Be Informed

‘They knew’ – fury of Libyans that warnings went unheeded before flood

(Reuters) - "They knew." When hydrologist Abdul Wanis Ashour began researching the system of dams protecting the eastern Libya port town of Derna 17 years ago, the peril facing residents…

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How Iran, US clinched rare detainee swap and funds release

By Parisa Hafezi Sept 18 (Reuters) - Iran and the U.S. were to swap five detainees each on Monday after Qatar mediated a deal between the arch foes that also…

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Biden impeachment inquiry: what to know about the case

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have opened an impeachment inquiry into Democratic President Joe Biden after months of investigations of his son Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings. They…

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Summer fireworks can traumatize pets and cause wildlife to flee

Fireworks have become a fixture of many celebrations around the world, from weddings to national holidays. But there are many among us, including the furry, feathered and finned, who feel…

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Why has has France banned sales of Apple’s iPhone 12?

By Jennifer Rigby and Martin Coulter LONDON (Reuters) - France's radiation watchdog has banned sales of Apple's AAPL.O iPhone 12 after tests that it said showed the smartphone breached European…

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Recognition versus reality: Lessons from 30 years of talking about a Palestinian state

This week marked the 30th anniversary of the Oslo Accords aimed at bringing about Palestinian self-determination. The occasion has served as a stark reminder of the unfulfilled promises and unresolved…

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What caused the floods in Libya and why are they so bad?

Sept 14 (Reuters) - A catastrophic flood has killed thousands of people in the eastern Libyan city of Derna, sweeping away entire neighbourhoods with their residents and washing many bodies…

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Who should get a COVID vaccine this year?

By Michael Erman (Reuters) - The U.S. drug regulator authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech as well as from Moderna this week as the country prepares…

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Putin and North Korea’s Kim in their own words

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Russia's most modern space launch facility on Wednesday. They exchanged opening greetings…

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Generation AI: education reluctantly embraces the bots

By Barbara Lewis and Supantha Mukherjee LONDON/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - At leading Swedish university Lund, teachers decide which students can use artificial intelligence to help them with assignments. At the University…

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New submarines and nuclear drones: Why is North Korea developing its navy?

By Josh Smith SEOUL, (Reuters) - Over the past year North Korea has moved to boost its navy with new nuclear weapons, including an underwater drone, warships, and its first…

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Highlights from G20 leaders declaration on first day of summit

Sept 9 (Reuters) - The G20 has adopted a consensus declaration on issues facing the bloc, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Saturday during a summit, signalling that negotiators…

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How are earthquakes measured?

Earthquakes are recorded by a seismographic network. Each seismic station in the network measures the movement of the ground at that site. The slip of one block of rock over…

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How the Saudis became a top shareholder in Telefonica, Spain’s telecoms giant

By Hadeel Al Sayegh, Andres Gonzalez and Belén Carreño DUBAI/MADRID, (Reuters) - Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, chairman and chief executive of debt laden Spanish telephone and internet service company Telefonica, got…

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Do I need to worry about COVID again?

By Deena Beasley and Julie Steenhuysen (Reuters) - New data from scientists and vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer N/BioNTech suggests that a newer, highly mutated variant of the virus that…

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Nearly all world’s population exposed to global warming over June-Sept – study

SINGAPORE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Nearly all of the world's population experienced higher temperatures from June to August as a result of human-induced climate change, according to a peer-reviewed research…

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What are depleted uranium weapons?

The Pentagon announced a new security assistance package worth up to $175 million for Ukraine, including depleted uranium ammunition for Abrams tanks, the first time the U.S. is sending the…

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Horizon project: Which EU science schemes has Britain joined?

LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Britain on Thursday said it would join the European Union's flagship Horizon science research programme and its Copernicus earth observation programme, but not the Euratom…

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Who is Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s new defence minister?

KYIV, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament voted to approve the appointment of Rustem Umerov as defence minister on Wednesday after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy proposed him to replace Oleksii Reznikov.…

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Egyptian-born businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed died as one of the Arab world’s richest men

LONDON (Reuters) - Mohamed al-Fayed, the self-made Egyptian billionaire who bought the Harrods department store and promoted the discredited conspiracy theory that the British royal family was behind the death…

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BRICS: African countries face opportunities and risks in alienating China or the US – an expert weighs in

South Africa recently hosted a BRICS summit. The event attracted international attention because the group has recently begun to emerge as a possible rival against US dominance of world affairs.…

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Access and attention: why serial killers like Lucy Letby often work in healthcare

British nurse Lucy Letby was last week sentenced to life in prison for murdering seven infants in her care, and attempting to murder a further six. As a forensic criminologist,…

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What is manganese and how will the Gabon coup affect market supply?

(Reuters) - An ongoing coup in Gabon prompted French miner Eramet , the world's largest producer of high-grade manganese ore, to suspend mining operations in the central African nation on…

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Ali Bongo: who is Gabon leader ousted in military coup?

Bongo gained fame for rainforest conservation A Michael Jackson fan, he released an album early on His father rule from 1967, he took power in 2009 Promises of change failed…

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Recent coups in West and Central Africa

Aug 30 (Reuters) - A group of senior military officers in Gabon announced on national television on Wednesday they had taken power and election results were annulled, just minutes after…

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Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Mongolia brings attention to complex history with Christianity

Pope Francis is set to make the first-ever visit to Mongolia, a country with fewer than 1,500 Catholics, all of whom have come to the faith since 1992. But the…

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Europe endures another year of droughts and wildfires

(Reuters) - Europe is battling the effects of scorching temperatures which have reached worrying levels globally, with July being the hottest month recorded on both land and sea. Last year,…

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Mercenary chief Prigozhin and others listed as passengers on crashed plane

(Reuters) - Investigators are picking through the wreckage of a jet said to have been carrying Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin that crashed with no survivors, two months after he…

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Trump indictment: what happens next in Georgia case?

(Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump surrendered at a Georgia jail on Thursday to face charges he illegally tried to overturn the vote in the state in the 2020…

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What is a BRICS currency and is the U.S. dollar in trouble?

By Rachel Savage JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Brazil's President called on Wednesday for the BRICS nations to create a common currency for trade and investment between each other, as a means…

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Wagner group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin death wouldn’t be first time someone who crossed Putin met a suspicious demise

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, reportedly died when a private jet he was said to be on crashed on Aug. 23, 2023, killing…

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What are West Africa’s options to reverse Niger’s coup?

By Edward McAllister DAKAR, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Niger's junta has defied a Sunday deadline from West Africa's regional bloc to reinstate ousted president Mohamed Bazoum or face a possible…

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What happens next in the Trump election interference case?

By Jack Queen (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Thursday faced charges in U.S. federal court of orchestrating a plot to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss. Here's what happens next.…

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Behind Niger’s coup, a feud over the former president’s legacy

By Moussa Aksar, David Lewis and David Gauthier-Villars NIAMEY, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Niger's coup was the culmination of months of acrimony between President Mohamed Bazoum and his chief guard…

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What caused the record rainfall in Beijing and northern China?

By Ethan Wang and Ryan Woo BEIJING (Reuters) - Extreme rain battered Beijing, Tianjin and the province of Hebei in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri in late July, causing widespread…

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Who is Special Counsel Jack Smith in the Trump documents case?

By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jack Smith, the U.S. special counsel who on Thursday is summoning Donald Trump to court to face a second federal criminal indictment, has…

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Why are Sweden and Denmark having a crisis over the Koran?

By Nikolaj Skydsgaard and Jacob Gronholt-pedersen COPENHAGEN, (Reuters) - Anti-Islam activists in Denmark and Sweden have burnt and damaged several copies of the Koran in recent months, prompting outrage in…

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Who is Alexei Navalny and why is he on trial again?

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Russia's most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny says he expects to see his prison sentence extended by nearly two decades on Friday when a court delivers…

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Credit rating: The shrinking ‘triple A’ club

Aug 2 (Reuters) - Ratings agency Fitch on Tuesday downgraded the U.S. government's top credit rating by a notch to 'AA+' sending jitters across global markets as investors assessed the…

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The legal troubles of former US President Donald Trump

(Reuters) - Here is a list of legal troubles facing former U.S. President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Trump, 77, denies any wrongdoing. JAN. 6…

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What election interference charges does Trump face and how can he fight them?

By Jack Queen (Reuters) - Donald Trump was charged with four felonies over his efforts to undo his 2020 election loss to U.S. President Joe Biden. Here is a look…

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Niger coup: List of recent military takeovers in West and Central Africa

By Bate Felix DAKAR, (Reuters) - Niger's removal of President Mohamed Bazoum in a military coup marks the ninth coup or attempted power grab in just over three years in…

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How the military coup in Niger threatens stability in West Africa

By Nellie Peyton (Reuters) - Niger's regional and international partners are scrambling to respond to a military coup which political analysts say could have grave consequences for democratic progress…

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The new charges in the Trump classified documents case

By Jacqueline Thomsen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump and two of his employees are facing new charges in the criminal case over the retention of sensitive government…

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Kevin Spacey: What is happening in his London sex offences trial?

LONDON (Reuters) - Actor Kevin Spacey is on trial at a London court accused of nine historical sex offence charges against four men. He has pleaded not guilty to all…

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The UK is still not prepared for extreme temperatures

While massive heatwaves are affecting southern Europe, China, the US and many other places, it’s rainy and not particularly warm in the UK. But that doesn’t mean there’s no risk…

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Manipur: ethnic violence in the Indian state explained

By Krishn Kaushik and YP Rajesh NEW DELHI, (Reuters) - India's parliament was disrupted for a second day on Friday and women's groups planned protests across the country over a…

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Why Russia pulled out of its grain deal with Ukraine – and what that means for the global food system

The Russia-Ukraine grain deal that has been critical to keeping global food prices stable and preventing famine is currently in tatters. On July 17, 2023, Russia said it was pulling…

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Sweden is joining Nato: what that means for the alliance and the war in Ukraine

In a surprise move, Turkey has ended its veto on Sweden joining Nato, thereby removing all the barriers to its membership of the military alliance. Hungary quickly followed suit and,…

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Spain general election 2023: what you need to know

MADRID (Reuters) - Spaniards will interrupt their summer holidays to vote for a new parliament on July 23, after an election campaign in which no one party has established a…

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Europe sees another year of droughts and wildfires

Europe is battling the effects of scorching weather, with June having been the hottest month on record in the 174-year history of temperature monitoring. #Last year, heatwaves resulted in over…

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A look at Americans held in the past in North Korea

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier facing disciplinary action crossed into North Korea on Tuesday and was believed to be in North Korean custody, U.S. officials said, creating a fresh…

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‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds’: who was atom bomb pioneer Robert Oppenheimer?

Robert Oppenheimer is often placed next to Albert Einstein as the 20th century’s most famous physicist. He will forever be the “father of the atomic bomb” after the first nuclear…

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In a Barbie world … after the movie frenzy fades, how do we avoid tonnes of Barbie dolls going to landfill?

It made headlines around the world when the much-hyped Barbie movie contributed to a world shortage of fluorescent pink paint. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When movies…

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Pandemic babies behind on communication at age two – but other developmental areas remain unaffected

The world changed for all of us when we were suddenly plunged into a pandemic in 2020. COVID sent us into a series of lockdowns in a bid to control…

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Why does the Black Sea grain deal’s expiry matter?

By Nigel Hunt, Jonathan Saul LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - A deal allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea will expire at the end of Monday after Russia…

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Crimea Bridge: why is it important and what happened to it

July 17 (Reuters) - Traffic on the road-and-rail bridge linking Russia and the Crimean peninsula was stopped early on Monday due to an "emergency situation," the Russian-backed head of Crimea's…

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