I believe the MMR vaccine is our greatest tool for combatting measles,” Saphier said during her appearance before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.Sen. Bill Cassidy, the committee’s chairman, asked Saphier…

This story about the September 2026 FOMC meeting will be updated with further details. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in over three years amid concerns over stubborn inflation that has been driven recently by higher energy prices.Fed policymakers voted 12-0 to raise the federal funds rate from a range of 3.5% to 3.75% to a new target rate of 3.75% to 4%. The 25-basis-point increase marks the first interest rate hike since July 2023 and comes after the Fed left rates unchanged at its first five meetings this year. The Federal Open…

Patrick Clancy sat for his first interview since his ex-wife Lindsay Clancy’s high-profile triple murder trial for fatally strangling their three children ended in a hung jury. Patrick Clancy is expected to discuss grief, memories of his slain kids — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan — and wild conspiracy theories being spread online about him in a “60 Minutes” interview airing Sunday. CBS announced the exclusive sit-down with correspondent Ross Douthat and released a brief teaser clip showing the straight-faced father walking and sitting down just before the interview began. Lindsay Clancy’s trial captivated the nation over the…

Here’s the word on words. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary is vocab-maxing with a staggering 1,400 new words added to its book to help you crush your Scrabble opponents. If you have ever seen an influencer “looksmaxxing” or someone talking about their “Sunday scaries” on TikTok, the iconic publisher now has official definitions to help. Merriam-Webster’s new lot of definitions reflects terms and meanings that have gained widespread popularity and offer a colorful window into modern culture. The publisher is calling this latest batch of additions a total “glow-up” — referencing one of the brand-new internet terms added. Some of the additions…

By&nbspKamuran Samar&nbsp&&nbspAFP Published on 16/09/2026 – 18:09 GMT+2 An English village of around 350 people has voted overwhelmingly to “secede” from the United Kingdom in a symbolic referendum held in protest against plans to house asylum seekers at a nearby former military site. In Piddington, near Oxford, 285 of the 312 ballots counted backed the call for the village to seek self-determination. The referendum has no legal standing, but residents celebrated the result by putting up a sign declaring the area the “Principality of Piddington”. The vote was organised by the parish council and was inspired partly by the 1949…

While the jury’s still out on a proposal to replace the Ontario bar exam with a skills-based course, law schools in British Columbia have made the switch, with the first batch of students set to experience the new system this fall. B.C. is the sixth province to scrap the bar exam in favour of a four-phase program meant to assess legal knowledge, advocacy, ethics, practice management and other skills, following in the footsteps of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Nunavut.The province’s law society announced the change last October, saying training for the bar needed to be…

Judith Hugo and Susan SwainSeptember 17, 2026 — 3:00amSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAWe have just spent several days at Murujuga, guided by traditional custodians around a deeply sacred place that contains the largest, oldest collection of Aboriginal rock art in the world.Since 2006, our organisation Friends of Australian Rock Art has been campaigning alongside Murujuga’s traditional custodians to protect this priceless cultural treasure, and we have visited many times.Judith Hugo OAM and Susan Swain in front of Murujuga rock art in WA’s Pilbara.Friends of Australian Rock ArtSince our…

Guillermo Rodriguez may have been “Mr. Big Stuff” in his Dancing With the Stars debut, but he didn’t have the judges’ scores to match. “I think, [for] this cha-cha, we worked on so much,” Rodriguez’s pro partner, Witney Carson, exclusively told Us after the Tuesday, September 15, live premiere. “We really worked on the timing and not rushing it. I think that you know there were bits where we were a little bit off, but he got right back on it and he listened to what I said.” She continued, “He followed my lead and he performed and he had…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Sean Michael Lee dedicated his life to serving others.The Army veteran with more than 20 years of military experience spanning multiple deployments and companies — including as a paratrooper for the vaunted 82nd Airborne Division — did not retire his commitment to help others when he finished his military career.”His entire life was in service to others. Up until the very end, Sean was always thinking of others,” Steven Rozina told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.Rozina, now the deputy chief operating officer for the nonprofit Independence Fund, which helps provide…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed broke bread with the Democratic establishment in Washington, D.C., but there’s one thing he can’t escape: his connection to a controversial figure who helped elevate his campaign.And his connection to the controversial Twitch streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker is something he didn’t want to talk about.When asked by Fox News Digital if he would continue to campaign with Piker, who has been almost universally condemned by Democrats in Washington and on the campaign trail, El-Sayed dodged.ABDUL EL-SAYED PROTESTED AGAINST ‘EX-TERRORISTS’ WHO CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY, UNEARTHED…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! After a strong offseason and training camp, the Baltimore Ravens will be without rookie star wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane in the coming weeks. According to CBS Sports, Lane is expected to undergo surgery to repair a fractured wrist.Lane could reportedly undergo surgery as early as Wednesday and is expected to miss nearly a month of action. While the Ravens have not yet assigned an official injury designation, placing him on injured reserve has yet to be ruled out.Injuries to both Lane and Zay Flowers (hamstring) have quickly tested Baltimore’s revamped receiving depth. As…