- Hezbollah asked Iran to attack Israel, Israeli and Western officials say Axios
- Opinion | Hezbollah Is Everyone’s Problem The New York Times
- Israel-Hezbollah conflict escalates, thousands flee, and UN convenes to avoid all-out war The Associated Press
- Nasrallah Miscalculated, and Hezbollah's War With Israel Is Now in Iran's Hands Haaretz
- Middle East tensions flare: What to know about escalating Israel-Hezbollah fighting USA TODAY
‘Only the beginning’: Sri Lankans hope for deep changes under new president
Anura Kumara Dissanayake's call for unity amid ethnic divisions and pro-people economic reforms resonate on the island.
Starmer avoids backing anti-Trump comment before potential meeting
PM hopes to meet both candidates on US trip but attempt to see Trump undermined by Home Office minister saying he had emboldened racists in UK
Keir Starmer has said he wants to meet Kamala Harris and Donald Trump before the US election, as he declined to back one of his ministers who said the Republican candidate had contributed to racist rhetoric in the UK.
The prime minister said he was hoping to find time with both candidates as he travelled to New York for the United Nations general assembly – his third trip to the US since taking office.
Continue reading...Pakistan retain Shan Masood as Test cricket captain despite poor record
Pakistan have lost all five Tests under Masood's captaincy, including a shock home series loss against Bangladesh.
Trump warned by US intelligence of Iran assassination threats – campaign
Donald Trump was told of "real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him", his campaign says.
Healthier rice variety could counter rise in diabetes, Philippine scientists say
Researchers develop grain with lower glycaemic index and more protein that ‘could have big impact in Asia and Africa’
Scientists in the Philippines have created a new variety of rice that could help reduce the growing burden of diabetes.
More than 537 million adults worldwide are living with the chronic disease – a number that is expected to grow to 783 million by 2045. Being overweight, genetics and a lack of exercise contribute to type 2 diabetes, which is the most common form. Type 2 occurs when the pancreas fails to produce enough of the insulin hormone, leaving too much glucose in the blood, and cells develop a resistance to insulin.
Continue reading...A grey matter? Nature, nurture and the study of forming political leanings
Researchers find minuscule difference in the amygdala – a region of the brain linked to threat perception
Where does our personal politics come from? Does it trace back to our childhood, the views that surround us, the circumstances we are raised in? Is it all about nurture – or does nature have a say through the subtle levers of DNA? And where, in all of this, is the brain?
Scientists have delved seriously into the roots of political belief for the past 50 years, prompted by the rise of sociobiology, the study of the biological basis of behaviour, and enabled by modern tools such as brain scanners and genome sequencers. The field is making headway, but teasing out the biology of behaviour is never straightforward.
Continue reading...Top Chinese economist disappears after criticising Xi Jinping in private chat – report
Zhu Hengpeng, who worked for an influential government thinktank, has reportedly not been seen in public since making disparaging remarks on WeChat
A leading Chinese economist at a government thinktank has reportedly disappeared after being disciplined for criticising Xi Jinping in a private chat group.
Zhu Hengpeng, 55, is believed to have made disparaging remarks about China’s economy, and potentially about the Chinese leader specifically, in a private WeChat group. Zhu was subsequently detained in April and put under investigation, according to the Wall Street Journal which cited anonymous sources.
Continue reading...Zelenskyy tells UN that Russia must be ‘forced into peace’
Ukrainian president stresses Russia, which invaded in February 2022, has been the 'sole aggressor' of the war.
Thai king signs same-sex marriage bill into law
The law, which was approved by the Senate in June, will come into force on 22 January next year.
New Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon as Hezbollah confirms death of senior commander
Lebanon says only US can end conflict, as Hezbollah confirms death of Ibrahim Qubaisi in Israeli attack on Beirut
Israel began a third day of strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, hours after Hezbollah confirmed the death of a senior commander in an airstrike on Beirut and a Lebanese minister said only Washington could help end the fighting.
Lebanese media reported that Israeli airstrikes had targeted several areas in the country’s south, beginning at around 5am, causing unspecified casualties.
Continue reading...An Isolated Netanyahu Resists Pressure to End Conflicts – The Wall Street Journal
- An Isolated Netanyahu Resists Pressure to End Conflicts The Wall Street Journal
- Netanyahu set to address the UN amid global criticism of war in Gaza, Lebanon The Times of Israel
- Netanyahu to fly tomorrow to UNGA Thursday, returning Saturday night The Jerusalem Post
- Could this be the week Netanyahu goes from pariah to international fugitive? The Guardian
- Netanyahu is set to come to New York City and will be greeted by mass protest Peoples Dispatch
High-speed Paris-to-Berlin rail link to launch in December
Daytime service will take about eight hours and will complement the night route that launched last year
A new high-speed train linking Paris and Berlin is to launch in December, operators have announced.
The daytime service will complement a popular night train route between the two capital cities that relaunched last year to much fanfare but has since been beset by technical problems.
Continue reading...EU moving towards more xenophobic view of ‘Europeanness’, report warns
‘Whiteness’, low youth engagement and lukewarm pro-Europeanism in some states risks eroding bloc’s founding values, expert says
Voting patterns and polling data from the past year suggest the EU is moving towards a more ethnic, closed-minded and xenophobic understanding of “Europeanness” that could ultimately challenge the European project, according to a major report.
The report, by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the European Cultural Foundation (ECF), identifies three key “blind spots” across the bloc and argues their intersection risks eroding or radically altering EU sentiment.
Continue reading...Lawrence: Biden’s final U.N. speech shows ‘the most hopeful story I know’ – MSNBC
- Lawrence: Biden’s final U.N. speech shows ‘the most hopeful story I know’ MSNBC
- Column | Biden walks off the U.N. stage, leaving behind a world in ‘purgatory’ The Washington Post
- 'Being president has been the honor of my life': Biden makes final UN address CNN
- Biden reflects on leaving 2024 race, mixed foreign policy legacy in final UNGA address ABC News
- Biden defends withdrawing from Afghanistan, dropping re-election bid in last UN address as president Fox News
Climate change supercharged Europe floods – scientists
A new study shows that the record-breaking rainfall was made more likely and intense by climate change.
Global heating ‘doubled’ chance of extreme rain in Europe in September
Researchers find climate crisis aggravated the four days of heavy rainfall and deadly floods
Planet-heating pollution doubled the chance of the extreme levels of rain that hammered central Europe in September, a study has found.
Researchers found global heating aggravated the four days of heavy rainfall that led to deadly floods in countries from Austria to Romania.
Continue reading...Why Samia’s hesitant reforms are fuelling Tanzanian political anger
Tanzania's first female president is accused of reneging on her promise to free up political activity.
Column | Biden walks off the U.N. stage, leaving behind ‘purgatory’ – The Washington Post
- Column | Biden walks off the U.N. stage, leaving behind ‘purgatory’ The Washington Post
- U.N. General Assembly 2024 Live: Biden to Deliver Speech The New York Times
- 'Being president has been the honor of my life': Biden makes final UN address CNN
- Biden defends withdrawing from Afghanistan, dropping re-election bid in last UN address as president Fox News
- Biden Just Gave One of the Most Moving Speeches of His Long Political Career Slate
Missouri executes Marcellus Williams despite prosecutors’ push to overturn conviction
Williams long maintained his innocence and the killing was opposed by victim’s family, jurors and office that tried him
Missouri executed a man on death row on Tuesday, despite objections from prosecutors who sought to have his conviction overturned and have supported his claims of innocence.
Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams, 55, was killed by lethal injection, ending a legal battle that has sparked widespread outrage as the office that originally tried the case suggested he was wrongfully convicted.
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