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TAIPEI, Taiwan — Alex Honnold on Tuesday became the first person to free solo climb Taipei 101, scaling the 508-meter, 101-story skyscraper without ropes, a harness or a safety net in a live-streamed feat that drew hundreds of spectators on the streets below and millions more on Netflix. The 40-year-old American climber, famed for his 2017 ropeless ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite, moved deliberately up the building’s southeast face for about an hour and a half before topping out and rappelling to the ground, where he…

Nelson Chamisa, the former leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change, has announced his return to frontline politics in Zimbabwe, issuing a sweeping indictment of the country’s governance and calling for a “fresh start” to address what he described as a worsening political, economic and social crisis. In a lengthy statement released Friday, Chamisa accused the current administration of presiding over a legitimacy crisis marked by disputed elections, rigged polls, corruption, state capture and political intolerance. He…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia is bracing for tighter finances after the United States reduced foreign aid, a move officials say is already disrupting assistance and development services across the country. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Omar Ali, known as Ali Balcad, said the government has “recognized this change and is trying to adapt,” framing the shift as part of a broader recalibration of U.S. foreign assistance rather than a Somalia-specific decision. He added that Washington still maintains strategic interests…

Saudi Arabia is knitting together an ambitious web of defense partnerships stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, a bid to harden regional security as faith in Washington’s umbrella frays and rival Gulf capitals jostle for influence. From talks with Egypt and a potential pact with Somalia to deepening ties with Pakistan and possible alignment with Turkey, the moves revisit a familiar idea with new urgency: an “Islamic NATO.” The latest stitch came in Davos, where Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal…

Labour’s ruling body has blocked Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from seeking the party’s nomination in the Gorton and Denton by-election, citing the cost and risk of triggering a separate mayoral contest ahead of major elections in May — a move likely to inflame tensions inside the party. Burnham, one of Labour’s most high-profile figures and widely regarded as a potential leadership rival to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said he wanted to stand to replace Andrew Gwynne, the sitting MP who resigned last week on health…

Minneapolis border shooting ignites political crisis as Senate funding vote falters, shutdown looms Graphic cellphone videos of border patrol agents fatally shooting Alex Pretti outside a Minneapolis coffee shop on Saturday have ricocheted across television and social media, stoking protests and driving an immediate political backlash that threatens to derail funding for the Department of Homeland Security and trigger a government shutdown by Friday. Pretti, 37, an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital, was…

Minneapolis officials and residents demanded answers after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents fatally shot Alex Pretti during a weekend protest, as videos verified by Reuters appeared to contradict the Trump administration’s self-defense account and a federal judge ordered evidence preserved. Pretti, 37, became the second U.S. citizen this month to be killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis amid a sweeping surge of thousands of armed, masked agents deployed by President Donald Trump. Minnesota Gov.…

Winter storm shuts airports, knocks out power as Arctic cold grips eastern U.S. A powerful winter storm swept from the Ohio Valley and mid-South to New England with heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain, colliding with a deep Arctic blast that has locked in dangerous cold across much of the United States east of the Rockies. Winter storm warnings stretched across most of the eastern third of the country, covering about 118 million people, as the National Weather Service warned of widespread, prolonged travel disruptions and…

Somalia resolves rare public spat between embassies in Kenya and Tanzania MOGADISHU — Somalia’s federal government says it has resolved a rare and public dispute between its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, closing ranks after an internal review and new guidance meant to prevent a repeat. The rift surfaced in September after Somalia’s embassy in Tanzania criticized a visit by the Somali ambassador to Kenya to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a statement at the time, the Tanzanian mission said the…

Minneapolis — A fatal shooting by a federal agent in Minneapolis has intensified scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown after a month marked by five shootings tied to enforcement operations and a surge in deaths in immigration detention. The man killed Tuesday was identified in local reports as Alex Pretti, 37, a U.S. citizen, registered nurse and licensed gun owner. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said a U.S. Border Patrol agent opened fire after Pretti resisted attempts to disarm him. Local…