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Iran’s rial currency hits new record low as US prepares to announce more sanctions
TEHRAN, Iran | Iran’s currency hit a record low Monday as Washington prepared to announce new sanctions it said would add further pressure on an economy already battered by previous sanctions and a U.S. naval blockade. The rial dropped to 2.02 million to the U.S. dollar as trading opened on currency markets. Iran’s official Central […]
The world inches toward catastrophic climate events: ‘Bigger shocks are on the way’
NEW YORK | In the opening scene of American writer Kim Stanley Robinson’s “The Ministry for the Future,” a heat wave combined with a breakdown of the electrical grid in India kills 20 million people. The devastation causes the world’s nations to unite to combat climate change. Scientists have long warned that the world will […]
US and Canada fall deeper into a trade war with new tariffs as talks collapse and blame is spread
TORONTO | The United States and Canada, historic allies along an undefended border, fell deeper into a trade war Saturday marked by angry recriminations and new tariffs that are expected to raise prices for products in both countries. Each side blamed the other for the collapse of negotiations in Washington late Friday, leading the U.S. […]
Fall books: Fiction takes the spotlight in bookstores during the midterm season
NEW YORK | Midterm election news will fill the headlines this fall, but, among book buyers, fiction will likely have top billing. Former President Joe Biden’s “Promise Me, America” stands out not just as a White House memoir — presidential memoirs are events unto themselves — but as a rare high-profile political book over the […]
In Benin, malnutrition and misinformed views contribute to widespread stunting in children
N’DALI, Benin | Sabi Bera Zakari didn’t appear to care much how tall his children would grow. The farmer said he only sometimes wished they could gain more weight. “For me, height is not a problem,” Zakari said. “It’s mainly their weight that sometimes worries me.” Aboudou Salamatou, the farmer’s wife, seemed to disagree, as […]
Iranian families struggle to afford the basics as US ratchets up economic warfare
TEHRAN, Iran | Tehran’s grocery stores are well-stocked, but many families can barely afford the basics. Unemployment is soaring and those with jobs are working more hours for money worth half as much as a year ago, putting food, medicine and everything else — except for heavily subsidized gasoline — further out of reach. “We […]
2 organizers of Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigils convicted in national security case
HONG KONG | Two former organizers of Hong Kong’s annual vigils in remembrance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown were convicted Friday for what the government-approved judges ruled was inciting others to overthrow China’s communist leadership. Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of […]
What’s in a name? Why naming storms, military operations and medical maladies matters
U.S. hurricane season is gearing up. And from Amanda and Boris onward, tropical cyclones’ names in the Pacific region are unfolding quickly. But why the monikers each year? Or at all? Humans have given names to the world around them for almost as long as language itself has existed, but formal naming practices for storms […]
Trump keeps embracing data centers even as they become toxic in midterm races
WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump, speaking alongside cryptocurrency leaders at the White House this week, made a statement that Republican and Democratic candidates alike wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole. “If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, […]
5 books to read this fall, from Marlon James to Joe Biden
NEW YORK | Book lovers this fall can look forward to a wealth of fiction, biographies, memoirs, poetry collections and topical nonfiction. Here are five upcoming works you’ll likely be hearing about. “The Disappearers,” Marlon James Marlon James’ fantasy series “Dark Star” was a showcase for his extraordinary and boundless imagination. In “The Disappearers,” he […]