The United Nations weather agency on Wednesday said the world is likely to briefly climb above a critically important warming threshold within the next five years, reinforcing the urgent need to slash planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions. In a landmark report timed to coincide with World Environment Day, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said there is now an 80% chance that global average temperatures will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit)...

The war in Gaza has settled into a mind-numbing pattern of violence, bloodshed, and death. And everyone is losing—except Hamas. When Israel invaded the territory last fall, its stated military objective was to destroy the terrorist group so that it could never again commit acts of barbarity like the ones it carried out during its October 7 attack. But although the war has culled Hamas’s ranks, it has also vastly increased support for the group—among Palestinians, throughout the Middle East, and...

Walmart is adding a new bonus for hourly store workers months after hiking store managers' pay and redesigning the bonus program for managers, the retailer announced Wednesday. Why it matters: The nation's largest private employer and largest retailer is looking for more ways to retain employees in the competitive labor market.

President Biden forgot key facts about the economy, foreign policy and his time in public office during a sit-down interview with Time magazine last month — even mixing up Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Biden, 81, repeated a false claim that wage increases have outpaced inflation during his presidency, lowballed the amount of US foreign aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and overestimated both Japan’s defense spending and the...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. narrowly helps President Biden and hurts former President Trump’s chances at winning the White House in key battleground states, a new survey finds.  Polling from Mainstreet Research, PolCom Lab and Florida Atlantic University showed Trump with a slight lead over Biden in a head-to-head race in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. But when Kennedy is added to the mix, Biden takes the lead in both states, according to the poll.

Republican allies of Donald J. Trump are calling for revenge prosecutions and other retaliatory measures against Democrats in response to his felony conviction in New York. Within hours of a jury finding Mr. Trump guilty last week, the anger congealed into demands for action. Since then, prominent G.O.P. leaders in and out of government have demanded that elected Republicans use every available instrument of power against Democrats, including targeted investigations and prosecutions.

A conservative nonprofit is suing the Department of Justice after it failed to release records requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) pertaining to Matthew Colangelo, a key figure in the New York criminal trial of former President Trump. America First Legal (AFL) alleged in the lawsuit filed Monday that New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg – the lead official in Trump's prosecution – hired Matthew Colangelo in December 2022 to reportedly "jump-start" his office’s...

A bipartisan group of lawmakers gathered in the capital today to commemorate the Tiananmen Square Massacre and celebrate the continued struggle for democracy in China. The event near the steps of the Capitol Building was led by members of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and featured several survivors of the 1989 incident in Tiananmen Square. “We stand with the victims of Tiananmen Square and all those currently facing the...

As the 35th anniversary of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square crackdown neared, Rowena He, a prominent scholar of that bloody chapter of modern China’s history, was busy flying between the United States, Britain and Canada to give a series of talks. Each was aimed at speaking out for those who cannot. The 1989 crackdown, in which government troops opened fire on student-led pro-democracy protesters, resulting in hundreds, if not thousands, dead, remains a taboo subject in mainland China....

Hong Kong police arrested four people and detained five others Tuesday as authorities sought to stamp out commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in mainland China on its 35th anniversary. Police were out in force patrolling Hong Kong’s Victoria Park, where an annual candlelight vigil had been held until recent years. As police patrolled the area, including the two closest subway stations, they did not hesitate to take away people who were...