Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program attends at the opening of the plenary for the tail end of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on Dec 19, 2022. (ANDREJ IVANOV / AFP) UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday confirmed Inger Andersen of Denmark […]
Category: Latest News
Americans can sponsor refugees now directly under new program
Hundreds of migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, and Central America -formerly heading to the United States- wait in line to process their refugee status at the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR), in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico on Nov 7, 2022. (STR / AFP) WASHINGTON – Groups of Americans will be able to directly sponsor refugees […]
Ukraine interior minister among 16 dead in helicopter crash
Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 18, 2022. (EFREM LUKATSKY / AP) KIEV — A helicopter crashed near Kiev on Wednesday morning, killing at least 16 people, including Ukraine's Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky. The crash in Brovary, a town in the suburbs of Kiev, […]
UN chief urges ‘credible’ net-zero pledges
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses a session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan 18, 2023. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP) DAVOS, Switzerland – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called on business leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos to follow the principles outlined by an expert group […]
Guatemala-Colombia diplomatic row deepens over graft probes
In this file photo, Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez attends a ceremony at a Military School in Bogota on Dec 6, 2022. (DANIEL MUNOZ / AFP) GUATEMALA CITY/BOGOTA – A diplomatic spat between Guatemala and Colombia intensified on Tuesday as Guatemala's government accused Colombia's defense chief of crimes related to a high-stakes graft probe he […]
Europeans dial down the heating, heed calls to save energy
A gas burner is pictured on a cooker in a private home in Bordeaux, soutwestern France, Dec 13, 2012. (REGIS DUVIGNAU / REUTERS) BERLIN — Europeans have dialled down their heating this winter, apparently heeding government calls to conserve energy amid the Ukraine crisis, with some delaying switching it on by almost a month and […]
Trains, flights in France to be halted in pension reform strike
In this file photo taken on Nov 10, 2022 passengers wait in front of a closed gate of the Gare Montparnasse subway station during a strike in Paris. (ALAIN JOCARD / AFP) PARIS – Most trains will be cancelled in France on Thursday, with flights also affected and Paris' subway heavily disrupted, as part of […]
Election chief: Nigeria will not postpone presidential vote
This file photo taken on March 9, 2019 shows a woman casting her votes during the Gubernatorial and state House assembly election at a polling center in Lagos, Nigeria. (SUNDAY ALAMBA / AP) LONDON – The head of Nigeria's electoral commission said it will not postpone next month's presidential vote despite worries over widespread insecurity […]
Boris Pistorius named new defence minister of Germany
Then Germany Lower Saxony Interior Minister and current Germany defense minister Boris Pistorius attends a news conference in Hanover, Germany Nov 18, 2015. (Axel Schmidt / REUTERS) BERLIN – Germany's government named Boris Pistorius as defense minister on Tuesday at a time of mounting pressure on Berlin from Western allies to allow Ukraine to use […]
TASS: Russia’s newest nuclear submarine on its way to base in Arctic
This undated photo shows the nuclear-powered Kazan submarine. (PHOTO / RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY / CHINADAILY.COM.CN) Russian navy's newest nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine Generalissimo Suvorov is on its way to a temporary base for the Northern Fleet in the Arctic, the TASS news agency reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified defense source. "Recently, the submarine cruiser […]
Greta Thunberg released after brief detention at German mine protest
Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg looks on during an interview with the Associated Press in Erkelenz, Germany, Jan 14, 2023. (MICHAEL PROBST / AP) LUETZERATH, Germany – Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg was detained alongside other activists on Tuesday during protests against the demolition of a village to make way for a coal mine expansion but […]
Russia expands entry ban of EU citizens, officials after Dec sanctions
People walk near the building of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow March 28, 2022. (BAI XUEQI / XINHUA) MOSCOW – Russia has expanded its entry ban list of European Union (EU) citizens and officials in response to the EU's ninth package of sanctions against Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. "In response to […]
EU to ‘protect competitiveness’ from US inflation act
This file photo taken on Jan 1, 2022 shows the European Union flag under the Arc de Triomphe, on the Place de l'Etoile in Paris. (ALAIN JOCARD / AFP) BRUSSELS – The leaders of the European Union (EU) on Tuesday vowed to take measures to protect the competitiveness of the bloc's member states from the […]
Germany new defense head faces pressure to send Ukraine tanks
Then Germany Lower Saxony Interior Minister and current Germany defense minister Boris Pistorius attends a news conference in Hanover, Germany Nov 18, 2015. (Axel Schmidt / REUTERS) BERLIN – Germany's government named Boris Pistorius as defense minister on Tuesday at a time of mounting pressure on Berlin from Western allies to allow Ukraine to use […]
Ukrainian, German presidents discuss defense issues
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier holds a video call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (on the screen) on Jan 17, 2023 at the presidential Bellevue Palace in Berlin. (WOLFGANG KUMM / POOL / AFP) KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he discussed defense issues with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier during the meeting […]
Govt forces kill 21 al-Shabab militants in central Somalia
Somali soldiers walk at Sanguuni military base, about 450 km south of Mogadishu, Somalia, on June 13, 2018. (MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB / AFP) MOGADISHU – Somali National Army (SNA) killed 21 al-Shabab militants and injured several others after al-Shabab militants raided a military base in central Somalia early Tuesday. Chief of Defense Forces Odowaa Yusuf Rage […]
UNICEF: Poorest learners benefit least from public education funding
Pupils pose at a window of their school in Douala, western Cameroon, on Jan 13, 2022. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) UNITED NATIONS — Only 16 percent of public education funding goes to the poorest 20 percent of learners, while 28 percent goes to the richest 20 percent, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a […]
Davos 2023: EU to counter US climate move with own law
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomes President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, during the annual World Economic Forum 2023 in Davos, Switzerland, Jan 17, 2023. (ARND WIEGMANN / REUTERS) DAVOS — The European Union responded on Tuesday to US moves to boost its energy transition with its own plans to make life easier for […]
Move over Ben Franklin: Laser lightning rod electrifies scientists
Lightning strikes over buildings in Istanbul, Türkiye, Aug 24, 2022. (KHALIL HAMRA / AP) WASHINGTON – When Benjamin Franklin fashioned the first lightning rod in the 1750s following his famous experiment flying a kite with a key attached during a thunderstorm, the American inventor had no way of knowing this would remain the state of […]
6 dead in US shooting, including 6-month-old baby, mother
In this image released by Tulare County Sheriff's Office, detectives investigate a shooting in Goshen near Visalia, California, early morning on Jan 16, 2023. (TULARE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE VIA AP) Six people including a six-month-old baby cradled in the arms of her 17-year-old mother were shot dead at a home in California's main agricultural valley […]