China, Japan Hold First Security Talks in 4 Years

China and Japan have held high-level security talks for the first time in four years, another step toward mending ties that were severely da...

New Zealand, Vietnam Agree to Increase Trade

New Zealand and Vietnam, whose relations have been strained by allegations that Wellington spied on Hanoi, have announced ambitious new trad...

Exclusive: US Lawmakers Urge Reunions of Koreans in US, Families in N. Korea

U.S. lawmakers have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to push for reunions between Korean Americans and their family membe...

New Moscow-Kyiv Dispute Strains Ukraine Peace Plan

A peace plan to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine came under renewed strain Wednesday, with Ukraine and Russia clashing publicly over the ...

West's Mistrust of Russia Over Ukraine Imperils Global Security

Deep mistrust between the West and Russia over Moscow's aggressive actions in Ukraine is threatening global security, top government off...

US Army Chief: Allies' Troops May Support Syrian Trainees

Some U.S. allies in the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria may be willing to send troops to accompany and support the Syrian opp...

WHO Chief Wants to Put Tobacco Industry 'Out of Business'

The director-general of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that she would like to see all tobacco companies shut down. Dr. Margare...

US Central Bank Signals Possibility of Earlier Rate Hike

The U.S. Federal Reserve sent a message Wednesday that an interest rate hike is on the way, but it is not imminent. And it did so by removin...

West's Mistrust of Russia Over Ukraine Imperils Security Cooperation

Deep mistrust between the West and Russia over Moscow's aggressive actions in Ukraine is threatening global security, top government off...

West's Mistrust of Russia Over Ukraine Imperils Security Cooperation

Deep mistrust between the West and Russia over Moscow's aggressive actions in Ukraine is threatening global security, top government off...

IS Militants Kill 10 Pro-Tripoli Fighters in Central Libya

Ten fighters loyal to the self-proclaimed government that controls Tripoli were killed Wednesday by Islamic State militants in central Libya...

US: Netanyahu Win Will Have No Impact on Iran Nuclear Talks

The U.S. State Department says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reelection will have no impact on nuclear talks with Iran. Sp...

Natural Hair Movement Gaining Popularity in Ivory Coast.

In Ivory Coast, the natural hair movement is sweeping the country and prompting women to ditch chemical hair-straightening products. But loc...

West's Mistrust of Russia Over Ukraine Imperils Security Cooperation

Deep mistrust between the West and Russia over Moscow's aggressive actions in Ukraine is threatening global security, top government off...

Mali Government Refuses Further Talks on North's Future

Mali's government said on Wednesday it would not participate in further talks with rebels seeking autonomy for northern Mali, leaving th...

Homeless Women on LA’s 'Skid Row' Find Hopeful Future

An area called "Skid Row" in downtown Los Angeles has one of the highest concentrations of homeless people in the United States. I...

UN Envoy Presses for Safe Schools Worldwide

U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, is urging international support for a number of initiatives to get 28 million childre...

Congo Orders Expulsion of Four Foreign Activists

Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday ordered the immediate expulsion of four foreign pro-democracy activists detained over the weekend ...

Vietnam PM to Visit New Zealand Amid Spying Allegations

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung travels to New Zealand for an official visit Thursday following news that the island nation spied ...

Gates, Bloomberg Create $4M Fund to Fight Big Tobacco

Developing countries facing potentially pricey legal challenges from big tobacco firms are to get help from a new $4-million fund created by...

Mystery of Darwin's Strange South American Mammals Solved

To 19th-century British naturalist Charles Darwin, they were the strangest animals yet discovered — one looking like a hybrid of a hippo, rh...

Swiss Prosecutor Finds 300 Bank Accounts Linked to Petrobras Scandal

Switzerland's attorney general said on Wednesday he has uncovered over 300 accounts at more than 30 Swiss banks he said he believes are ...

Fighting Intensifies in Myanmar's Kokang Region

Rebels in Myanmar's Kokang region say fighting has intensified in the area since the military launched a large scale offensive against r...

Indian Cardinal: Protect Humans, Not Just Cows

The head of India's Catholic bishops, speaking out after a nun was raped in the eastern part of the country last week, has said the coun...

What's Next for US-Israeli Relations?

Debate has begun over how Tuesday’s election victory for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party will affect U.S. relations ...

US Central Bank Signals More Openness to Interest Rate Change

The U.S. central bank moved a step closer Wednesday to raising interest rates, saying it would no longer be "patient" in waiting f...

New Girls' Clothing Line Challenges Gender Stereotypes

Many little girls like dolls, flowers, butterflies and ponies. A lot of them also like cars, robots, dinosaurs, and spaceships. But most gir...

Firms Press Ahead With Driverless-Car Technology

Two major technology companies say they intend to take radical steps toward preparing self-driving cars for introduction to everyday life. B...

March 18, 2015

A look at the best news photos from around the world. from Voice of America http://ift.tt/1BVD5tG

Obama Looks to Expand Home Visiting Program for At-Risk Families

From expanding child care to making preschool more accessible, U.S. President Barack Obama's second term is marked by an agenda he says ...

UN Rights Head: Maldives' Ex-president's Trial Rushed

The jailing of former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed for 13 years last week followed a trial marked by "flagrant irregularities,...

Turks Honor Gallipoli Dead as Passion for Ottoman Past Grows

Turkish jets flew overhead and warships cut through rough waters in the Dardanelles Straits on Wednesday to mark the centenary of one of the...

Russia, Rebel Georgia Region Sign Treaty; West Alarmed

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with Georgia's rebel South Ossetia region on Wednesday that almost completely integrate...

Sound Imaging Used to Find Hidden Cracks in Infrastructure

Finding hidden cracks in large structures, such as bridges and airplanes, can be the difference between life and death, if the flaw leads to...

Tunis Museum Standoff Ends with Gunmen, Tourist Deaths

A stand-off at Tunisia's top museum has ended with two suspected gunmen dead and 17 tourists killed, in the Wednesday attack near the pa...

Quest for 'French Islam' Goes to Classroom

In a classroom of the Catholic University of Paris, overlooking the dome of a 17th century church, three Muslim women from Algeria pore over...

Dallas Seavey Wins Third Iditarod in 4 Years

Dallas Seavey has won his third Iditarod dog sled race in the last four years, beating his father to the finish line early Wednesday. Seavey...

Struck by Ebola, A Village Six Months Later

Benno Muchler revisits Margibi County - returning to a village that was terribly affected during the height of the Ebola outbreak. He first ...

Boston Bombing Trial to Focus on Investigators' Findings

The jury in the Boston Marathon bombing trial is expected on Wednesday to hear more technical evidence on the investigation that followed th...

Obama: Proposed House GOP Budget Doesn't Do Enough

President Barack Obama is criticizing a $3.8 trillion budget plan put forward by House Republicans, saying it won't invest in "all ...

Nigerian Army Chief Says No Sign of Chibok Girls

The Nigerian army says it has found no clues to the whereabouts of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped last year by Boko Haram, despite the ...

Sparked by Stolen iPhone, US-China 'Bromance' Moves China's Netizens

It was a rare, if bizarre, moment of tenderness in the otherwise tense US-China relationship: an American journalist embracing the Chinese m...

Ukraine Rebels Warn They Could Abandon Cease-fire

Separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine threatened Wednesday to abandon a cease-fire following changes to a law granting their regions self-ru...

Pentagon Plans Hard Look at Missile Defense Programs

The U.S. Defense Department has launched a major review of missile defense programs and capabilities, after military commanders called the c...

US First Lady Michelle Obama Visits Japan, Cambodia

U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama has arrived in Japan for a three-day visit meant to highlight her global women's education initiative. Ob...

US Ambassador Kennedy Allegedly Receives Death Threats

Japanese police are investigating phone calls threatening to kill U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and another American envoy, authorities s...

Emergency Aid Rushed to Cyclone-hit Vanuatu

International aid agencies ramped up appeals for cyclone-hit Vanuatu on Wednesday, warning that the powerful storm which affected more than ...

Police Cars Burned at German Austerity Protest

Demonstrators set at least two police cars on fire Wednesday as authorities confronted left-wing anti-austerity protesters trying to blockad...

Emergency Aid Rushed to Cyclone-hit Vanuatu

Relief workers are rushing emergency food and water supplies to remote areas in Vanuatu, the South Pacific island nation that was pummeled l...