World

175 states sign landmark Paris deal on climate change

Published on Fri, 04/22/2016 - 4:52pm
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UNITED NATIONS — The historic agreement on climate change marked a major milestone on Friday with a record 175 countries signing on to it on opening day. But world leaders made clear more action is needed, and quickly, to fight a relentless rise in global temperatures.

With the planet heating up to record levels, sea levels rising and glaciers melting, the pressure to have the Paris Agreement enter into force and to have every country turn its words into deeds was palpable at the U.N. signing ceremony.

Volkswagen owners will get a choice: a buyback or repairs

Published on Thu, 04/21/2016 - 4:46pm
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SAN FRANCISCO — The owners of nearly half a million polluting Volkswagens in the U.S. will have the option of selling them back to the company or getting them repaired at VW's expense, under a deal announced Thursday by a federal judge.

The tentative agreement outlined by Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, however, left many questions unanswered, among them: How much can car owners expect in a buyback? Will they be compensated for any reduced gas mileage and performance resulting from a repair? And how soon could the program start?

Mexico proposes raising limit on decriminalized pot to 1 oz

Published on Thu, 04/21/2016 - 3:54pm
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MEXICO CITY — President Enrique Pena Nieto said Thursday that he will ask Mexico's Congress to raise the limit on decriminalized marijuana for personal use to 28 grams, or about one ounce.

Currently, only possession of five grams, or less than a fifth of an ounce, is exempt from prosecution.

"This means that consumption would no longer be criminalized," Pena Nieto said.

Possession of larger amounts would still be punishable under drug trafficking laws.

Paris climate agreement on track for early start

Published on Thu, 04/21/2016 - 3:51pm
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UNITED NATIONS — As many as 170 countries are expected to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change Friday in a symbolic triumph for a landmark deal that once seemed unlikely but now appears on track to enter into force years ahead of schedule.

U.N. officials say the signing ceremony Friday will set a record for international diplomacy: Never before have so many countries inked an agreement on the first day of the signing period.

Half-mile tunnel found on US-Mexico border, cocaine seized

Published on Thu, 04/21/2016 - 3:47pm
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SAN DIEGO — U.S. authorities said Wednesday that they discovered a cross-border tunnel that ran a half-mile from a Tijuana house equipped with a large elevator to a lot in San Diego that was advertised as a wooden pallet business, resulting in seizures of more than a ton of cocaine and seven tons of marijuana.

Norwegian court: Mass killer Breivik's rights were violated

Published on Wed, 04/20/2016 - 4:41pm
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STAVANGER, Norway — Norwegian authorities have violated the human rights of mass killer Anders Behring Breivik by holding him in solitary confinement in a three-cell complex where he can play video games, watch TV and exercise, a court in Oslo ruled Wednesday.

In the surprise decision, the Oslo district court said the isolation that Breivik faces in prison for killing 77 people in a bomb-and-gun massacre in 2011 is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ecuador death toll keeps rising as new jolts cause jitters

Published on Wed, 04/20/2016 - 4:29pm
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MANTA, Ecuador — A fresh tremor rattled Ecuador before dawn Wednesday, a magnitude-6.1 jolt that set babies crying and shaken residents pouring once again into the streets, fearful of yet more damage following a monster earthquake over the weekend.

It was the strongest aftershock yet following Saturday's magnitude-7.8 quake that killed more than 500 people. Some people in Portoviejo abandoned their homes, even those with no apparent damage, and headed through the night toward a former airport where temporary shelters have been set up.

Obama pushes Saudis, Gulf allies to step up Iraq aid

Published on Wed, 04/20/2016 - 3:03pm
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — With fresh friction wearing on an old alliance, President Barack Obama pressed Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf nations on Wednesday to step up efforts to defeat the Islamic State group and help rebuild war-torn Iraq.

Up to 500 feared dead in Mediterranean shipwreck last week

Published on Wed, 04/20/2016 - 2:59pm

GENEVA — As many as 500 people are feared dead after a shipwreck last week in the Mediterranean Sea, two international groups said Wednesday, describing survivors' accounts of panicked passengers who desperately tried to stay afloat by jumping between vessels.

The disaster happened in waters between Italy and Libya, based on accounts from 41 survivors who were rescued Saturday by a merchant ship, according to the U.N refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration.

Earth's hot streak continues for a record 11 months

Published on Tue, 04/19/2016 - 4:35pm
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WASHINGTON — Earth's record monthly heat streak has hit 11 months in a row — a record in itself.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday that March's average global temperature of 54.9 degrees (12.7 degrees Celsius) was not only the hottest March, but continues a record streak that started last May.