Mini muffins that are as nutritious as they are convenient — these banana bran bites deliver a satisfying combination of fiber, whole grains, and natural sweetness in just a few bites. Ripe banana and light molasses keep things sweet while wheat bran adds a hearty texture and a boost of dietary fiber. They bake in just 10 minutes and store beautifully, making them one of the easiest meal prep wins you can add to your routine
Active time: 15 minutes | Total time: 25 minutes
Mini Banana Bran Muffin
Ingredients
Cooking spray
1 cup (52g) unprocessed wheat bran
1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (55g) firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 large (50g each) eggs
1 cup (244g) skim (1%) milk
1 medium (126g) ripe banana (about 1/3 cup mashed)
1/4 cup (80g) light molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Coat 32 mini muffin cups with cooking spray, or line with paper liners and spray the liners with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine the wheat bran, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, banana, molasses, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.
Spoon 1 1/2 tbsp batter into each prepared muffin cup. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and serve warm or at room temperature.
As completion of 144-year basilica nears, questions swirl over resemblance of church to architect’s original plans
It has been a long wait but 144 years after work began, Pope Leo XIV has blessed the recently completed central tower of Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Família church in the presence of members of the Spanish royal family, the prime minister and hundreds of bishops.
With the completion of the Jesus Christ tower, the tallest of 18 in the temple, the basilica has reached its full height of 172.5 metres. It is now not only the world’s tallest church but Barcelona’s tallest building. It was consecrated in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Vice President Vance on Wednesday said he was “legitimately worried” about audio tapes of conversations from the Situation Room being leaked to journalists at The New York Times. His comments come after a recent report alleged that Vance led the administration’s response to fallout from the release of files tied to the disgraced financier Jeffrey...
This homemade ramen skips the hours of simmering by using an Instant Pot to build a deeply flavored chicken broth in just 20 minutes — and the same pot makes foolproof soft-cooked eggs. Springy tofu-based noodles add an extra protein boost, though cooked whole-grain soba noodles make a great substitute if you prefer.
Active time: 20 minutes | Total time: 50 minutes
Pressure Cooker Chicken Ramen
Ingredients
4 large eggs
2 tsp olive oil
1 3/4 lb (784g) chicken drumsticks, skin removed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 green onions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
6 dried shiitake mushrooms
2 (8-oz./227g) packages tofu shirataki noodles, rinsed under cold water and patted dry
3 cups (270g) sliced bok choy
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
Directions
Pour 1 cup water into the pressure cooker and place a trivet in the pot. Add the eggs, lock the lid, and cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Quick-release the pressure and transfer the eggs to an ice bath. When cool enough to handle, peel and halve them lengthwise. Set aside.
Discard the water and dry the inner pot. Return it to the cooker, add the olive oil, select sauté, and heat on medium. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then add to the pot and cook, turning once, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the white parts of the green onions, ginger, and garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Press cancel.
Add 3 cups of water to the pot and scrape up any browned bits. Add the chicken broth and shiitake mushrooms. Lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Quick-release the pressure. Remove the chicken and mushrooms; discard the bones and slice the mushrooms, then set aside.
Select sauté and bring the broth to a simmer. Skim any foam or fat from the surface. Add the noodles and bok choy and cook for about 3 minutes, until tender. Return the chicken and mushrooms to the pot, stir, and simmer for 1 minute. Add the soy sauce.
Divide the ramen among bowls, top with the egg halves, green onion tops and serve.
China’s President Xi Jinping hailed an “invincible friendship” with Pyongyang on arrival in North Korea on Monday, his first trip abroad this year after hosting back-to-back summits in Beijing.
A man watches a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of the 2019 meeting between China’s President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at a train station in Seoul on June 8, 2026. Photo: Jung Yeon-je/AFP.
China, Washington’s chief geopolitical rival, has been North Korea’s main trading partner by far for decades and a key source of diplomatic and economic support for a country hit by multiple international sanctions.
Military officers lined a red carpet as an Air China plane carrying Xi arrived for his first visit since 2019, video from Xinhua showed.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol-ju welcomed Xi, who was accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan.
The two leaders shook hands, and children presented flowers to Xi and Peng, while a banner reading “We warmly welcome Comrade Xi Jinping” and hailing the two countries’ “unbreakable friendship” hung below Chinese and North Korean flags.
The White House said last month that Xi and Trump “confirmed their shared goal to denuclearise North Korea” during their summit in Beijing.
However, Kim’s powerful sister said on the eve of Xi’s arrival that North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme was “the line of no retreat”.
South Korea’s dovish President Lee Jae Myung said Monday Seoul should not give up on North Korea’s denuclearisation, adding that “North Korea is still producing nuclear material even at this very moment”.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung attended an event on December 2, 2025. Photo: Lee Jae-myung, via Facebook.
Minseon Ku, a diplomacy professor at DePaul University, told AFP that “Beijing probably has accepted North Korea as a nuclear state”, but Xi “will probably tell Kim that China wants stability more than anything”.
China has “always prioritised stability and is currently having to manage its relations and differences with the US”, Ku said.
‘Irreversible’ nuclear state
Seong-Hyon Lee, a visiting scholar at the Harvard University Asia Center, also said Beijing is shifting towards “underwriting regime durability” rather than seeking to coerce North Korea into denuclearisation.
“China’s broader regional strategy benefits from a stable, heavily armed, and aligned buffer state that absorbs US and allied military bandwidth,” he told AFP.
North Korea has repeatedly declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear state since Kim and Trump’s 2019 summit collapsed over the scope of denuclearisation and sanctions relief.
Kim has also been emboldened by the war in Ukraine, securing critical support from Moscow after sending troops to fight alongside Russian forces.
Some analysts say the summit could be Xi’s way of countering Russia’s growing influence over North Korea, but DePaul’s Ku stressed that “overall, Moscow is not a major power like China”.
“Moscow-Pyongyang power relations are more equal than Beijing-Pyongyang; Moscow needs Kim for their war in Ukraine as much as Kim needs technology sharing and food from Russia,” she said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks before the military parade marking China’s 80th anniversary of Victory Day at Tiananmen Square, Beijing, on September 3, 2025. Photo: The Kremlin.
In an article published on the front page of North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun, Xi pledged closer cooperation.
“No matter how the times change or how the international situation evolves, the traditional friendship between China and North Korea is always invincible,” Xi wrote.
Xi last met Kim in September, when he invited the North Korean leader and Putin to a military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Military alliance
Jun Sang-gab, 65, a South Korean tour guide who lives near the inter-Korean border, said he hopes that “North Korea opens its economy” and follows China’s development model.
“If they (the North) establish themselves economically, there won’t be any incidents like armed unification or war” on the Korean peninsula, he told AFP.
Trump has made little progress on North Korea, especially on the nuclear front, despite his earlier high-profile summits with Kim.
North Korea is also the only country with an official, binding military alliance with China.
North Korea could also serve as a useful counterweight to US partners in the region, including South Korea and Japan, analysts said.
Long-frosty China-Japan ties have deteriorated since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a security hawk, suggested last year that Tokyo might intervene militarily in any Chinese attempt to take self-ruled Taiwan.
“As China’s international standing rises, Beijing is likely seeking to draw Pyongyang more actively into its diplomatic orbit,” said Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University.
Incorporating a mix of objects—everything from old toys to dead bugs to simple paper constructions—Lewis Chamberlain builds unusual scenarios... Read the full article by clicking above!
Systematically, Vladimir Putin suppresses and destroys the memory of Stalinist terror and replaces it with an artificial construction of myths, distortions, and selective silences about the past. The manipulation — used to justify the war against Ukraine — has intensified as the conflict drags on.
Tell me if you've heard this before: families can be complicated. It's such a clichéd thing to say, but there's a world of complexity to unpack with it. Some of the best TV shows have explored the intricacies of families, but none have done it in a way quite like the Netflix animated series Long Story Short. Told in a non-linear fashion, the comedy-drama show is centered on three adult siblings – Avi (Ben Feldman), Shira (Abbi Jacobson), and Yoshi (Max Greenfield) – as they experience life while looking back on their childhood and their parents, played by Lisa Edelstein and Paul Reiser.
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