An inquiry into the 2018 death of a British woman poisoned by a Soviet-developed nerve agent is set to open Monday, offering an opportunity to more closely examine any possible Russian involvement in the case. Dawn Sturgess and her partner collapsed after they came into contact with a discarded perfume bottle containing the nerve agent Novichok in the southwest England town of Amesbury. Britain has blamed Russian intelligence, but Moscow has denied any role.
For Europe's economy, the Nov. 5 U.S. election offers a "least bad" outcome of a challenging Kamala Harris presidency or a second encounter with Donald Trump which threatens to be yet more bruising than the first. On two key areas - trade policy and the sharing of rising security costs among NATO allies - Europe expects few favours from a Harris presidency which it sees as "Biden continuity". Trump 2.0, on the other hand, presents multiple dangers: if he were to pull U.S. support for Ukraine, European governments would need to ramp up defence spending fast; and if he triggered a global trade war, Europe fears it would be the big loser.
The European Union on Monday condemned attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon and rejected Israeli allegations that the U.N. was keeping them there to obstruct military operations against Hezbollah. Five peacekeepers have been wounded in attacks that struck their positions since Israel began a ground campaign against the Hezbollah militant group, with most blamed on Israeli forces.
Shanghai stocks rose on Monday as traders digested a pledge by China's finance minister to provide more help for the country's struggling economy, while most other markets tracked another record day on Wall Street.Oil prices dropped more than one percent as concerns about the outlook for China's economy offset worries about a Middle East-wide conflict after Israel's defence minister pledged his country would strike Iran in retaliation for a missile attack this month.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is unveiling the winner — or winners — of the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics on Monday, wrapping up six days of awards announcements. The award is formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The central bank established it as a memorial to Nobel, the 19th-century Swedish businessman and chemist who invented dynamite and established the five Nobel Prizes.
Iceland appears headed for a snap election after Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson pulled the plug on the Nordic nation’s fragile governing coalition. The prime minister is expected to ask President Halla Tómasdóttir on Monday to formally dissolve Iceland’s parliament, the Althingi, for an election on Nov. 30, national broadcaster RUV reported. Benediktsson’s center-right Independence Party has governed since April with the centrist Progressive Party and the Left Green Movement.
China launched military exercises around Taiwan as part of what it called a 'stern warning' against 'separatist acts by Taiwan independent forces.'
Closing the season, the Nobel economics prize is handed out on Monday with specialists on credit, the role of government, and wealth inequality seen as possible contenders.- Poverty or wealth inequality?
China deployed fighter jets and warships to encircle Taiwan on Monday in drills Beijing said were aimed at sending a "stern warning" to "separatist" forces on the self-ruled island.Beijing said its exercises served as a "stern warning to the separatist acts of 'Taiwan Independence' forces".
Taiwan has condemned the latest round of Chinese military drills around the self-governing island as an “unreasonable provocation” after Beijing deployed warships and fighter jets in what it described as a “stern warning” to “separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces.”
South Korea's military said on Monday it was "fully ready" to respond after North Korea ordered troops on the border to prepare to fire in a dispute over drone flights to Pyongyang.- Seoul's military said on Monday the North appeared to be preparing to carry out explosions at roads connected to the South, days after Pyongyang said it would seal the border.
A second Donald Trump presidency could lead to significantly lower economic growth in several Asian economies, with China, South Korea and Vietnam particularly affected, ratings agency Fitch said on Monday. Under its worst-case scenario, real GDP in those three countries in 2028 could be 1% or more below Fitch's current expectations, if U.S. trade protectionism increases sharply.
Fisherman Claude Delley rattles the metal frame of his net against the side of his boat on Switzerland's Lake Neuchatel, trying to shake off dozens of tiny, brown mussels. The sharp shells of the creatures - a fast-spreading, invasive species originally from the Black Sea - work away at the netting, meaning he has to replace it twice as often as before. The Quagga mussels have clogged up underwater pipelines.
The murder trial of a tech consultant in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee begins Monday, a year and a half after the widely admired entrepreneur was found staggering on a deserted downtown San Francisco street seeking help. Lee’s death at age 43 stunned the tech community, and fellow executives and engineers penned tributes to his generosity and brilliance. Lee was chief product officer of cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin when he died.
A mission that will investigate the potential habitability of an ice-covered ocean world in our solar system — Jupiter’s moon Europa — is ready for liftoff.
The WHO said in a statement that it gave the Jynneos vaccine prequalification for adolescents on Oct. 8. The United Nations agency approved the use of the vaccine in September as the first shot against mpox in adults, making it easier for badly hit African countries to access the vaccine. Children, adolescents and those with weakened immune systems have been particularly vulnerable to mpox, a viral infection that typically causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions filled with pus.
(Reuters) -China said on Monday it would punish and sanction Taiwanese businessman Robert Tsao and lawmaker Puma Shen for alleged criminal and pro-Taiwan independence activities. In a statement, the Taiwan Affairs Office said the "Black Bear Academy" that both men were associated with was seeking to incite separatism that would endanger cross-straits ties. Tsao is one of Taiwan's richest men who pledged two years ago to provide millions to two civilian defence training programmes, including the Black Bear Academy.
China conducted large-scale military drills surrounding Taiwan on Monday, in response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's national day speech that China has no right to represent Taiwan.
The THAAD defense system is one of the US military’s most powerful anti-missile weapons, capable of intercepting ballistic missiles at ranges of 150 to 200 kilometers (93 to 124 miles) and with a near-perfect success rate in testing.
Eleven people were hospitalized after they ate wild and apparently toxic mushrooms last week, a fire agency that serves Pennsylvania Dutch Country said.
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