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World risks up to $39tr in economic losses from vanishing wetlands
NAIROBI (Reuters) -- The global destruction of wetlands, which support fisheries, agriculture and flood control, may mean the loss of $39 trillion in economic benefits by 2050, according to a report by the Convention on Wetlands released on Tuesday. Some 22 percent of wetlands, both freshwater systems such as peat lands, rivers and lakes, and coastal marine systems including mangroves and coral reefs, have disappeared since 1970, according to the intergovernmental report, the fastest pace of los
July 16, 2025 -
Trump says pharmaceutical tariffs might come at the end of the month
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration might start imposing tariffs on pharmaceutical imports at the end of the month, while noting the timeline for duties on semiconductors was "similar" to that of those on pharmaceuticals. Trump made the remarks, suggesting that his administration will phase in the tariffs on pharmaceuticals to allow time for companies to construct their production facilities in the United States. "Probably at the end of the month and we are going to st
July 16, 2025 -
Mediators working to bridge gaps in faltering Gaza truce talks
Stuttering Gaza ceasefire talks entered a second week on Monday, with mediators seeking to close the gap between Israel and Hamas, as more than 20 people were killed across the Palestinian territory. The indirect negotiations in Qatar appear deadlocked after both sides blamed the other for blocking a deal for the release of hostages and a 60-day ceasefire after 21 months of fighting. An official with knowledge of the talks said they were "ongoing" in Doha on Monday, telling Agence France-Presse,
July 15, 2025 -
Japan PM to meet Bessent on Friday, Yomiuri says
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is arranging to meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Tokyo on Friday, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday, ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline to strike a trade deal with the US. A separate Yomiuri report said European Union leaders will visit Ishiba later this month to sign an "alliance" advocating global free trade, seeking multilateral ties as US tariffs add to trade risks. Bessent is set to travel to Japan to attend the US national day at the World
July 15, 2025 -
King Charles' annual swan census begins on the River Thames
LONDON (AP) — Scarlet uniforms flashed against the riverbank. Wooden skiffs glided in formation. A young swan, gently lifted from the water, was measured, inspected and released. The annual five-day census of swans belonging to King Charles III – known as Swan Upping — began Monday on the River Thames to assess their health. One of the British monarch's less-known titles is Seigneur of the Swans — Lord of the Swans — and according to ancient lore, he or she owns all members of the mute swan spec
July 15, 2025 -
14 million children did not receive a single vaccine in 2024, UN estimates
LONDON (AP) — More than 14 million children did not receive a single vaccine last year — about the same number as the year before — according to UN health officials. Nine countries accounted for more than half of those unprotected children. In their annual estimate of global vaccine coverage, released Tuesday, the World Health Organization and UNICEF said about 89 percent of children under 1 year old got a first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine in 2024, the same as in 2
July 15, 2025 -
Iran says no nuclear talks if US insists it stop enrichment
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) -- Iran said on Monday there would be no new nuclear talks with the US if they were conditioned on Tehran abandoning its uranium enrichment activities. Washington and Tehran had been engaged in several rounds of negotiations seeking to strike a deal on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, but Israel derailed the talks when it launched a wave of surprise strikes on its regional nemesis, touching off 12 days of war. Since the end of the hostilities, both Iran and the US have
July 15, 2025 -
France celebrates 146th Bastille Day
PARIS (AP) — Swooping warplanes, axe-carrying warriors, a drone light show over the Eiffel Tower and fireworks in nearly every French town — it must be Bastille Day. France celebrated its biggest holiday Monday with 7,000 people marching, on horseback or riding armored vehicles along the cobblestones of the Champs-Elysees, the most iconic avenue in Paris. And there was also partying and pageantry around the country. Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress and prison on July 14, 1789, a spark for
July 15, 2025 -
Trump threatens Russia with tariffs
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday threatened Russia with steep tariffs and announced a rejuvenated pipeline for American weapons to reach Ukraine, hardening his stance toward Moscow after months of frustration about unsuccessful negotiations for ending the war. The latest steps reflect an evolving approach from the Republican president, who promised to swiftly resolve the war started by Russian President Vladimir Putin when he invaded Ukraine three years ago. Trump once focused
July 15, 2025 -
Supreme Court allows Trump to lay off nearly 1,400 Education Department employees
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing President Donald Trump to put his plan to dismantle the Education Department back on track — and to go through with laying off nearly 1,400 employees. With the three liberal justices in dissent, the court on Monday paused an order from US District Judge Myong Joun in Boston, who issued a preliminary injunction reversing the layoffs and calling into question the broader plan. The layoffs “will likely cripple the department,” Joun wrote. A federal ap
July 15, 2025 -
Trump’s negotiating style is often less dealmaking, more coercion
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump prides himself on being a dealmaker, but his negotiating style is more ultimatum than compromise. In the last week, Trump has slapped trading partners with tariffs rather than slog through prolonged talks to reach agreements. He ratcheted up the pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. And his administration launched a new investigation into higher education as he tries to reshape universities. For Trump, a deal isn’t necessarily agreement i
July 14, 2025 -
The biggest piece of Mars on Earth is going up for auction in New York
NEW YORK (AP) — For sale: A 25-kilogram rock. Estimated auction price: $2 million-$4 million. Why so expensive? It's the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth. Sotheby's in New York will be auctioning what's known as NWA 16788 on Wednesday as part of a natural history-themed sale that also includes a juvenile Ceratosaurus dinosaur skeleton that's more than 2 meters tall and nearly 3 meters long. According to the auction house, the meteorite is believed to have been blown off the surface of M
July 14, 2025 -
US lawmakers visit 'Alligator Alcatraz'
OCHOPEE, Florida (AP) — US Democratic lawmakers condemned Florida's new Everglades immigration detention center after visiting Saturday, describing it as crowded, unsanitary and bug-infested. Republicans on the same tour said they saw nothing of the sort at the remote facility that officials have dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz." The state-arranged tour came after some Democrats were blocked earlier from viewing the 3,000-bed detention center that the state rapidly built on an isolated airstrip surro
July 14, 2025 -
Air India crash report shows pilot confusion
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -- A preliminary report depicted confusion in the cockpit shortly before an Air India jetliner crashed and killed 260 people last month, after the plane's engine fuel cutoff switches flipped almost simultaneously and starved the engines of fuel. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London from the Indian city of Ahmedabad began to lose thrust and sink shortly after takeoff, according to the report on the world's deadliest aviation accident in a decade released on Saturday by I
July 13, 2025 -
Six killed in massive Russian drone, missile attack across Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) -- Russia fired more than 620 drones and long-range missiles overnight, killing at least six people in the latest wave of strikes, Ukraine said Saturday, adding that it was close to an agreement to receive more Patriot air-defense systems. "The Russians continue to use their specific tactics of terror against our country, striking concentrated blows at one city or another, at one region or another," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address. Moscow h
July 13, 2025