Denmark has closed one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes over an activated but malfunctioning missile launcher on a Danish navy ship, the country’s military said Thursday. The Niels Juel ship is stationed in Denmark’s Great Belt strait, the main maritime gateway to the Baltic Sea. The booster on a Harpoon missile on board the ship was activated during a mandatory test on Thursday, ...

An elderly American woman was killed in Zambia after an elephant charged at a vehicle carrying tourists in Kafue National Park. Another woman was injured and was taken to a medical facility in South Africa following the incident, which took place on Saturday, the conservation and hospitality company Wilderness, which was running the trip, said in a statement published Tuesday. ...

The Israeli official said the crossing would be opened to allow more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. The cabinet also approved using the Israeli Port of Ashdod to help transfer more aid to Gaza. The announcement comes amid mounting international fury over Israeli strikes that killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in Gaza. Israel has acknowledged responsibility ...

Pressure is mounting on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to suspend the sale of arms to Israel following the deadly attack on a convoy of aid workers in Gaza. Calls for Sunak to stop supplying Israel with weapons grew after an Israeli airstrike on Monday killed seven members of staff from World Central Kitchen, three of whom were British citizens. ...

Everyone in Japan could one day have the same surname unless its restrictive marriage laws change, according to a new study. But the country’s dwindling marriage rate could buck that trend and a rapidly declining population might render it moot entirely. Unlike most of the world’s major economies that have done away with the tradition, Japan still legally requires married ...

The plight of starving Palestinians in Gaza is worsening as Israel’s actions have deterred critical aid agencies and imposed severe constraints on essential humanitarian efforts in the enclave. As famine looms and cases of death by starvation emerge, at least three aid providers are suspending operations in Gaza after Israeli airstrikes this week killed seven workers from World Central Kitchen ...

Lin Qi, a billionaire fan of “The Three-Body Problem,” had big plans to bring his favorite Chinese sci-fi novel to TV, cinema and video-game screens across the world. Flush with cash after the listing of his gaming company in 2014, the young entrepreneur envisioned turning China’s most beloved sci-fi trilogy into a global pop culture phenomenon in the same league ...

More and more people are going hungry in Haiti, warn aid workers, doctors and missionaries with increasing urgency, as the Caribbean nation struggles to find its way out of political deadlock and an epidemic of deadly gang violence. In some areas of the city, there is no more food to buy, and none to bring to market for those whose ...

Eclipses inspire awe and bring people together to observe a stunning celestial phenomenon, but these cosmic events also enable scientists to unravel mysteries of the solar system. During the total solar eclipse on April 8, when the moon will temporarily obscure the sun’s face from view for millions of people across Mexico, the United States and Canada, multiple experiments will ...

More than 24 million people in southern Africa face hunger, malnutrition and water scarcity due to drought and floods, an aid group has warned, as experts say the situation risks spiraling into an “unimaginable humanitarian situation.” The warning from Oxfam on Wednesday came as Zimbabwe joined other southern African nations in declaring its drought a national disaster, following earlier declarations by Zambia ...