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Associated Press More than three-quarters of the land on Earth is permanently drying, primarily due to climate change, according to a report released Monday at a United Nations summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Nations at the conference on combating desertification — the process of once-fertile lands turning arid because of hotter temperatures, lack of water

Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia has announced a multimillion-dollar agreement with Nauru that gives Australia a veto right over a range of pacts the tiny Pacific atoll might want to enter with third countries including China. Australia on Monday offered $89 million over five years to the remote nation’s population of 12,000 under

Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to take to the witness stand Tuesday for the first time in his trial on corruption allegations, a pivotal point in the drawn-out proceedings that comes as he wages war in Gaza and faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes charges. Netanyahu

Associated Press SUKABUMI, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers have recovered 10 bodies that were swept away in flash floods or buried under tons of mud and rocks that hit hilly villages on the country’s main island of Java. Officials said Monday that two people are still missing. Torrential rains since last week have caused rivers

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Empress Masako says the Nobel Peace Prize for an organization of atomic bombing survivors was a key event that impressed her this year and reminded her of the importance of global peace efforts. Her remarks were in a palace statement for her 61st birthday Monday. They came a day

Associated Press People with substance use disorder are not getting a direct say on how most opioid settlement money is used. Some advocates say keeping them out of the process is a major reason money is going to law enforcement efforts instead of other programs more likely to prevent overdose deaths. Companies have agreed to

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A fishing boat capsized after colliding with a sand barge in waters off South Korea’s southeastern coast, leaving seven crew members dead and one missing, according to local coast guard and fire departments. The 29-ton fishing boat, which had eight passengers, three South Koreans and five Indonesian nationals, capsized after

The silent black-and-white surveillance camera video of the Russian missile attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro was brief but chilling: Six huge fireballs pierced the darkness and slammed into the ground at astonishing speed. Within hours of the Nov. 21 attack on the military facility, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the rare step of

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Adam Schiff stood on the Senate floor almost five years ago as a House impeachment manager and made a passionate case that Donald Trump should be removed from office for abusing the power of the presidency. “If right doesn’t matter, we’re lost,” he told the senators, his voice cracking

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — In the history of American politics, there’s no shortage of presidents who promised to shake up Washington once they got to the White House. But Donald Trump may prove to be in a class of his own, and he appears more interested in beating the federal government into submission than

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The trial of two men charged with cutting down the majestic Sycamore Gap tree last year along Hadrian’s Wall in northern England has been postponed until next year. The case was postponed Monday until the week of Jan. 6 in Newcastle Crown Court after a defense lawyer said one defendant

Associated Press The results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election rattled the country and sent shockwaves across the world — or were cause for celebration, depending on who you ask. Is it any surprise then that the Merriam-Webster word of the year is “polarization”? “Polarization means division, but it’s a very specific kind of division,”

Associated Press DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Tens of thousands of people held in Syria’s notorious prisons have been freed in the 10 days since the insurgents began their lightning advance across the country that ended with the toppling of President Bashar Assad. Human rights groups, whistleblowers, and former detainees say torture has been systematic, while

AP Film Writer Jacques Audiard’s audacious musical “Emilia Pérez,” about a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender affirming surgery, led nominations to the 82nd Golden Globes on Monday, scoring 10 nods to lead it over other contenders like the musical smash “Wicked,” the papal thriller “Conclave” and the postwar epic “The Brutalist.” The nominations for

Associated Press An auction company executive involved in the liquidation of Alex Jones’ conspiracy theory platform Infowars testified for nearly five hours Monday, as a bankruptcy judge in Texas began a hearing into whether The Onion satirical news outlet was properly named the winning bidder over a company affiliated with Jones. Jeff Tanenbaum, president of

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A Marine veteran who used a chokehold on an agitated subway rider was acquitted on Monday in a death that became a prism for differing views about public safety, valor and vigilantism. A Manhattan jury cleared Daniel Penny of criminally negligent homicide in Jordan Neely ’s 2023 death. A

Associated Press TAMESNA, Morocco (AP) — After African countries struggled to get testing kits during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials vowed to make the continent less dependent on imported medical supplies. Now, in a first for Africa, a Moroccan company is filling orders for mpox tests as an outbreak grows. Moroccan startup Moldiag began developing mpox

Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian law enforcement authorities have declared an arson attack on a synagogue last week a terrorist act in a decision that increases resources available to the investigation. Arson squad detectives have been investigating the blaze that extensively damaged the Adass Israel Synagogue on Friday. But the investigation was taken

AP Baseball Writer DALLAS (AP) — Star outfielder Juan Soto and the New York Mets agreed Sunday to a record $765 million, 15-year contract, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press, a deal that could escalate to $805 million and is believed to be the largest pact in team sports history. The