WASHINGTON (CNN) - A former staffer who accused Joe Biden of sexual assault has defected to Moscow, telling state media that she felt “safe” in Russia and would seek citizenship there. Tara Reade, who drew headlines during the 2020 presidential race by accusing then-candidate Biden of sexually harassing and assaulting her, said she decided to go to Russia after receiving threats in the U.S. Biden has strongly denied Reade’s allegations, and no ex-Biden staffer has come forward to say they ever witnessed or heard about any kind of sexual misconduct in his Senate office. In an interview with MSNBC in 2020, Biden said he is “saying unequivocally, it never, never happened. It didn’t. It never happened.”

 

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BERLIN (AP) — The German government said Wednesday that it has told Russia to close four out of its five consulates general in Germany in a tit-for-tat move after Moscow set a limit for the number of staff at the German Embassy and related bodies in Russia. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christofer Burger told reporters in Berlin that the measure was intended to create a “parity of personnel and structures” between the two countries. Russia has consulates in Bonn, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich, with Moscow deciding which four they will close and which one they will keep open.

 

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JEDDAH (Reuters) - Sudan’s army suspended talks with a rival paramilitary force on Wednesday over a ceasefire and aid access, raising fears the six-week-old conflict will push Africa’s third largest nation deeper into a humanitarian crisis. The general command of the armed forces said in a statement it suspended talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah, accusing the other side of a lack of commitment in implementing any terms of the agreement and a continuous violation of the ceasefire. The negotiations with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began in early May, had produced a declaration of commitments to protect civilians and two short-term ceasefire deals, although those deals were repeatedly violated.

 

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PARIS (AFP) – Curbing global heating at 1.5 degrees Celsius will avert runaway climate change but not mass suffering in developing nations, a consortium of 50 researchers warned Wednesday. Some 200 million people in poorer regions will be exposed to unliveable heat, and half a billion will face the destructive ravages of rising seas even if the world meets the more optimistic Paris target of a 1.5C cap, they reported in a major study. If exposing large swathes of humanity to “significant harm is to be avoided, the just boundary should be set at or below 1C,” the scientists said. The Earth’s average surface temperature has already risen 1.2C. These are sobering conclusions because greenhouse gas emissions remain at record levels, and current policies are on track to see 2.7C of warming by century’s end.

 

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ALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) - Canadian fire officials warned on Wednesday gusty winds and low humidity could fuel a raging wildfire in Halifax that has forced thousands to evacuate while causing poor air quality hundreds of miles away in the U.S. The blaze, dubbed the Tantallon Fire, in the eastern Canadian city of Halifax, grew by 49 hectares to 837 hectares (2,068 acres) since Tuesday, David Steeves of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources said in a news conference. “Today could possibility be a very difficult day,” he said on Wednesday morning, noting forecasts for 25 kilometers an hour wind gusts out of the south and low humidity.