Today: September 24, 2024
Today: September 24, 2024

World

World

A year after fall of Roe, 25 million women live in states with abortion bans or tighter restrictions

One year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court rescinded a five-decade-old right to abortion, prompting a seismic shift in debates about politics, values, freedom and fairness. Twenty-five million women of childbearing age now live in states where the law makes abortions harder to get than they were before the ruling. Decisions about the law are largely in the hands of state lawmakers and courts. Most Republican-led states have restricted abortion. Fourteen ban abortion in most cases at any point in pregnancy. Twenty Democratic-leaning states have protected access. Here’s a look at what’s changed since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

June 22, 2023
A year after fall of Roe, 25 million women live in states with abortion bans or tighter restrictions
World

Immigration drove white, Asian population growth in US last year

Without immigration, the white population in the U.S. would have declined last year. Immigration also propelled the expansion of the Asian population, which was the fastest-growing race or ethnic group last year in the U.S., while births outpacing deaths helped propel growth in Hispanic, Black, tribal and Hawaiian populations. Population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show what drove changes in different race, ethnic and age groups last year, as well as since the start of COVID-19’s spread in the U.S. in April 2020. The country had grown to 333.2 million people by the middle of last year,

June 22, 2023
Immigration drove white, Asian population growth in US last year
World

Freeman homers off Ohtani, and Dodgers sweep Angels with 2-0 victory

Freddie Freeman hit his 14th homer off Shohei Ohtani in the fourth inning, and seven relievers combined on a two-hitter in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ second straight shutout victory in the Freeway Series, 2-0 over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night. Ohtani (6-3) pitched seven innings of five-hit ball with two walks and 12 strikeouts, one off his career high. The two-way superstar was outstanding in his first career mound start against the Dodgers, who are likely to be one of his most ardent suitors in free agency this winter. But Ohtani went 0 for

June 22, 2023
Freeman homers off Ohtani, and Dodgers sweep Angels with 2-0 victory
World

New Zealand debates whether ethnicity should be a factor for surgery waitlists

New Zealanders this week were debating a thorny health care issue — whether ethnicity should be a factor in determining when patients get surgery. It turns out that in some parts of Auckland, the country’s largest city at 1.4 million people, clinicians have been using an algorithm to adjust where patients sit on elective surgery waitlists. Clinical need remains the top factor, but the algorithm also takes into account how long patients have been on the waitlist, where they live, their financial circumstances, and their ethnicity. Indigenous Māori and Pacific Island patients are given a

June 22, 2023
New Zealand debates whether ethnicity should be a factor for surgery waitlists
World

Overturned calls at home plate proving costly to the Padres and Rangers

A play at home plate in a game between San Diego and San Francisco was overturned on review Wednesday night, the second straight day a disputed review had a significant impact on the outcome of a game. In the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Blake Sabol of the Giants appeared to be thrown out sliding into home by a strong throw by Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. on Joc Pederson’s two-out single to right. Sabol was initially ruled out, but the call was changed following a lengthy review when umpires cited San Diego

June 22, 2023
Overturned calls at home plate proving costly to the Padres and Rangers
World

Wizards trading Porzingis to Celtics in 3-team deal with Smart headed to Grizzlies, AP sources say

The Washington Wizards have agreed to trade center Kristaps Porzingis to the Boston Celtics as part of a three-team trade that also includes Marcus Smart heading to the Memphis Grizzlies, two people with knowledge of the deal said Thursday morning. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreements hadn’t been announced. The trade comes with Porzingis accepting his player option for next season. The deal also includes the Grizzlies acquiring Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, from Boston in exchange for first-round draft picks in 2023 and 2024. ESPN reported the Wizards

June 22, 2023
Wizards trading Porzingis to Celtics in 3-team deal with Smart headed to Grizzlies, AP sources say
World

A nuclear site is on tribes' ancestral lands. Their voices are being left out on key cleanup talks

Three federally recognized tribes have devoted decades to restoring the condition of their ancestral lands in southeastern Washington state to what they were before those lands became the most radioactively contaminated site in the nation’s nuclear weapons complex, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. But the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Nez Perce Tribe have been left out of negotiations on a major decision affecting the future cleanup of millions of gallons of radioactive waste stored in underground tanks on the Hanford site near Richland. In May, federal and state agencies reached an agreement that hasn’t been

June 22, 2023
A nuclear site is on tribes' ancestral lands. Their voices are being left out on key cleanup talks
World

What to know about India's ties with Russia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in June was expected to reduce India’s dependence on Moscow for arms, economic ties and technology as New Delhi and Washington try to strengthen the Quad partnership, which also includes Japan and Australia, to contain growing aggression from China. India considers Russia a time-tested ally from the Cold War era with key cooperation in defense, oil, nuclear energy and space exploration. But that partnership has become fraught since Moscow started developing closer ties with India’s main rival, China, because of the war against Ukraine. Here’s where things stand with

June 22, 2023
What to know about India's ties with Russia
World

Hondurans see little hope for nation's prisons as details of cold-blooded massacre emerge

Authorities in Honduras began to hand over to relatives the hacked, burned corpses of 46 women killed in the worst riot at a women’s prison in recent memory. Some of the bodies were so badly burned they need genetic testing or dental studies to identify, said Yuri Mora, the spokesman for Honduras’ national police investigation agency. The picture that began to emerge of Tuesday’s violence at the women’s prison in Tamara, Honduras was one of a carefully planned massacre of supposed rival gang members by inmates belonging to the notorious Barrio 18 street gang. The carnage

June 22, 2023
Hondurans see little hope for nation's prisons as details of cold-blooded massacre emerge
World

Australian online safety watchdog demands answers from Twitter on how it tackles online hate

Australia’s online safety watchdog has issued a legal notice to Twitter demanding an explanation of what the social media giant is doing to tackle a surge in online hate since Tesla CEO Elon Musk bought the platform. Australia’s eSafety Commission describes itself as the world’s first government agency dedicated to keeping people safer online. The agency said Thursday that it received more complaints about online hate on Twitter in the past 12 months than any other platform and had received an increasing number of reports of serious online abuse since Musk took over the company in

June 22, 2023
Australian online safety watchdog demands answers from Twitter on how it tackles online hate
World

Tornadoes tear through northern Texas town, killing 3 people and causing widespread damage

A line of severe storms produced multiple tornadoes Wednesday evening on the Rolling Plains in Texas, killing at least three people and causing significant damage around the northern town of Matador. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that the storms also produced softball-size hail and wind gusts topping 100 mph (161 kph) in other communities including Jayton, which also was under a tornado warning as the line moved southeast Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service in Lubbock. Matador Mayor Pat Smith said at least three people had been killed, that others may be injured and that

June 22, 2023
Tornadoes tear through northern Texas town, killing 3 people and causing widespread damage
World

Up, up and away — flying taxis look to France's city of revolution to unleash change on the skies

Just a dot on the horizon at first, the bug-like and surprisingly quiet electrically-powered craft buzzes over Paris and its traffic snarls, treating its doubtless awestruck passenger to privileged vistas of the Eiffel Tower and the city’s signature zinc-grey rooftops before landing him or her with a gentle downward hover. And thus, if all goes to plan, could a new page in aviation history be written. After years of dreamy and not always credible talk of skies filled with flying, non-polluting electric taxis, the aviation industry is preparing to deliver a future that it says

June 22, 2023
Up, up and away — flying taxis look to France's city of revolution to unleash change on the skies
World

Shifting S. Africa coal plant for clean energy needs millions in loans; experts say that's a problem

Plumes of heat-trapping pollutants last billowed from the giant stacks of Komati Power Station in October, when the coal-fired plant that fed South Africa’s hungry electrical grid for more than half a century was shut down to make way for a solar, wind and battery storage plant. Converting Komati to be part of the clean energy revolution is seen as an important test case for coal-reliant South Africa, the world’s 16th-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and developing nations elsewhere. It’s supported by $497 million, most of it from the World Bank. The problem, energy experts

June 22, 2023
Shifting S. Africa coal plant for clean energy needs millions in loans; experts say that's a problem
World

Britain marks the Windrush anniversary with the story of its Caribbean community still being written

Seventy-five years ago, a ship landed at Tilbury Dock near London, carrying more than 800 passengers from the Caribbean to new lives in Britain. The arrival of the Empire Windrush on June 22, 1948, became a symbol of the post-war migration that transformed the U.K. and its culture. The term “Windrush generation” has come to stand for hundreds of thousands of people who arrived in the U.K. between the late 1940s and early 1970s, especially those from former British colonies in the Caribbean. Windrush Day is being marked on Thursday with scores of community and official events,

June 22, 2023
Britain marks the Windrush anniversary with the story of its Caribbean community still being written
World

Bank of England is set to hike rates to battle inflation. That means pain for borrowers

The Bank of England is poised to raise borrowing costs again on Thursday to combat stubbornly high inflation, which has failed to come down from its peak as quickly as expected. Though the consensus among analysts is that the central bank will raise its main interest rate by a quarter-percentage point — hitting a new 15-year high of 4.75% — there are concerns, certainly among borrowers, that it may opt for a bigger half-point increase. That larger hike would be particularly painful for people with loans, especially the 1.4 million or so households in the U.K. that

June 22, 2023
Bank of England is set to hike rates to battle inflation. That means pain for borrowers
World

In Europe's empty churches, prayer and confessions make way for drinking and dancing

The confessionals where generations of Belgians admitted their sins stood stacked in a corner of what was once Sacred Heart Church, proof the stalls — as well as the Roman Catholic house of worship — had outlived their purpose. The building is to close down for two years while a cafe and concert stage are added, with plans to turn the church into “a new cultural hot spot in the heart of Mechelen,” almost within earshot of where Belgium’s archbishop lives. Around the corner, a former Franciscan church is now a luxury hotel where music star

June 22, 2023
In Europe's empty churches, prayer and confessions make way for drinking and dancing
World

Turkish central bank faces key test on economic turnaround after Erdogan's reelection

The Turkish central bank faces a key test Thursday on turning to more conventional economic policies to counter sky-high inflation after newly reelected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave mixed signals about an approach that many blame for worsening a cost-of-living crisis. It is the bank’s closely watched first interest rate-setting meeting since the longtime leader named internationally respected officials to head the bank and the finance ministry. While a sharp rate hike is expected, it’s not clear if it will be enough to ease market concerns. The appointments were seen as a sign that Turkey would

June 22, 2023
Turkish central bank faces key test on economic turnaround after Erdogan's reelection
World

Israel demolishes alleged Palestinian attacker's home in volatile occupied West Bank

Israeli troops on Thursday demolished the home of a Palestinian who is suspected of killing an Israeli soldier last year, in the latest military operation in the increasingly volatile occupied West Bank, which has been gripped by surging violence. The demolition came during a week of rising tensions and unrelenting violence in the West Bank and just hours after Israel carried out a rare airstrike that killed three Palestinian militants near the city of Jenin and Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villages in retaliation for the killing of four Israelis a day earlier. A daylong Israeli military raid

June 22, 2023
Israel demolishes alleged Palestinian attacker's home in volatile occupied West Bank
World

EU summons Kosovo and Serbia leaders for emergency talks amid fears of a return to open conflict

The European Union has summoned the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo for emergency talks on Thursday to try to bring an end to a series of violent clashes near their border that is fueling fears of a return to open conflict. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that he would hold “urgent meetings” with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels. It was unclear whether the two would meet face-to-face, or only hold separate talks with Borrell. “We need immediate de-escalation and new elections in the north with participation of Kosovo

June 22, 2023
EU summons Kosovo and Serbia leaders for emergency talks amid fears of a return to open conflict
World

Stock market today: Asian shares mixed after Fed chair inflation comments

Asian shares were trading mixed Thursday following a retreat on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve chair made comments that indicated inflation still isn’t under control. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.9% to finish at 33,264.88. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.6% to 7,195.50. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.4% to 2,593.70. Trading was closed in Hong Kong and Shanghai for Dragon Boat Festival, a national holiday. Shares fell in India. The Chinese markets being closed provided a break from jitters about possible renewed tensions in the U.S.-China relationship after President Joe Biden referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping

June 22, 2023
Stock market today: Asian shares mixed after Fed chair inflation comments
World

After Paris blast crumples building in Left Bank, rescue workers searching for 1 person

French rescue workers searched Thursday for a person feared missing after a powerful blast brought down a building on Paris’ Left Bank, injuring more than 30 people, four of them critically. Investigators were working to determine the cause of Wednesday’s explosion. A possible gas leak was one of the potential causes under investigation. The blast near the historic Val de Grace military hospital in Paris’ 5th district crumpled the facade of a building that held a private academy of design and arts. Some of the four critically injured people suffered severe burns, said Health Minister François Braun.

June 22, 2023
After Paris blast crumples building in Left Bank, rescue workers searching for 1 person
World

US journalist Evan Gershkovich appears in Moscow court to appeal extended detention

Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter detained on espionage charges in Russia, appeared in court Thursday to appeal his extended detention. U.S. citizen Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in late March while on a reporting trip. A Moscow court agreed last month to keep him in custody until Aug. 30. Defense lawyers challenged the decision, and the Moscow City Court was considering the appeal on Thursday. Gershkovich, wearing a black T-shirt and light blue jeans, looked tense and paced around inside a glass defendant’s cage while waiting for the hearing to begin. Within minutes, other journalists in

June 22, 2023
US journalist Evan Gershkovich appears in Moscow court to appeal extended detention
World

German leader defends deal to stop migrants at EU borders, says old system was 'dysfunctional'

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday defended a deal to stop migrants from entering the European Union until their chances of getting asylum have been reviewed, arguing that the bloc’s existing arrangement is “completely dysfunctional.” Speaking to lawmakers in Berlin, he said the compromise reached earlier this month by the EU’s 27 member states after years of negotiations was a “historic agreement.” Human rights groups have criticized the deal, saying migrants, including families with children, will be held in camps while authorities check whether they are likely to be granted refugee protection inside the EU. The details

June 22, 2023
German leader defends deal to stop migrants at EU borders, says old system was 'dysfunctional'
World

Russia-backed officials say explosion damages bridge linking Ukraine's mainland to Crimea

An explosion damaged a bridge that is one of the few links between Crimea and Ukraine’s mainland, Russia-backed officials said Thursday, as the early stages of a Ukrainian counteroffensive unfold. Russian forces in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, use the Chongar bridge to reach southern Ukraine’s Kherson province. Russia and Ukraine control different sides of the province, which is a focus of fighting and attacks as Ukrainian troops try to reclaim Russian-occupied territory. Ukrainian authorities have said that for the country’s nearly 16-month war to end, Moscow must withdraw its forces from Crimea as well

June 22, 2023
Russia-backed officials say explosion damages bridge linking Ukraine's mainland to Crimea
World

Pakistan's premier meets with the head of IMF in Paris, hoping to unlock $6B deal to avoid default

Pakistan’s premier Shahbaz Sharif met Thursday with the head of the International Monetary Fund on the sidelines of a global financing meeting in Paris, hoping to unlock a $6 billion bailout and gain the release of a critical tranche of $1.1 billion in loans which has been on hold since November. The meeting between Sharif and IMF’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact comes a week before the $6 billion bailout package originally signed between the IMF and the country’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2019 expires. Sharif replaced

June 22, 2023
Pakistan's premier meets with the head of IMF in Paris, hoping to unlock $6B deal to avoid default

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