The World: Latest Stories

As stakeholders in Syria's conflict prepare to sit down next week, US officials see a glimmer of hope.

Professor Ivars Kalvins invented the drug Meldonium to help treat heart conditions. He thinks the decision to ban athletes from using it is a terrible idea.

With more than one million Syrians in Lebanon hoping to get refugee status, Sudanese asylum seekers are watching their chances slip away.

The search for the remains of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 still continues, two years to the day since the Boeing 777 vanished over the Indian Ocean.

India is a country obsessed with fair skin. This new campaign tackles the beauty norm.

Don't be scared of the dogfish. Yeah, the name is ugly. But a lot of diners around the globe think it's tasty, too. In the US, not so much. So, some fishermen are trying to re-brand dogfish to appeal to American tastes.

Less than 20 percent of the US landmass is currently protected nature reserve. The global total is similar. Now, one Harvard biologist says that's not nearly enough if we want to survive as a species.

Nancy Reagan blazed a new trail for first ladies, with policy positions that she pushed. Among her priorities were the 'Just Say No' program, which remains controversial to this day.

Forget conjugating verbs: Some believe it’s time that we start learning cultures, not languages.

Air India's all-woman flights are aimed at encouraging young girls who have dreams of getting into the skies.

Kenyan runners are some of the best in the world. And Nike may have bribed Kenyan running officials into keeping the swoosh on the feet of the Kenyan national team.

An upcoming book tells some stories about individuals living through the civil war in Syria, living through torture, rape and survival. It's called 'The Morning They Came For Us' by author, journalist Janine di Giovanni, of Newsweek, who spent much of the last four years in Syria.

Migratory monarchs have covered 10 acres of forest at their winter sanctuary site in southern Mexico this year. That's way up from last year.

When Mohammed Salman moved to Belgium to pursue a PhD in political science in 2010, he had every intention of returning home to Syria. But the war intervened, and now the newly-minted Ph.D. is helping start up a program for refugees at the Free University of Brussels.

The death of Nancy Reagan sparks Russians to remember her Soviet counterpart Raisa Gorbachev.

Columnist Anne Applebaum argues that the west is “two or three bad elections away” from the end of NATO and the European Union.

The members of the Ukrainian band DakhaBrakha are perhaps the country's best known cultural ambassadors. They've played Coachella and Bonnaroo and have sung to thousands in their native language. Marko Galanevych is the only male member of the band and knows he could be drafted into Ukraine's army at any time.

The current drought in southern Africa is the worst in decades, and likely a harbinger of things to come as the region warms up and dries out as its climate changes. The drought is having real impact on one resident in a Pretoria township, and what governments in the region can do to help prepare for a hotter and drier future.

Researchers at Cambridge University’s Zoology Department analyzed the sound spectrum of howls from various members of the canid family — from wolves to coyotes to domesticated dogs — to identify their unique signatures and to understand how and why certain species use particular howls.

What can we expect from cyber crime and ransomware attacks in the future?

For years, the knock against renewable energy has been that it doesn't work because it's intermittent. So research has centered on how to store the energy for future use. Now a new study from NOAA suggests the US could quickly convert to wind and solar power without waiting for battery storage technology to catch up.

Given how the issue of institutional racism — from law enforcement to the Oscars to medical care — has moved to the center of public discussion, some are asking how might events have played out differently if the occupiers of Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon had been black instead of white?

What is it going to take to help restore the health of malnourished children? This group of scientists says we need to look beyond access to quality food and also pay attention to the microbiome.

The woodland caribou population in Canada is dwindling and conservationists fear the species' extinction. But does that justify killing wolves, the animal's main predator? It's a question with no easy answers.

John Kasich says US ground troops should be sent to Libya because it is a "fertile ground'' for ISIS. Marco Rubio wants air strikes and some special forces to restore order. Are either a viable idea? We chew it over.

A former Brazilian president is back in the spotlight, and not for a good reason. Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva was accused of corruption and was detained by police while they searched his home.

Berta Cáceres, a 44-year-old mother of four, fought to save her beloved Gualcarque River in Honduras. Despite death threats, she led a movement that stalled a hydroelectric dam. US and UN officials are demanding answers after her killing.

One of the child actors who was the butt of a joke about Asians at the Oscars told us how it felt. And the Internet reacted.

The years of armed conflict across the Middle East — from Syria to Iraq to Afghanistan — have wrecked havoc on the antiquities that remain in what is considered the cradle of civilization. But here's one way their memory is being preserved.

It's been about week since the start of a fragile "ceasefire" in Syria. Reporter Rasha Elass spoke with a Syrian woman named Zein who lives in a rebel-held part of Aleppo. Zein says that people are coming out of their shelters to get food and demonstrate. But she says they're preparing for renewed bombardment.

You can get Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme in India now, but with distinctly Indian flavors

Should you travel to Latin America with the Zika virus raging? Should you buy mosquito netting now. Science writer Karen Weintraub answers frequently asked questions.

Art can imitate life, but can it represent an identity?

The world is watching the US presidential election process, and not just to see if a billionaire real estate tycoon can win the White House. The future of international climate change policy hangs in the balance.

The Supreme Court must decide on the constitutionality of a restrictive Texas abortion law but an abortion rights activist says it's already intruded on Latinas' access to abortion in Texas.

Lebanon's own civil war ended more than 25 years ago, but thousands of people are still missing. Their families think they may still be alive in Syrian prisons.

A growing number of British Asian families are hiring detectives to check on potential spouses. But does "honeytrapping" cross the line?

"Here's what I know," the 2012 GOP presidential nominee says. "Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University."

English speakers may not realize it, but the world is full of people who speak more than one language. A couple of recent studies show that we begin to develop our ear for language — or languages — long before we learn to speak.

Whether you grew up speaking one or more languages, chances are you picked your first cues in utero. Scientists are learning much more about those early moments of language acquisition.

Yes, people ask Americans abroad about Donald Trump. But there are also questions about our "complicated" electoral process.

In Mexico, where so many have relatives in the US or have lived there themselves, many see the presidential election as one that can "shape our future."

Five missing booksellers from Hong Kong have re-surfaced after months in the twilight zone. They appeared on Chinese TV this week as "guests" of China's judicial system. Their crime appears to have been selling books that allege misdeeds by China's elite.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly told his congressional colleagues that they will drop the GOP presidential frontrunner “like a hot rock.” It's gotten serious now.

Mateo Kingman grew up in a small town deep in the Amazon. He didn't know the depth of his connection to the jungle until it moved to the city, where music helped him cope.

Experts who study America's extremist white supremacist groups say there's clear evidence that many of them are supporting Donald Trump's candidacy for the presidency, drawn to him by his rhetoric on illegal immigration and Muslims.

Th US is stepping up its game against Boko Haram in central Africa with drone surveillance and intelligence gathering. Airbase 301 is up and running in northern Cameroon.

Reporter Anna Therese Day and her camera crew were held in Bahrain for 48 hours. They were released after a back and forth between the US and Bahrain government.

Few Syria-watchers thought the partial truce would be so effective. Even fewer have a clear idea of whether the truce is the start of a true ceasefire.