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U.N. General Assembly opens with world in crisis — but only 1 of the 5 key world powers attending
CBSN
United Nations — "Drop by drop, the poison of war is infecting our world," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, opening the annual gathering of 193 nations at the U.N. General Assembly.
With the world facing its highest number of violent conflicts since 1945 — beset by the consequences of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the related spike in food prices, as well as record temperatures, climate disasters and unprecedented numbers of migrants and asylum seekers crossing borders to look for better lives — the agenda is daunting.
President Biden will speak there on Tuesday, but the leaders of four of the five veto-wielding, permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — Britain, France, Russia and China — will be conspicuously absent. So how much can the United Nations hope to achieve?
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Beijing — China on Friday lashed out at what it called U.S. "coercion" after Panama declined to renew a key infrastructure agreement with Beijing following Washington's threat to take back the Panama Canal. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a briefing that China "firmly opposes the U.S. smearing and undermining the Belt and Road cooperation through means of pressure and coercion."
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London — The Herculaneum scrolls have remained one of the many tantalizing mysteries of the ancient world for almost 2,000 years. Burnt to a crisp by lava from Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, the reams of rolled-up papyrus were discovered in a mansion in Herculaneum — an ancient Roman town near Pompeii — in the mid-18th century. Both towns were decimated by the Vesuvius eruption, and most of the scrolls were so badly charred they were impossible to open.
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London — Tourists continued to flee the Greek island of Santorini on Wednesday — a fourth consecutive day of exodus sparked by a series of earthquakes that have rattled the incredibly popular European vacation destination. Around 7,000 people have left the island, which sits southeast of Greece's mainland, since the quakes began last week, according to the AFP news agency.