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24th September
India releases Kashmir separatist leader from four-year house arrest
By Fayaz Bukhari and Rupam Jain SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A prominent Kashmir separatist leader led Friday prayers at the region’s grand mosque after he was released by Indian authorities from four years under house...
23rd September
More bumps in the road to wiping out polio
By Jennifer Rigby LONDON (Reuters) – The global effort to end polio is likely to miss two key targets this year on the path towards defeating the virus, according to an independent strategic review. The aim in 2023 was to interrupt the transmission of wild polio in the two countries where it is still endemic,...
Refrigerated trucks may give Singapore startup edge into China EV market
By Kevin Krolicki and Chen Aizhu SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Fully electric refrigerated trucks for delivering food and pharmaceuticals are expected to give a Singapore-based startup the edge to crack into the crowded Chinese electric vehicle (EV) market. Singauto Technology will unveil its first EV cold storage truck model at an event in Beijing on Tuesday...
Alabama seeks to execute prisoner using nitrogen gas asphyxiation
By Jonathan Allen (Reuters) – The Supreme Court of Alabama is weighing whether to allow the state to become the first to execute a prisoner with a novel method: asphyxiation using nitrogen gas. Last month, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall asked the court to allow the state to proceed with gassing Kenneth Smith, who was...
Exclusive-At least 40% of Colombia’s ELN rebels seen rejecting peace deal
By Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) – At least 40% of fighters from Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels could reject a potential peace deal being negotiated with the government, three high-level security sources told Reuters, citing reluctance to surrender profits from drug smuggling and illegal mining. The estimate puts at risk ambitious plans by...
England had 4,500 heat-related deaths during record-breaking 2022
LONDON (Reuters) – There were an estimated 4,507 heat-related deaths in England in 2022, according to an official study on climate-related mortality published on Friday which showed some signs of an increase in deaths linked to hot weather. Britain recorded its hottest day ever in July 2022, when temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius as part...
In Washington, Zelenskiy courts Congress, Biden on military aid
By Andrea Shalal, Makini Brice and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday that strong U.S. support for his war to repel Russian invaders will be maintained despite opposition from some Republican lawmakers to sending billions more in aid. Biden and Zelenskiy held a war council...
Britain’s Superdrug to stop selling single-use vapes
LONDON (Reuters) – British pharmacy chain Superdrug will stop selling single-use vapes, the company announced on Friday, citing the environmental impact caused by their disposal and the popularity of the products among young people. Nearly five million disposable vapes are thrown away every week in Britain according to research by non-governmental organisation Material Focus and...
Argentina wheat sales stall as farmers wait for election, rains
By Maximilian Heath BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s sales of the upcoming wheat crop are the slowest in seven years, delayed by farmers waiting for heavier rainfall and gambling on the result of the country’s Oct. 22 presidential election, with some candidates pledging tax cuts on grains exports. Argentina, a major exporter of wheat, along...
Karabakh Armenians: no agreement yet with Azerbaijan on guarantees or amnesty
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The ethnic Armenian leadership of breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh said on Friday that there were no concrete results yet from talks with Azerbaijan on possible security guarantees or an amnesty that Baku is proposing. “These questions must still be resolved,” David Babayan, an adviser to Samvel Shahramanyan, the president of the self-styled Republic of...
Brazil favela activist plants green roofs to combat heat wave
By Ricardo Moraes RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Luis Cassiano climbs a ladder and gently places small bundles of plants on a tin rooftop in a poor Rio de Janeiro neighborhood. The 53-year-old Brazilian environmental activist is planting “green roofs” to grow atop the Rio homes in an effort to lower the sweltering temperatures inside....
Spain’s Catalonia region to provide period products for free at pharmacies
BARCELONA (Reuters) – Catalonia will provide reusable menstrual cups, period pants and pads for free at pharmacies to counter so-called “period poverty”, as the Spanish region follows Scotland with one of the first initiatives of its kind. The products are due to become available during the first quarter of 2024 and will benefit around 2.5...
Nigeria’s Tinubu urges UN to help curb exploitation of Africa’s resources
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Nigerian President Bola Tinubu urged the United Nations to become more proactive in addressing his African nation’s poverty and security issues and helping to fight illicit resource extraction, his spokesman said on Thursday. Tinubu raised the issues when he met U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday on the sidelines of the...
Israel says its tanks hit two structures used by Syrian army in Golan area
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s military said on Thursday that its tanks had struck two “temporary structures” used by the Syrian army in the area of the Golan Heights in violation of a 1974 disengagement accord. “The strike was carried out after IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers identified the two structures in the area of the...
22nd September
Yemen Houthis flex military muscle in parade as Riyadh seeks ceasefire
By Abdulrahman Al-Ansi SANAA (Reuters) – Yemen’s Houthi movement displayed ballistic missiles and armed drones in a massive military parade in Sanaa on Thursday, a message to their foes in a Saudi-led coalition as they continue ceasefire negotiations with Riyadh. The head of Yemen’s Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, and other officials watched as...
China won’t stand by idly in case of German 5G restrictions – embassy
BERLIN (Reuters) – China will not stand by idly if the German government decides to restrict the use of components from Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE <000063.SZ> in its 5G network, the Chinese embassy in Berlin said on Thursday. Germany’s interior ministry has proposed forcing telecoms operators to curb their use of equipment...
For Libya’s Haftar, flood aftermath tests strongman image
(Reuters) – After Derna’s catastrophic floods, eastern Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar flew in by helicopter and received salutes from his troops as he toured the city where thousands of people were killed when whole districts were swept away. Three days later, residents vented their anger on the mud-caked streets, torching the mayor’s house as...
U.S. government awards $45 million for long COVID clinics
By Ahmed Aboulenein WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government is awarding $45 million in grants to help clinics treating long COVID develop new models of care and expand access, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Wednesday. Nine clinics will receive $1 million grants annually over the next five years through the...
Congo army seeks insight into Islamist militants from women held captive
By Yassin Kombi and Gradel Muiysa BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – At a military intelligence centre in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, 22-year-old Mariam recounted how she lived alongside Islamist insurgents for two years after she was taken by the militants and force-marched to their camp in the rainforest. Mariam said a Ugandan...
Two mainland China bishops to attend big Vatican meeting after tensions
By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Two bishops from mainland China are due to attend a major Vatican meeting next month, officials said on Thursday, a positive sign after recent tensions between the Holy See and Beijing. The two bishops were chosen by their brother bishops in China, meaning they likely had approval from...
Europe’s power industry warns ageing grids risk green goals
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s electricity industry has warned that unprecedented investments are needed to upgrade ageing electricity grids, or the EU will fail to meet its clean energy targets. The European Union’s plans to curb climate change foresee millions more electric vehicles on European roads by 2030, as well as a massive expansion of renewable...
India tells citizens in Canada to exercise caution as relations worsen
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India on Wednesday urged its nationals in Canada, especially students, to exercise “utmost caution” as ties deteriorate after each nation expelled one of the other’s diplomats in an escalating row over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader. Tension has grown since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday Canada was investigating...
UN chief laments ‘naked greed’ of fossil fuel interests, countries criticize big polluters
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Countries addressing a climate summit during the U.N. General Assembly criticized big polluters for not doing more to tackle global warming, and the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said time was running short thanks to the “naked greed” of fossil fuel interests. With the two-week U.N. climate summit, COP28, due to start...
King Charles greeted in France with pomp, diplomacy on state visit
By Juliette Jabkhiro and Noemie Olive PARIS (Reuters) -Britain’s King Charles arrived in France on Wednesday for a three-day state visit, during which he and President Emmanuel Macron will hope to build on symbolism and personal bonds to turn the page on years of rocky relations between the two nations. The king and his wife,...
Saudi crown prince says getting ‘closer’ to Israel normalization
By Matt Spetalnick and Rami Ayyub WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a U.S. television interview that his country was moving steadily closer to normalizing relations with Israel and also warned that if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, “we have to get one.” “Every day we get closer,” the crown...
Azerbaijan halts Karabakh offensive after ceasefire deal with Armenian separatists
By Felix Light and Andrew Osborn YEREVAN (Reuters) – Azerbaijan said on Wednesday it had halted military action in its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after its battlefield success forced Armenian separatist forces to agree to a ceasefire that will see the area fully return to Baku’s control. Under the agreement, outlined by Azerbaijan and the...
World War One cemeteries, Rwanda genocide sites, Argentine torture center declared UNESCO World Heritage
By Geert De Clercq PARIS (Reuters) – World War One cemeteries in Belgium and France, the hills of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and a former torture center in Argentina have been declared UNESCO World Heritage sites as the UN agency ends a moratorium on memorial sites for human suffering. So far, the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in...
India’s parliament approves bill to reserve third of seats for women
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s parliament on Wednesday approved a landmark bill to reserve a third of its seats in the lower house and state assemblies for women to boost female participation in politics that had been disproportionately low for decades. Women now comprise nearly half of India’s 950 million registered voters but only 15% of...
Michael Bloomberg pumps $500 million into bid to close all US coal plants
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Wednesday he will pump $500 million into the next phase of his energy transition campaign, aiming to shut down “every last” coal plant in the United States and slash gas-fired capacity in half by 2030. The $500 million infusion into his decade-long...
Australian lawmakers call for release of Julian Assange during talks in Washington
WASHINGTON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – A cross-party delegation of Australian lawmakers that traveled to the United States seeking the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said they had a productive discussion in Washington with the U.S. Justice Department. The group of Australian lawmakers urged U.S. officials to drop their attempts to extradite Assange from a British prison...
