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WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled a $6.8 trillion government spending plan for 2024 calling for dozens of new policy initiatives and higher taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. But opposition Republicans immediately said it had no chance of winning congressional approval. Biden, a Democrat in his first term in the White House […]

GENEVA — Sodium is essential for the smooth functioning of muscles and nerves and maintaining the proper balance of water and minerals. But too much sodium in the diet can kill. “Almost 2 million deaths each year are associated with excessive sodium intake,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. “Too much sodium […]

SINGAPORE — Plastics entering the world’s oceans have surged by an unprecedented amount since 2005 and could nearly triple by 2040 if no further action is taken, according to research published on Wednesday. An estimated 171 trillion plastic particles were afloat in the oceans by 2019, according to peer-reviewed research led by the 5 Gyres Institute, […]

Lizzo has called out “complicit silence” over social issues such as racism and transphobia. On Wednesday, the Juice hitmaker – a vocal advocate of inclusivity and diversity – took to Twitter to start a conversation about the intersection of the topics in society at present. “Transphobia is lookin real rooted in racism right about now…,” […]

WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Iranian officials and companies over accusations of serious human rights abuses, stepping up pressure on Tehran over its crackdown on protests as Washington marks International Women’s Day. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on two senior Iranian prison officials it accused of […]

UNITED NATIONS — At United Nations meetings Wednesday to mark International Women’s Day, there was much talk but no discernible action on advancing and protecting women’s rights. A meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Afghanistan offered verbal support to Afghan women, who are among the most oppressed in the world under Taliban rule. But no […]

MADRID — Nearly sixty years after one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents, Spain has asked the United States to clean up tens of thousands of cubic meters of radioactive soil and end a controversial chapter of the Cold War. Madrid hopes that improved relations with Washington may make the U.S. honor a promise made in […]

Four U.S. citizens were assaulted and kidnapped Friday by unidentified gunmen after crossing the Mexican border, the FBI said. Soon after crossing from Brownsville, Texas, into the northern Mexico border city of Matamoros in Tamaulipas state, the Americans, who were traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina plates, were fired at, placed into another […]

The United Nations announced Monday that it had taken a significant step towards trying to fill a key gap in the fight against climate change: standardized, real-time tracking of greenhouse gases. The U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization has come up with a new Global Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Infrastructure that aims to provide better ways of measuring […]

WASHINGTON — For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas – representing a turning point for vast stretches of the planet where conservation has previously been hampered by a confusing patchwork of laws. The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea came into […]