India’s phenomenal transformation from an impoverished nation in 1947 into an emerging global power whose $3 trillion economy is Asia’s third largest has made it a major exporter of things like software and vaccines. Millions have escaped poverty into a growing, aspirational middle class as its high-skilled sectors have thrived. But many millions of Indians are employed in informal day labor or farm work, struggling to survive. Raging unemployment is worsening insecurity and inequality between the rich and poor and is perhaps Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest challenge as the country marks 75 years of independence from British rule on Aug. 15.

Colombia’s first leftist president has been sworn into office, promising to fight inequality and bring peace to a country long haunted by bloody feuds between the government, drug traffickers and rebel groups. Gustavo Petro, a former member of Colombia’s M-19 guerrilla group, won the presidential election in June by beating conservative parties that offered moderate changes to the market-friendly economy, but failed to connect with voters frustrated by rising poverty and violence. On Sunday, Petro said Colombia was getting a “second chance” to tackle violence and poverty, and called on Washington to change its drug policies.

Russian, French and American leaders are crisscrossing Africa to win support for their positions on the war in Ukraine, waging what some say is the most intense competition for influence on the continent since the Cold War. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French President Emmanuel Macron are visiting several African countries this week. Lavrov, in his travels across the continent where many countries are suffering drought, has sought to portray the West as the villain, blaming it for rising food prices, while Macron has accused the Kremlin of cynically using food as a weapon and waging an imperial-style war of conquest — words calculated to appeal to listeners in post-colonial Africa.

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — María Eva Noble says she is carrying out the legacy of her namesake as she labors in a soup kitchen in a working class nei…

Canadian authorities say a gunman who roamed for hours through a sleeping Vancouver suburb shot four people, two of them fatally, as he opened fire at a casino, a center for the homeless and other locations before being killed by police. The attacks began in the wee hours in the bedroom community of Langley and continued until dawn, according to police, who initially suggested that the shootings had targeted homeless people. The first shooting occurred at midnight at the casino, with more shootings at 3 a.m., 5 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. The other shooting scenes were a bus stop and a highway.

Drug addiction has long been a problem in Afghanistan, the world’s biggest producer of opium and heroin. The number of people using drugs is fueled by persistent poverty and by decades of war that has left few families unscarred. It appears to only be getting worse since the country’s economy collapsed after the seizure of power by the Taliban in August 2021 and the subsequent cutoff of international financing. Families once able to get by found their livelihoods cut off, leaving many barely able to afford food. Drug users now can be found around the capital of Kabul, living in parks, sewage drains, under bridges and on open hillsides.