North and South Korea have adopted different approaches to dealing with their falling birth rates and impending population decline. North Korea’s fertility rate, or number of children expected per woman’s lifetime, is 1.78 births per woman, according to projections by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). South Korea is at 0.72, the lowest in the … Read more
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s former opposition candidate Edmundo González said Wednesday he was forced to sign a letter effectively acknowledging his defeat in the presidential election. July, which electoral authorities say was won by President Nicolás Maduro. The revelation of the letter is the latest effort for the country’s political crisis, which has been … Read more
Highway 2 reopens after truck spills 20 gallons of herbicide mixture near Monroe A portion of Highway 2 near Monroe is back open after Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue says a semi truck hit a pickup truck. The crash resulted in 15 to 20 gallons of a herbicide mixture spilling onto the road at milepost … Read more
Getty Images The US central bank cut interest rates more than expected in its first reduction in more than four years, an important moment for the world’s largest economy. The Federal Reserve said it would lower the target for its key lending rate by 0.5 percentage points, to a range of 4.75%-5%. Officials made the … Read more
A second wave of explosions from the device hit Lebanon on Wednesday, killing nine, injuring 300 and igniting fires across the country a day after hundreds of pagers belonging to members of Hezbollah detonated in an unprecedented attack on the militant group . The Lebanese Red Cross said it deployed 30 ambulances to southern Lebanon … Read more
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is making its latest push for Asian American voters, releasing a personal ad about her mother, Shyamala Gopalan. The 60-second ad, titled “My Mother,” features Harris speaking about her mother at the Democratic National Convention last month, alongside photos and video of Gopalan, who died in 2009. “My mother … Read more
This was supposed to be the week. Former President Donald Trump’s legal work was about to reach its first dramatic conclusion. Fifty days from a presidential election in which he is the Republican candidate, Mr. Trump would be sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom. Why we wrote this A focused story The US justice system is … Read more
A Vermont city official, his wife and son were found shot to death in their home over the weekend, state police said. Police identified them Tuesday as Brian Crossman, 46, a selectman in Pawlet; Erica Crossman, 41; and Colin Taft, 13. The town of about 1,400 people is near the New York state line. They … Read more