Exclusive-Africa's Great Green Wall to miss 2030 goal says UN desertification president
By Simon Jessop and Alessandra Prentice LONDON/DAKAR (Reuters) - Africa's Great Green Wall, which is meant to restore degraded landscapes and boost economies across the continent, is low on cash and unlikely to meet a 2030 completion goal, the pres...
Jun 12, 2024
Explainer-Why does Switzerland's rebuff of European climate ruling matter?
By Emma Farge and Gloria Dickie BERN (Reuters) - Switzerland's lower house parliament has voted to reject a landmark court ruling ordering the country to do more to combat global warming, in a move that could encourage others to resist the influenc...
Jun 12, 2024
Spain risks missing 2030 wind energy target, think-tank says
By Pietro Lombardi MADRID (Reuters) - Spain needs to add wind energy capacity at a much faster pace or it risks missing its ambitious 2030 target, the U.S.-based Global Energy Monitor (GEM) think-tank said in a report published on Wednesday. Renewa...
Jun 12, 2024
Greece shuts schools and Acropolis as heatwave hits
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece shut the ancient Acropolis tourist site, suspended schools and stationed medics across Athens on Wednesday as it faced the first heatwave of the summer. Temperatures were expected to hit 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fah...
Jun 12, 2024
Biden administration touts quick Baltimore channel reopening
By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - This week's reopening of Baltimore's main shipping channel - less than three months after the Key Bridge collapse - was due to expertise gained from a COVID-era task force, a highway overpass collapse and ...
Jun 12, 2024
Biden wins endorsements from three seniors groups
By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three groups representing older Americans on Wednesday endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for a second term as president as the Biden campaign works to build on existing support among seniors and help offset weaker ...
Jun 12, 2024
India's fizzling monsoon could prolong heatwave in north, sources say
By Rajendra Jadhav MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's monsoon rains have lost momentum after covering western regions ahead of schedule, and their arrival in northern and central states could be delayed, extending a heatwave in the grain-growing plains, tw...
Jun 12, 2024
Rhine in south Germany reopens to shipping as water levels fall
HAMBURG (Reuters) - The river Rhine in south Germany reopened to cargo shipping on Wednesday after being closed by high water on Tuesday, navigation authorities said. Falling water levels after dryer weather means water has fallen to levels allowin...
Jun 12, 2024
Extreme heat triggers novel payout for 50,000 women in India
LONDON (Reuters) - A group of 50,000 self-employed women in India have become the first beneficiaries of a novel insurance scheme that pays out when temperatures hit certain extremes. As the temperature crossed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahre...
Jun 12, 2024
Swiss parliament considers snubbing European court climate ruling
By Emma Farge and Gloria Dickie GENEVA (Reuters) - The lower house of the Swiss parliament votes on Wednesday on a motion rejecting a landmark ruling ordering Switzerland to do more to combat global warming, a move that could encourage others to re...
Jun 12, 2024
China hit by searing temperatures as Asia braces for extreme summer
BEIJING (Reuters) - Temperatures are hitting record highs in parts of north and central China this week while a severe drought in the east is also threatening crops, as countries across Asia brace themselves for another summer of extreme weather. C...
Jun 12, 2024
Battle for Congress: Republicans pick favorites in Nevada, South Carolina
By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Sam Brown will try to walk away with his party's nomination for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday in Nevada, one of four states where voters will make their party picks for the November general election. B...
Jun 12, 2024
Champion hot dog eater excluded from Coney Island contest over veggie franks
By Steve Gorman (Reuters) - Joey Chestnut, defending champion of the annual July Fourth hot dog eating competition on New York City's Coney Island, is excluded from this year's event because he is sponsoring an all-veggie frankfurter of another br...
Jun 12, 2024
Toxic gas in Louisiana air far exceeds safe levels, EPA estimates, US study finds
By Nancy Lapid (Reuters) - The toxic gas ethylene oxide (EtO) is detectable in southeastern Louisiana at levels a thousand times higher than what is considered safe, according to a new study. EtO emissions largely come from petrochemical manufactur...
Jun 11, 2024
Rights group sues Virginia school district over Confederate names
By Tyler Clifford (Reuters) - Virginia's chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against a school district that restored the names of Confederate generals at two public schools. T...
Jun 11, 2024
Fires in Brazil wetlands surge to record start in 2024
By Leonardo Benassatto CORUMBA, Brazil (Reuters) - As Jose Cleiton and Brandao Amilton ride their horses into the vastness of the Pantanal grassy wetlands of Brazil, a wall of smoke towers from the horizon far into the sky above. The worst of the d...
Jun 11, 2024
US judge strikes down Florida ban on gender-affirming healthcare
By Jonathan Allen (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that parts of Florida's ban of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender children and restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare for adults are unconstitutional and ordered ...
Jun 11, 2024
Hunter Biden found guilty. What comes next?
By Tom Hals and Jack Queen WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - A jury on Tuesday found U.S. President Joe Biden's son Hunter guilty of making false statements on a gun background check and of illegally possessing a firearm. Here is what happens next. ...
Jun 11, 2024
Analysis-As Supreme Court decisions loom, a legal assault is weakening SEC's power
By Chris Prentice and Michelle Price WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A legal assault on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is chipping away at its powers to oversee Wall Street and is likely to intensify with two imminent Supreme Court rulings. A U...
Jun 11, 2024
Canada forecasts hotter-than-average summer as peak wildfire season nears
By Nia Williams (Reuters) - Canada is expecting a hotter-than-usual summer with slightly below-average precipitation in central Canada, government officials said on Tuesday, offering little relief from ongoing drought and the risk of another bad wi...
Jun 11, 2024
Four more US states join Justice Department's smartphone markets monopoly lawsuit against Apple
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four more U.S. states on Tuesday joined the Justice Department's lawsuit against Apple alleging the iPhone maker is monopolizing smartphone markets, the department said in a statement. The four additional states were Indiana,...
Jun 11, 2024
Johnson & Johnson reaches $700 million talc settlement with US states
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $700 million to settle an investigation by 42 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. into its marketing of baby powder and other products that contained talc. The settlement resolves charges that Johnso...
Jun 11, 2024
Manhattan DA to testify to House committee after Trump sentencing, Fox News says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on July 12, the day after former U.S. President Donald Trump is sentenced in his hush money case, Fox News reported on Tuesday. Prosecu...
Jun 11, 2024
Exclusive-US House committee report finds Wall Street 'colluded' to curb emissions
By Isla Binnie NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee will accuse the biggest Wall Street firms on Tuesday, in a report seen by Reuters ahead of its publication, of colluding with advocacy groups to force companies to shrink their gree...
Jun 11, 2024
Heavy rains paralyse airport on Spanish island of Mallorca
MADRID (Reuters) - Water cascaded from the ceiling and planes were grounded on flooded runways at the airport of Palma, the capital of the Spanish island of Mallorca, as heavy rains swept over the popular tourist destination on Tuesday. The storm b...
Jun 11, 2024