RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Butterflies and waxbills flit through the Enchanted Valley just outside Rio de Janeiro’s Tijuca Forest National Park. There are fruit trees, a nearby waterfall and a commanding view out over the Atlantic Ocean. But for decades something was spoiling the idyll: the stench of raw sewage. Electricity arrived in the … Read more
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Cash-strapped Sri Lanka on Sunday extended school closures for one week because there isn’t enough fuel for teachers and parents to get children into classrooms, and the energy minister appealed to the country’s expatriates to send money home through banks to finance new oil purchases. A huge foreign debt has … Read more
LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization’s Europe chief warned Friday that monkeypox cases in the region have tripled in the last two weeks and urged countries to do more to ensure the previously rare disease does not become entrenched on the continent. And African health authorities said they are treating the expanding monkeypox outbreak … Read more
By DEMETRIS NELLAS, Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The first of the more than 200 firefighters from six European countries that will help their Greek colleagues in fighting wildfires have arrived in Athens. The 28 Romanian firefighters were welcomed Saturday by Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Christos Stylianides and the leadership of Greece’s … Read more
ROME (AP) — US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Pope Francis on Wednesday and received Communion during a papal Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, witnesses said, despite her position in support of abortion rights. Pelosi attended the morning Mass marking the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul, during which Francis bestowed the woolen … Read more
LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization said the escalating monkeypox outbreak in more than 50 countries should be closely monitored but does not warrant being declared a global health emergency. In a statement Saturday, a WHO emergency committee said many aspects of the outbreak were “unusual” and acknowledged that monkeypox — which is endemic … Read more
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Senior US officials arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday to find ways to help the island nation in the throes of an chief economic crisis and severe shortages of essential supplies, as the energy minister warned that new fuel shipments would be delayed. The US over the past two weeks … Read more
BERLIN (AP) — Germany this year’s meeting of leaders from the Group of Seven leading feeding in the Bavarian resort of Elmau. Before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia triggered a cascade of crises over food, energy and international security, the main focus of the meeting was meant to be on climate change. The German … Read more
Rising food costs. Soaring fuel bills. Wages that are not keeping pace. Inflation is plundering people’s wallets, sparking a wave of protests and workers’ strikes around the world. This week alone saw protests by the political opposition in Pakistan, nurses in Zimbabweunionized workers in Belgium, railway workers in Britain, Indigenous people in Ecuadorhundreds of US … Read more
Heat trapping carbon dioxide emissions from making cement, a less talked about but major source of carbon pollutionhave doubled in the last 20 years, new global data shows. In 2021, worldwide emissions from making cement for buildings, roads and other infrastructure hit nearly 2.9 billion tons (2.6 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide, which is … Read more