World

KINSHASA,  (Reuters) – Licensing rights for 30 oil and gas blocks in the Democratic Republic of Congo went up for auction yesterday, opening parts of the world’s second-biggest rainforest to drilling that could release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, jeopardising climate goals to tame global warming.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said yesterday he has reached a deal with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on a bill to increase corporate taxes, reduce the national debt, invest in energy technologies and lower the cost of prescription drugs.

(Reuters) – Russian forces took over Ukraine’s second-biggest power plant and are conducting a “massive redeployment” of troops to three southern regions, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said, amid expectations of a Ukrainian counter-offensive.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Dozens of former Republican and Democratic officials announced yesterday a new national political third party to appeal to millions of voters they say are dismayed with what they see as America’s dysfunctional two-party system.

BRASILIA,  (Reuters) – Brazil yesterday assured U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that its armed forces were focused on providing security to ensure a safe, secure and transparent election in October, Austin said.

MANILA,  (Reuters) – A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the northern Philippine island of Luzon today killing four people, damaging buildings and sending strong tremors through the capital, Manila.

BRUSSELS, (Reuters) – European Union countries bracing for further cuts in Russian gas supply yesterday approved a weakened emergency plan to curb demand, after striking compromise deals to limit reductions for some countries.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, (Reuters) – Three United Nations peacekeepers and at least 12 civilians were killed during a second day of violent anti-U.N.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and China’s leader Xi Jinping are expected to talk tomorrow, a source familiar with the planning said, amid fresh tensions over Taiwan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

SAN SALVADOR, (Reuters) – El Salvador’s president announced yesterday a plan for a voluntary repurchase offer to holders of bonds maturing between 2023 and 2025.

BOGOTA, (Reuters) – Colombia’s next government must prioritize dismantling illegal armed groups and criminal gangs, a report from the U.N.

KYIV, (Reuters) – Russia said it will cut gas supplies to Europe from today in a blow to countries that have supported Ukraine, just as there were hopes that economic pressures could ease after Russia agreed to let Ukraine export grain from Black Sea ports.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – New York City police were hunting yesterday for thieves who burst into a Brooklyn church and brazenly stripped a bishop of the jewellery he was wearing while he was delivering his Sunday sermon as the service was livestreamed, officials said.

MASKWACIS, Alberta,  (Reuters) – An anguished rendering of Canada’s national anthem in Cree by an indigenous woman as tears streamed down her face marked one of several emotional moments in the first leg of Pope Francis’s apology tour in Canada.

PANAMA CITY,  (Reuters) – The Panamanian government announced on Monday it will regulate the price of 72 food items following weeks of angry protests and street blockades demanding the government take measures to stem the quickly rising cost of living.

BELFAST,  (Reuters) – David Trimble, the Northern Irish leader who steered the region’s Protestant majority into an historic peace deal with their Catholic rivals that earned him a Nobel Peace Prize, has died aged 77, his family said on Monday.

LANGLEY, British Columbia,  (Reuters) – Three people including the suspected gunman were killed in a series of shootings early on Monday in the Canadian province of British Columbia, police said.

(Reuters) – Myanmar’s military authorities have executed four democracy activists accused of helping carry out “terror acts”, state media said today, the Southeast Asian nation’s first executions in decades.

KYIV,  (Reuters) – Ukraine pressed ahead yesterday with efforts to restart grain exports from its Black Sea ports under a deal aimed at easing global food shortages but warned deliveries would suffer if a Russian missile strike on Odesa was a sign of more to come.

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – A rights group documenting alleged abuses in Sri Lanka has filed a criminal complaint with Singapore’s attorney general, seeking the arrest of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for his role in the South Asian nation’s decades-long civil war.