8 mins read

Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries plunge Russia into a summer fuel crisis

The lines are growing at Russian gas stations — and so is the frustration and uncertainty as several months of Ukrainian attacks have set oil refineries ablaze and choked supplies for motorists across the vast country. Fuel rationing has been introduced in many regions, with hourslong queues of cars snaking beside roads. Social media videos […]

14 mins read

As the Pentagon stays quiet, AP reconstructs a US strike that killed over 100 Iranian children

JERUSALEM | It was the deadliest reported strike in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Most of the victims were children. In almost any other conflict, these haunting truths would be seared into national memory. Yet more than 120 days since at least one U.S. missile struck an Iranian primary school, there remains no final accounting […]

8 mins read

Defying Pope Leo XIV, traditionalists go ahead with bishop consecrations in Switzerland

ECONE, Switzerland | A group of traditionalist Catholics directly defied Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday by consecrating four bishops without his consent, dismissing the resulting excommunications and saying the break with the church was necessary to defend the Catholic faith. The Society of St. Pius X, which opposes modernizing reforms in the Catholic Church, went […]

6 mins read

Ship runs aground in Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state TV reports

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates | A ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz while using a route not approved by Iran, state television in Tehran reported Wednesday. The vessel was identified as a foreign container ship, with no other details. The report appeared aimed at underlining Tehran’s claims to control the strait, which the […]

5 mins read

Greece bets on space technology to contain wildfires

ATHENS, Greece | In the searing Mediterranean summer, wildfires turn dangerous in minutes. Greece has learned that at a terrible cost. In 2018, a blaze east of Athens moved with ferocious speed, killing more than 100 people. Five years later, a massive fire tore through a remote nature reserve; it was the largest wildfire ever […]

4 mins read

Pope begs breakaway traditionalist group to back off bishop consecrations

ROME | Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday begged a breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics to call off its plan to consecrate new bishops without his consent, calling the move a schismatic act and a “sin of extreme gravity.” “I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!” Leo wrote in […]

9 mins read

Venezuelans search more earthquake ruins as attention turns to humanitarian crisis

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela | With the window for finding survivors shrinking fast, Venezuelans combed Monday through more ruins of buildings toppled by last week’s powerful back-to-back earthquakes, and attention turned to the country’s humanitarian crisis that could persist for years. Relief organizations say the first 72 hours after a natural disaster is the most crucial […]

5 mins read

Sweltering Midwest heat cancels outdoor plans as cooling centers open and the East braces

DES MOINES, Iowa | Summer camps and other outdoor activities were canceled Monday as tens of millions of people across the Midwest endured a heat wave that is expected to spread eastward this week. Communities opened cooling centers and urged people to take it easy and stay hydrated. Forty-seven million people across big chunks of […]

3 mins read

San Francisco Archdiocese agrees to pay $395 million to settle child sex abuse lawsuits

SAN FRANCISCO | The San Francisco Catholic Archdiocese has agreed to pay $395 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials, plaintiffs’ attorneys said Monday. San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone will have to write an apology letter to each survivor as part of the settlement. The settlement also requires […]