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More than one world leader says humanity’s future, even survival, hangs in the balance when international officials meet in Scotland to try to accelerate efforts to curb climate change. Temperatures, tempers, and hyperbole have all ratcheted up ahead of the United Nations summit. And the risk of failure looms large …

A trade group representing major US passenger and cargo carriers has asked the State Department to “act urgently” to address the needs of airlines to secure rights to overfly Russian airspace, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Airlines for America, which represents American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, FedEx …

South Korea said on Friday it will drop all operating-hour curbs on restaurants and cafes and implement its first vaccine passport for high-risk venues such as gyms, saunas, and bars, as it tries to “live with COVID-19”. The first phase will go into effect on Monday and last for a …

Greece mounted a rescue operation on Friday for a cargo ship carrying about 400 migrants after it sent out a distress signal off the island of Crete, the coast guard said. The Greek coast guard quoted passengers as saying the Turkish-flagged vessel had sailed from Turkey, calling it “one of …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet French President Emmanuel Macron this weekend amid a row over post-Brexit fishing rights in which France has seized a British boat and London has threatened to board French trawlers. The flare-up is part of a wider dispute over post-Brexit trade arrangements between Britain …

Sudan’s military coup leader, facing pressure at home and abroad to restore power to civilians, said a technocratic prime minister could be announced in a week, and left the door open for the man he ousted to return and form the new government. Western countries have cut off hundreds of …

The European Union’s top diplomat said on Thursday that Moscow was using natural gas to bully Moldova, as the prime minister of the ex-Soviet republic said the country could not afford the prices Russia was now offering. Moldova’s gas contract with Russia’s Gazprom expired at the end of September. Moldova’s …

Ethiopia’s military on Thursday carried out an airstrike on the capital of the war-torn Tigray region that a hospital official and rebel sources said killed six people and injured 21 others. The government said the strike, the latest in a campaign of air bombardments, hit a factory in Mekele used …

China will finance the construction of an outpost for a special forces unit of Tajikistan’s police near the Tajik-Afghan border, the Central Asian nation’s parliament said on Thursday. The post will be located in Tajikistan’s eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in the Pamir mountains, which borders China’s Xinjiang province as well …

Germany, along with other 11 European countries, urged Israel on Thursday to reverse its decision to advance plans to construct around 3,000 settlement units in the West Bank. In a joint statement by the foreign ministries of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, and …

France gave verbal warnings to two British boats that were fishing in waters off its port of Le Havre, the government said on Thursday, as tension simmers between the neighbors over post-Brexit arrangements. The French maritime ministry said it gave the warnings overnight to the two boats, one of which …

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday to resume financing support to cash-strapped Afghanistan for reconstruction. The Taliban takeover in August saw billions of dollars in central bank assets frozen and international financial institutions suspend access to funds, although humanitarian aid …

India has tested a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead up to 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), the defense ministry said, in what media called a “stern signal” to China as the two remain locked in a border spat. The Agni-5 missile blasted off from Abdul Kalam Island off …

The Russian capital brought in its strictest lockdown measures since June 2020 on Thursday as hospitals confront a rising wave of coronavirus cases that has sent one-day pandemic deaths to record highs. The partial lockdown, in which only essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets are allowed to remain open, while …

Seven protesters have been killed in Sudan since a military coup four days ago, a health official said Thursday, adding that other bodies had since arrived without giving an exact number. Four protesters were already reported killed on Monday, hours after the military coup was announced. “On Monday, morgues in …

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said she has “faith” that the US will defend the island in the event China launches a military strike, in an interview with CNN broadcast Wednesday. “I do have faith” that US forces would help defend Taiwan, Tsai told the news network, adding that Washington’s commitment …

Cooped up at home in Herat, Afghanistan, Zainab Muhammadi reminisces about hanging out with her friends in the cafeteria after coding class. Now she logs on every day to secret online lessons. Her school shut down after the Taliban took control of the country in August. But that did not …

China condemned the US’s latest overture toward Taiwan, warning that ties between the two countries faced “huge risks” just weeks after Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping agreed to hold a video summit. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call for greater participation by Taiwan in UN organizations violated the …

Exercise comes soon after China, Russia held joint patrols in contested waters last week Close on the heels of joint patrols by China and Russia in the region, the navies of the US and Japan are holding military exercises in contested waters of the South China Sea. The Japan Maritime …

Bowing to years of pressure from Indigenous groups and Catholics appalled by the residential school’s scandal, Canadian bishops have invited Pope Francis to visit Canada to help in the reconciliation process with the Indigenous peoples. In a brief statement, the Vatican on Wednesday said that the Pope was invited by …