WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The New Zealand government said Tuesday that it would introduce new legislation to make it easier for companies and researchers to develop and commercialize products using gene technologies such as gene editing. Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins said in a statement that rules and time-consuming processes have made research outside…
read moreWashington — The Earth was hit Monday by an intense solar storm that could bring the Northern Lights to night skies farther south than normal, a U.S. agency announced. Conditions of a level-four geomagnetic storm — on a scale of five — were observed Monday from 1500 GMT, according to a specialized center at the U.S.…
read moreHarare — Zimbabwean authorities recently declared the end of a cholera outbreak which lasted nearly 18 months, but public health experts say the conditions which caused the waterborne disease still exist and need urgent attention. After battling a cholera outbreak which began in February of last year, Zimbabwe gave the ‘all clear’ after saying no new…
read moreWashington — The United States said Monday it would resume sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, ending a yearslong suspension triggered by the kingdom’s bloody operations in Yemen. With Saudi Arabia once again seen as a pivotal player for the United States as the Gaza war enters its 10th month, the State Department said…
read morewashington — Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is due to interview Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on the X social media network on Monday in an event that could inject more surprises into the turbulent U.S. presidential election. The interview, scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern Time (0000 Tuesday GMT), could provide the former president an opportunity to…
read moreLos Angeles — It’s Los Angeles’ turn for the torch. Mayor Karen Bass accepted the Olympic flag at the Paris closing ceremony Sunday, before handing it off to a key representative of LA’s local business — Tom Cruise — who in a pre-recorded trek via motorcycle, plane and parachute kicked off the countdown to 2028. The…
read moreWashington — The great inflation spike of the past three years is nearly spent — and economists credit American consumers for helping slay it. Some of America’s largest companies, from Amazon to Disney to Yum Brands, say their customers are increasingly seeking cheaper alternative products and services, searching for bargains or just avoiding items they deem…
read morebeijing — Engineers sent China’s biggest-yet cargo drone on a test run over the weekend while a helicopter taxi took to the skies on a soon-to-open 100-km route to Shanghai, laying new milestones for the country’s expanding low-altitude economy. Packing a payload capacity of 2 metric tons, the twin-engine aircraft took off on Sunday on an inaugural flight, state…
read moreNew York — A week of wild market swings has investors looking ahead to inflation data, corporate earnings and presidential polls for signals that could soothe a recent outbreak of turbulence in U.S. stocks. Following months of placid trading, U.S. stock volatility has surged this month as a run of alarming data coincided with the unwinding…
read moreNew York — In the Ryan Reynolds-Blake Lively box-office showdown, both husband and wife came out as winners. Reynolds’ Marvel Studios smash “Deadpool & Wolverine” remained the top movie in North American theaters for the third straight week with $54.2 million in ticket sales according to studio estimates Sunday. Worldwide, it’s now surpassed $1 billion. “Deadpool…
read moreIslamabad — The United States has promised to make every effort to secure the release of three Americans whom it says are being held “unjustly” by Taliban authorities in Afghanistan. The detainees, Ryan Corbett, Mahmood Habibi, and George Glezmann, were taken captive in separate incidents in Kabul in 2022, roughly a year after the Taliban stormed…
read moreBeersheba, Israel — At 19, Yoni, an Israeli man, has to put aside his plans to join the military and instead enter rehab for drug abuse that has worsened since Hamas’ October 7 attack. Health professionals said Yoni’s case is not an exception in wartime Israel, noting a surge in drug and alcohol abuse as well…
read moreBalkhash, Kazakhstan — Seen from the sky, with its turquoise waters stretching out into the desert expanses in the shape of a crescent, you can see why they call Lake Balkhash the “pearl of Kazakhstan.” But pollution, climate change and its overuse are threatening the existence of one of the most unique stretches of water in…
read moreDALLAS — As law enforcement officers hung back outside Khloie Torres’ fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde, Texas, she begged for help in a series of 911 calls, whispering into the phone that there were “a lot” of bodies and telling the operator: “Please, I don’t want to die. My teacher is dead. Oh, my God.” At one…
read moreIt was the fifth consecutive gold medal for the U.S. …
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