Global average temperatures are likely to continue at or near record levels this year and for the next four years afterwards, the United Nations warned Thursday. The 11 hottest individual years ever recorded all happened from 2015 onwards and the UN’s weather and climate agency said the trend was set to continue, with a new […]
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US strikes Iran, drawing retaliatory attack on American base
The United States struck southern Iran on Thursday, drawing retaliation from Tehran against a US military base, in the most serious clashes since an April ceasefire began. The fighting, which drew in US ally Kuwait, threatened to jettison a fragile diplomatic push to forge a peace agreement and open the Strait of Hormuz, which has become […]
Australia charges woman with terrorism over IS links
Australian police charged on Thursday a woman linked to the Islamic State group with membership of a terrorist organisation and entering a known conflict zone. Hundreds of women from Western nations were lured to the Middle East as IS gained prominence in the early 2010s, in many cases following husbands who had signed up as […]
Bolivia at ‘breaking point,’ president warns protesters
President Rodrigo Paz warned Wednesday that Bolivia was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and life-saving medicine. The US-backed Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis here in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his center-right […]
Fund for climate-exposed Pacific nation invests in fossil fuels
A trust fund set up to help a South Pacific nation gravely threatened by climate change has invested in coal mining, gas exploration and the world’s largest crude oil refinery, an AFP investigation has revealed. Low-lying Pacific island nation Tuvalu said it was reviewing the “fossil fuel exposure” of the $200 million fund after it […]
‘Shoebox’ flat reform leaves low-income Hong Kong residents in limbo
Hong Kong resident Lisa Lau put on a costume drama as she settled on the bed that occupies much of her tiny apartment, trying to take her mind off of a looming eviction. Subdivided flats like Lau’s three-square-metre (32-square-feet) home — made by splitting up an apartment into smaller units — are being phased out […]
‘Trump’ buffalo spared sacrifice, sent to Bangladesh zoo
A buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its flowing blond hair has been spared from sacrifice after shooting to fame, and will instead be cared for at the national zoo. Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of 170 million people, celebrates Eid al-Adha, the “feast of the sacrifice”, on Thursday. The 700-kilogramme (1,500-pound) bull, […]
Iran says war unlikely as Trump warns he may ‘finish the job’
Iran on Wednesday said a return to war was unlikely but that its military was nonetheless “lying in wait”, while US President Donald Trump threatened to “finish the job” if Tehran did not agree to deal. The mixed signals underscored the fragile state of talks aimed at ending a Middle East war that has shaken […]
Bolivia at ‘breaking point’, president warns protesters
Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz warned Wednesday that the country was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and life-saving medicine. The US-backed Paz, who took office six months ago in the middle of the worst economic crisis in four decades, is battling a groundswell of […]