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

World

World

EU and Latin American leaders hold a summit hoping to rekindle relationship with long-lost friends

Leaders from the European Union and Latin America are gathering for a major summit of long-lost relatives starting on Monday. Whether it will be a joyful meeting of long-lost friends remains to be seen. Their last such encounter was eight years ago. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic and Brazil’s three-year departure from the 33-nation Community of Latin American and Caribbean States — or CELAC — had made the Atlantic Ocean separating the two sides seem wider. And division ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine to trade, deforestation and slavery reparations has given extra spice to a two-day

July 17, 2023
EU and Latin American leaders hold a summit hoping to rekindle relationship with long-lost friends
World

In India, G20 finance chiefs set to address global challenges like climate change and rising debt

Finance ministers from the Group of 20 nations meeting in India on Monday are poised to address critical global economic challenges, including the threats posed by climate change and rising debt among low-income countries. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the two countries were working together to further the G20 agenda. They spoke after holding talks on the sidelines of the summit, a sign of the importance of their countries’ relationship at a time of tension with China. “The world is looking to the G20 to make progress on key

July 17, 2023
In India, G20 finance chiefs set to address global challenges like climate change and rising debt
World

Russia halts wartime deal allowing Ukraine to ship grain. It's a blow to global food security

Russia halted an unprecedented wartime deal on Monday that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced Russia would suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative until its demands to get its own agricultural shipments to the world are met — even though the country has been shipping record amounts of wheat and its fertilizers also have been flowing. “When the part of the Black Sea deal related to Russia

July 17, 2023
Russia halts wartime deal allowing Ukraine to ship grain. It's a blow to global food security
World

Israel's governing coalition presses ahead with plan to overhaul courts ahead of expected protests

Israel’s governing coalition pushed ahead on Monday with its contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary, despite growing opposition from within the country’s military and a wave of mass protests expected this week. A parliamentary committee was preparing a bill that would limit judicial oversight on some government decisions, legislation that has sparked intensifying criticism from military reservists in elite units, including the air force and cyberwarfare. Many have warned they will not show up for duty if the overhaul moves ahead. Reservists, who make up the backbone of the country’s mostly compulsory military, played

July 17, 2023
Israel's governing coalition presses ahead with plan to overhaul courts ahead of expected protests
World

Israel's governing coalition presses ahead with plan to overhaul courts ahead of expected protests

Israel’s governing coalition pushed ahead on Monday with its contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary, despite growing opposition from within the country’s military and a wave of mass protests expected this week. A parliamentary committee was preparing a bill that would limit judicial oversight on some government decisions, legislation that has sparked intensifying criticism from military reservists in elite units, including the air force and cyberwarfare. Many have warned they will not show up for duty if the overhaul moves ahead. Reservists, who make up the backbone of the country’s mostly compulsory military, played

July 17, 2023
Israel's governing coalition presses ahead with plan to overhaul courts ahead of expected protests
World

Turkey's Erdogan heads to Gulf seeking funds for ailing economy

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan travels to Saudi Arabia on Monday in a three-stop tour of Gulf states to seek trade and investment opportunities for Turkey’s floundering economy. The president will arrive in Jeddah accompanied by an entourage of some 200 businesspeople, according to the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey. He is expected to meet King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Business forums have been arranged in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates during Erdogan’s three-day trip. The visit comes as Turks are hit with sales and fuel tax hikes that Finance

July 17, 2023
Turkey's Erdogan heads to Gulf seeking funds for ailing economy
World

Turkey's Erdogan heads to Gulf seeking funds for ailing economy

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan travels to Saudi Arabia on Monday in a three-stop tour of Gulf states to seek trade and investment opportunities for Turkey’s floundering economy. The president will arrive in Jeddah accompanied by an entourage of some 200 businesspeople, according to the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey. He is expected to meet King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Business forums have been arranged in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates during Erdogan’s three-day trip. The visit comes as Turks are hit with sales and fuel tax hikes that Finance

July 17, 2023
Turkey's Erdogan heads to Gulf seeking funds for ailing economy
World

Heat wave bakes southern Europe, sparking warnings to stay inside, drink water and limit exercise

Italian health officials intensified heat warnings as southern Europe began a brutally hot week on Monday with temperatures expected to top 40 C — or 104 F — in multiple cities already overburdened by tourists. The health ministry issued 10 recommendations to protect elderly people, the sick and pets from the heat, urging people to stay indoors during the hottest hours, drink at least 1.5 liters (nearly half a gallon) of water a day and refrain from strenuous exercise at peak daylight times. The culprit was a high-pressure anticyclone dubbed Cerberus, the multi-headed dog that guards gates

July 17, 2023
Heat wave bakes southern Europe, sparking warnings to stay inside, drink water and limit exercise
World

Elton John testifies for the defense in Kevin Spacey's sexual assault trial

Elton John testified Monday for the defense in Kevin Spacey ’s sexual assault trial. John appeared remotely from Monaco to testify after his husband, David Furnish, said Spacey only once attended the annual gala the singer held at his Windsor home. One of the alleged victims accused Spacey of aggressively grabbing his crotch while he was driving with him to the ball in 2004 or 2005. Spacey testified that he only attended the event in 2001. Furnish testified earlier that he had checked photographs and that was the only year Spacey attended. John said Spacey spent the

July 17, 2023
Elton John testifies for the defense in Kevin Spacey's sexual assault trial
World

Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham is on its way to the United States after being given the Hollywood treatment

Ryan Reynolds has already taken Hollywood to Wrexham. Now the Welsh soccer team is on its way to Tinseltown. The club, which was down on its luck and languishing in the fifth tier of English soccer before being given the A-list treatment by Reynolds and co-owner Rob McElhenney, is embarking on a U.S. tour this month, when fans of the globally-streamed docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham” will get to see its unlikely stars in the flesh. The series has made household names of the likes of manager Phil Parkinson, a coach who has spent his entire career

July 17, 2023
Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham is on its way to the United States after being given the Hollywood treatment
World

The pope's Ukraine peace envoy heads to Washington with the plight of children top of his agenda

Pope Francis’ peace envoy was traveling to Washington on Monday as part of the Holy See’s peace initiatives for Ukraine, hoping to support humanitarian operations especially concerning children, the Vatican said Monday. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi’s visit, which lasts through Wednesday, follows his recent mission to Moscow and an earlier stop in Kyiv, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zuppi is a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace initiatives and has been tasked by Francis to try to find “paths of peace” between the warring sides. In Moscow, Zuppi met with Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s

July 17, 2023
The pope's Ukraine peace envoy heads to Washington with the plight of children top of his agenda
World

Flying Russian flags, more Wagner troops roll into Belarus as part of deal that ended their mutiny

More mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner military contractor rolled into Belarus Monday, a monitoring group said, continuing their relocation to the ex-Soviet nation following last month’s short-lived mutiny. Belaruski Hajun, a Belarusian activist group that monitors troops movements in Belarus, said that a convoy of about 20 vehicles carrying Russian flags and Wagner insignia entered the country Monday heading toward a field camp that Belarusian authorities had offered to the company. The group said it was a third Wagner convoy entering the country since last week. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who brokered a deal that ended last month’s rebellion launched by

July 17, 2023
Flying Russian flags, more Wagner troops roll into Belarus as part of deal that ended their mutiny
World

Japan's prime minister visits the UAE as part of a Gulf trip focused on energy and commerce

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the United Arab Emirates on Monday as part of a swing through the Arab Gulf states focused on energy and commerce. He met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, which will be hosting the COP28 U.N. climate summit later this year. Kishida visited Saudi Arabia over the weekend, where he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The two launched a joint initiative aimed at promoting clean energy. He will visit gas-rich Qatar on Tuesday. Japan is the fifth-largest oil consumer in the

July 17, 2023
Japan's prime minister visits the UAE as part of a Gulf trip focused on energy and commerce
World

Freight train derails in southeast Pennsylvania, but no known injuries or hazards

A freight train derailment in southeast Pennsylvania early Monday spurred precautionary evacuations, but officials said no injuries were reported and there was no known hazard to the public. The 40-car CSX train, which was operating on tracks owned by Norfolk Southern, derailed around 4:50 a.m. in Whitemarsh Township. More than a dozen cars appeared to be off the tracks. Silicone pellets were leaking from at least one train car, Whitemarsh police said, but they posed no risk to the public. It wasn’t immediately known what was inside the other derailed cars, and hazmat teams were

July 17, 2023
Freight train derails in southeast Pennsylvania, but no known injuries or hazards
World

The bridge that links Russia to Crimea is key to supplying the Ukraine war and for asserting control

The bridge connecting Russia-annexed Crimea and Russia carries heavy significance for Moscow both logistically and psychologically, as a key artery for Russian military and civilian supplies bound for Crimea and as an assertion of Russia’s control of the peninsula. An explosion that hit the bridge before dawn on Monday, killing a couple and seriously injuring their daughter, left a span of the roadway hanging perilously. The damage initially appeared to be less severe than that caused by a blast in October, but highlighted the bridge’s vulnerability. Russia blamed Ukraine for both Monday’s blast and the October explosion. A spokesman for

July 17, 2023
The bridge that links Russia to Crimea is key to supplying the Ukraine war and for asserting control
World

Northeast starts to dry out after flash flooding claims at least 5 lives in Pennsylvania

An already saturated Northeast began drying out Monday after a second round of heavy rain in a week, including a flash flood in Pennsylvania that claimed at least five lives over the weekend. A 9-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sister remained missing in Upper Makefield Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which is along the Delaware River, after they were swept away late Saturday afternoon while traveling in a vehicle. Fire Chief Tim Brewer said the area got about 6 1/2 to 7 inches of rain (about 18 centimeters) in 45 minutes. The children are part

July 17, 2023
Northeast starts to dry out after flash flooding claims at least 5 lives in Pennsylvania
World

After heat wave, wildfires force thousands to flee seaside resorts outside Greek capital

Wildfires outside Athens forced thousands to flee seaside resorts, closed highways and gutted vacation homes Monday, as high winds pushed flames through hillside scrub and pine forests parched by days of extreme heat. Authorities issued evacuation orders for at least six seaside communities as two major wildfires edged closer to summer resort towns and gusts of wind hit 70 kph (45 mph). The army, police special forces and volunteer rescuers freed retirees from their homes, rescued horses from a stable, and helped monks flee a monastery threatened by the flames. Before nightfall, water-dropping planes and helicopters

July 17, 2023
After heat wave, wildfires force thousands to flee seaside resorts outside Greek capital
World

Lack of funding forces UN to slash food program in Haiti amid a surge in malnutrition

The U.N.’s World Food Program announced Monday that it is facing a shortage of funds and won’t be able to help 100,000 people in Haiti this month who urgently need assistance. The 25% cut comes as a record 4.9 million people in the country of nearly 11 million need help with finding food, the agency said. “These cuts could not come at a worse time, as Haitians face a multi-layered humanitarian crisis, their lives and livelihoods upended by violence, insecurity, economic turmoil and climate shocks,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, the agency’s director for Haiti. The

July 17, 2023
Lack of funding forces UN to slash food program in Haiti amid a surge in malnutrition
World

Police investigating the Gilgo Beach killings have searched a Long Island storage facility

Detectives investigating the long-unsolved murders known as the Gilgo Beach killings searched a storage facility in the Long Island community of Amityville over the weekend, police said. Suffolk County police confirmed Monday that detectives executed a search warrant at Omega Self Storage on Sunrise Highway related to the investigation that led to last week’s arrest of architect Rex Heuermann. He was charged Friday with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims whose remains were found buried along a remote beach highway. Heuermann, who has lived for decades across a bay from where the

July 17, 2023
Police investigating the Gilgo Beach killings have searched a Long Island storage facility
World

Microsoft and UK regulators want more time to work on $69 billion Activision deal

Microsoft and British regulators sought more time from a court Monday as the U.S. tech company uses a rare second chance to overcome opposition to its $69 billion bid for video game maker Activision Blizzard. Lawyers for Microsoft and the Competition and Markets Authority tried to persuade a judge to delay an hearing planned after the CMA rejected the deal and Microsoft appealed. The regulator later gave Microsoft more time to make its case for the blockbuster purchase of the Call of Duty game maker to go through. The deal has already won approval in the European

July 17, 2023
Microsoft and UK regulators want more time to work on $69 billion Activision deal
World

Vanishing whale's decline worse than previously thought, feds say

A review of the status of a vanishing species of whale found that the animal’s population is in worse shape than previously thought, federal ocean regulators said Monday. The North Atlantic right whale numbers less than 350, and it has been declining in population for several years. The federal government declared the whale’s decline an “unusual mortality event,” which means an unexpected and significant die-off, in 2017. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released new data that 114 of the whales have been documented as dead, seriously injured or sub-lethally injured or sick since the start

July 17, 2023
Vanishing whale's decline worse than previously thought, feds say
World

Store that sold Alex Murdaugh's son beer must pay $15 million to family of teen killed in boat crash

The family of a teen killed in a boat crash, which prosecutors say began the financial downfall of double murderer Alex Murdaugh, has reached a $15 million deal to settle a lawsuit against a convenience store chain that sold Murdaugh’s son alcohol while underage. Sunday’s deal came after a judge refused to allow the Parker’s Kitchen chain to be separated from Murdaugh in a wrongful death trial next month in Hampton County, South Carolina, where Murdaugh was once a powerful and well-known attorney. Murdaugh is serving a life sentence without parole the 2021 killing of his

July 17, 2023
Store that sold Alex Murdaugh's son beer must pay $15 million to family of teen killed in boat crash
World

Cameron Smith returns claret jug ahead of the British Open and reflects on his long year

The chill Aussie vibe of Cameron Smith gave way to more emotion than he expected Monday while taking part in one of many royal and ancient traditions at the British Open. As the defending champion, he had to return the claret jug. “I was actually holding back some tears. A bit of a moment, I guess, that crept up on me,” Smith said. “It wasn’t hard to hand it back. I wasn’t like, ‘Not letting it go.’ But it was a moment that I guess you don’t think about, and then all of a sudden it’s

July 17, 2023
Cameron Smith returns claret jug ahead of the British Open and reflects on his long year
World

Mother says man who shot four in 31st mass killing this year needed mental help for nearly a decade

The 40-year-old man who shot four people in the country’s 31st mass killing this year needed mental help for nearly a decade but his family and officials couldn’t force him to get treatment, his mother said. Andre Longmore walked through his neighborhood in the semi-rural suburb of Hampton, Georgia on Saturday and fatally shot four neighbors, all senior citizens. The killings set off a manhunt that ended Sunday with Longmore dead in a shootout in another suburb about 15 miles (25 kilometers) north of Hampton. The shooting wounded a sheriff’s deputy and two police officers, who

July 17, 2023
Mother says man who shot four in 31st mass killing this year needed mental help for nearly a decade
World

Braves' Acuña is on pace to set new baseball standard for power-speed dominance

Ronald Acuña Jr. is on pace to do more than just join an elite 40-40 club in baseball history. The Braves outfielder is threatening to obliterate the previous high mark for power-speed combination in a season. Of the four players who have delivered seasons with at least 40 homers and 40 stolen bases, none accomplished the feat with more than 46 steals. Acuña is on pace for 41 homers and 77 steals. He could become the charter member of baseball’s 40-50, 40-60 and 40-70 clubs. “It would mean a lot to me personally just because I feel

July 17, 2023
Braves' Acuña is on pace to set new baseball standard for power-speed dominance

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