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The world population grew by 75 million people over the past year and on New Year’s Day it will stand at more than 8 billion people, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday. The worldwide growth rate in the past year was just under 1%. At the start of 2024, 4.3 […]

Could you imagine watching the ball in Times Square drop around March? You might have been, had much of the Western world not adopted the modern calendar that begins each year on Jan. 1. The oldest recorded new year festivities date back to 2000 B.C. in ancient Mesopotamia, where Iraq is now. Called akitu, the […]

Israeli forces bombarded cities, towns and refugee camps across Gaza on Thursday, killing dozens of people in a widening air and ground offensive against Hamas that has forced thousands more to flee from homes and shelters in recent days. The war has already killed over 20,000 Palestinians and driven around 85% of the population of […]

The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on a group of money exchange services from Yemen and Turkey alleged to help provide funding to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have been launching attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the southern Red Sea. Included in the sanctions are the head of a financial intermediary in Sana’a, Yemen, along […]

China has undergone a drastic transformation in recent decades, from a poor Global South country into the world’s second largest economy, lifting millions out of poverty in the process. But with that growth has come plenty of emissions. And yet, China is on the brink of a new era that will have a major impact […]

2024 is not just an election year. It’s perhaps the election year. Globally, more voters than ever in history will head to the polls as at least 64 countries (plus the European Union)—representing a combined population of about 49% of the people in the world—are meant to hold national elections, the results of which, for […]

An 18-year-old Israeli activist has been sentenced to 30 days in military prison after he refused to enlist in the Israeli army amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. “I believe that slaughter cannot solve slaughter,” said Tal Mitnick before he walked into Tel HaShomer military base, according to a video posted on the X account of […]

In 2023, we have witnessed plenty of shock events: consider, for instance, Hamas’ attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent siege on Gaza, Chinese “spy balloons,” the assassination of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, and even UFOs that may be extraterrestrial. Shock events are risks—or threats to stability—that, while they are in the realm of possibility, are […]

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen attacked remote villages over the weekend in north-central Nigeria’s Plateau state, killing at least 140 people, officials and survivors said Tuesday, the latest case this year of such mass killings blamed on the farmer-herder crisis in the West African nation. The assailants targeted 17 communities in “senseless and unprovoked” attacks […]

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden ordered the United States military to carry out retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three U.S. service members were injured in a drone attack in northern Iraq. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said one of the U.S. troops suffered critical injuries in the attack that occurred earlier Monday. […]

(RAFAH, Gaza Strip) — Israeli forces bombarded Palestinian refugee camps in central Gaza on Tuesday, residents said, in apparent preparation to expand their ground offensive into a third section of the besieged territory. The opening of a potential new battle zone points to the long and destructive road still ahead as Israel vows to crush […]