STORY: Officials warned this month that temperatures were rising faster in China than in the rest of the world and a record-breaking heatwave has raised concern about its ability to adapt to rapid climate change.
China's National Meteorological Center downgraded its national heat warning to "orange" on Wednesday after 12 consecutive days of "red alerts", but temperatures are still expected to exceed 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in Chongqing, Sichuan and other parts of the Yangtze basin.
STORY: Farmlands and residential areas were seen submerged in floodwaters after incessant rains caused Betwa river to overflow in Vidisha city. Some farmers said that almost all of their crops have been destroyed because of the heavy rainfall and hundreds of acres of agricultural land, mainly wheat, is under water."We are all wheat farmers. Wheat is completely destroyed. Everyone is facing terrible losses in Billori village," said villager Ranjit Thakur.Around 300 villages have been affected by floods. Villagers were seen swimming to reach other villages to get essential items. Farming contributes around 15% to India's $2.7 trillion economy while sustaining more than half the population of 1.3 billion.
Hundreds of Europeans have crossed borders for the monkeypox vaccine, sparking calls to address a gaping inequality in access to doses between nations.
STORY: Holidaymakers in Toroni, a popular holiday spot on the Chalkidiki peninsula, were forced indoors by the heavy downpour.Streets in the town were flooded and a stream washed out parts of a local beach. Across the region firefighters rushed to help people pump out flooded basements, local media reported. No injuries were reported.Thunderstorms and heavy rain also interrupted daily life in the country’s two biggest cities, Athens and Thessaloniki earlier this week.
BEIJING (Reuters) -The sprawling Chinese region of Chongqing, home to several large global automakers, extended power curbs at factories as a record heatwave and drought continue to wreak economic and environmental damage throughout the country's southwest. Industrial firms were originally ordered to restrict output from Aug. 17 until Aug. 24, but formal curbs were extended through Thursday and will be gradually relaxed "in an orderly manner" once weather conditions have improved, according to a notice issued by Chongqing authorities on Wednesday. Drought has devastated power generation in the Yangtze river basin, with hydropower accounting for around 80% of the electricity in neighbouring Sichuan province.
You may not have heard about the ‘unparalleled’ heatwave in China, but you will feel its impact soon
The UN rights chief said Thursday she was facing "tremendous pressure" over a long-delayed report on China's Xinjiang region and admitted that she was uncertain when it would appear.
STORY: Dinosaur tracks from 113 million years ago have been revealed in Texasafter a severe drought dried up parts of the river covering themLocation: Glen Rose, TexasThe tracks belong to a dinosaur called Acrocanthosaurus(Jeff Davis, Park superintendent/ Dinosaur Valley State Park)"It was a bipedal, two legged carnivore, small arms, very much like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but a little bit smaller. But it was still a pretty large, a large creature. They were about seven tons or so and they were big. So not a small it's not a small critter for sure. And they walked through the limy muddy seashore on the edge of the Cretaceous Ocean that ran through what's now the United States."Almost all of Texas has been in drought since mid-Julycharacterized by widespread loss of pastures and crops as well as water shortagesSource: United States Drought Monitor"So the tracks that we're able to see are the ones that are in the most danger of being eroded away. What protects these tracks? You know, they were laid down as a dinosaur walked on these muddy seashores and then within a few days or possibly a few weeks, sometime in the not too distant future from when they were put there, a flood covered it over with sediment. And that sediment is what protected it. And for over a hundred million years, those were protected and preserved by those layers of sediment and rock. And then the river carves down through those layers and exposes the tracks. So it's kind of a double edged sword, because without the river, we wouldn't be able to see them. We wouldn't know they were there. But once they're exposed, that's when they start to degrade. Just like any other rocks, they're going to break down over time, thanks to weathering and erosion. And so it can be very gradual and slow if the river's not moving much and you won't see much change from year to year, or you can have an entire trackway washed away in a single flood, if the river is moving fast enough."
STORY: A federal U.S judge has temporally blocked part of Idaho’s near total ban on abortions.District Judge B. Lynn Winmill issued a preliminary injunction, citing a threat to pregnant women who may require emergency care. The ruling sides with the Biden administration and the U.S. department of Justice that the conservative state’s anti-abortion “trigger” law violates existing health law.The 1986 federal law, known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, ensures patients can receive emergency "stabilizing care”.It's a key legal challenge for abortion rights after Roe V. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in June. Boston University Professor of Law and Health Law Nicole Huberfeld says the Idaho ruling protects physicians and patients.“If a physician has to perform an abortion because there's an emergency medical condition that requires it, EMTALA would prevent the Idaho law from kicking into effect and giving authority to the state to prosecute that physician."If the medical emergency is a rapidly developing cancer and that person must have treatment to live, then that's the medical emergency is treating the cancer and the pregnancy would have to be secondary to the treatment. Some people can be treated for different kind of medical conditions during their pregnancy perfectly safely without jeopardizing the pregnancy. So that's why I say it really depends on the circumstances. And this is why I believe the Biden administration is saying this is something that needs to stay in the hands of health care providers because they're the ones who will know whether something is, medically speaking, an emergency or not."The Idaho ruling comes one day after a judge in Texas ruled against the Biden administration on the same issue.The cases are two of the first lawsuits over the Democratic administration's attempts to ease abortion access.Appeals are expected in both cases.Legal experts believe that if the opposing rulings are upheld, the Supreme Court could feel pressured to wade back into the debate.
"I'd like to see us get to, say, above 3.4% - that was the last median in the SEP (Summary of Economic Projections) - and then maybe sit for a while," Harker said in an interview on CNBC from Jackson, Wyoming, where officials are gathering for a major economic conference. Harker said he needs to see more data on inflation before deciding what he thinks is appropriate for the Fed's next meeting in September, either a third straight 75-basis-point increase or a slower, 50-basis-point hike.
STORY: Six months into the Ukraine conflict, Russia's biggest automaker is feeling the heat amid what Vladimir Putin calls an economic "blitzkrieg".Avtovaz restarted production of its Lada brand this summer after halting it in March because of Western sanctions, supply shortages and the loss of its French partner Renault. None of its 42,000 workers have been formally laid off.But at its factory in the industrial city of Izhevsk, most have been furloughed since March on two-thirds of their wages.Car production hasn't resumed at Izhevsk, and Avtovaz plans to focus production on its primary plant in Togliatti, more than 370 miles away.This month, they were offered one-off severance payments.Alexander Knyazev accepted one equivalent to $3,400 and walked away last week. The choice was between "bad and terrible", he says."Yes, of course, there are other big factories (in Izhevsk). But… the track record that you have - you are employed, then you have a pay rise, then another. But we don't have any confirmed qualifications out there. Will we show up at a new job - who are we there? Nobody. We will inevitably lose money. Besides, people are afraid of being left without a job."Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov has dismissed talk of a dramatic rise in joblessness in Russia, which official data put at a record low of 3.9% in June.Latest government forecasts also indicate a less severe economic contraction than feared this year.But 236,000 Russian workers were either on furlough or reduced hours as of the end of July, according to authorities. And three million people are registered unemployed.The auto industry, long a symbol of Russian success and one of the country's largest employers, has suffered more than most.Volkswagen, Nissan, Hyundai Stellantis, Mitusubshi, Volvo and other foreign car firms have suspended their Russian operations and furloughed more than 14,000 workers, according to a Reuters review.Car firms employed around 400,000 people in 2020, and about 10 times as many workers depend on the sector indirectly, according to government data.Avtovaz sales volumes fell by 63% in the first seven months of the year, to 85,000 vehicles.It has sought to adapt since Western sanctions severed Russia from many global supply chains and export markets, launching a series of simplified models.In June, it began production of a stripped-down Lada Granta. It comes without features such as remote keyless control or air conditioning, which rely on imported components.
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan accused the government Thursday of trying to score a "technical knockout" against him, after being granted bail on charges brought under the country's anti-terrorism act.
The outgoing U.N. human rights chief has suggested her office won’t make good on her promise to release its long-awaited report on China’s Xinjiang region by the end of her term next week
Ultra short-term bond ETF BIL hits a new 52-week high. Can it soar higher?
Tory leadership contender accused of spouting ‘dangerous nonsense’ and attempting to rewrite history
After his mother begged him to stay, Maung Soe Naing decided not to join his fellow Rohingya fleeing into Bangladesh to escape a brutal crackdown by Myanmar's military five years ago.
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan proposed on Thursday $19 billion in defence spending for next year, a double-digit increase on 2022 that includes funds for new fighter jets, weeks after China staged large-scale military exercises around the island it views as its territory. China carried out its largest-ever war games around the democratically governed island after a visit this month by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The trip infuriated Beijing, which saw it as a U.S. attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs.
Christie's announced plans on Thursday to auction the art collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, which it estimated to be worth more than $1 billion.
California ruled Thursday that all new cars sold in America's most populous state must be zero emission from 2035, in what was billed as a nation-leading step to slash the pollutants that cause global warming.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced a "new page" in ties with Algeria on Thursday, the first day of a three-day visit aimed at mending ties with the former French colony months after it marked 60 years of independence.
The Singapore Buddhist Federation calls for a "middle-ground dialogue" to prevent further division. What else did it say?