Taps have run dry across South Africa's largest city in an unprecedented water crisis (apnews.com)
What we all have to look forward to in the near future...
Democracies under threat around the globe (www.dw.com)
The hard facts are sobering: According to a new study, the quality of democracy has deteriorated over the past 20 years in 137 countries that are considered developing or emerging economies. According to the Bertelsmann Foundation’s “Transformation Index,” there are now 63 democracies compared to 74 autocracies. In other...
Russians head to polls in a vote set to extend Putin's rule. His foes are in jail, in exile or dead (apnews.com)
9 people dead and 78 others hospitalized after eating sea turtle meat on Zanzibar's Pemba Island (apnews.com)
Maritime corridor for aid to Gaza will take two months to build and 1,000 U.S. forces, Pentagon says (www.cbsnews.com)
Up to 60 days for US to establish Gaza port, Pentagon says (www.al-monitor.com)
Dragon Ball: Japan manga creator Akira Toriyama dies (www.bbc.com)
The creator of Dragon Ball, one of the most influential and best-selling Japanese comics of all time, has died at 68....
US says no troops to Haiti as country reels from explosion of gang violence (www.theguardian.com)
North Korea stops sending shells to Russia, Seoul claims (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Talks on an Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal appear on track after killings at Gaza aid site, officials say | CNN Politics (www.cnn.com)
‘Putin must lose everything’: defiant Zelenskiy hosts western leaders in Kyiv to mark two years of war (www.theguardian.com)
Ukraine’s president met the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Belgium in a show of unity after recent battlefield defeats...
Argentine austerity anger mounts, but govt says its working (www.france24.com)
Macron says recognizing a Palestinian state 'not a taboo' for France (www.lemonde.fr)
Russian lawmakers approve bill to confiscate assets of people who 'discredit' the army (abcnews.go.com)
The lower house of Russia’s parliament has approved a bill that would allow the confiscation of money, valuables and other assets from those convicted on charges of spreading “deliberately false information” about the country’s military...
Biden’s response to Jordan attack is likely to be powerful, but US is wary of triggering a wider war with Iran, officials say (www.cnn.com)
The US’ response to the drone attack in Jordan that killed and wounded US service members on Sunday is likely to be more powerful than previous American retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria, officials told CNN, though the Pentagon and White House are being careful not to telegraph the administration’s plans....
Rape trial for IDF man (www.thejc.com)
One of the IDF’s most prominent combat commanders has been charged with rape and sexual assault....
Over 2,000 shell companies have directors aged 123 years or older, Moody’s found. The oldest known human lived to 122 (fortune.com)
Moody’s Analytics has found 21 million “red flags” associated with shell companies that could be used to enable financial crimes, from ancient directors to dubious addresses....
Sky News Makes On-Air Apology After Presenter Compared Israel’s War In Gaza To The Holocaust (deadline.com)
Ecuador police destroy over 20 metric tons of cocaine (news.yahoo.com)
QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean Police on Thursday destroyed some 21.5 metric tons of cocaine which they seized over the weekend as part of a military offensive declared by the government to combat organized crime....
Groundwater depletion accelerating in many parts of the world, study finds (english.elpais.com)
Iran executes man, 23, with mental health condition over Mahsa Amini protests (www.independent.co.uk)
France Rejects Genocide Accusations Against Israel in Gaza (www.nytimes.com)
“To accuse the Jewish state of genocide is to cross a moral threshold,” France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday....
Drought Touches a Quarter of Humanity, U.N. Says, Disrupting Lives Globally (www.nytimes.com)
Germany: Sahra Wagenknecht launches new political party (www.dw.com)
The former Left Party politician presented her team at a press conference in Berlin. It aims to defy labels with a mix of left-leaning economic, conservative migration and pro-Russian foreign policy initiatives....
Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary to become first Australian-born Queen (www.cnn.com)
The fairy tale rise of an Australian sales executive to the upper ranks of European royalty is set to be completed later this month when Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth of Denmark becomes the country’s Queen Consort....
