Deep-sea mining emerges as a flashpoint in shift from fossil fuels
Mining the deep seas: The best way forward to a green energy transition, or a looming environmental disaster?
Ronald Powers
Veteran journalist, storyteller, photographer, with 40+ years at AP as a reporter, national editor and Washington bureau supervisor.
Washington
It’s here: Global warming takes center stage in season of records
Don't say we weren't warned: Extreme weather events and new records are becoming the norm as our polluted Earth suffers warming oceans, raging fires and rising floods.
For many of the world's poorest nations, economic outlook is bleak
As interest rates soar and the economy slows, the World Bank sees an 'enduring setback' for many developing economies.
Economic sanctions as a modern tool: Cruel to the most vulnerable?
A new study finds economic sanctions in target countries contribute to increases in mortality, poverty, and inequality, and to declines in per-capita income and human rights.
El Niño could push temperatures even higher: climate agencies
The onset of a possible El Niño climate event later this year combined with rising greenhouse gases could push global temperatures to a new warming record.
Red Cross finds around half of all armed groups are state-supported
New ICRC guidelines are meant to protect innocent civilians and detainees against violence by non-state armed groups.
Pushed to the brink: War, disaster, lost rights challenge kids worldwide
From the killing fields of Ukraine to the earthquakes of Turkey and Syria, children struggle in an often indifferent world.
Researchers find 1.77B children worldwide lack basic safety net
The number of children without basic social protections is increasing worldwide, UNICEF and ILO say in a new study.
Lost childhoods: Ukraine's most innocent victims in Putin's war
The global demands for peace grow as humanitarian aid workers emphasize the war's devastating effect on children.
United Nations seeks additional $5.6 billion in aid for Ukraine
As Putin's war in Ukraine nears the one-year mark, the U.N. again calls on the international community to step up with billions more in aid.
Pollution, climate change feed drug-resistant 'superbugs'
Fed by pollution and climate change, strains of bacteria immune to all known antibiotics may become a major cause of death by mid-century.
Watchdog finds scant progress in fight against corruption
As the world becomes a less peaceful place, a new report finds a clear connection between more violence and corruption.
World's aging dams lose storage capacity at alarming rate
Trapped sediment robs dams of storage capacity. Storage loss by 2050 will equal the combined yearly water use of Canada, China, France, India and Indonesia, says a U.N. University report.
Chinese health officials pressed for COVID-19 spike data
WHO is seeking more information from Beijing about the COVID-19 surge in China while many nations impose travel restrictions. The E.U. is offering China free vaccinations.
U.N. summit clinches 196-nation deal to halt biodiversity loss
Negotiators reached the 30% by 2030 or "30 by 30" deal – which would improve on the 17% of land and 10% of water now protected – just as the almost two-week United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, was due to end.
IEA: Global coal use to peak before solar, wind overtake it
Driven by rising energy costs and supply uncertainties caused by the war in Ukraine, governments and businesses increasingly look to solar and wind as reliable energy sources. They will overtake coal, but not for a few more years.