Month: November 2018

2 premiers and no government: Crisis confuses Sri Lankans

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Two men each claim to be the prime minister. Lawmakers are exchanging blows in Parliament. A former finance minister says the country is on the brink of an “economic anarchy.” Welcome to Sri Lanka, where the political crisis is getting worse by the week. […]

DNA links dead convict to 49-year-old rape, murder case

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A convicted rapist who died in 2001 has been identified as the killer of a 23-year-old Harvard University graduate student nearly 50 years ago, a Massachusetts prosecutor said Tuesday. DNA evidence points to Michael Sumpter as the man who killed Jane Britton, who was sexually […]

UN weather group: Greenhouse gases in air rose again in 2017

GENEVA — The U.N.’s weather organization says greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere climbed to a new record level last year, warning that “the window of opportunity” to act against climate change is nearly closed. The World Meteorological Organization says globally-averaged concentrations of carbon-dioxide reached 405.5 parts per […]

US says China hacking increasing ahead of Trump-Xi meeting

BEIJING — A U.S. government report ahead of a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping accuses China of stepping up hacking aimed at stealing American technology as a tariff dispute escalated. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s report reflects U.S. skepticism and a possible source of new acrimony […]

Analysis: Rising US, China rivalry deepening rifts in Asia

BANGKOK — All the usual rituals of international summits were there: the group photos, the gala dinners, the noticeably vibrant shirts leaders force themselves into. But eclipsing all of that at Asia’s two big meetings was some unusually forthright criticism that exposed deepening divisions rattling the region. Front […]

Dolce&Gabbana accused of insulting China; blames hackers

BEIJING — The Italian luxury fashion house Dolce&Gabbana apologized Wednesday for insulting remarks about China it allegedly made in exchanges on Instagram but claimed its accounts had been hacked. Chinese celebrities reacted angrily after screenshots of the conversations were posted on social media and several said they would […]

Mars landing comes down to final 6 minutes of 6-month trip

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.— It all comes down to the final six minutes of a six-month journey to Mars. NASA’s InSight spacecraft will enter the Martian atmosphere at supersonic speed, then hit the brakes to get to a soft, safe landing on the alien red plains. After micromanaging every […]

Cut off from the world, an Indian island remains a mystery

NEW DELHI — For thousands of years, the people of North Sentinel island have been isolated from the rest of the world. They use spears and bows and arrows to hunt the animals that roam the small, heavily forested island, and gather plants to eat and to fashion […]

‘Explorer at heart’: American missionary killed in India

SEATTLE — John Allen Chau spent summers alone in a California cabin as a wilderness emergency responder, led backpacking expeditions in the Northwest’s Cascade Mountains, almost lost his leg to a rattlesnake bite, and coached soccer for poor children in Iraq and South Africa. But kayaking to a […]

Why a salmonella outbreak shouldn’t ruin your Thanksgiving

NEW YORK  — There’s no reason to skip Thanksgiving dinner because of a salmonella outbreak linked to raw turkey. That’s according to health officials who’ve been monitoring the year-old outbreak. But they say it’s a reminder to properly prepare your holiday bird. Cooking kills salmonella. The ongoing outbreak […]

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