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The World: Latest Stories

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Updated 2025-09-14 08:48
How Dizzy Gillespie and Dan Quayle helped this Cuban musician defect
Trumpeter Arturo Sandoval once spent three months in jail in Cuba for listening to jazz over Voice of America.
This photo looks a lot like US boots on the ground in Syria
When do military advisers become combatants? After Delil Souleiman's photos, many are wondering again about the US role in Syria.
Brazilians are incensed over an alleged gang rape by 30 men
A 16-year-old says she was drugged and gang raped by at least 30 men. A video on social media shows men seeming to brag about the assault. The case has caused an uproar in Brazil.
It took this man 10 years to realize he was living in a synagogue
In 1990, Jihad Al-Mohammed moved to Sidon in southern Lebanon looking for work and a place to live. He didn't notice that the abandoned building he moved into had Hebrew letters on the wall.
Roald Dahl’s ‘gobblefunk’ words get their own dictionary
Thousands of words used or created by Roald Dahl are being brought together in a new dictionary — as part of celebrations to mark the centenary of the writer's birth.
South African firefighters dance as they arrive in Canada to help battle wildfires
Upon arrival in Edmonton, Canada, to help battle the Alberta wildfires, 300 South African firefighters broke into song and dance.
Who is Israel's controversial new defense minister?
The job of defense minister is seen as Israel's second-most powerful post. And now it's in the hands of a man often described as "impulsive" and "ultranationalist." Avigdor Lieberman was sworn in on Monday.
What it's like to get the rare, WWI-era autoimmune disorder affecting Zika patients
When Zika detonates inside a patient, it opens the person up to all sorts of other maladies, like the debilitating Guillain-Barré Syndrome. This reporter had it before the Zika outbreak.
Not all those refugees are boarding ships voluntarily. Some are victims of extortion.
Migrants arriving on Europe's shores increasingly include those who were forced aboard unsafe boats, says Joel Millman of the International Organization for Migration.
Call this number and a Swede will answer, any Swede
They were expecting 2,500 Swedish volunteers to answer phone calls from foreigners curious about their country. They got 30,000.
The walls that are being built now inside America
The fence is going up at the neighborhood mosque. Two churches that help minorities were firebombed. A small explosive went off at the supermarket, in the "ethnic" aisle. Even before a wall on America's southern border, walls are under construction.
The science of hypocrisy
Why do people condemn? Does it make them feel relatively good in comparison? That's part of it, says a Yale doctoral candidate.
'Thanks for your service' brings up mixed emotions for US veterans
Memorial Day is about remembering the 1.2 million people who’ve died in US wars going back almost 250 years. It’s also a time when people say to veterans, “Thank you for your service.”
Northward toward death: 700 migrants have drowned off Africa in the Mediterranean in the past week
Overcrowded onto rubber vessels that capsize or sink, many of the drowned had never been on a boat before.
He fought for America. Now he can make it home.
It happened in one day. Daniel Torres was interviewed for citizenship and took the oath in San Diego — years after he served in Iraq. He was brought to the US as a child and, he says, wanted to do something for his country when he enlisted with a fake birth certificate.
Chad's former dictator is convicted of crimes against humanity in landmark trial
Hissène Habré, the former ruler of Chad, has been convicted of crimes against humanity. The verdict is the culmination of 25 years of effort from victims of the dictator's regime to bring him to justice.
Survivor of WWII U-boat attack: 'I went under and didn't think I was ever going to come up'
German submarines sank about 50 ships in the Gulf of Mexico during World War II. Here's the story of Ray Downs and his family, who survived one of those attacks.
Marlon Williams shows that Americana doesn't belong just to America
So, who does it belong to? "Everyone and no one, really," says the 25-year-old crooner from New Zealand.
A simple cup of tea can mean a lot on the island of Lesbos
A tea tent at a refugee camp on Lesbos provided comfort and support to volunteers and refugees. Sadly, it closed in March following a deal between Turkey and the EU.
Are the 9/11 trials at Guantanamo still about 9/11?
As the pre-trial resumed Monday, the proceeding has almost become a forum to debate how America deals with what the Bush administration called "enhanced interrogation techniques" — what most authorities now call "torture."
A promising way to help vets, with poetry, painting, even latch hooking rugs
An art therapy program born out of the Veterans Administration in Boston has proven to be so successful among vets suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder that it will soon be rolled out nationwide.
Falling natural gas prices are bad news for some US communities
The boom in natural gas brought new businesses and jobs to many communities in the US, including some in western Pennsylvania. But now oversupply linked to a mild winter means some of those businesses are going bust and the jobs are disappearing.
A Rhode Island senator speaks out often about the dangers of climate change
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, doesn’t shy away from sharing his sense of urgency about the dangers of climate change. In fact, Whitehouse has shared his views 135 times on the Senate floor, as part of his Time to Wake Up series of speeches.
Today's movement toward sustainable living echoes the not-so-distant past
Back in the 1960s and 70s, thousands of idealistic young people left the city and went back to the land, looking to live sustainably and often communally. Now a new book captures that idealism.
'The Cosby Show's' legacy in South Africa
For decades Bill Cosby was not only an American icon but a global one. In apartheid South Africa in the 1980s, "The Cosby Show" was in fact the most popular TV program among white South Africans.
US veterans react to Obama's visits to Vietnam and Hiroshima
We asked US veterans what they think of Obama's trips to Hiroshima and Vietnam and how World War II and the Vietnam War have shaped their worldview. Here's what they told us.
The home of Sappho could really use some tourist love
Lesbos became the epicenter of a massive, and dramatic, human migration. But the boats aren't really landing any more, and the island is looking for tourists to help them rebuild their economy.
In search of okonomiyaki, the addictive Japanese pancake
There’s a popular dish in Hiroshima called okonomiyaki. It’s informally called the Japanese pancake. But it’s unlike any pancake you’ve had before.
Paris auction house turns deaf ear to Native American appeals
Native American tribal leaders urged a Paris auction house to cancel its Memorial Day sale of ceremonial shields, masks, and objects taken from tribes. The sellers moved ahead with the auction of all but one item.
The baker who predicted a camp's end
Makmoud Nakarch, a law student from Aleppo, had created a Syrian flatbread-baking business at a massive refugee camp in northern Greece. He also said he could predict things. He predicted, correctly, that this camp would be emptied.
The student group in Japan that's made it cool to protest
There's a negative image of protesters in Japan, but one student group is changing that.
How science and counterterrorism are reinventing US police interrogations
Forget the good cop, bad cop routine. Police departments across the US are updating their interrogation techniques with new lessons.
How did such an inflammatory politician end up in Israel's 2nd most-powerful job?
The US editor for Israeli daily Ha’aretz says the hard-right defense minister isn't all that different from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, but "his bark may turn out worse than his bite."
Obama’s mixed record on fighting nuclear weapons
Shortly after taking office, President Obama outlined an ambitious plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons. It helped win him a Nobel Peace Prize. On the eve of Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima, we review his nuclear successes and failures.
How a Hmong song tradition is kept alive in the American Midwest
Kwv txhiaj is a Hmong musical form that has its origins in southern China and Southeast Asia, is several centuries old and is kept alive through its singers. One of them happens to call the US Midwest home.
A field trip in California takes kids and parents all the way back to Sudan — on a bus
The destination of this field trip isn't what's important. It's the ride that counts, along with catching candy mid-air and listening to the Sudanese zaghrouta.
A banana with your Somali dish? It's not dessert or an appetizer, as this reporter found out
While on assignment, reporter Matt Pearce stopped by a Somali restaurant and ordered a rice and lamb platter. Along with his food, came a banana. Things got interesting from there.
In Japan, the Ainu language is largely unknown and unloved, but linguists are fascinated by its mysteries
No one knows where Japan's indigenous Ainu language, or the people who spoke it, came from. The language is not part of any known linguistic tree. Now, a dedicated group of Ainu and linguists from around the world are trying to unlock the language's secrets before it dies out.
Cambodian official's US visit triggers an international incident
When Cambodian Lt. Gen. Hun Manet visited Lowell, Massachusetts, protesters made it clear that he wasn’t welcome. Now some of those protesters say they’ve been getting retaliatory threats.
Salvadoran gangs use Facebook to track down victims
Youth on the run from gangs in Central America are cautioned to check their social media settings.
Where the US fell down in Yemen, as war clouds gathered
The US ambassador to Yemen before the war remains hopeful about Yemen's future. But Yemenis we speak with want the US to respond to Yemen's troubles right now.
Why today's rent-to-own economy presents a host of privacy challenges
We own less property — a product of rising debt loads and the shift to an increasingly digital economy. Sometimes that means people rent something until they own it — and that presents a whole host of new opportunities for abuse.
The new Taliban leader has more experience issuing fatwas than negotiating peace
The newest Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada was a deputy of the former mullah who reportedly died in a recent US drone attack. Nothing in his murky past suggests he's ready to negotiate for peace anytime soon.
A Bataclan survivor asks a rocker to understand the complexities of terrorism
It's been six months since the terrorist attacks in Paris. And a statement by a member of the band that was playing at the Bataclan theater has a lot of people talking, including his fellow survivors.
The song that helped Okinawa heal after WWII gets an Ethiopian remake
Debo Band is about as eclectic as musical fusion groups get. Well, now even more eclectic.
Japanese and Americans remember the closing chapter of World War II so very differently
Here's why President Obama won't revisit the history of the decision to drop the A-bomb when he goes to Hiroshima on Friday.
In Colombia's decades-long civil war, one community vows neutrality
At the San José de Apartadó Peace Community, neither side in Colombia's long-running civil war is viewed as being in the right. The members of the community protest against both sides.
'Hijab Day' at this Boston area high school was canceled, but it got people talking
Students from the public high school in Medford, Massachusetts planned to take part in 'World Hijab Day.’ That sparked some angry reaction. But organizers say it succeeded by getting people talking.
One served in Vietnam, the other in Iraq. What they think about President Obama’s visit to Vietnam.
Authors Tim O'Brien and Phil Klay both served in US wars. O'Brien in Vietnam, Klay in Iraq. They reflect on President Barack Obama's trip to Vietnam and the scars war leaves on nations.
Golf lacks diversity — but this course in San Diego is changing that
How one program is tearing down the sport's elite, mostly white wall and letting young immigrants take a swing — and improve their grades.
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