China’s foreign minister on Thursday defended South Africa’s effort to promote solidarity, equality and sustainability at Group of 20 gatherings this year, even as Secretary of State Marco Rubio boycotted the first high-level meeting in Johannesburg this week because of that focus. The Group of 20 is an annual gathering of the world’s largest economies. … Read more
The elusive oarfish, a creature nicknamed the “doomsday fish” because of its place in folklore as a precursor to disaster, was captured on video this month after it was seen in shallow water in Baja California Sur, along Mexico’s Pacific Coast. A group of people who were visiting the area spotted the fish swimming near … Read more
In his first term President Trump episodically threatened to pull out of NATO, removing the United States as the linchpin of the most successful military alliance in modern times. In his second term, he is trying a different approach: hollowing it out from within. Mr. Trump’s decision to reverse three years of unity in aiding … Read more
A giant crater in the southeast English county of Surrey has enveloped part of a residential street, causing the county to declare a major incident. Here’s what we know. What’s going on? There’s a hole. A what? A hole. Actually, two holes. The first hole appeared on Godstone High Street on Monday night, and grew … Read more
Thousands of tourists have stormed the snowy slopes of Sicily’s Mount Etna in recent weeks, congesting roads and obstructing the paths of rescue crews, the Italian authorities said, despite their efforts to keep people safely away from explosive lava flows. Mount Etna regularly erupts, and it has drawn tourists for decades. But the latest eruption, … Read more
In a wooded cemetery in Munich, a white sticker with a puzzling QR code appeared on a gravestone late last year. Then, over the next few weeks, more and more stickers mysteriously appeared, until more than 1,000 graves were marked like goods in a supermarket. “It’s really strange,” Bernd Hoerauf, who oversees the management of … Read more
It started in the spring of last year. The Kremlin added a new rhetorical weapon to its regular barrages against President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. “We are aware that the legitimacy of the current head of state has expired,” President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said of the Ukrainian leader in May 2024, two months … Read more
The simmering feud between President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and President Trump escalated on Wednesday when Mr. Trump mocked his counterpart in a post filled with falsehoods, calling him a “dictator without elections.” His comments came hours after Mr. Zelensky said the American leader had been “caught in a web of disinformation” from Russia over … Read more
In comments that stunned America’s allies in Europe and angered Ukraine’s government, President Trump on Tuesday appeared to blame Ukraine’s leaders for Russia’s invasion. He also suggested that they do not deserve a seat at the table for the peace talks that he has initiated with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. “You should have … Read more
