World

Inflation pushed 71m people into poverty since Ukraine war

A staggering 71 million more people around the world are experiencing poverty as a result of soaring food and energy prices that climbed in the weeks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations Development Program said in a report Thursday.The UNDP estimates that 51.6 million more...

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Flood threat moves north as Sydney area emergency eases

Floodwaters were receding in Sydney and its surrounding area Thursday as heavy rain threatened to inundate towns north of Australia’s largest city.Evacuation orders and official warnings to prepare to abandon homes were given to 60,000 people by Thursday, down from 85,000 on Wednesday, New Sou...

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West African leaders meet with coup-hit neighbours

West African leaders attended a summit Sunday as their regional bloc pursues its efforts to resolve the political impasse in the coup-hit nations of Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.A summit last month of the Economic Community of West African States put off imposing further economic and financial sanc...

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N Korea slams US-ROK-Japan military cooperation

North Korea on Sunday slammed the United States, South Korea and Japan for pushing to boost their trilateral military cooperation targeting the North, warning that the move is prompting urgent calls for the country to reinforce its military capability.North Korea has long cited what it calls hostili...

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Heavy rain, floods prompt evacuations of Sydney suburbs

Thousands of residents in Sydney suburbs were told to evacuate their homes on Sunday after heavy rains caused floodwaters to rise and rivers to overflow in what authorities called life-threatening emergencies.The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning for heavy rain and flash floods a...

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Rice fields dry up as Italy’s drought lingers on

The worst drought Italy has faced in 70 years is thirsting paddy fields in the river Po valley and jeopardizing the harvest of the premium rice used for risotto.Italy’s largest river is turning into a long stretch of sand due to the lack of rain, leaving the Lomellina rice flats — nestle...

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As Po dries up, Italy’s food and energy supplies are at risk

Water is so low in large stretches of Italy’s largest river that local residents are walking through the middle of the expanse of sand and shipwrecks are resurfacing.Authorities fear that if it doesn’t rain soon, there’ll be a serious shortage of water for drinking and irrigation f...

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In energy-strapped Europe, coal gets an encore

At Greece’s largest coal mine, controlled explosions and the roar of giant excavators scooping up blasted rock have once again become routine. Coal production has been ramped up at the site near the northern Greek city of Kozani as the war in Ukraine forced many European nations to rethink the...

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Congo official: Rwanda will have war if it wants war

If Rwanda wants war with neighboring Congo, “it will have war,” a top Congolese military official said Wednesday to thousands in eastern Congo protesting the recent capture of a nearby town by rebels.Gen. Sylvain Ekenge, spokesman for the military governor of North Kivu province, made th...

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Australia commits to curbing greenhouse emissions

Australia’s new government on Thursday formally committed to a more ambitious greenhouse gas reduction target of 43% by the end of the decade in fulfillment of a key election pledge.The previous conservative government was dumped by voters at the May 21 election after it stuck to a seven-year-...

World

Severe water shortages strain wheat harvest in Iraq

Salah Chelab crushed a husk of wheat plucked from his sprawling farmland south of Baghdad and inspected its seeds in the palm of one hand. They were several grams lighter than he hoped.“It’s because of the water shortages,” he said, the farm machine roaring behind him, cutting and ...

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Biden starts Asia trip with global issues and tech on agenda

President Joe Biden is opening his trip to Asia with a focus on the computer chip shortage that has bedeviled the world economy, touring a Samsung computer chip plant that will serve as model for a $17 billion semiconductor factory that the Korean electronics company plans to open in Texas.The visit...

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Crews slow New Mexico fires, brace for dangerous conditions

More than 2,000 firefighters battling the largest U.S. wildfire dug back-up fire lines and rearranged fire engines around homes in northeast New Mexico on Wednesday in anticipation of a return to windy, dangerous conditions in the days ahead.After a break in the weather allowed for significant progr...

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Taliban crackdown on women UN holds emergency meeting

The U.N. Security Council held emergency closed consultations Thursday on the Taliban’s latest crackdown on Afghan women as it considered a presidential statement that would express deep concern at the new ban by Afghanistan's rulers on women leaving home “without necessity” an...

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Sherpa woman climbs Everest for 10th time, breaks own record

A Nepali Sherpa broke her own record as the most successful female climber of Mount Everest by reaching the summit of the world's highest peak Thursday.Lakpa Sherpa and several other climbers took advantage of favorable weather to reach the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) summit early in the morning, ...

World,Front Page

Sherpa guide breaks own record scaling Everest for 26th time

An experienced Nepalese Sherpa guide scaled Mount Everest for the 26th time breaking his own record for the most climbs of the world's highest peak, expedition organizers said Sunday.Kami Rita reached the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) summit on Saturday evening leading a group of Sherpa climbers who...

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New Mexico residents brace for extreme wildfire conditions

With the worst of the thick wildfire smoke having blown out of town, residents of this small northern New Mexico city tried to recapture a sense of normalcy Saturday as their rural neighbors hunkered down amid predictions of extreme fire conditions.Shops and restaurants reopened, the historic center...

World

Palestinians facing eviction by Israel vow to stay on land

Everything here is makeshift, a result of decades of uncertainty. Homes are made from tin and plastic sheets; water is trucked in and power is obtained from batteries or a few solar panels.The lives of thousands of Palestinians in a cluster of Bedouin communities in the southern West Bank have been ...

World

Pope, hobbled by knee problem, looks forward to S Sudan trip

Pope Francis, whose mobility has been limited of late by a nagging knee problem, is looking forward to visiting South Sudan in July, according to a joint message by the pontiff, the archbishop of Canterbury and a Scottish church official.The Vatican on Saturday released the text of the message, whic...

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South Korea says North test-fired missile from submarine

North Korea flight-tested a ballistic missile that was likely fired from a submarine on Saturday, South Korea’s military said, continuing a provocative streak in weapons demonstrations that may culminate with a nuclear test in the coming weeks or months.South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staf...