Moody's on Friday downgraded its outlook on United States debt to negative from stable, one week before crucial budget negotiations in Congress. For now, the agency has maintained its Aaa rating on US government debt. "In the context of higher interest rates, without effective fiscal policy measures to reduce government spending or increase revenues, Moody's expects that the US's fiscal deficits will remain very large, significantly weakening debt affordability," the age

BRUSSELS -- This year is "virtually certain" to be the warmest in 125,000 years, European Union scientists said Wednesday, after data showed last month was the world's hottest October in that period. Last month smashed through the previous October temperature record, from 2019, by a massive margin, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said. "The record was broken by 0.4 degrees Celsius, which is a huge margin," said C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess, who de

In the US, Democratic President Joe Biden is behind Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in five of the six most important battleground states exactly a year before the presidential election as Americans express doubts about Biden’s age, dissatisfaction toward his handling of the economy and other issues, polls showed. The polls were conducted by The New York Times and Siena College. Trump, first in the field for his party’s 2024 nomination as he seeks to regain the presidency, leads

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The United States and Arab partners disagreed Saturday on the need for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip as Israeli military strikes killed civilians at a UN shelter and a hospital, and Israel said the besieged enclave’s Hamas rulers were “encountering the full force” of its troops. Large columns of smoke rose as Israel’s military said it had encircled Gaza City, the initial target of its offensive to crush Hamas. Gaza’s Health Mini

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Survivors of a strong earthquake that shook Nepal’s northwest in the middle of the night described sudden shaking followed by houses collapsing and burying entire families, as the death toll rose to 157 on Saturday. Most of those killed were crushed by debris when their houses — usually made by stacking rocks and logs — crumbled under the force of the tremblor midnight Friday, local media reported. While rescuers were scrambling to rush aid, operations

From Washington to Milan to Paris, tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched Saturday, calling for a halt to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza . The marches reflected growing disquiet about the mounting civilian casualty toll and suffering from the Israel-Hamas war . Protesters, particularly in countries with large Muslim populations, including the US, UK and France, expressed disillusionment with their governments for supporting Israel while its bombardments of hospitals and

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Israeli drone fired a missile at the Gaza house of Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh who is currently outside the enclave, Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa Radio reported on Saturday. It was unclear whether any of his family members were at the house when it was struck. Haniyeh, Hamas' political chief, has been outside the Gaza Strip since 2019, residing between Turkey and Qatar.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Helicopters and ground troops rushed to help people hurt in a strong earthquake that shook districts in northwestern Nepal just before midnight Friday, killing at least 128 people and injuring dozens more, officials said Saturday. Authorities said the death toll was expected to rise, noting that communications were cut off with many places. At the regional hospital in the city of Nepalgunj, more than 100 beds were made available and teams of doctors stood by to help

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an emphatic appeal Friday for "humanitarian pauses" in the fighting between Israel and the Hamas militant group in Gaza, saying they would facilitate efforts to bring aid to the besieged enclave and secure the release of hostages. Blinken addressed a press conference in Tel Aviv after he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials on a trip to reiterate the United States' support for Israel, ensure

Israeli forces on Thursday encircled Gaza City - the Gaza Strip's main city - in their assault on Hamas, the military said, but the Palestinian militant group resisted their drive with hit-and-run attacks from underground tunnels. The city in the north of the Gaza Strip has become the focus of attack for Israel, which has vowed to annihilate the Islamist group's command structure and has told civilians to flee to the south. "We're at the height of the battle. We've had i

　Just over half of US teens said in a Gallup Poll that they spend at least 4 hours a day on social media sites such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X, formerly known as Twitter. 　Gallup found 51 percent of teens averaged 4.8 hours a day. 　Across age groups, the average time spent on social media ranges from as low as 4.1 hours per day for 13-year-olds to as high as 5.8 hours per day for 17-year-olds. 　The data is from Gallup’s Familial and Adolescent Health Survey conducted

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip -- More than 3,600 Palestinian children were killed in the first 25 days of the war between Israel and Hamas, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry. They were hit by airstrikes, smashed by misfired rockets, burned by blasts and crushed by buildings, and among them were newborns and toddlers, avid readers, aspiring journalists and boys who thought they'd be safe in a church. Nearly half of the crowded strip's 2.3 million inhabitants are under 18, a

In Los Angeles, a man screaming "kill Jews" attempts to break into a family's home. In London, girls in a playground are told they are "stinking Jews" and should stay off the slide. In China, posts likening Jews to parasites, vampires or snakes proliferate on social media, attracting thousands of "likes." These are examples of incidents of antisemitism, which have surged globally since the attack by Hamas gunmen on southern Israel on Oct. 7 and subsequent war o

Israeli airstrikes hit a densely populated refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 50 Palestinians and a Hamas commander, and medics struggled to treat the casualties in the enclave where food, fuel and basic supplies are running scarce. Israeli tanks have been active in Gaza for at least four days following weeks of air bombardments in retaliation for an attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7 and the taking of more than 200 hostages. An Israel Defense

The latest Israel-Hamas war has quickly become the deadliest and most destructive of the five wars fought between the sides since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 from the Palestinian Authority. Fighting erupted Oct. 7 when Hamas carried out a bloody attack in southern Israel. Since then, Israel has relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes that have wrought unprecedented destruction, flattening entire neighborhoods. Here’s a look in numbers at the toll of the Israe