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The Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 was a pivotal battle in the American Civil War and the Gettysburg address was conceived in prayer by Abraham Lincoln. There were times when Lincoln felt that he needed to pray for God's help in these crucial weeks of the Civil War when it would be decided through divine intervention whether a nation so conceived ("that all men are create equal and are endowed by theit Creator with some inalienable rights") can long endure. "That this Nation under God, shall have a new birth of freedom." The act of Prayer when it matters most is now lost on a new generation.

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Iceland at 20 degrees centigrade or 68 degree F on Christmas eve 2025, shows clear signs of climate change impact. Mosquitoes found for the first time in Iceland. 

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The Guardian sees Sunak's dry economic instincts as hopelessly inappropriate for the times with not enough help reaching needy families. It also sees Liz Truss's distrust of the state and public sector at a time when collective solidarity and solutions are needed as unhelpful. Truss is seen as trying to having it both ways in the way Boris Johnson did, cutting taxes as well as boosting spending on infrastructure.

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With two 9 year old twin boy and two 14 year old twin girls Federer spends a lot of time taking the children to and from school. He owns a minority stake in a Swiss sportswear company ON where he designed a new sneaker. He has tried Soul Cycle classes in East Hampton, New York, and he sees a physio 4 times a week for knee issues, which means he does less cardio at the gym.

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US Mass recall of 30 Ambassadors in December 2025 at time of 85 Ambassador vacancies. With a new administration comes new policies and new embassy postings to carry out the new foreign policy.

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India's $1 billion credit line and about $2.5 billion in economic assistance comes at a critical time for Sri Lanka. Indian ties to Sri Lanka go back to the founding of the country with the landing of North Indian prince Vijaya in Tampabanni, cooper colored soil country. No other two nations have ties that go back so long in time to the Buddhist period in India when the Emperor Ashoka sent his son Mahinda with a branch of the Bodhi tree to Sri Lanka. India also provides a role model with Modi's sab ka vikas, sab ke sath, sab ka viswas, sab ka prayas, development for all, with all, with everyone's confidence, everyone's effort as the theme and policy for all of the nations in the Neighborhood Initiative. Another aspect of the ties is the revival of the Buddhist ties as India revives Buddhism and Buddhist religious places in India including Kushinagar where Lord Buddha gained Nirvana. It now has direct air links to major cities in Asia. ...

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Raila Odinga runs for a third time in the Kenyan elections. He ran against Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2013 and 2017 elections. After supporting his deputy vice president William Ruto for president, Kenyatta shifts to Odinga. The Times looks at Kenya today and the current election in a country long split along tribal lines with the Kikuyu tribe of Kenyatta family dominating  since independence. In the 2007 election Odinga ran against Mwai Kibaki with the results being considered flawed even though Kibaki was made president. A reconciliation after post election violence was arranged by Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General. In that arrangement Odinga was made prime minister. This is the fourth time Odinga at 77 years is contesting the election.

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Merz visit to India to strengthen trade defense ties Jan 2026. Oter areas of cooperation are digital technology and renewable energy. Merz attends the Kite Festival in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state, and the Sabarmati Ashram of Gandhiji.

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The first virtual summit between the leaders of Australia and India takes place on June 4, 2020. The meeting is for further strengthening bilateral ties between Australia and India. This video   in the Times of India shows the opening statements in the summit by prime minister Morrison of Australia and prime minister Modi of India.

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Martin Peers of WSJ says he thinks the $250 million infusion from Carlos Slim may buy too little time for New York Times company, if it does not do more aggressive cost cutting and asset sales. The asset sales are going to be difficult for media business in this environment with declining ad spending. In the first 9 months of 2008 revenue fell 6.5% to $2.18 billion but production, selling general and administrative expenses fell only 1.9% to $1.99 billion, says Peers so its cost base is not shrinking fast enough. And the 14% interest for the Slim investment raises interest costs from $50 million to $74 million a year.

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The Japanese ambassador to India, Hiroshi Suzuki, tells the Hindustan Times how close coordination was done between the Hiroshima G7 meetings and the G20 meetings in India. He say the problems of the Global South such as debt, food prices, climate change, are serious in prime minister Kishida's thinking and there is a need to show results. All aspects of India Japan relations including trade and economic ties and defense are moving forward, he says.