The World: Latest Stories

Cuban artist Tania Bruguera speaks her mind and was arrested three times last year in Havana. She's hoping President Barack Obama doesn't self-censor during his upcoming Cuban visit.

It's a glimpse into a system that impacts all Facebook users — one they only see when something goes wrong.

A single tidal wave will rush up the Amazon from the Atlantic Ocean, and surfers will ride it for miles.

Lillian Halloway grew up in West Philadelphia, but pursued her medical education in Cuba.

When Barack Obama arrives in Havana he will be only the second sitting US president to set foot on Cuban soil. The last visit was by Calvin Coolidge in 1928. That visit was marred by drunken shenanigans on the part of reporters and officials happy to get away from the restrictions of Prohibition.

In his just-released memoir a Belgian writer with Moroccan roots uses his experience to bridge cultures. In one chapter, he recounts learning how to slaughter sheep at home for the Muslim holidays. Non-Muslims ask him, “'You did that in your own house?’ “And the Muslims say, ‘Oh yeah, us too.’"

For centuries, colonialists, church leaders and educators discouraged Irish people from using their native tongue. When Ireland won independence, its leaders had no idea just how difficult it would be to bring the language back. Despite that, there's hope for Irish today.

Five-hundred American businesspeople have traveled to Cuba since restrictions eased in 2014, but not much has come of it. And the US government would like to negotiate with Cuba on the island's human rights violations, but the Cuban government then points to the treatment of prisoners in Guantánamo.

Vladimir Putin has praised Donald Trump — in part because Russians don't want to see Hillary Clinton in the White House.

In 1498, Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama made history by becoming the first European to reach Asia by sea, ushering in the world's first episode of globalization. Naval archaeologists have just published their findings into one of his lost ships, providing insights into the earliest days of European imperialism.

A senator from Connecticut is raising big questions about America’s unwavering support for Saudi Arabia. His comments come as the Saudis and their Arab allies begin a second year at war in Yemen. Fighting there in the past year has killed more than 3,000 civilians, many with US-made weapons.

In New Orleans, people have been constructing elaborate altars in honor of St. Joseph since the Sicilians brought the tradition to the city in the 19th century. But it’s not just the Sicilians in New Orleans who celebrate now.

A judge has stopped, for now, a drive by Brazil's former president to serve as chief of staff to his successor. Protests also broke out against the plan.

World Champion Peter Sagan infuriated the cycling world. He didn't cheat or take drugs. No. Far worse. He showed up to a race with hairy legs.

Coincidence? Not really.

Arturo O'Farrill took a few moments to talk about Cuba before his concert at New York's Birdland on Sunday night. O'Farrill is son of "Chico," the famous Cuban jazz composer and conductor. Arturo is carrying on his dad's legacy, both on the jazz scene and as a Cuban-American. And he is planning to bring his father's ashes with him on a journey to Cuba soon.

India is a massive country, a massive country of young people. And all of those young people want to challenge the rules that keep them from achieving what they truly want to.

Alexander Chee’s “The Queen of the Night” is a page-turner loosely based on the life of a real 19th century singer.

Cuba went organic out of necessity, when the Soviet bloc collapsed in 1991 and the island nation was cut off from the country's petroleum, fertilizers and pesticides. Now, Americans are trying to learn Cubans' techniques before trade re-opens.

Boys are supposedly four times more likely to have the condition, but clinicians often miss or overlook symptoms in girls, who are frequently on the less disabling end of the spectrum.

Russia says it has begun moving military personnel out of Syria, after announcing that it has achieved its goals in Syria, less than six months after intervening. But what has Moscow achieved? It's murky.

“You may not be from Syria, darling, but you are of it."

The first computer program to ever beat a professional player at the game of Go has only slipped up once so far in the champion tournament.

The term itself sounds scary: pandemic. It means an epidemic gone global. Zika hasn't earned that status at this point, but there are improvements science could make when dealing with these viruses.

The world continues to wonder what's next in the chaotic US presidential election, but it might be time to focus on the growing nationalism in Europe.

The US primary elections are getting a lot of attention in Israel, including from two Israeli university students rooting for two very different candidates.

A group linked to al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for a massacre at a beach resort in Ivory Coast. It's the third attack on western-related targets in West Africa since November. So just how dangerous is West Africa becoming?

When the war in Syria started five years ago, Lebanon was a relatively welcoming place. But not so much anymore. Three Syrian women who arrived in Lebanon over the five years of the war tell their stories.

Salamanders are dying in Europe, snakes are disappearing in North America, and a fungal disease is threatening bats. What's going on? Is this just a coincidence that this is all happening at once?

This scientist argues that virtual reality can help us be better communicators in the virtual world than we are in person.

A group of scientists are experimenting with using stories to teach robots ethical, cultural and practical rules of behavior

Hundreds of people came down with dengue fever in Hawaii over the winter, but Congress only recently learned about the outbreak. What does this say about our public health system? And what does this mean for the possibility of an oncoming Zika outbreak?

A team of atmospheric scientists from Harvard combined satellite data with ground observations to calculate global methane emissions — and the new figures are causing concern.

This year's powerful El Niño has led to extreme drought in southern Africa, causing food prices to skyrocket and making life difficult for vulnerable people. But nature has its own purposes: Over time drought adjusts the balances among prey and predators.

Ebola, Zika virus, bird flu — disease and pandemics are constantly in the news, but how ready is the US to combat health threats?

In the short term, the possible arrest and trial of Lula could bring further disruption to a country already reeling from multiple crises. But in the long run, several Brazil observers believe the country could emerge from this chaotic period stronger and with more robust legal institutions.

When an immigrant professor from a majority Muslim country wanted to find out more about Donald Trump and his supporters, she decided to go to a Trump rally. Zeynep Tufekci, assistant professor of sociology at UNC, shares her experiences and observations.

He was the master of the single-string instrument known as the berimbau

The new VR documentary “On the Brink of Famine” immerses viewers in South Sudan in 360° to meet people battling a man-made hunger crisis.

Radiation levels decreased quickly after the 2011 nuclear meltdown in Japan, but they're still high enough to make some fish unsafe to eat.

At San Diego's heavily immigrant Adams Elementary School, a push is on to improve attendance, an indicator linked to dropout rates.

In Pakistan, the official legal punishment for defiling the name of the Prophet Muḥammad, is “death and nothing else.” Much of the pressure to promote and prosecute blasphemy cases is coming from a surprising source: the legal profession.

As in the United States, there are so many amazing candidates, including Canada's Rosa Parks. the author of "Anne of Green Gables" and sort of a Paul Revere in reverse.

Crackdowns, coups, the reversal of most of the Arab Spring, the rise of ISIS, a harder edge in authoritarian states and erosion of civil rights in democracies — is the world entering a new era where authoritarian tendencies win out? Not so fast. Here, with a little perspective, and an argument for the resilience of democracies (to a point) are Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard, and Bill Hurst, a Northwestern University associate professor of political science.

Thanks to one of the strongest El Niños ever recorded, the worst drought in decades is hitting much of Africa, Central America and Asia. Now, more than 60 million people are now facing severe hunger.

In the wake of the San Bernardino shootings, the debate over encryption between tech companies and law enforcement has reached a fever pitch in the US. Meanwhile, lawmakers in some European countries are taking new steps to broaden government access to big data.

German and British media have reported that they have received a trove of documents that belonged to ISIS. According to these outlets, a former ISIS member had defected from the group, taking along with him memory sticks that contained internal documents.

We asked for your Irish punk band recommendations, and Whiskey of the Damned was your answer.

About 100,000 people are still displaced and it will be decades before the nuclear plant is successfully de-commissioned.

If you think about what life will be like in say, five to ten years, you can alter the course of history. That's what Genrich Altshuller may have done.