Today: September 25, 2024
Today: September 25, 2024

World

World

Armed rebellion by Wagner chief Prigozhin underscores erosion of Russian legal system

Russia’s rebellious mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin walked free from prosecution for his June 24 armed mutiny, and it’s still unclear if anyone will face any charges in the aborted uprising against military leaders or for the deaths of the soldiers killed in it. Instead, a campaign is underway to portray the founder of the Wagner Group military contractor as driven by greed, with only hints of an investigation into whether he mishandled any of the billions of dollars in state funds. Until last week, the Kremlin has never admitted to funding the company, with private mercenary

July 07, 2023
Armed rebellion by Wagner chief Prigozhin underscores erosion of Russian legal system
World

EU takes a major step in approving plans to boost its anemic ammunition production to help Ukraine

The European Union took a major step early Friday in approving plans to boost its anemic production of ammunition and missiles within the 27-nation bloc, to both defend itself and quickly help Ukraine in trying to push back the invasion by Russia. The EU presidency announced early Friday that the member states and the EU Parliament reached a deal “to urgently mobilize” half a billion euros from its budget for an Act in Support of Ammunition Production. The deal follows up the decision by EU leaders in March to boost urgently needed ammunition deliveries to Ukraine, which

July 07, 2023
EU takes a major step in approving plans to boost its anemic ammunition production to help Ukraine
World

South Korea endorses the safety of Japanese plans to release treated wastewater from Fukushima plant

South Korea’s government on Friday formally endorsed the safety of Japanese plans to release treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into sea as it tried to calm people’s fears about food contamination. Seoul’s assessment was based on a 22-month review by government-funded scientists and aligned with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s views. The agency greenlit the Japanese discharge plans this week, saying the treated wastewater would meet international safety standards and that its environmental and health impact would be negligible. South Korea’s review focused on any impact the wastewater release might have on

July 07, 2023
South Korea endorses the safety of Japanese plans to release treated wastewater from Fukushima plant
World

Stock market today: Asian shares fall as strong US data dash hopes for an end to rate hikes

Asian shares slipped Friday after another decline on Wall Street, where hopes for an end to interest rate hikes were again shaken by strong jobs data. U.S. futures fell and oil prices were higher. Investors were watching for updates from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to Beijing, where she was meeting with senior Chinese officials to try to soothe antagonisms over a host of issues and promote global financial stability. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 shed 1.2% to 32,388.42 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 0.8% to 18,384.17. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3% to 3,197.42,

July 07, 2023
Stock market today: Asian shares fall as strong US data dash hopes for an end to rate hikes
World

Yellen's visit to Beijing aims to heal rifts over a daunting array of China-US antagonisms

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is visiting Beijing as part of efforts to revive U.S.-Chinese relations that are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes over technology, security and other irritants. Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in November and agreed to improve relations between the world’s biggest economies and major trading partners. But neither government has shown willingness to make major policy changes. “We hope the United States takes concrete actions to create a favorable environment for the healthy development of economic and trade relations,” the Chinese finance ministry said in a statement Friday.

July 07, 2023
Yellen's visit to Beijing aims to heal rifts over a daunting array of China-US antagonisms
World

Drones sweep for sharks along New York's coast during rise in encounters with beachgoers

Off the coast of Long Island, drones sweep over the ocean, patrolling the water for any danger that might lurk below the surface as beachgoers grow more vigilant because of a recent spate of shark encounters. Over two days this week, five people reported being bitten by sharks at some of New York’s most popular beaches, leading to heightened surveillance of the area’s waters. The sighting of a 10-foot (3-meter) shark on Thursday prompted officials to keep people out of the water at Robert Moses State Park, the same Long Island beach that delayed its opening

July 07, 2023
Drones sweep for sharks along New York's coast during rise in encounters with beachgoers
World

Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in shootout in the occupied West Bank

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank Friday, days after Israel concluded a major two-day offensive meant to crack down on militants. The Israeli domestic security agency Shin Bet said the two men, which it claimed were behind a shooting attack this week, were killed in a shoot out in the heart of the city of Nablus. The Palestinian Health Ministry said two men were killed by Israeli fire, identifying them as Khayri Mohammed Sari Shaheen, 34, and Hamza Moayed Mohammed Maqbool, 32. The deaths are part of a year-long

July 07, 2023
Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in shootout in the occupied West Bank
World

Yellen criticizes Chinese treatment of US companies during visit to revive relations

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen criticized Chinese treatment of U.S. companies and new export controls on metals used in semiconductors during a visit Friday to Beijing to try to revive strained relations. Talking with a group of businesspeople, Yellen defended U.S. controls on technology exports that irk Beijing, saying they are necessary for national security. She rejected suggestions Washington is trying to decouple, or separate the U.S. economy from China’s. “The U.S. seeks healthy economic competition with China,” Yellen said, according to a transcript released by her department. “I am communicating the concerns that I’ve heard from the

July 07, 2023
Yellen criticizes Chinese treatment of US companies during visit to revive relations
World

Thousands take part in first running of the bulls in Spain's San Fermin festival

Thousands of thrill seekers took part Friday in the first running of the bulls at the San Fermín festival in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona. Several runners took knocks and hard falls in the 8 a.m. event but no one was gored by the beasts, a frequent feature of the spectacle. The festival attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists. Nearly 1.7 million people visited Pamplona for the celebrations in 2022, and forecasts are higher for this year with all COVID-19 constraints ended. In the run, six bulls guided by six tame oxen charged along a

July 07, 2023
Thousands take part in first running of the bulls in Spain's San Fermin festival
World

China says up to US to create 'necessary conditions' for anti-drugs cooperation

China on Friday insisted it is up to the U.S. to “create necessary conditions” for anti-drugs cooperation, following complaints from Washington that Beijing has ignored its calls for a crackdown on precursor chemicals for the highly addictive painkiller fentanyl. China takes an “active part in international anti-narcotic cooperation and firmly opposes smears and unilateral sanctions on other countries under the pretext of the fight against drugs,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing. “We urge the U.S. to correct wrongdoings with concrete actions and create necessary conditions for the two countries’ anti-narcotic cooperation,” Wang

July 07, 2023
China says up to US to create 'necessary conditions' for anti-drugs cooperation
World

Chinese cities open air raid shelters for heat relief as extreme temperatures lead to deaths

Cities across China opened their air raid shelters to offer residents relief from the heat Friday as unusually high temperatures across parts of the country started claiming lives. Northern China is experiencing strings of days with record-high temperatures, compounded by drought. Earlier this week, Beijing reported more than nine straight days with temperatures exceeding 35 C (95 F), according to the National Climate Center — a streak unseen since 1961. Cities including Hangzhou on China’s east coast, Wuhan in the center of the country, and Shijiazhuang in Hebei province neighboring Beijing over the past week announced

July 07, 2023
Chinese cities open air raid shelters for heat relief as extreme temperatures lead to deaths
World

Muslims across Pakistan hold anti-Sweden rallies to denounce burning of Islam's holy book

Muslims in Pakistan were holding rallies on Friday to observe a “Day of the Sanctity of Quran” after the South Asian Islamic nation’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a call for anti-Sweden protests over last week’s burning of the Islamic holy book in Stockholm. The biggest anti-Sweden rallies were expected in the eastern city of Lahore and in Karachi, the largest city in the country. In the capital, Islamabad, lawyers holding copies of the Quran protested in front of the Supreme Court, while worshippers outside mosques held small rallies, demanding the severing of diplomatic ties with Sweden.

July 07, 2023
Muslims across Pakistan hold anti-Sweden rallies to denounce burning of Islam's holy book
World

Countries agree to slash shipping emissions but not enough to stay within warming limits

Maritime nations agreed Friday to slash emissions from the shipping industry to net zero by about 2050 in a deal that some experts and nations say falls short of what’s needed to curb warming to agreed temperature limits. Negotiators at the meeting of the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization in London, seen as key to curb global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, rubber-stamped a deal for shipping emissions to reach net zero “by or around” 2050. The plan also calls for shipping emissions to be slashed by at least 20% but aiming for 30%

July 07, 2023
Countries agree to slash shipping emissions but not enough to stay within warming limits
World

Amsterdam court gives green light to plan to reduce flights at busy Schiphol Airport

Appeals court judges in Amsterdam ruled Friday that the Dutch government can order Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs, to reduce the number of flights from 500,000 per year to 460,000. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal overturned a lower court that concluded in April the government of the Netherlands did not follow the correct procedure when it told Schiphol last year to cut flights. The airport, civil aviation organizations and airlines that included Dutch flag carrier KLM challenged the government’s order. Friday’s decision can be appealed to the Dutch Supreme Court. The Amsterdam

July 07, 2023
Amsterdam court gives green light to plan to reduce flights at busy Schiphol Airport
World

NHL great Hašek demands Russians openly condemn war against Ukraine or be banned from Paris Olympics

Russian and Belarusian athletes must state loud and clear they condemn Russia for the war in Ukraine or be banned from next year’s Paris Olympics, hockey gold medalist Dominik Hašek told The Associated Press. Hašek, who won gold with the Czech Republic team at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, said he is certain their presence at the Paris Games would otherwise result in “a huge promotion of the Russian war.” The NHL great has been a prominent and vocal critic of the International Olympic Committee’s recommendation that Russians and Belarusians compete in international competitions as neutral

July 07, 2023
NHL great Hašek demands Russians openly condemn war against Ukraine or be banned from Paris Olympics
World

Dutch premier resigns because of deadlock on thorny issue of migration, paving way for new elections

The Dutch government collapsed Friday because of irreconcilable differences within the four-party coalition about how to rein in migration, a divisive issue that has split nations across Europe. The resignation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the longest-serving premier of the nation, means the country will face a general election later this year. Rutte and his government will remain in office in a caretaker capacity until a new ruling coalition is chosen. “It is no secret that the coalition partners have very different views on migration policy,” Rutte told reporters in The Hague. “And today, unfortunately,

July 07, 2023
Dutch premier resigns because of deadlock on thorny issue of migration, paving way for new elections
World

UN nuclear agency pushes for access to Zaporizhzhia plant roof after reports of Russian explosives

The head of the UN nuclear agency said Friday he was pushing for access to the roof of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, following reports from Ukrainian officials that the Russians had planted explosives there. The plant was seized by Russia, in March 2022, in the first weeks of the war in Ukraine, raising fears of a nuclear accident. The Russians have only granted limited access to officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency, citing the security situation. Wrapping up a four-day visit to Japan, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said his agency was

July 07, 2023
UN nuclear agency pushes for access to Zaporizhzhia plant roof after reports of Russian explosives
World

Robots take questions at Geneva press conference, say they could be better leaders than humans

Robots told reporters Friday they could be more efficient leaders than humans, but wouldn’t take anyone’s job away and had no intention of rebelling against their creators. Nine AI-enabled humanoid robots sat or stood with their creators at a podium in a Geneva conference center for what the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union billed as the world’s first news conference featuring humanoid social robots. Among them: Sophia, the first robot innovation ambassador for the U.N. Development Program; Grace, described as the world’s most advanced humanoid health care robot; and Desdemona, a rock star robot. Two, Geminoid and

July 07, 2023
Robots take questions at Geneva press conference, say they could be better leaders than humans
World

2-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova advances to the 3rd round. Keys and Kostyuk also win

Petra Kvitova reached the third round at Wimbledon for the second year in a row, nine years after winning the second of her two titles at the All England Club. The 33-year-old Czech, who was injured in a knife attack at her home in 2016, beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-2 Friday on Day 5 of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. The left-handed Kvitova first won the Wimbledon title in 2011 and then added another in 2014. She has only reached one other Grand Slam final, losing to Naomi Osaka in the deciding match at the 2019

July 07, 2023
2-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova advances to the 3rd round. Keys and Kostyuk also win
World

Poland starts observances of WWII massacres by Ukrainians that have marred neighborly ties

Poland’s prime minister and Catholic church leaders opened several days of observances Friday to honor victims of World War II massacres of tens of thousands of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists, which have marred the tightening strategic relations between the neighboring nations. “We can say that for many years this has been an unhealed wound in Polish-Ukrainian relations,” said Rafal Bochenek, the spokesperson for Poland’s ruling right-wing party. “We would expect truth to be told and things to be called by their proper name,” Bochenek said. Poland says the 1943-44 massacre of some 100,000 Poles by Ukrainian

July 07, 2023
Poland starts observances of WWII massacres by Ukrainians that have marred neighborly ties
World

At least 1 dead, 5 wounded after shooting inside Lebanon mosque, security official says

A shooting inside a mosque during prayers left at least one person dead and five wounded Friday, a Lebanese security official said. The reason behind the shooting in the eastern town of Bar Elias was not immediately clear. The state-run National News Agency said more gunfire broke out later between Lebanese troops and the shooting suspect, who was wounded in that exchange. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the man killed and the five wounded were all Syrian citizens. The town is home to many Syrian refugees who fled their

July 07, 2023
At least 1 dead, 5 wounded after shooting inside Lebanon mosque, security official says
World

Belarus shows off a military camp to host Russia's Wagner mercenaries after a failed mutiny

The Belarusian military on Friday showed off a field camp it has offered to Russia’s Wagner military contractor if it relocates to Belarus under a deal that ended its mutiny. Maj. Gen. Leonid Kosinsky, an assistant to Belarus’ defense minister, told international reporters that Wagner troops could use the former Belarusian army camp near Tsel, about 90 kilometers (about 55 miles) southeast of Minsk. Journalists were shown rows of empty tents that Kosinsky said could accommodate up to 5,000 troops at the camp in the Asipovichy district that was used by the Belarusian army before

July 07, 2023
Belarus shows off a military camp to host Russia's Wagner mercenaries after a failed mutiny
World

UN report calls on Saudi Arabia to release 2 women jailed over tweets, alleging rights abuses

U.N. human rights experts on Friday called for the release of two Saudi Arabian women they say were arbitrarily detained and denied basic rights after tweeting criticism of the kingdom’s policies. Salma al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 years in prison and Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani was sentenced to 45 years last summer after they were arrested in separate cases in 2021. They were found guilty by a special court originally established to try terrorists but which has broadened its mandate in recent years amid a heavy crackdown on dissent. The kingdom’s human rights record

July 07, 2023
UN report calls on Saudi Arabia to release 2 women jailed over tweets, alleging rights abuses
World

NATO leaders set to offer Ukraine major support package but membership is off the table for now

NATO leaders will agree next week to help modernize Ukraine’s armed forces, create a new high-level forum for consultations and reaffirm that it will join their alliance one day, the organization’s top civilian official said Friday. But the war-torn country will not start membership talks soon. At a two-day summit starting Tuesday in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts will also agree to boost defense spending as allies pour weapons, ammunition and other support like uniforms and medical equipment into Ukraine, 17 months into the war. They also hope to welcome Sweden

July 07, 2023
NATO leaders set to offer Ukraine major support package but membership is off the table for now
World

Formula One welcomes Brad Pitt but is wary of protesters at British Grand Prix

Brad Pitt is joining the Formula One paddock for his new movie. He might stand as much chance as anyone else of beating Max Verstappen. Verstappen will be aiming for his eighth win in 10 races this year on Sunday as he surges toward winning the title for a third straight year. His Red Bull team has won 19 of the last 20 races going back to July 2022. As F1 welcomes Pitt for a weekend of filming around the British Grand Prix, race organizers and police are wary of possible environmental protests. PROTEST WARNINGS Activists

July 07, 2023
Formula One welcomes Brad Pitt but is wary of protesters at British Grand Prix

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