The World: Latest Stories

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.

There are about 26 identically named Moscows scattered across the country. A professor and a road tripping author have both tried to figure out why.

During Wednesday's Democratic debate, the anchor and moderator called out Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton on previous stances on immigration, and how they've changed.

In Brockton, Massachusetts, street workers and schools are working to reverse the trend of Cape Verdean youth dropping out of school.

Canadians are breathless over their new prime minister's state visit to Washington. And what really irks Canadian satirist Rick Mercer is that despite Justin Trudeau's good looks, his athletic prowess, nice teeth, wealth and famous last name, he's also a really nice guy.

Emadeldin Elsayed, an Egyptian student in California, posted a comment on Facebook threatening to kill presidential hopeful Donald Trump. The US authorities arrested him the next day. Now he has agreed to leave the country voluntarily.

In 1962 India and China went to war for a month. During that time thousands Chinese-Indians from around India were rounded up and sent to an internment camp in the Rajasthan desert. Their internment lasted years. This is a history that many in India today have never heard about.

Iran has spent two days testing missiles that can hit anywhere in Israel or Saudi Arabia. The tests were well-publicized, accompanied by videos and interviews with top generals. Now, the US is considering its response.

An underwater recorder submerged at the bottom of the Mariana Trench captured sounds of whales, ship propellers and earthquakes above.

Satirist Firas Alshater was jailed by Syrian authorities for his videos. After he was granted asylum in Germany, he rediscovered his sense of humor.

Youssef Kamand survived the journey from Syria and won asylum in Belgium: Now what? It's harder than you think.

Donald Trump's lead in the GOP primary has stunned a lot of people, and not just Americans. Citizens of foreign nations can't help choose the next president, but they're undoubtedly influenced by who occupies the White House.

Sir George Martin had perfect pitch. He grew up playing the piano and was a classically trained oboist. His classical music training influenced the Beatles and altered the sound of rock 'n' roll.

This sophomore in Kansas from Guatemala juggles algebra — and the reality that he must soon pay the smuggling fee he owes from coming to the United States.

About 75 percent of the Saudi population is under the age of 30 and they are active on social media. From Facebook to Twitter to YouTube, if it's social, Saudis are on it.

The Vila Autodromo favela in Rio de Janeiro is being demolished home-by-home to make way for the new Olympic park. On Tuesday, one of the favela's most iconic residents watched as her home was bulldozed.

One for one. That's the new principle underlying a dramatic new plan announced by European Union negotiators today to deal with the continent’s ongoing migrant crisis. The proposal has already been described as a "death blow" to the asylum system by human rights group Amnesty International.

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.