This year is “virtually certain” to eclipse 2023 as the world’s warmest since records began, likely averaging 1.55C to above pre-industrial levels, the EU earth observation agency said. The record heat has primarily been fuelled by climate change, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said, turbo-charging dangerous weather like deadly flooding in Spain, ferocious hurricanes Helene and Milton in the US ...

Vampire bats have been put on a treadmill as a study showed the special way they use blood for energy – as well as how quickly they can run. Footage shows one bat using its wings to sprint along inside a plastic box at up to 30 metres per minute. The vampire bat is one of only a few species ...

Yum Brands on Tuesday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that missed Wall Street’s expectation as same-store sales at KFC and Pizza Hut slid more than expected. “The complex consumer environment that exists in many markets around the globe has contributed to pronounced regional sales variations, which has caused our system-sales growth to fall short of our long-term algorithm this year,” CEO David Gibbs ...

Bernie Marcus, the co-founder of Home Depot who became a billionaire philanthropist and GOP donor, has died at the age of 95. ‘The entire Home Depot family is deeply saddened by the death of our co-founder Bernie Marcus,’ the company said. ‘We owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to Bernie. He was a master merchant and a retail visionary. But ...

Amazon said Tuesday it received regulatory approval to begin flying a smaller, quieter version of its delivery drone, the latest step in its long-running efforts to get the futuristic program off the ground. The company unveiled the new drone, called the MK30, in November 2022. It said then that the MK30, in addition to the other changes, would fly through light rain and ...

A Nigerian court freed 119 people including minors on Tuesday, after the authorities dropped charges against them arising from deadly protests in August against economic hardship. The accused had faced charges including treason and inciting a military coup and had been arraigned in batches of 76 and 43 last Friday. One of the charges carried the death penalty. President Bola ...

Homeowners in France have discovered a skeleton in the attic of an outbuilding while undertaking renovation work. The body is thought to belong to the former occupant of the property, which is located in Erstroff in eastern France, who disappeared in 2009, according to a statement from the local prosecutor’s office published Monday. It appears that the man took his ...

As the election results roll in and America holds its breath, Chinese state media hasn’t missed the chance to accentuate US political polarization – and play up the threat of post-vote turmoil in its democratic superpower rival. Beijing has long bristled at Washington’s criticism of its one-party authoritarian rule. Under leader Xi Jinping, who has cleared the way to rule ...

A series of Israeli raids and airstrikes in towns and villages in the occupied West Bank that stretched overnight from Monday into late Tuesday have killed at least eight people, according to Palestinian authorities and local residents. Qatari-owned Al Araby TV alleged that Israeli fire in Qabatya also injured a Palestinian employee working there. Rabe’e Al-Munir, a photojournalist, is now ...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after months of clashes over domestic politics and Israel’s war efforts. In a recorded statement Tuesday evening, Netanyahu said that “trust between me and the minister of defense has cracked.” Israel Katz, currently the foreign minister, will become defense minister. Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as foreign minister, the ...