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By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the island nation of Tonga on Wednesday, the latest senior U.S. official to visit the South Pacific, and warned of China’s “problematic behaviour” in the region. China’s growing presence in the region, which saw it sign a security pact with the Solomon Islands last year, has fuelled concern in Washington and Canberra about Beijing’s ambitions and prompted […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Hong Kong has strengthened inspection of vegetable imports from Japan, expanding the scope of tighter controls beyond seafood after Tokyo confirmed plans to release treated radioactive water from Fukushima, Jiji news agency reported on Wednesday. Hong Kong had said it would ban seafood products from a large number of Japanese prefectures if Tokyo went ahead with a plan to discharge the water into the sea from the […]

20 years ago, 90% of Americans professed faith in a higher power. Today, a new Gallup poll finds only 74% still feel that way. In fact, belief in the supernatural is in decline generally. Only 67% of the general population thinks that heaven exists, and just 59% believe in hell. And when it comes to Satan — only 58% believe. These trends match a corresponding decline in America’s Christian faith. […]

By Mike Stone and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Defense announced $400 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine on Tuesday, including air defense missiles, armored vehicles and small drones, as Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia grinds on. The new aid package, which was first reported by Reuters, will include for the first time U.S. furnished Black Hornet surveillance drones made by Teledyne FLIR Defense, part of Teledyne […]

BRASILIA (Reuters) – NASA Administrator Bill Nelson visited Brazilian space research center INPE on Wednesday and proposed extending satellite partnerships with the United States to help monitor and prevent destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Nelson said NASA will have a satellite in January that can even render images of what is happening below the forest canopy. The satellite, called NISAR, will be launched with India. “It is going to be […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – The population of Japanese citizens decreased at the fastest pace ever while the number of foreign residents rose to a record at nearly 3 million people, government data showed on Wednesday. The data underscores that foreign nationals are playing an even bigger role in Japanese society to make up for a shrinking population. The population of Japanese nationals fell for a 14th year, by about 800,000 people, […]

By Mike Stone and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Defense announced $400 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine on Tuesday, including air defense missiles, armored vehicles and small drones, as Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia grinds on. The new aid package, which was first reported by Reuters, will include for the first time U.S. furnished Black Hornet surveillance drones made by Teledyne FLIR Defense, part of Teledyne […]

By Joseph Ax (Reuters) – Voters in Ohio will decide in November whether to enshrine the right to abortion in their state constitution, after state officials on Tuesday confirmed abortion rights supporters had gathered enough signatures to place the question on the ballot. The measure will be closely watched by groups on both sides of the abortion debate, as activists consider pursuing referendums in other states after the U.S. Supreme […]

By Byron Kaye SYDNEY (Reuters) -An Australian court ordered Facebook owner Meta Platforms to pay fines totalling A$20 million ($14 million) for collecting user data through a smartphone application purporting to protect privacy without disclosing its actions. Australia’s Federal Court also ordered Meta, through its subsidiaries Facebook Israel and the now-discontinued app, Onavo, to pay A$400,000 in legal costs to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which brought the civil […]