US & World

[ad_1] ReutersActivists were more confrontational at this COP than othersCOP29 is over, with developing countries complaining that the $300bn (about £240bn) a year in climate finance they will receive by 2035 is a "paltry sum".Many of the rich country voices at the UN's climate conference were amazed that developing nations were unhappy with what on the surface seems a huge settlement. It is an improvement - on the current contribution

[ad_1] War-stricken Sudan is in danger of becoming another failed state because civil society is disintegrating amid a proliferation of armed groups, the head of a leading international aid agency has told the BBC.As well as the two main warring parties in Sudan - the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces - there are many smaller "ethnic armies" looting and going "berserk" on civilians, Jan Egeland, head of the

[ad_1] A court in South Korea has found a man guilty of trying to avoid mandatory military service by deliberately gaining weight, local media report.The 26-year-old began binge eating before his physical examination for the draft, a judge in the capital, Seoul, said. He was categorised as obese, allowing him to serve in a non-combat role at a government agency.The defendant received a one-year suspended sentence. A friend who devised

[ad_1] BBCE-waste is trafficked as reusable goods into several poorer countries then either burnt or dumped after valuable metals have been extractedYou can see thick plumes of smoke rise from the Agbogbloshie dumpsite from miles away.The air at the vast dump, in the west of Ghana’s capital Accra, is highly toxic. The closer you get, the harder it is to breathe and your vision starts to blur.Around these fumes are

[ad_1] More than 80 people have been killed in renewed sectarian violence in north-west Pakistan, officials say.Another156 are said to have been wounded in three days of fighting in the tribal district of Kurram, near the Afghan border.The violence began on Thursday, when gunmen attacked convoys of Shia Muslims travelling through the area under police escort. More than 40 died in that incident, which triggered revenge attacks.Shia and Sunni Muslims

[ad_1] Getty ImagesRFK Jr has pledged to tackle ultra-processed foods, food dyes and additivesRobert F Kennedy Jr has set his sights on changing how Americans eat and drink.From the dyes in Fruit Loops cereal to seed oils in chicken nuggets, Kennedy - who is President-elect Trump's choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) - has long spoken out against ingredients that he says hurt Americans' health."We

[ad_1] Getty ImagesNila Ibrahimi beat 165 other nominees to be named this year's International Children's Peace Prize winnerWhen Nila Ibrahimi set out to build a website telling the stories of Afghan girls, it wasn't just to give them a voice.The 17-year-old Afghan refugee was also determined to remind her fellow Gen Zs in her adopted country, Canada, that they were similar - they even listened to Taylor Swift just like

[ad_1] Shams Ur Rehman AlaviAbida Sultaan was the eldest daughter of the last Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah KhanAbida Sultaan was nothing like your typical princess.She wore her hair short, shot tigers and was an ace polo player. She flew planes and drove herself around in a Rolls-Royce from the age of nine.Born in 1913 into a family of brave 'begums' (a Muslim woman of high rank) who ruled the northern

[ad_1] Eko Siswono Toyudho/Getty ImagesNew funding could help vulnerable countries prepare for the worst impacts of climate changeRicher countries have pledged to give a record $300bn (£238bn) to the developing world to help them prepare for and prevent climate change.The talks at the UN climate summit COP29 in Azerbaijan ran 33 hours late, and came within inches of collapse.The head of the UN climate body, Simon Stiell, said it had

[ad_1] ReutersGisèle Pelicot has attended almost all the trial since it began in SeptemberAt the epicentre of this devastating family drama is Gisèle Pelicot, a diminutive 71-year-old woman, drugged by her former husband and abused for a decade by dozens of strangers he had recruited online.Watching her entering the court in Avignon and giving evidence, it was staggering to imagine the amount of abuse her body sustained.But as other members