The Philippines has cancelled in-person public school classes for the next two days and said the power grid on its main island could be strained as the country grapples with a heatwave that is also affecting other parts of Southeast Asia. The state weather agency on Monday forecast temperatures in the capital region could reach 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in the next three days. The agency said the heat index -- the actual temperature felt by the body to include relative humidity -- is expected to remain at a record 45 degrees Celsius (113° Fahrenheit), in the range which it classes as "dangerous" as conditions can trigger heat stroke from prolonged exposure.
Opening statements are expected Monday in the fraud trial of seven people charged in what federal prosecutors have called a massive scheme to exploit lax rules during the COVID-19 pandemic and steal from a program meant to provide meals to children in Minnesota. The seven will be the first of 70 defendants to go on trial in the alleged scam. Prosecutors have said the seven collectively stole over $40 million in a conspiracy that cost taxpayers $250 million — one of the largest pandemic-related fraud cases in the country.
A trial for a mass environmental injury case begins in Hawaii on Monday, more than two years after a U.S. military fuel tank facility under ground poisoned thousands of people when it leaked jet fuel into Pearl Harbor's drinking water. Instead of a jury, a judge in U.S. District Court in Honolulu will hear about a lawsuit against the United States by 17 “bellwether” plaintiffs: a cross-selection of relatives of military members representing more than 7,500 others, including service members, in three federal lawsuits. According to court documents, the U.S. government has admitted the Nov. 20, 2021, spill at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility caused a nuisance for the plaintiffs, that the United States “breached its duty of care” and that the plaintiffs suffered compensable injuries.
U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, the first and only Ukrainian-born member of Congress, emerged early on as a natural advocate for supporting her native country in its war with Russia. The event in a hall just off of the town's main street was attended by eight of the nine GOP primary candidates, who were able to make their case to voters and county Republican officials one at a time during a meet-and-greet that also included short speeches by the candidates.
Spain is in nail-biting suspense Monday as it waits for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to announce whether he will continue in office or not. Sánchez shocked the country on Thursday, announcing he was taking five days off to think about his future after a court opened preliminary proceedings against his wife on corruption allegations. The legal complaint against his wife, Begoña Gómez, was filed by a far-right legal platform that says Gómez used her position to influence business deals.
The leading candidate to be Panama’s next president is a last-minute stand-in who promises to return the Central American country to a boom time that experts say will be difficult to recapture. José Raúl Mulino, a maritime lawyer and former security minister, was thrust to the top of the presidential ticket after Panama’s electoral authorities ruled former President Ricardo Martinelli ineligible following his money laundering conviction and sentencing. Lacking Martinelli’s charisma and popular appeal, but benefitting from the supermarket magnate’s vociferous support, Mulino has maintained a healthy lead in the field crowded with eight candidates ahead of the May 5 election.
Born and raised in Pakistan to parents who fled neighboring Afghanistan half a century ago, an 18-year-old found himself at the mercy of police in Karachi who took his cash, phone and motorbike, and sent him to a deportation center. Scared and bewildered, he spent three days there before he was sent back to Afghanistan, a place he has never been to, with nothing but clothes on his back. The youth is one of at least 1.7 million Afghans who made Pakistan their home as their country sank deeper into decades of war.
University administrators facing pressure to get things back under control. The pro-Palestinian demonstration and subsequent arrests at Columbia that have set off similar protests at campuses nationwide these days and even internationally aren't new ground for students at the Ivy League school. “When you’re going to Columbia, you know you’re going to an institution which has an honored place in the history of American protest,” said Mark Naison, professor of history and African & African American Studies at Fordham University and himself a participant in the 1968 demonstrations.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday begins his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began more than six months ago. The war has ground on since Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israel with little end in sight: more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, hundreds of thousands more are displaced and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening. U.S. support for Israel, particularly arms transfers, has come under particular criticism, something the administration is keenly aware poses potential problems for President Joe Biden in an election year.
At least four people are dead, including an infant, after a tornado outbreak in Oklahoma overnight, as severe storms threaten more twisters, heavy rain and large hail from Missouri to Texas Sunday.
President Joe Biden is casting the 2024 election partly as a referendum on Donald Trump, but it’s a harder card to play now that he’s in office and some voters have warming memories of the former president’s chaotic term.
The yen sank to a new 34-year low past 160 per dollar on Monday after a forecast-beating US inflation reading dented expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.That, along with push-back by US Federal Reserve decision-makers warning against cutting too soon, has led investors to revise their outlook for how many reductions there would be this year.
China will send a robotic spacecraft in coming days on a round trip to the moon's far side in the first of three technically demanding missions that will pave the way for an inaugural Chinese crewed landing and a base on the lunar south pole. Since the first Chang'e mission in 2007, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia. In 2020, China brought back samples from the moon's near side in the first sample retrieval in more than four decades, confirming for the first time it could safely return an uncrewed spacecraft to Earth from the lunar surface.
The yen slumped to a fresh 34-year low against the dollar on Monday, fuelling expectations Japanese authorities would step in to support their currency for the first time since late 2022.The yen slipped to 160.17 to the greenback in morning trade, stirring speculation that Japanese authorities would intervene to arrest its slide.
Students at dozens of universities in the U.S. and Canada are continuing to protest for Palestinian human rights after months of war in Gaza.
The chairman of Chinese battery giant CATL Robin Zeng visited Elon Musk's hotel in Beijing on Monday, a day after the Tesla CEO's surprise arrival on a trip expected to involve talks on the rollout of self-driving software. Musk arrived in the Chinese capital on Sunday where he was expected to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and permission to transfer driving data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. On Monday morning, CATL Chairman Zeng was seen exiting an elevator in the lobby of Musk's hotel, where he was greeted by two top Tesla China executives, Tom Zhu and Grace Tao, a Reuters witness said.
Asian shares were trading higher Monday amid optimism over the rally that ended the week on Wall Street, although eyes were on the Federal Reserve policy meeting set for later this week. Japan has a series of holidays coming up known as the Golden Week, through Monday. Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said the market mood was positive after last week's Wall Street tech-driven rally.
Countries return to the negotiating table on Monday for one last push on concluding a pandemic agreement, now in slimmed-down form with some of the thorniest aspects stripped out and shelved.The 194 countries in the WHO are coming back to its Geneva headquarters for a do-or-die round of negotiations from Monday to May 10, to narrow their disagreements on how to best share resources needed to fight off the next pandemic.
In Latin America, the Austrian-American laissez-faire proponent Ludwig von Mises, who died in 1973, is having something of a moment.
Their forces are waiting for much-needed arms from the United States.