The World: Latest Stories

Just how quickly will billions of tons of carbon locked up in the Arctic's melting permafrost be released into the atmosphere? Scientists in the Arctic say finding out could be a matter of survival.

Climate change is spurring the hemlock wooly adelgid, an invasive insect, to move further north, and it’s bringing down many hemlock trees.

Jair Bolsonaro's rise from fringe candidate to Brazil’s next president has, of course, been likened to Trump’s rise from reality TV star to the White House. But Bolsonaro makes Trump look like Mr. Rogers.

There are municipal elections in Jerusalem at the end of the month. One man hopes to be the first Palestinian voted onto the city council. To win, he’ll need Palestinians to break a five-decade boycott against voting in Israeli city elections.

Eleven years after arriving in New Hampshire, Safiya Wazir — a former refugee from Afghanistan — is showing other new Americans they can run for office, too.

A Japanese "cop reality show" chasing foreigners who have overstayed their visas is not a welcome sign for the 500,000 new foreign workers who will arrive to help ease a chronic labor shortage.

Only 40 percent of nurses trained abroad pass the US licensing exam the first time. But educators say it’s not because they aren’t qualified.

What would a fragrance based on Toni Morrison’s book “Beloved” smell like?

The song where everyone knows the words, but few know what those words mean.

Jorge Balcazar already has 10 years of welding experience. A six-month certification course will help him get ahead.

A suspicious package sent to Clinton was found late Tuesday while another package addressed to Obama was found early Wednesday. The Time Warner Center in New York City was evacuated after an explosive device was found in the CNN mail room Wednesday morning.

Adult education is often thought of as completely separate from children’s education. But some school districts are trying to integrate them by creating family literacy programs.

Sandi Tan revisits a decades-old personal mystery in her new documentary, “Shirkers.”

Advocates say too many schools aren’t giving older teens the chance to get a good high school experience.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's strict interpretations in previous rulings on environmental law indicate he will not support strong government action on climate change.

A new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report details dire climate damage could occur if global average surface temperatures rise to 2 degrees C from the 1.5 degrees C maximum set by the Paris Climate Agreement. Is it too late to clean up our human-made climate change mess?

VAWA disproportionately funds the criminal legal system but it has not deterred domestic violence. Lawyer Leah Goodmark argues that criminalizing domestic violence actually makes the problem worse and that it's time for alternative forms of justice and support.

The Tennessee Senate race is one of the most closely watched in the country. Farmers, whiskey distillers and small businesses are feeling the sting from President Donald Trump's tariffs. But is it enough to turn deep red Tennessee blue?

Shishmaref, Alaska, home to a tightly knit Iñpuiat community of 600 people, is ground zero for climate change in the Arctic. What happens here could foreshadow the fates of other US coastal communities. Why won't Washington pay attention?

The Tree of Life proposed by Charles Darwin in the 19th century depicts different forms of life diverging from one another as they evolve down through successive generations. But discoveries of new life forms and the phenomenon of horizontal gene transfer indicate life can also evolve through convergence.

A watchdog agency told the military last year it should track repair costs related to extreme weather and climate change. It said no.

Each fall, millions of tourists come to New England to see the changing leaves. It's big business. But climate change is moving the calendar.

Bitter political divisions in Ukraine have created a split in Orthodox Christianity.

Vijay Boyapati says he 'immediately felt very uncomfortable' when he say censorship requirements for the project.

How musicians like Sun Ra and George Clinton imagined a better world through Afrofuturism.

How did a highbrow MacArthur genius end up writing a book about zombies?

Before he was old enough to fully understand he was transgender, Evan Urquhart found Isaac Asimov’s “The Robots of Dawn.”

Harlan Ellison wrote for “Star Trek,” and authored the dystopian classic “A Boy and His Dog.” But don’t call him a science fiction writer.

Kristian Nairn has one of the hardest jobs on “Game of Thrones.” He has to make an entire character come to life with only one word: Hodor. So why has it made him so famous?

Who will care for Japan's elderly? The government is now welcoming foreign workers to fill the labor gap, but some say racism and discrimination are major obstacles in Japanese society.

A group of Koreans dumps water bottles loaded with rice, medicine and USB drives into the sea on the North Korean border. They hope that the information loaded into those USBs can spark some sort of revolution in the North.

Well before the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, or the rise of the UK Independence Party, the co-owners of Solstar gym in the London neighborhood of Tottenham were training to fight back against what they see as the rise of violence on the part of the right-wing.

Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro's hardline positions speak to working-class voters who say they feel the left has abandoned them.

Women dominate the food business in Bolivia. From farmers to market sellers, chefs to restaurant owners, women are transforming Bolivia's capital, La Paz, into a food destination.

For anyone who wants to skip the farm and go apple picking in their neighborhood this fall, there’s the Falling Fruit app, an online map that uses imported datasets to guide foragers to the locations of public fruit trees, edible plants and mushrooms.

In 1968, Andrew Larkin and his Harvard teammates represented the United States at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City. There, American runners John Carlos and Tommie Smith turned the world on its head by raising two fists in the air while the national anthem played.

For generations, Alaskan Natives crossed the Bering Sea to visit family on nearby islands. It’s harder today, thanks to international politics, high costs and weather.

A sculpture in Iceland marks the location of the Arctic Circle — at least the circle's location this year, because it turns out that the Arctic Circle doesn't stay in one place. It's a suggestion of how difficult it is to pin down anything in the Arctic.

Despite everything that happened, and even though he would like to remain with his family intact in Guatemala, her father sees no hope. He still wants to go to the US.

One could argue that NAFTA negotiations came down to one big sticking point: Canadian milk. Trump won, Canada lost. And Canadian farmers aren't happy.

University of Florida graduate Lara Alqasem applied and got accepted to a master's program at Hebrew University. But Israeli authorities say her political past disqualifies her.

What hidden treasures can be found in the pages of old books?

Playwright Theresa Rebeck on her new play, “Bernhardt/Hamlet.”

The former “Family Ties” actress takes an unflinching look at her one-time fame and our national obsession with getting those 15 minutes in her book, “Fame: The Hijacking of Reality.”

In the 1990s, pirate radio station WBAD started playing hip-hop music without bleeping it like commercial radio. But even if it was playing church music, the FCC still would have come after them.

If you’re among those who feel press coverage of Russia has an unhealthy fascination with all things Vladimir Putin, then enter artist Victoria Lomasko’s “Other Russias” to the rescue. Lomasko is out to capture Russian stories that most of us never see.

The coming years should bring more solid, blue-collar jobs to Springfield, as CRRC builds subway cars not just for Boston, but also for Philadelphia and LA. But now there’s a hitch: significant uncertainty linked to President Trump’s escalating trade war with China.

Will Latino candidates bring out more Democratic voters in Arizona? The answer might depend on how Latinos feel about the border.

Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico's agriculture sector. Months later, many farmers are still trying to get back on their feet, with the help of friends and volunteers.

When American Lynne Murphy says "sure" to her British husband, he thinks she means "not really."