Tag: World News

WASHINGTON—World leaders gathering this week for an annual United Nations meeting will confront persisting global problems such as Covid-19 and climate change, while grappling with new tensions and conflicts dividing U.N. members. Diplomats and leaders attending the U.N. General Assembly in New York will also contend with the return to power of the Taliban and the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, as well as the challenge posed by Iran under a new, hard-line president, Ebrahim Raisi.

ROCHESTER, N.Y.—After fleeing Afghanistan, Muhammad and his six children landed in their new hometown on the day the capital city of Kabul fell to the Taliban. The family’s fortuitous escape marked the start of another difficult journey. Muhammad had spent his first night in America in the emergency room of a Virginia hospital, struggling to breathe. He was overcome with worry about his wife, Aliya, who was stopped from boarding their flight from Kabul because of a visa problem. With only minutes to set their course, she and Muhammad agreed to separate. He would take the children to the U.S. alone.

TEL AVIV—After a nearly two-week manhunt, Israeli security forces captured the last pair of six Palestinian militants who staged a daring escape from a high-security prison that embarrassed Israel’s security establishment and ignited a fresh wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Security forces tracked the final two escapees to a hideout in the West Bank city of Jenin before surrounding the building in a high-stakes standoff on Sunday. The two fugitives gave themselves up to avoid anyone being injured, according to the father of one of the prisoners.

The global recovery is slowing as Covid-19 resurges, spurring governments to try to raise vaccination rates in hopes of fueling stronger economic growth. The thinking is, first, that vaccinations will ease consumers’ worries about infection, prompting them to spend more on travel, dining out, going to concerts and other activities that involve proximity to other people. Second, reduced Covid-19 case counts would mean fewer government shutdowns of ports, factories and other operations critical to global supply chains.