Remaining differences raise questions about whether a final deal is imminent as representatives from 175 nations convened in Busan, South Korea, on Monday for the fifth round of negotiations aimed at establishing an international convention to reduce plastic pollution. After the previous round of negotiations in Ottawa in April concluded without a resolution on limiting plastic output, South Korea is holding the fifth and supposedly final meeting of the U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5). After petrochemical-producing countries like Saudi Arabia and China fiercely rejected efforts to target plastic manufacturing despite the concerns of countries that bore the brunt of plastic pollution, discussions will now be centered on chemicals of concern and other measures. Talks ove...

Australia's SydneyThe government of Australia announced on Sunday that it has abandoned plans to punish internet companies up to 5% of their worldwide turnover for their inability to stop the spread of false material online. Ahead of a federal election that is scheduled for within a year, the law was part of Australia's extensive regulatory crackdown, in which politicians have expressed dissatisfaction about foreign-domiciled internet platforms displacing the nation's sovereignty. There is no way to pass this idea through the Senate, according to public remarks and interactions with senators, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said in a statement. According to Rowland, the law would have brought about a previously unheard-of degree of openness by making large corporations answerable ...

Pakistan's Peshawar A seven-day ceasefire agreement between competing sectarian groups was brokered by a Pakistani government team on Sunday, ending days of fighting in the country's northwest that has left at least 68 people dead and several others injured, according to one of the mediators. At least 40 people, primarily Shiite Muslims, were killed when gunmen assaulted convoys of civilian vehicles on Thursday, sparking the bloodshed. Sunni Muslim citizens became the target of reprisal attacks as a result, and armed organizations from both sides have engaged in fierce combat. A land dispute in Kurram district, close to the Afghan border, has led to decades of tribal and sectarian conflict between armed Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Muhammad Ali Saif, a member of the mediation team, told Reu...

Romania's political scene is in shock after a little-known far-right populist defeated the incumbent prime minister in the first round of the presidential election, according to electoral results released Monday. In two weeks, reformist Elena Lasconi will compete in a runoff against independent Calin Georgescu. After almost every ballot was counted, Georgescu, 62, had about 22.95% of the vote and was in the lead. With 19.17%, Lasconi of the progressive Save Romania Union party, or USR, came next. She narrowly defeated Social Democratic Party, or PSD, incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who had 19.15% of the vote. The far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, was led by George Simion, who received 13.87% of the vote. The PSD has never had a candidate in the second round of...

Rico Carty, who hit a major league-best.366 with the Atlanta Braves and won the 1970 NL hitting title, has away. He was eighty-five. On Sunday, the Braves, Major League Baseball, and the Players Association honored Carty on social media. Carty passed away in a hospital in Atlanta on Saturday night, according to a family acquaintance who spoke to List n Diario, a daily in his home Dominican Republic. According to the players association's statement, Carty was one of the first innovative Latino stars in the major leagues and became a hero to millions of people in his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris, his native Dominican Republic, and Atlanta, where he was a cherished fan favorite. According to the Braves, Carty had a lasting impression on the team. The squad added in its statement that alth...

According to the organization conducting the hunt for pilot Amelia Earhart's potential crash site in the Pacific, a sonar image that was thought to be of her plane turned out to be the typical formations of the sea floor. Earlier this month, the marine robotics company Deep Sea Vision posted on social media that photos taken by an underwater drone used during the trip revealed a "natural rock formation." The Nov. 6 article stated, "After 11 months the waiting has finally ended and unfortunately our target was not Amelia's Electra 10E," in reference to her Lockheed 10-E Electra, which has twin engines. A request for additional details regarding its findings was not immediately answered by the Charleston, South Carolina-based company. When the business declared in January that Earhart's plan...

According to the group, the Congressional Black Caucus will have a record 62 members for the upcoming congressional session, helping to achieve the largest number of Black federal politicians in history. There will be 67 Black representatives in Congress overall. The CBC does not list five Republicans as members. The CBC's mission will be to hold President-elect Donald Trump and his congressional allies accountable, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., stated, despite the caucus members' intention to promote a policy agenda for Black and marginalized people under a Kamala Harris administration. Meeks, the leading member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told NBC News that we have always been the conscience of the Congress, regardless of who is in power. Whenever possible, we aim to collabora...

How the Philadelphia Eagles' new running back would perform behind a new-look offensive line was a big worry before to the start of 2017 NFL season. The answer to that question is clear. The Eagles won their sixth straight game on NBC's "Sunday Night Football" as Saquon Barkley strengthened his bid to be the NFL's most valuable player by stomping past the Los Angeles Rams 37–20 and dominating the run game once more. Barkley ran behind a formidable offensive line for a career-high 255 yards just one season after being cut by the New York Giants. This was the first time in his career that he had rushed for more than 200 yards, including touchdown runs of 70 and 72 yards where defenders could hardly touch his back, much less stop him. In addition to giving Barkley 1,392 yards for the season—a...

As Democrats want more thorough screening of executive branch nominees, Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty implied on Sunday that Americans don't care about standard FBI background checks for President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet choices. When asked on Sunday about the FBI's involvement in a background check on former Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth, Hagerty, R-Tenn., responded that Americans don't care who does background checks for presidential nominees. In response to a question concerning the FBI's custom of running background investigations on presidential cabinet candidates, Hagerty told host Jon Karl that Americans value Trump's ability to carry out the mandate that the American people voted for more than an FBI background check. The American public doesn't seem to care who conducts backgro...

Matt Gaetz seems to be experimenting with a new career path after declaring he would not be returning to Congress: making customized films for his followers on Cameo. A day after withdrawing his name from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general because to claims of sexual misconduct, Gaetz, a former representative from Florida, joined the platform on Friday. He has been giving paid holiday greetings, congrats on marriages, and career-boosting speeches there. Gaetz is asking at least $550 each film as of Sunday night; the videos have so far averaged around a minute and a half in duration. In reference to his recent resignation and subsequent declaration that he has no intention of retaking his House seat, his Cameo page states, "I served in Congress." Trump put ...