World

New rules allowing wealthy polluting countries to buy carbon-cutting “offsets” from developing nations were agreed at UN climate talks Saturday, a move already raising fears they will be used to greenwash climate targets.This decision, taken during extra time at the COP29 conference, is a major step forward in a debate that has dragged through climate …

World approves UN rules for carbon trading between nations at COP29 Read More »

Negotiators raced Saturday to salvage UN climate talks after the poorest countries pushed back angrily for more than $300 billion a year in help from historic wealthy emitters.More than a day past the scheduled conclusion of COP29 talks in Azerbaijan, exhausted diplomats worked late into the night again in a bid to reach a compromise …

Push to salvage climate talks after poor nations bristle at cash Read More »

The top leaders of the Venezuelan opposition called Saturday for an “enormous” turnout December 1 to protest the contested reelection of President Nicolas Maduro.”We have to act now,” Maria Corina Machado said in a virtual meeting with other opposition activists. “This December 1 will be a unique demonstration.”Protests will take place “inside and outside Venezuela,” …

Venezuela opposition calls for ‘enormous’ anti-Maduro protest Read More »

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed a law that allows those who sign up to fight in Ukraine to write off unpaid debts worth almost $100,000, the government announced.The new legislation will be a strong motivation for some to join up, experts said, as Russia seeks new ways to recruit fighters for the nearly …

Putin signs law letting Ukraine fighters write off bad debts Read More »

War-torn Sudan is on a “countdown to famine” ignored by world leaders while humanitarian aid is only “delaying deaths”, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) chief Jan Egeland told AFP on Saturday.”We have the biggest humanitarian crisis on the planet in Sudan, the biggest hunger crisis, the biggest displacement crisis… and the world is giving it a …

Aid only ‘delaying deaths’ as Sudan counts down to famine: agency chief Read More »

When Lebanese carpenter Samir awoke in a panic Saturday to the sound of explosions and screams, he thought his own building in central Beirut had been hit by an air raid.As it turned out, the early morning air strike — which killed at least 15 people and injured 63, according to authorities — had actually …

Fear in central Beirut district hit by Israeli strikes Read More »

Around 300 families fled sectarian violence on Saturday in northwest Pakistan as fresh sectarian clashes killed another 32 people.Sporadic fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan has killed around 150 over the past months.”Approximately 300 families have relocated to Hangu and Peshawar since this morning in search of …

Families fleeing after 32 killed in new sectarian violence in Pakistan Read More »

Lebanon said an Israeli air strike in the heart of Beirut that brought down a residential building and jolted residents across the city killed at least 15 people on Saturday.A Lebanese security source told AFP that the strike had “targeted a leading Hezbollah figure”, but a Hezbollah lawmaker denied any official of the Iran-backed group …

Lebanon says 15 killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut Read More »

Pope Francis will visit the French Mediterranean island of Corsica in December, days after skipping the reopening of Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral which was ravaged by a fire in 2019, the Vatican said Saturday.Francis, 87, declined an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to attend the Notre Dame reopening ceremony in Paris on December 7.He …

Pope to skip Notre Dame opening in Paris for Corsica visit Read More »

The world’s most climate-imperilled nations stormed out of consultations in protest at the deadlocked UN COP29 conference Saturday, as simmering tensions over a hard-fought finance deal erupted into the open.Diplomats from small island nations threatened by rising seas and impoverished African states angrily filed out of a meeting with summit hosts Azerbaijan over a final …

Climate-threatened nations stage protest at COP29 over contentious deal Read More »