WORLD

The Lambahraun lava field, Iceland | AFP |  To prepare for the next mission to Mars in 2020, NASA has taken to the lava fields of Iceland to get its new robotic space explorer ready for the job. With its black basalt sand, wind-swept dunes and craggy peaks, the Lambahraun …

Paris, France | AFP | A deadly explosion at a Russian testing site has focused attention on President Vladimir Putin’s bid to build a nuclear-powered missile that the Kremlin hopes would give Moscow the edge in a new arms race. Western experts have linked the blast at the Nyonoksa test site …

Monaca, United States | AFP |  President Donald Trump has seen the future and it is oil. And plastic. Where most environmental scientists and most US allies fear that overuse of fossil fuels is driving the planet into crisis, the US president spies only opportunity. In a speech on Tuesday to …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP |  Measles cases nearly tripled globally during the first seven months of the year compared to the same period in 2018, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, amid growing concern over public resistance to the vaccine. So far this year, 364,808 measles cases were reported around …

Hong Kong, China | AFP | Violent protests are driving Hong Kong down a “path of no return”, the city’s leader warned Tuesday as its airport struggled to recover from an unprecedented shutdown triggered by a rally and authorities in Beijing sent more ominous signals that the unrest must end. The …

Clear Lake, United States | AFP |  Rarely has a candidate gone far in a US presidential race highlighting a singular issue, but Democrat Jay Inslee is aiming to buck that trend with his commitment to tackling climate change. Unless he does something to dramatically change his trajectory — he has …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia’s nuclear agency chief on Monday confirmed that five scientists killed last week were developing “new weapons” and vowed to continue testing despite the explosion. The accident took place at an Arctic military facility on the coast of the White Sea on Thursday, but Russian authorities …

  Clear Lake, United States | AFP | Bill Clinton felt your pain. Barack Obama assured that yes, we can. And for Marianne Williamson, the spiritualist author leading a notable but surpassingly longshot US presidential bid, love conquers all. Remote as her 2020 prospects may be against two dozen other …

Clear Lake, United States | AFP |  Amid heightened tensions over US nativism, deeply conservative northwest Iowa finds itself mulling whether to re-elect a firebrand lawmaker accused of espousing white nationalist ideology. Republican Steve King represents Iowa’s fourth congressional district, a largely rural area that voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump …

New York, United States | AFP |  Nandita Iyer landed in New York from Bombay without knowing anyone, but she didn’t want to live alone in a “sketchy studio.” So instead she opted for a room in a “coliving” unit. She lives with roommates in one of the 14 apartments in …