Hong Kong’s legislature unanimously passed sweeping new powers on Tuesday that critics and analysts warned would align the financial hub’s national security laws more closely with those used on the Chinese mainland and deepen an ongoing crackdown on dissent. The lengthy national security bill – the first draft ran to 212 pages – was rushed through the city’s opposition-less Legislative Council with unusual ...
All but one of the 100 cities with the world’s worst air pollution last year were in Asia, according to a new report, with the climate crisis playing a pivotal role in bad air quality that is risking the health of billions of people worldwide. The vast majority of these cities — 83 — were in India and all exceeded ...
Astronomers are expecting a “new star” to appear in the night sky anytime between now and September, and it promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime celestial sight, according to NASA. The expected brightening event, known as a nova, will occur in the Milky Way’s Corona Borealis, or Northern Crown constellation, which is located between the Boötes and Hercules constellations. While a ...
A petite woman calmly exits her home, escorted by a group of large men in green fatigues, dwarfed by their sheer size and number. They look fierce: green balaclavas cover most of their face, hiding their identity, but their Russian flag patches reveal their allegiance. The woman is Lutfiye Zudiyeva, a Crimean Tatar, and she shared video of the moment on her ...
As wind energy expands in the United States, concerns have grown about the potential for tall turbines to be a drag on property values. But a new nationwide study that analyzed data from 300 million home sales and 60,000 wind turbines finds turbines’ impact on home values is much lower than previously thought – about a 1% drop on average for ...
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has said that his government is willing to engage with protesters after hundreds of Cubans partook in rare public protests at the weekend to decry worsening conditions on the island. Demonstrators took to the streets in at least four cities on Sunday to complain about hours-long power cuts and increasing food scarcity. There were also calls ...
The prime minister’s remarks come amid rising criticism of Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip, launched in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attacks that left around 1,200 people killed and another 250 taken hostage. Israel says its operation is meant to only target Hamas fighters and not Palestinian civilians. Israel’s campaign has killed more than 31,000 people in Gaza, ...
The Israeli military launched an operation on Monday against Gaza’s largest hospital facility, Al-Shifa, where thousands of people are sheltering. The IDF ordered residents and displaced persons near the sprawling medical complex in northern Gaza to withdraw to what it called a “humanitarian zone” further south. However, those warnings came after the hospital had already come under siege, according to ...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that comments from US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling for new elections in Israel were “totally inappropriate.” In a Senate speech that upended longstanding US policy, Schumer — who is the highest-ranking Jewish American in the US government and normally a staunch supporter of Israel — called Netanyahu a “major obstacle” to ...
Russia saw protests at polling stations on Sunday on the final day of voting in an election set to extend Russian President Vladmir Putin’s long hold on power. Lines at some polling stations in Russia grew suddenly at around 12pm local time Sunday, the hour at which supporters of the deceased opposition leader Alexey Navalny called on people to turn ...