World

(Reuters) – Kansas voters yesterday rejected a state constitutional amendment that would have declared there is no right to abortion, Edison Research projected, delivering a win to abortion rights advocates in a deeply conservative state.

ADEN,  (Reuters) – Yemen’s warring sides agreed to renew a two-month truce expiring yesterday, the United Nations envoy said, despite international pressure for an extended and expanded deal that would build on the longest stretch of relative calm in over seven years.

TAIPEI,  (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan late today on a trip she said was intended to express American solidarity with the Chinese-claimed island, the first such visit in 25 years and one that risks pushing relations between Washington and Beijing to a new low.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a strike in Afghanistan over the weekend, President Joe Biden said yesterday, the biggest blow to the militant group since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.

KYIV, (Reuters) – The first ship to carry Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea since Russia invaded Ukraine five months ago left the port of Odesa for Lebanon yesterday under a safe passage deal described as a glimmer of hope in a worsening global food crisis.

TAIPEI/BEIJING, (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was set to visit Taiwan today, two people briefed on the matter said, as China warned that its military would never “sit idly by” if she visited the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a strike in Afghanistan over the weekend, President Joe Biden said today, the biggest blow to the militant group since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.

KYIV, (Reuters) – A ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for Lebanon today under a safe passage agreement, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said, the first departure since the Russian invasion blocked shipping through the Black Sea five months ago.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Anatoly Chubais, the former privatisation tsar of post-Soviet Russia who quit his post as a Kremlin special envoy due to the war in Ukraine, is in intensive care in Europe with a rare immune disorder, two sources close to Chubais told Reuters.

KYIV,  (Reuters) – Russian missiles pounded the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv yesterday, killing the owner of a major grain exporter, while a drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea naval base in Sevastopol was launched from within the city in a “terrorist attack,” a Russian lawmaker said.

BEIJING,  (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi started a tour of four Asian countries yesterday, her office said, without mentioning Taiwan amid intense speculation she might visit the self-ruled island claimed by China.

(Reuters) – Nichelle Nichols, whose portrayal of starship communications officer Lieutenant Uhura in the 1960s sci-fi TV series “Star Trek” and subsequent movies broke colour barriers and helped redefine roles for Black actors, has died at age 89, her family said.

TIERRA MONTE, N.M.,  (Reuters) – After the U.S. government started the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s recorded history in April, it is asking victims to share recovery costs on private land, jeopardizing relief efforts, according to residents and state officials.

ANTANANARIVO,  (Reuters) – At least 32 people were killed in Madagascar in an area north of the capital on Friday after local bandits known as “dahalo” set homes on fire, according to statements by the defence ministry.

KYIV, (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday his government was ordering the mandatory evacuation of people in the eastern Donetsk region, scene of fierce fighting with Russia.

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, (Reuters) – Pope Francis said yesterday that his advancing age and his difficulty walking have ushered in a new, slower phase of his papacy and repeated that he would be ready to resign one day if serious health problems prohibited him from running the Church.

BAGHDAD, (Reuters) – Thousands of supporters of Shi’ite populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed Baghdad’s fortified government zone and broke into parliament yesterday for the second time in a week, leaving at least 125 people injured and escalating a political stand-off.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again yesterday in what the White House doctor described as a “rebound” case seen in a small percentage of patients who take the antiviral drug Paxlovid.

LONDON, (Reuters) – British businesses are cutting ties with China due to concerns about political tensions, a shift that is likely to stoke inflationary pressures, the head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said in an interview published on Saturday.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden again tested positive for COVID-19 today, according to a statement from the White House physician, although he is experiencing no symptoms and feels “quite well.”