Dozens of people were killed in South Africa, including several children whose school bus was swept away by flash floods, as unusually heavy rain, snow and wind pummeled parts of the country’s Eastern Cape Province this week. A slow-moving storm raged over the largely rural province on Monday and Tuesday, drowning homes and leaving thousands…
It was established by Syria’s fledgling government to restore calm in a country fractured by roughly 14 years of civil war. Instead, the Committee for Civil Peace has become a source of national strife. Discontent is simmering among some Syrians who supported the uprising against the country’s ousted dictator, Bashar al-Assad. They now accuse the…
Poland’s centrist government won a confidence vote in Parliament on Wednesday, averting political turmoil for the biggest country on the European Union’s eastern flank and a robust supporter of Ukraine. Prime Minister Donald Tusk last week called the vote for legislators to endorse his government, hoping to reassert his authority after the victory of a…
The deep-sea environs of the Earth’s poles are home to mysterious ocean creatures: giant sea spiders, Antarctic sea pigs, phantom jellyfish. Finding and identifying these animals can be difficult, however; some are known only because researchers found their remains in fishing nets or in the bellies of seabirds. But on Christmas Day last year, the…
The American ambassador to Israel has said that it should be up to “Muslim countries” to build a Palestinian state on their territory instead of in the areas that much of the world recognizes as Palestinian lands. If the statements by Ambassador Mike Huckabee are confirmed as representing the U.S. administration’s position, it would be…
Hong Kong’s national security police have a new target in their sights: gamers. In a stern warning issued Tuesday, they effectively banned a Taiwanese video game they described as “advocating armed revolution,” saying anyone who downloaded or recommended it would face serious legal charges. The move comes as the authorities continue to tighten control over…
The dozen board members of the prestigious Fulbright program that promotes international educational exchanges resigned on Wednesday because of what they said was political interference by the Trump administration in their operations, according to a draft board memo obtained by The New York Times. The members are concerned that political appointees at the State Department,…
Israel’s opposition parties said they would bring a motion to dissolve Parliament to a vote on Wednesday, presenting the most serious challenge yet to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government and raising the specter of early elections. If the motion passes, it is unlikely that the government will fall immediately. The parliamentary process before any…
A second night of rioting and disorder struck the town of Ballymena in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, as anti-immigrant protests spread to several other areas and the police warned of “hate-fueled acts.” Homes, businesses and vehicles were again attacked in the Clonavon Terrace area of Ballymena, where several properties were set on fire on Monday…
An overnight Russian drone barrage that targeted Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday killed three people, set cars and buildings on fire and sent exhausted residents running to bomb shelters, according to the local authorities. Russia has been increasing the scale of missile and drone attacks for months, with nightly attacks on various regions and cities in…
