First Look Olive police? Century-old trees chopped by chainsaw-wielding thieves. In the Mediterranean’s olive-growing countries, the extreme weather caused by climate change is taking a toll. Olive oil prices have soared, sparking a rise in thievery, including cutting down century-old trees. Greek farmers have asked for police help. | View caption Hide caption | In…
First Look Ukraine warns of food crisis after four EU states ban grain imports Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia have banned grain imports from Ukraine, which in turn lodged a protest with the World Trade Organization. The ban widens a rift between war-torn Ukraine and several of its nominal allies in the fight against Russia. |…
Safety Europe How a volcano prepared Tenerife to fight wildfires | View caption Hide caption Amid changing climate, much of the world is struggling with wildfires. But in Tenerife, locals have managed to contain blazes without fatalities or loss of homes, thanks to experience learned from previous natural disasters. “All this nature that was destroyed…
Italy’s Mount Etna, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has blown its top again. The mid-August eruption, the latest in a long line of rumblings from the Sicilian mountain, soon “evolved into a ‘lava fountain’” that produced a “volcanic cloud dispersed in a southerly direction” and forced the temporary closure of a local airport,…
First Look Italy’s double trouble: Soaring migration meets labor shortage Despite her campaign pledges, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has struggled to control a surge in migration. Due to the country’s growing labor shortages, her administration has been compelled to issue a larger number of work visas for migrants. | View caption Hide caption |…
Perseverance Europe Russian attacks on grain exports challenge Ukraine, and the world | View caption Hide caption Russia has launched near-nightly attacks on Ukrainian export facilities since it withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Tons of grain have burned and prices have surged, reviving concerns for worsening global food security. Beside a wrecked loading…
A child was injured at an Orlando-area theme park after falling from a roller coaster, which has since been temporarily closed, officials said Friday. The child, described as a 6-year-old, was hospitalized after he apparently fell Thursday afternoon from the Galaxy Spin ride at Fun Spot America, near Kissimmee, fire officials said. “Units arrived to…
Does Trump have a fiscal math problem? The spending plan Trump aides described this week will never pass Congress, not even one where both chambers are controlled by Republicans, says the Tax Policy Center. | View caption Hide caption This week, the Trump Administration said it would ask Congress for big increases in defense spending…