Kenyan president bows to pressure, makes major concessions
Nairobi, Kenya — Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday ordered significant cuts in the federal budget along with other government reforms to pay off a crushing debt burden in a move seen as a concession to popular disapproval of a…
Australia plans to build secret data centers with Amazon
SYDNEY — Australia said Thursday a $1.35 billion deal with U.S. technology giant Amazon to build three secure data centers for top-secret information will increase its military’s “war-fighting capacity.” The data centers are to be built in secret locations in…
UN official describes total devastation in Carriacou following Hurricane Beryl
Speaking via video link from Grenada, Simon Springett, UN Resident Coordinator in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, outlined a scene of total devastation in Carriacou – where Beryl first made landfall on 1 July. “The entire island is completely affected…
Refugees, migrants face violence, abuse and death on routes across Africa, new data shows
Data from a new report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) highlights the often under-reported perils facing vulnerable people on the move on dangerous land routes….
Tens of thousands displaced as fighting intensifies in southeast Sudan
“People are facing multiple protection risks and have reported widespread looting of homes and personal possessions,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a flash update issued late on Thursday. Humanitarian partners receiving displaced people…
UN warns of escalating tensions on Lebanon-Israel ‘Blue Line’ frontier
The latest escalation, which occurred on Thursday, “heightens the risk of a full-scale war”, the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General said in a note to correspondents. “Escalation can and must be avoided. We reiterate that the danger of…
Hungary’s Orban arrives in Moscow for talks with Putin, a rare visit from a European leader
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orban’s press chief said Friday, a rare visit to Russia by a European leader since it invaded Ukraine more than two years ago. Orban’s…
Silicon Valley steps up screening on Chinese employees to counter espionage
Washington — Leading U.S. technology companies reportedly have increased security screening of employees and job applicants, which experts say is necessary to counter the cyber espionage threat from China. While the enhanced screening is being applied to employees and applicants…
NYC’s interactive exhibition sends visitors on outer space journey
July 20 marks the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. An interactive exhibit at Manhattan’s Intrepid Museum reminds viewers of the enormity of that undertaking and what went into the first moon landing. Evgeny Maslov has…
UN mobilizes $4 million for Hurricane Beryl response in the Caribbean
Hurricane Beryl, the strongest hurricane in history to form in June in the Atlantic Ocean, wreaked havoc as it swept through Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica. Initially a tropical depression, Beryl rapidly intensified into a Category 4…