Italy finds 30 dead on migrant boat

Italian Navy Commander Stefano Frumento says 30 people died of suffocation on a migrant boat carrying over 600 people.



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Nanny: Family was nightmare, not me

She's been called "the nightmare nanny" for refusing to leave the home of the family that hired -- then fired -- her, but now Diane Stretton is speaking out for the first time.



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22 dead in Mexico shootout

Soldiers on patrol in south-central Mexico killed 22 people early Monday in a shootout, the Defense Ministry said.



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Al Qaeda works on secret bombs

CNN's Jim Sciutto reports that the U.S. may beef-up airport security measures due to advances in al Qaeda technology.



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ISIS overshadows al Qaeda

ISIS is seeking to eclipse al Qaeda as the pre-eminent global jihadists.



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Evacuation slide deploys in flight

A United Airlines flight was forced to land in Wichita, Kansas, after the evacuation slide accidentally deployed midair Sunday, the airline said.



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Pistorius 'not mentally ill'

The trial of Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius resumes in South Africa Monday after being halted for a month-long psychiatric assessment of the athlete.



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North Korea to try 2 Americans

North Korea is preparing to take to court two Americans accused of "perpetrating hostile acts," North Korea's state-run news agency KCNA reported Monday.



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Who are Israeli kidnapped teens?

They were just boys.



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Teen's aunt: He was innocent

He was young, and innocent, and they killed him, says Leehy Shaer, aunt of Gilad Shaar, 16, found dead in West Bank.



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President: 'We will liberate Ukraine'

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said early Tuesday that his country will not renew a cease-fire with pro-Russian separatists, vowing instead "we will advance, and we will liberate our land."



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Tiny Algeria scares Germany

Extra-time goals from Mesut Ozil and Andre Schurrle spared Germany's blushes against Algeria in the World Cup last 16 tie at Porto Alegre on Monday.



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And the most powerful celebrity is...

Beyonce isn't just one of the world's most influential people. She's also the world's most powerful celebrity, according to Forbes magazine.



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Children in CAR should matter

Last year, on my third trip to the Central African Republic, I met Oumarou, a shy, soft-spoken boy who appeared to be far younger than the 13 years he said he was. He told me he had lived in a nearby village. He and his family had been asleep around dawn when strange men burst into their house. With machetes, they killed his father and brother.



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All today's action

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'Ashamed' cocaine mayor returns

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford asked for forgiveness Monday, his first day back to work following a two-month leave of absence for substance abuse treatment.



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Google finds 'Internet of the 90s'

Google's chairman said Monday that he and other executives from the Internet search giant recently traveled to Cuba to advocate for greater access to the Internet.



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Israel blaming Hamas

CNN's Ben Wedeman reports that the Israeli Security Cabinet is calling an emergency meeting after 3 teens are found dead.



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Bindi Irwin's advice to young girls

Bindi Irwin has a message for girls her age: Cover it up.



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Sudan demolishes church: Witnesses

A Sudanese government force destroyed a church Monday, ignoring the wails of nearby residents, witnesses told journalists working for CNN.



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Downey Jr.'s son arrested for drugs

Robert Downey Jr.'s son Indio is in trouble with the law.



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Missing Israeli teens found dead in West Bank

The bodies of three Israeli teenagers missing for weeks and feared kidnapped have been found in a field near Hebron in the West Bank.



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'Hamas abducted teens': Israeli PM

Benjamin Netanyahu blames Hamas for abducting three teenagers who went missing in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.



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Suspects ID'd in teens' kidnapping

The Israel Security Agency released the identities of two suspects in the kidnapping of three teenage boys from Jewish settlements in the West Bank two weeks ago.



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Luis Suarez issues 'bite' apology

Luis Suarez has promised never to bite a player again after the Uruguayan issued an apology to Italy's Giorgio Chiellini.



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France sees off Nigeria with 2-0 win

Paul Pogba's second-half header and an injury-time strike from Andre Griezmann fired France into the quarterfinals of the World Cup on Monday following a 2-0 win over Nigeria.



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World Cup 2014: What's the score?

Africa's two remaining teams at the World Cup face significant European obstacles on Monday in their bid to reach the quarterfinals for the first time. Get the latest scores here:



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USA face Belgium crunch match

Andy Scholes takes a look at what lies ahead of the U.S. soccer team as they prepare for Belgium on Tuesday.



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Families evicted for 2014 World Cup

Some Brazilian families whose homes were destroyed to allow for World Cup construction, say that it was all for nothing.



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Russia sends 5 fighter jets to Iraq

Five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets have arrived in Iraq, the first of 25 warplanes expected to be delivered under a contract between Moscow and Baghdad, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said in a statement.



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Entertainer Rolf Harris guilty of abuse

Australian children's entertainer Rolf Harris, 84, was found guilty Monday in a London court of 12 charges of sexually abusing women and girls as young as 7 years old.



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50 killed in raids on Nigerian villages

A series of Boko Haram raids on four villages in northeast Nigeria's Borno state has killed more than 50 people and destroyed more than 300 structures, including five churches, a government official said.



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Gunfire injures 9 at U.S. tourist site

Gunfire struck seven people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early Sunday, police spokesman Frank Robertson said.



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Jagger: Pythons 'wrinkly old men'

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger poked fun at the Monty Python stars on Monday ahead of the comedy troupe's reunion concerts this week as "a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money."



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Wimbledon: Wozniacki crashes out

Caroline Wozniacki's Wimbledon dream came to shuddering halt after she was dumped out in the fourth round Monday.



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U.S. court rules against Obamacare

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that closely held companies cannot be required to pay to cover some types of contraceptives for their employees, ending its term with a narrow legal and political setback for a controversial part of President Barack Obama's health care reform law.



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Pakistan military takes on militants

Pakistani troops launched a ground offensive against militants in the capital of the country's North Waziristan area Monday, starting a new phase of a 16-day fight that has seen more than 450,000 people flee the area.



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How to keep ISIS terror out of the U.S.

Aaron David Miller says Obama can't solve the problems of Iraq, but the U.S. must try to shape the outcome by helping the military there and working with Iraq's neighbors -- even Syria.



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Murder or accident? Explore the case

Oscar Pistorius' murder trial resumes in Pretoria -- examine each side's case in our interactive.



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Why would Syria bomb Iraq?

Syrian warplanes reportedly targeted Iraq this week. Scores of civilians were killed at markets and gas stations in Anbar province Tuesday, local leaders told CNN.



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Golf: Rose wins Congressional title

With the British Open just around the corner, Justin Rose is hitting form at exactly the right time.



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Should U.S. pay slavery reparations?

Eric Liu says when we understand why reparations are justified, we will have a shot at being "beyond race."



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Blast kills actress in Syria home

A young actress was killed this week in Damascus when her home was shelled. CNN's Jessica King reports.



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Ex-Downing Street adviser gets retrial

Former News of the World journalists Andy Coulson and Clive Goodman will face a retrial on charges of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office, a London court has decided.



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Egypt: President's palace blast kills 1

A bomb exploded outside of the Egyptian Presidential Palace in Cairo on Monday, killing a security officer and wounding three other security personnel, state media reported.



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Newlyweds decapitated, police say

Angered by their marriage, the bride's family allegedly tied up the young couple and cut off their heads, police in Pakistan say.



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ISIS declares Islamic State as fighting rages in Tikrit

Iraq touts a military offensive to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, but residents there tell a different story.



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Japanese man sets himself on fire

The debate over Japan's constitution took a grisly turn Sunday, as a lone dissenter set fire to himself in an apparent protest over plans to "reinterpret" the document.



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Rugby star fired for lewd urine photo

An Australian rugby league star has been sacked from his club in disgrace after a photograph circulated on social media that appeared to show him urinating into his own mouth.



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N. Korea to South: End hostilities

North Korea on Monday proposed that "all hostile military activities" with South Korea "come to a complete halt" this week, but it attached a number of conditions that Seoul is likely to reject.



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Separatists attack Ukraine base

Three people were killed and four others were injured Saturday when mortars were fired during an attack on a Ukrainian military base in Slovyansk by pro-Russia separatists, the Ukrainian Counter-Terrorist Operation office said Saturday.



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ISIS releases chilling video

CNN's Nima Elbagir reports on the latest from Iraq, where ISIS has released a new video showing alleged Shia prisoners.



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Libyan female activist killed

Salwa Bugaighis' family feared something would happen to her if she returned to Benghazi. Jomana Karadsheh reports.



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Shiites answer call to arms

Under a sweltering sun, Fallah al Araiby hunched over the hood of a car, scrubbing away the dirt.



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Evacuation slide deploys midair

A United Airlines flight was forced to land in Wichita, Kansas, after the evacuation slide accidentally deployed midair Sunday, the airline said.



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Pistorius to head back to trial

The trial of Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius resumes in South Africa Monday after being halted for a month-long psychiatric assessment of the athlete.



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SeaWorld ride gets stuck for hours

Four dozen people were stuck for hours on a ride at SeaWorld San Diego on Sunday after a power failure, the amusement park said.



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North Korea to try 2 Americans

North Korea is preparing to take to court two Americans accused of "perpetrating hostile acts," North Korea's state-run news agency KCNA reported Monday.



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Iraq inmate: Guards 'opened fire'

Survivors accuse Iraq prison guards of shooting into cells.



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Executions, atrocities shock Iraq

Graphic video obtained by CNN's Arwa Damon show atrocities, mass graves and executions that have taken place in Iraq.



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Militants killed in Pakistan offensive

Pakistani forces have killed at least 19 militants as part of their offensive in the country's tribal region, the military said in a statement Saturday.



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Boko Haram raids Christian villages

At least 30 people were killed Sunday in raids by suspected Boko Haram Islamists on four Christian villages in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, residents and a priest said.



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Biden, Clinton, you're rich. Own it

A pair of gaffes by Vice President Biden and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton illustrate just how hard it is to explain how vast the gaps of income and wealth in America have become -- including the significant but seldom-discussed difference between being merely rich and being super-rich.



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ISIS establishes 'caliphate'

The extremist group that's taken over a large swath of western and northern Iraq announced on Sunday the establishment of a "caliphate," an Islamic state stretching across the region, and said it would now be known as the Islamic State rather than the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.



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Nightmare nanny to move out

A California family's nanny nightmare may be nearing an end.



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World Cup history for Costa Rica

Costa Rica will play in the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time in its history after defeating Greece in a penalty shootout in Recife on Sunday.



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ISIS has Saudis on highest alert

King Abdullah has ordered that "all necessary measures" be taken to protect Saudi Arabia against terror threats, the state-run SPA news agency reported Thursday.



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Dutch late show denies Mexico

The Netherlands came back from the brink to clinch a place in the quarterfinals of the World Cup following Sunday's dramatic 2-1 victory over Mexico.



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What Obama discovered about Iraq

Frida Ghitis says President Obama discovered that he cannot look away from the twin disasters in Syria and Iraq.



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Bindi Irwin's advice to young girls

Bindi Irwin has a message for girls her age: Cover it up.



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5 things to watch for Sunday

Who would have thought it? Team Brazil just scraping by in a cliffhanger penalty kick shootout.



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Syria group: ISIS 'crucifies' men

ISIS militants in Syria reportedly crucified nine men in Aleppo province recently, the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights announced Sunday.



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Hot car death: Mom searched web

Leanna Harris, mother of a Georgia toddler who died locked in a hot car, has told authorities that she previously researched such deaths and how they occur, according to a police affidavit.



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Serena in early Wimbledon exit

Serena Williams continued her miserable run at grand slam tournaments in 2014 crashing to defeat against France's Alize Cornet in the third round at Wimbledon on Saturday.



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At least 20 dead in building collapses

The death toll in two building collapses in different cities in India climbed to at least 20, with more victims trapped in the rubble, Indian officials said Sunday.



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Soul singer Bobby Womack dead

Legendary soul singer Bobby Womack died Friday, Womack's publicist said. He was 70.



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Iraq looks to Russia for warplanes, says U.S. too slow

Five Russian fighter jets arrive in Iraq, as the Pentagon rejects Baghdad's complaint that slow delivery of U.S. F-16s helped ISIS.



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U.S. drones fly over Baghdad

A U.S. official says armed drones are now flying over Baghdad to provide additional protection to U.S. military advisors.



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Actor Meshach Taylor dies in L.A.

Another familiar Hollywood face bid farewell late Saturday -- actor Meshach Taylor. He died at age 67 at his Los Angeles area home, his agent Dede Binder said.



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Fired nanny refuses to leave

Ralph and Marcella Bracamonte's California home has become their personal hell.



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Actor Shia LaBeouf arrested

Actor Shia LaBeouf has literally made an art of apologizing for a chain of ill deeds. He added a link to that chain late Thursday when, police said, he lit up a cigarette in a Broadway theater.



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Statue of WW1 assassin unveiled

One hundred years after firing the shot that set off World War I, Gavrilo Princip was toasted by some Saturday in Sarajevo -- whether they wore T-shirts emblazoned with his face or admired a statue recently unveiled in his honor.



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Benghazi suspect controversy

During his two weeks aboard a ship to the United States, Ahmed Abu Khatallah was questioned by FBI interrogators over his alleged role in the 2012 Benghazi attacks that left four Americans dead.



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Gunfire strikes 7 in New Orleans

Gunfire struck seven people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early Sunday, police spokesman Frank Robertson said.



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Married for love, killed for 'honor'

CNN's Saima Mohisin reports on Pakistani newlyweds killed for 'honor' by their relatives.



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Tea Party leader commits suicide

Mississippi tea party leader and attorney Mark Mayfield has died, according to his attorney, Merrida Coxwell.



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Best photos this weekend

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Colombia's Rodriquez scores big

James Rodriguez confirmed his status as Colombia's newest star with a virtuoso display against Uruguay.



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Fans: Brazil needs to try harder

CNN's Amanda Davies speaks with ecstatic fans about Brazil's victory over Chile.



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Outrage over Pakistan killings

Christiane Amanpour spoke with Hina Rabbani Khar, former Pakistani Foreign Minister on the issue of honor killings.



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How woman's stoning riled the world

"We were shouting for help, but nobody listened," said Muhammad Iqbal about the slaying of his pregnant 25-year-old wife, Farzana Parveen, at the hands of her relatives, who gathered to kill her in front of a courthouse in Lahore, Pakistan.



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Should U.S. pay slavery reparations?

Eric Liu says when we understand why reparations are justified, we will have a shot at being "beyond race."



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N. Korea 'fires missiles' into sea

North Korea fired two projectiles Sunday that "appear to be short-range missiles" into the sea off the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula, a South Korean defense ministry official told CNN.



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Actress killed in home by explosion

A young actress was killed this week in Damascus when her home was shelled. CNN's Jessica King reports.



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Sudan Christian enters U.S. Embassy

A Sudanese Christian woman who initially faced a death sentence after refusing to renounce her faith is now at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum with her family, her husband told CNN on Friday.



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Brazil defeats Chile on penalties

And so the carnival carries on.



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Colombia advances, Uruguay out

Brazil had promised there would be a time where the world would finally see a special player.



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Newlyweds decapitated for 'honor'

A young newlywed couple in northeastern Pakistan died a horrible death at the hands of the bride's family in the latest honor killing in the nation, police in Pakistan said Saturday.



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Hot car death: Mom 'not angry'

The mother of a Georgia toddler who died in a sweltering SUV told a crowd at her son's funeral she's "absolutely not" angry with her husband, who has been charged with murder in the child's death.



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NASA tests 'flying saucer'

NASA's new flying saucer-shaped spacecraft lifted off from its launch pad at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range facility in Kauai, Hawaii, Saturday morning, after several previous weather-related delays this month.



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Keeping score: Brazil vs. Chile

Thursday's results:



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Building collapse traps up to 40

An 11-story building under construction in Tamil Nadu state in India collapsed on Saturday, trapping as many as 40 workers in the rubble, the police commissioner in the city of Channai confirmed to CNN.



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Separatists attack Ukraine base

Three people were killed and four others were injured Saturday when mortars were fired during an attack on a Ukrainian military base in Slovyansk by pro-Russia separatists, the Ukrainian Counter-Terrorist Operation office said Saturday.



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Alleged ringleader arrives in U.S.

The Benghazi attack suspect Abu Khatallah has arrived in the United States.



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List of worsening nations adds U.S.

South Sudan tops the list of world's most fragile nations, while the United States is among the countries that have worsened the most over the past year, a new report says.



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Explosive used against Israeli tank

An explosive device was used against an Israeli tank near the border with Gaza early Friday, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.



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Ukraine president hails EU deal

Petro Poroshenko signs an economic cooperation agreement with the EU, the same deal whose reversal set off a crisis in the nation.



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A new era for Ukraine

Ukraine's new President Petro Poroshenko signs association agreement with the European Union.



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Benghazi suspect now in U.S.

Ahmed Abu Khatallah - the man the U.S. accuses of being the ringleader in the attack on the American mission in Benghazi, LIbya, in 2012- has been brought to federal court in Washington, D.C., a U.S. official confirmed Saturday.



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Suspect 'researched child car deaths'

The suspect in a Georgia toddler's death told police he used the Internet to research child deaths inside vehicles, a search warrant said.



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Iraq inmate: Guards 'opened fire'

Survivors accuse Iraq prison guards of shooting into cells.



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Militants killed in Pakistan offensive

Pakistani forces have killed at least 19 militants as part of their offensive in the country's tribal region, the military said in a statement Saturday.



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'New reality' shakes oil markets

The global oil market is on tenterhooks as a result of the violent Sunni insurgency sweeping down from northern Iraq and threatening Baghdad.



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U.S. doubts N. Korea missile claim

A U.S. defense official dismisses North Korea's claim to have successfully tested "newly developed cutting-edge" missiles, saying there is no indication of new technology.



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5 things to watch for this weekend

Like what you've seen so far? Well, the World Cup will dish up even more soccer superlatives as the "Round of 16" kicks off on Saturday.



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Biden, Clinton, you're rich. Own it

A pair of gaffes by Vice President Biden and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton illustrate just how hard it is to explain how vast the gaps of income and wealth in America have become -- including the significant but seldom-discussed difference between being merely rich and being super-rich.



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Look back at life of famed singer

CNN's Nischelle Turner looks back on the life of famed soul singer and composer Bobby Womack.



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ISIS has Saudis on highest alert

King Abdullah has ordered that "all necessary measures" be taken to protect Saudi Arabia against terror threats, the state-run SPA news agency reported Thursday.



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Merkel wins, Cameron loses EU row

Jean-Claude Juncker is a step closer to becoming the next president of the European Commission after EU leaders approved his nomination, despite strong opposition from Britain.



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Battles, executions, drones, as Iraqi troops battle ISIS

Iraq's army calls for air and ground support after ISIS attacks a military base south of Baghdad. Armed drones protect U.S. advisers in the capital.



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What Obama discovered about Iraq

Frida Ghitis says President Obama discovered that he cannot look away from the twin disasters in Syria and Iraq.



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Algeria celebrates historic first

Belgium set a date with the U.S. in the last 16 of the World Cup, while underdogs Algeria celebrate a historic first.



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Bindi Irwin's advice to young girls

Bindi Irwin has a message for girls her age: Cover it up.



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WHO: Ebola outbreak 'out of control'

"Drastic action" is needed to stop the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa that has killed 360 people in three countries, the World Health Organization says.



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Israel identifies teen kidnap suspects

The Israel Security Agency released the identities of two suspects in the kidnapping of three teenage boys from Jewish settlements in the West Bank two weeks ago.



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Soul singer Bobby Womack dead

Legendary soul singer Bobby Womack died Friday, Womack's publicist said. He was 70.



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Parents 'kept teen prisoner'

A Georgia couple accused of locking their 13-year-old son in a small basement room with nothing but a mattress, a box spring and a bucket for a toilet have turned themselves in, police said.



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Tiger Woods comeback ends early

Tiger Woods may need to reappraise his schedule after his hopes of getting in four rounds of competitive golf ahead of the British Open were dashed Friday.



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The grass on the other side

BRITISH COLUMBIA (BC) has a reputation among cognoscenti for producing potent cannabis. Vancouver’s easygoing attitude to pot has earned it the nickname Vansterdam. On the back of these attributes, the Canadian province has built a thriving marijuana-export business, estimated at C$2 billion ($1.9 billion) annually by Stephen Easton, an economist at the Fraser Institute. But the industry has been dealt a blow by moves towards marijuana legalisation south of the border.

Legislation approving medicinal marijuana use has been helping to drive down prices in the United States over the past decade. The recent legalisation of recreational marijuana use in the states of Colorado and Washington has added to the downward pressure. Local production has ramped up: there are an estimated 1,000 licensed growing facilities in Colorado alone. Retail outlets in Washington are due to start opening in early July. One pound of cannabis used to sell for $2,000 on the wholesale market in the United States, say insiders, but the price has halved in some areas.

As production increases in the United States, pushing prices down, the economics no longer...Continue reading



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MH370 crew 'likely unresponsive'

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 likely flew into the southern Indian Ocean on autopilot with an unresponsive crew, Australian authorities say.



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Fired nanny refuses to leave

Ralph and Marcella Bracamonte's California home has become their personal hell.



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Obama seeks aid for Syrian rebels

The U.S. President wants $500 million to help "vetted elements" among Syria's armed opposition, potentially deepening U.S. involvement in the conflict.



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U.S. goalie: Support 'mind blowing'

Goalkeeper Tim Howard says the explosion of interest in the football in the United States is "mind blowing" off the back of Team USA's surprise progression from the World Cup "Group of Death" to the last 16.



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Sunni-Shia friends despite it all

CNN's Nic Robertson meets two Iraqi men who both married outside their sect, but remain bonded by marriage and friendship.



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Soccer: Now part of a New America?

Well, so much for the idea that Americans don't care about soccer.



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Tea Party leader commits suicide

Mississippi tea party leader and attorney Mark Mayfield has died, according to his attorney, Merrida Coxwell.



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U.S. drones fly over Baghdad

A U.S. official says armed drones are now flying over Baghdad to provide additional protection to U.S. military advisors.



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'Too old' beauty queen loses crown

Pageant authorities stripped Miss Delaware of her crown after they realized she was too old to compete. KYW reports.



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Olympian races while pregnant

Alysia Montano, a 28-year-old runner, competed in the 800-meter race at the U.S. Championships while 34 weeks pregnant.



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USA progresses as Germany wins

Mission accomplished -- Team USA books its place in the last 16 after escaping from one of the tournament's toughest groups.



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Did Obama botch the endgame in Iraq?

David Gergen and Daniel Katz say blame Bush for launching the Iraq war, but look to the Obama administration for failing to leave behind a sustainable postwar structure.



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Why we need to talk about reparations

Eric Liu says when we understand why reparations are justified, we will have a shot at being "beyond race."



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Suicide barrier for Golden Gate Bridge?

There is a dark duality about the Golden Gate Bridge. Majestic and macabre, the bridge is an architectural wonder that also happens to be a magnet for suicides.



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Ex-Vatican envoy guilty of sex abuse

A former Vatican ambassador to the Dominican Republic has been found guilty of sexual abuse of minors by a Vatican tribunal, the Vatican said in a statement Friday.



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Wimbledon: 'I'm favorite' - Serena

Being top of the tennis tree can make grand slam predictions a little predictable, especially if your name is Serena Williams.



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Bite victim: Suarez ban 'excessive'

Sympathy for biting footballer Luis Suarez has been in short supply, but Friday the Uruguayan found support from an unlikely candidate -- his latest victim.



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Sudan Christian enters U.S. Embassy

A Sudanese Christian woman who initially faced a death sentence after refusing to renounce her faith is now at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum with her family, her husband told CNN on Friday.



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U.S. dumps landmines targeting people

The United States will phase out its stockpiles of landmines designed specifically to target people, moving it closer to joining a global ban on a weapon that kills more than 15,000 people a year -- most of them civilians.



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Rights group finds mass graves in Tikrit

Graves believed to contain bodies of Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians killed by ISIS fighters are found in Tikrit, a rights group says.



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Unlikely alliance fights ISIS

As the ISIS threat escalates, Iraqi's Shia Mahdi army is willing to align with very unlikely allies.



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Life under ISIS rule in Iraq

CNN's Arwa Damon reports on how Iraqis are living under ISIS control in Mosul.



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Old tanks defend Baghdad

CNN's Nic Robertson journeys to the front lines, where old Iraqi tanks are being used to keep ISIS out of Baghdad.



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Watch interview

Ukraine's new President Petro Poroshenko says he's ready to make a peace deal with President Vladimir Putin.



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Japan holds whale meat feast for kids

Whalers from a Japanese coastal town have celebrated the start of this year's hunting season by slicing up a whale in front of a crowd of school children.



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Muslims in Britain: Under the spotlight

Medina in Birmingham, Najaf in Brent: Inside British Islam. By Innes Bowen.Hurst; 288 pages; £16.99. To be published in America in September; $30. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.ukNEWS reports about Britain’s Muslims are bewildering, even for those who follow them closely and with an open mind. A leading policewoman has just predicted that British-born jihadis returning from Syria will pose a lethal security threat for “many, many, many years”. They are Sunni extremists who have been fighting President Bashar al-Assad, so in other words are at one end of a coalition that Britain has supported. But they are now deemed more menacing than Mr Assad.Meanwhile in Birmingham, inspectors have swooped on local schools and in several cases switched their reports from “outstanding” to severely deficient, partly on the grounds that children were exposed to extremism. This change of...



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Reform in Japan: The third arrow

DURING Japan’s Meiji restoration, which began in 1868, a group of reform-minded officials and citizens worked together to stamp out feudalism, prise open borders and push the country onto a path of rapid industrialisation. In little over ten years they reshaped Japan from top to bottom. That well-known tale has left a perennial optimism among the Japanese that they can, when absolutely necessary, change direction. Others, especially foreigners, are not so sure. In two decades of economic stagnation Japan’s leaders have repeatedly failed to rescue their country’s fortunes.Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister since 2012, has offered something for both sides. He started surprisingly well. Last year, with Meiji speed, he shot off the first two arrows of “Abenomics”: a huge fiscal stimulus and a dramatic programme of monetary easing. His approval rating soared, as did the stockmarket, and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) triumphed in an election for the upper house of the Diet, Japan’s parliament. But his first attempt at a third arrow of structural reforms to unleash growth, an announcement in June 2013, fell flat. He seemed to have been nobbled by Japan’s various...



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Higher education: Creative destruction

HIGHER education is one of the great successes of the welfare state. What was once the privilege of a few has become a middle-class entitlement, thanks mainly to government support. Some 3.5m Americans and 5m Europeans will graduate this summer. In the emerging world universities are booming: China has added nearly 30m places in 20 years. Yet the business has changed little since Aristotle taught at the Athenian Lyceum: young students still gather at an appointed time and place to listen to the wisdom of scholars.Now a revolution has begun (see article), thanks to three forces: rising costs, changing demand and disruptive technology. The result will be the reinvention of the university.Off campus, onlineHigher education suffers from Baumol’s disease—the tendency of costs to soar in labour-intensive sectors with stagnant productivity. Whereas the prices of cars, computers and much else have fallen dramatically, universities, protected by public-sector funding and the premium employers place on...



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Taxing America’s diaspora: FATCA’s flaws

IN THE depths of recession in 2010, a jobs-obsessed Congress passed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act. Bolted on to it was the arcane-sounding Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. There was scant debate about FATCA, as it is more commonly known, because it was touted as a way to bring in money by curbing offshore tax evasion. In tough times, such “revenue-generators” are no-brainers.Going after tax dodgers is understandable. But FATCA, which will take effect on July 1st, is overkill.America is the only large economy to tax its citizens on everything they earn anywhere in the world. FATCA’s purpose is to ensure that not a centime or rouble that a “US person” has stashed away goes undetected by the IRS. In a piece of extraterritoriality stunning even by Washington’s standards, the new law requires banks, funds and other financial institutions around the world to report assets held by American clients or face a ruinous 30% withholding tax. America is, in essence, using threats to outsource its financial policing. This is working: so far, more than 77,000 financial institutions have agreed to pass information to the IRS.The costs of complying with FATCA...



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Legalising v decriminalising drugs: A half-smoked joint

“I’M GONNA smoke’a de ganja until I go blind,” sang Bob Marley. “You know I smoke’a de ganja all a de time.” Jamaicans who share his devotion to cannabis have long risked arrest. But this month the government said it intended to decriminalise possession of small amounts of the drug. Several countries in Europe and Latin America have already taken this step. On the day that Jamaica announced its plans, a report commissioned by the Kofi Annan Foundation argued that minor drug offences should be decriminalised in West Africa to reduce violence and corruption.After decades of failure it is hardly surprising that people are seeking alternatives to the ruinously expensive, bloody “war on drugs”. Prohibiting narcotics has failed to prevent an increase in their use, mainly in the rich world but increasingly in emerging markets (Brazil is now the world’s biggest customer of crack cocaine). At the same time it has enriched the criminal mafias which spread corruption and murder from London’s East End to Tijuana’s barrios, and which threaten to make failed states of countries in Africa and Latin America. Even Britain’s official advisory panel on drugs...



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Poland’s second golden age: Europe’s unlikely star

OVER most of the past decade, the European Union has been in a sorry state. Countries such as Greece and the newest member, Croatia, are basket-cases. Ordinary voters have lost trust in the EU: at the recent European elections barely two-fifths of them bothered to cast a ballot and almost a third of those who did backed anti-European or populist parties. Instead of devising a convincing response, European leaders will spend this week’s summit bickering over whether Jean-Claude Juncker, an uninspiring old-school federalist from Luxembourg, is the right person to run the European Commission.Yet one big country defies the general gloom: Poland, the subject of our special report this week. Once considered the problem child of central Europe, Poland has seen its economy grow since the collapse of communism by more than any other in the EU. It was the only EU member to avoid a recession during the financial crisis. And it has managed to have more cordial relations than ever before with its two...



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Poland’s new golden age: The second Jagiellonian age

“I AM PROUD of my country,” says Aleksander Kwasniewski, Poland’s president from 1995 to 2005. And well he might be when it is celebrating a series of happy anniversaries: ten years of European Union membership, 15 since it joined NATO and 25 since the fall of communism in eastern Europe. Not since the days of the Jagiellonian kings in the 16th century, when Poland stretched from the Baltics almost to the Black Sea, has it been so prosperous, peaceful, united and influential.When the Iron Curtain came down in 1989, Poland was nearly bankrupt, with a big, inefficient agricultural sector, terrible roads and rail links and an economy no bigger than that of neighbouring (and much larger) Ukraine. At the time the ex-communist countries with the best prospects were widely thought to be Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Hopes for Poland were low.But rigorous economic shock therapy in the early 1990s put Poland on the right track. Market-oriented reforms included removing price controls, restraining wage increases, slashing subsidies for goods and services and balancing the budget. The cure was painful, but after a couple of years of sharp recession in 1990-91 Poland started to...



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East-west divide: The Eastern Wall

NOT MANY PEOPLE tune in these days, but Radio Maryja still has some political clout. The ultra-conservative broadcaster articulates the feelings of Poles alienated by their country’s new, materialist business culture and by what they see as the moral decay of society. Founded in 1991, it filled a vacuum. Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, the entrepreneurial Roman Catholic priest who runs the radio station, saw that this unhappy chunk of the population needed a mouthpiece. He has turned it into a lucrative business that includes a private university and even an aqua park in Torun, where his radio station is based.Radio Maryja’s most faithful listeners tend to be old, live in rural areas in eastern Poland and vote for the conservative PiS. They are part of “Polska B”, the poorer, less developed Poland, as opposed to “Polska A”, the growth centres in Warsaw and in western Poland, around Poznan and Wroclaw. The division amounts to more than a difference in wealth. “There is also the perception of a cultural divide between the two Polands, with Polska B being perceived as backward civilisationally, behind a wschodnia sciana (Eastern Wall),” says...



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Economy and business: In with the new

“IN ANOTHER 20 YEARS shipbuilding in Poland may not exist any more,” says Krzysztof Kulczycki, one of the owners of Crist, a shipyard and builder of offshore steel structures in Gdynia, a city in the north of Poland on the Baltic Sea. Faced with competition from the Far East, many shipyards, once the pride of Gdynia and neighbouring Gdansk, are struggling. Crist is profitable, but mainly thanks to a subsidiary, Crist Offshore, which makes offshore wind turbines and oil platforms.Over in Gdansk the mood is even gloomier. The former Lenin shipyard, which became the symbol of Poland’s struggle against communism and the cradle of Solidarity, the Soviet bloc’s first independent trade union, has been in decline for more than two decades. The main reason for its survival is its iconic status: no government was prepared to let it go bust on its watch. History is everywhere.Once the employer of 17,000 workers, the Gdansk shipyard is now down to around 1,000. Most of its buildings are empty and derelict, standing in an area of industrial wasteland right next to Gdansk’s meticulously reconstructed historic city centre. In 2007 three-quarters of the Gdansk...



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Agriculture: A land of milk and apples

The world can’t get enough of them

MACIEJ KARCZEWSKI loves his job as an apple farmer in Lower Silesia, near Wroclaw. On a sunny spring day he is out in his orchard of 40 hectares (100 acres), proudly showing off row after row of blossoming apple trees, separated by dandelion-dotted grass.Mr Karczewski’s father started growing apples 25 years ago. The son trained in nurseries in Britain and studied horticulture at the University of Minnesota but always knew he was going to return to his family’s fruit trees. The farm employs five people all year long, ten in the pruning seasons and 30 for the harvest. For the peak harvest season in September and October Mr Karczewski hires Ukrainians, as local labour is expensive and hard to find.Apples are one of Poland’s most successful exports. Last year the country overtook China as the world’s biggest apple exporter. One-third of Poland’s crop, or about 1.2m tonnes, went abroad, with Russia taking 57% of the total. Poland’s entire farm sector, from cereals to meat production, is surging ahead. Last year agri-food exports were worth 85 billion zloty ($27 billion), an 11.5% increase on 2012....



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Foreign policy: Playground turned player

IN THE 20TH CENTURY Poland played a central role in international politics on several occasions: in 1920, when it beat back the Red Army; in 1939, when Poles exchanged the first shots of the second world war with Germans in Gdansk; and in 1980, when an organised movement, Solidarity, defied communist rule in the Soviet bloc for the first time.Yet for most of the 20th century Poland was a playground rather than player in international politics. For much of the time it was occupied by Austrians, Germans, Russians or Soviets. So when it emerged from communism, having known independence for only 20 of the previous 200 years, it was at first focused on itself and its transformation from a dictatorship with a centrally planned economy to a free-market democracy. Poles were poor and prickly, and many of them saw the divide with the West as unbridgeable.That changed when Poland, together with nine other countries, joined the European Union on May 1st 2004. As Poles became richer and more successful within the EU, their international stature grew, as did their self-confidence and enthusiasm for deeper integration. “Poles are still in love with the EU ten...



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The future: Confounding the pessimists

Precious few

“I AM FINE” is not something Poles say. According to Jacek Purchla, head of the International Cultural Institute in Krakow, around 80% of Poles have gained from their country’s recent transformation; the rest, such as former employees of defunct state-owned enterprises, are worse off than under communism. “But if you ask Poles, you get the impression it’s the other way round,” says Mr Purchla.History has taught Poles to be pessimistic and full of self-doubt. For the half-millennium, whenever their country was enjoying a peaceful, prosperous period it soon seemed to come to a brutal end, often through foreign invasion. Now Poland is prospering once again: since 1989 it has achieved unprecedented levels of income and quality of life and its economy has grown faster than that of any other country in Europe. It has also gained an important role in European diplomacy. Can its good fortune last?Perhaps this time is different. All long-term projections show that Poland will continue to grow faster than western Europe at least until 2030, and thus continue to converge with the West, writes Marcin Piatkowski, an economist at the...



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A dramatic decline in suicides: Back from the edge

IN THE 1990s China had one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Young rural women in particular were killing themselves at an alarming rate. In recent years, however, China’s suicides have declined to among the lowest rates in the world.In 2002 the Lancet, a British medical journal, said there were 23.2 suicides per 100,000 people annually from 1995 to 1999. This year a report by a group of researchers from the University of Hong Kong found that had declined to an average annual rate of 9.8 per 100,000 for the years 2009-11, a 58% drop.Paul Yip, director of the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the University of Hong Kong and a co-author of the recent study, says no country has ever achieved such a rapid decline in suicides. And yet, experts say, China has done it without a significant improvement in mental-health services—and without any national publicity effort to lower suicides.The most dramatic shift has been in the figures for rural women under 35. Their suicide rate appears to have dropped by as much as 90%. The Lancet study in 2002 estimated 37.8 per 100,000 of this age group committed...



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The church: Bring back Wojtylian dialogue

EVERY EVENING IN the days before Easter, Polish television news showed a group of angry parishioners in front of a closed church in Jasienica, near Warsaw. They were upset because Henryk Hoser, the archbishop of Warsaw-Praga, had decided to shut down their local church, less than a week before the most important feast in the liturgical calendar. It was his way of resolving his conflict with Jasienica’s popular parish priest, Wojciech Lemanski, who was suspended last year but continued to say Mass once a week in the church.The archbishop’s action was symptomatic of a church that seems to have lost its openness to dialogue and appears increasingly out of touch with Poland’s population, especially the young and urbanised. Poland remains the most Catholic country in Europe: some 95% of the country’s 38m people are baptised Catholics, and at least one-third of them say they attend Mass weekly. Father Lemanski had dared to criticise the church’s rigid opposition to in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), and had repeatedly condemned what he saw as the lenient treatment of clerics accused of sexual abuse. A long-standing advocate of Polish-Jewish reconciliation, he had also...



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Naval gazing: Sea change

China has sent ships to Hawaii to take part in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military drills for the first time. RIMPAC, which began on June 26th, is the largest naval exercise in the world, with 25,000 personnel from 23 countries, including America, Australia, India, Indonesia and South Korea. The Chinese sent a destroyer, a frigate and a supply ship (pictured) along with a hospital ship and 1,100 men. America extended the invitation to participate before recent confrontations between China and its neighbours in the South and East China Seas. Though RIMPAC will not solve today’s tensions, it is part of an attempt to improve communication between regional armed forces. It also gives American officers a rare chance to have a peek at some Chinese kit.



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Obituary: Isaac Patch

WHEN he found out that his new employer was a front for the CIA, Isaac Patch was furious. He disliked the secret world, with its mixture of paranoia, incompetence and furtiveness. The agency was “unsavoury” and he hated having to lie about what he did.But he detested Communism even more. As a diplomat he had seen the Soviet system first hand. In 1949, after the coup in Czechoslovakia, he and his family had been expelled by the secret police, at a bruising 24 hours notice. At the American embassy in wartime Moscow, he’d come to love Russia and to deplore the damage that Communism was doing to it.He admired Russians—the humbler the better. Careless of hardship and risk, they would share their last bread with him, a strange foreigner wandering from village to village during his weekends. They even let him try to teach them his beloved baseball, enjoyably if unsuccessfully: “Russians ran the bases the wrong way, picked up the bases when we told them to steal, and swung the bat in the manner of a cricket player,” he recalled later. “The villagers crowded around the field and cheered every play, whether good or bad.”Organising Russians abroad was equally difficult, and...



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Digital identity cards: Estonia takes the plunge

THE founders of the internet were academics who took users’ identities on trust. When only research co-operation was at stake, this was reasonable. But the lack of secure identification is now hampering the development of e-commerce and the provision of public services online. In day-to-day life, from banking to dating, if you don’t know who you are dealing with, you are vulnerable to fraud or deceit, or will have to submit to cumbersome procedures such as scanning and uploading documents to prove who you are.Much work has gone into making systems that can recognise and verify digital IDs. A standard called OpenID Connect, organised by an international non-profit foundation, was launched this year. Mobile-phone operators have started a complementary service, Mobile Connect, which allows identities of all kinds to be authenticated from smartphones.But providing a digital ID that will be widely used and trusted is far harder. Businesses can check their employees rigorously, and issue credentials for gaining access to buildings, computers and the like. But what about outside the workplace? Facebook, Google and Twitter are all trying to make their accounts a form of...



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Digital typography: Ways with words

Printing outside the box

FEW people use more than a couple of the hundreds of typefaces that come installed on their computers. Fewer still realise that the revenues from licensing those letters go to some of the media industry’s great survivors. The firms that design, own and sell fonts have lived through successive waves of technological change, first as computerised printing replaced metal type and then when much reading moved to screens. Now websites and apps are shaking up their business once more.Monotype, an American firm founded in 1887, is the industry’s biggest. Its customers, who are mostly technology companies and designers of printed material and websites, pick from a catalogue of 18,000 fonts, which include classics such as Arial, Times New Roman and Helvetica as well as more unusual ones such as Officina (which we use in the captions and on the contents pages of our newspaper). In its early days it sold ingenious machines that enabled Edwardian printers to cast lines of type in seconds; now, as well as the right to use its fonts, it sells software that renders text on screen. That makes it both supplier and competitor to...



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The World Cup in Brazil: The half-time verdict

THE winners of the football World Cup will not be known until July 13th. But the tournament is already a sporting success. Draws, especially of the goalless variety, have been mercifully rare (see chart). Not since 1958 have so many goals been scored per game in the group stage of a World Cup. What about off the pitch?Start with Brazil’s economy. On the whole, economists agree, big sporting events have negligible impact on output. Money for the infrastructure bonanza beloved of politicians is not conjured from thin air; it is diverted from elsewhere. Productivity dips, too. Holidays have been decreed on some match days to ease pressure on creaking public transport. Before the Brazil-Cameroon game on June 23rd, for example, Brasília was a ghost town; to spare fans inevitable gridlock, public institutions and private firms let workers off early.The São Paulo Federation of Commerce reckons the output lost as a result could reach 30 billion reais ($14 billion), about as much as all World Cup investment put together. Tourism-related earnings, which the government puts at 6.7 billion reais, will not offset this. For every football fan coming to see his team play a...



from The Economist: The Americas http://ift.tt/1pSkmbH

Bello: That damned child

AS A rather younger man, Bello arrived in Lima in November 1982 just as an unprecedentedly severe El Niño current was getting under way. The sea temperature climbed to 2.2°C above average. Peru’s northern desert became a lake; bridges, roads and power lines were washed away. Emaciated pelicans flapped forlornly over the city. In drought-stricken villages in Bolivia’s barren Altiplano, families ate their seed potatoes; their children were visibly malnourished.Bello is now back in Lima. It is early winter in the southern hemisphere yet the days are unseasonably warm and sunny. Starved of the Pacific anchovies on which they normally feed, hundreds of dead sea birds have appeared on beaches in northern Peru. These are unmistakable signs of the warming of the cold waters of the south-eastern Pacific, and thus of the approach of another El Niño.Named for “the boy” (Jesus) by Peruvian fishermen more than a century ago, because it normally becomes fully apparent around Christmas, El Niño (together with its cooling sibling, La Niña) is a complex, naturally occurring weather phenomenon. Every two to seven years much of the warm water that collects in the western Pacific...



from The Economist: The Americas http://ift.tt/1pSkiZz

The Supreme Court: Hands off my phone

You can keep your phone, sir

THE framers of America’s constitution knew nothing about mobile phones, but they knew a thing or two about unreasonable searches. In Riley v California, the Supreme Court considered “whether the police may, without a warrant, search digital information on a cellphone seized from an individual who has been arrested.” Unanimously on June 25th, the justices said no, or, to be more precise, very rarely.David Riley, a member of the Bloods street gang who was sentenced to 15 years to life for attempted murder, and Brima Wurie, sentenced to 262 months on a drug charge, will be happy to hear this. Except in true emergencies where searching a mobile phone could, say, avert a terrorist attack, police prying without a warrant violates the Fourth Amendment’s bar on “unreasonable” searches, the justices decided. Since both Riley and Wurie’s convictions were based on evidence gleaned from such searches, they will be overturned.Chief Justice John Roberts began by observing how attached Americans have become to their mobile devices: “the proverbial visitor from Mars,” he wrote, might mistake them...



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America’s crumbling infrastructure: Bridging the gap

THE Pulaski Skyway is a bridge of beauty, a lattice of steel held high above the river that separates Newark from Jersey City. It is also a bit rickety. Some of its struts have begun to resemble the pastry on a millefeuille. Its structure is described as “basically intolerable” by the National Bridge Inventory. The thousands of motorists who cross it each day probably agree. With no money to pay for its maintenance, New Jersey re-classified the Pulaski as an entrance to a tunnel that maps suggest lies miles to its north, so that the Port Authority could be tapped for funds. For this, Chris Christie, the state’s governor—who has had other troubles with bridges recently—finds his administration under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and New York’s District Attorney.New Jersey’s scramble to find money for basic repairs is not unusual. The Highway Trust Fund, a pot of federal cash that covers a quarter of spending by states on infrastructure, will have to start withholding money this summer to keep its balance above zero, as required by law. “The problem with the trust fund,” says David Walker, a former head of the Government Accountability...



from The Economist: United States http://ift.tt/1lSeLjZ

Climate change and the economy: The cost of doing nothing

Trouble on Main Street

IT HAS been the hottest May ever, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The world’s average surface temperature was 0.74°C above its 20th-century average. Alaska was almost 2°C above its 1971-2000 level.The heat has brought American business out in a rash. Two weeks after President Barack Obama proposed new rules ordering power stations to cut carbon emissions, the bosses of several big firms (including Coca-Cola and General Mills) demanded that other governments get on with it and negotiate a treaty on greenhouse gases. Now Michael Bloomberg, a former New York mayor, and several other gazillionaires—including three former Treasury secretaries—have come up with new forecasts of the economic damage that climate change might do. Their study is notable for its wealth of detail and for concentrating on things you can see.It looks at three areas where the weather makes the biggest difference: coastal property, farming and the effect of heat on work. It points out that, if the oceans go on rising at current rates, the sea level at New York city will rise by 27-49cm by 2050 and by 64-128cm in 2100...



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Primary battles: The Tea Party, scalded

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY civil war between purists and pragmatists is not over: the viciousness of the 2014 party primary season proves that. But defeats for Tea Party-backed populists on June 24th confirm a big development. The party’s business-backed “governing” wing has remembered how to fight, and fight rough.Not for the first time in history, the lowest blows flew in Mississippi. Senator Thad Cochran—a genteel, big-government Republican and four-decade Washington veteran—broke every rule of Deep South politics and asked black Democrats and union members to cross party lines and cast votes in a Republican Party run-off contest. It worked, just:Mr Cochran won by about 6,700 votes, or less than two percentage points. A hefty turnout in mostly-black counties helped Mr Cochran beat off Chris McDaniel, a compromise-scorning state senator and former radio talk-show host.The McDaniel campaign was sidetracked for a time by the arrest of a supporter who had sneaked into a retirement home to film Mr Cochran’s wife, who has dementia. The Cochran campaign was deft at tailoring its message to different audiences. In black neighbourhoods its leaflets praised Mr Cochran’s support for food stamps and bashed Mr McDaniel for opposing Obamacare. In white districts it praised Mr Cochran for voting “more than 100 times” against Obamacare. Mr Cochran also touted himself as a conservative whose...

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Anti-vaccine campaigners: Clueless

Like, totally don’t vaccinate babies, OK?

JENNY MCCARTHY, a celebrity who introduced herself to the world on the pages of Playboy 20 years ago, is the proud owner of a Pigasus award, bestowed every April Fool’s day on “the performer who fooled the greatest number of people using the least talent”. Ms McCarthy, an anti-vaccination campaigner, says she is not opposed to vaccination. But she has defended debunked claims that jabs can trigger autism, and reckons her son was cured of his autism through vitamins and diet. More recently the anti-vaccination cause has been taken up by Alicia Silverstone, an actress whose name may now forever be linked to “Clueless” (pictured), a 1995 update of Jane Austen’s Emma in which she starred.Whooping cough (pertussis), a contagious bacterial infection that is deeply unpleasant for adults and can be fatal for small children, was supposed to have been largely eradicated from the United States, thanks to widespread vaccination. Infections fell from 222,202 in 1941 to 1,010 in 1976. But lately it has made an unwelcome return. In 2012 48,277 cases were...



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Lexington: Chinese garden diplomacy

TO ASIAN culture buffs, a tranquil Japanese garden built two decades ago in Houston is in the Daimyo strolling style. Economic historians, an unromantic bunch, see a peace-offering to a rattled American superpower, presented at a moment when Japan’s rise inspired something like panic. Today the garden is a shady oasis, thronged at weekends by Hispanic families filming themselves by its carp-filled pond. But its origins were tangled up with a tense economic summit for G7 nations, held in Houston in 1990. Japan’s prime minister announced a gift of a precious teahouse during that meeting; work on the garden began the next year. Not long before, Japanese buyers had snapped up the Rockefeller Centre and Pebble Beach golf course. Both proved poor investments, but many people at the time saw them as evidence that Japan was overtaking America. (A 1993 film, “Rising Sun”, marked the peak of Japanophobia, mixing sex and murder with dollops of self-doubt: “catch-up” is our national game, mutters an American cop chasing Japanese villains.)Houston was not Japan’s first go at garden diplomacy. As trade tensions built in the 1970s, Japanese authorities helped to build a fine...



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Same-sex marriage bans struck down

Federal courts in Indiana and Utah on Wednesday struck down same-sex marriage bans in those states.



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Downpour could delay match

It's raining hard Thursday in Recife, Brazil, where the U.S. is set to face off against Germany in a crucial World Cup game.



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Pakistan exodus: Risks, opportunities

Pakistan's much-awaited military offensive in North Waziristan was launched more than a week ago, and followed an attack on Karachi airport that left at least 36 people dead.



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How to stop hunters killing elephants

Poachers threaten to drive the majestic African elephant to the brink of extinction, just as they have the long-persecuted northern white rhino.



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I, too, left my child in a hot car

I left my daughter in my car on a hot summer day. It was in July 2007, and I remember that day as if it were yesterday.



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Luis Suarez banned for nine matches for biting

Uruguay's Luis Suarez banned for nine international matches and suspended from the sport for four months by FIFA.



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FIFA suspends Luis Suarez

FIFA suspends Uruguay's Luis Suarez for 9 matches, including any further matches in the World Cup.



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Suarez: Sympathy for the 'devil'?

He's football's chief sinner, and Luis Suarez's alleged attempt to bite Giorgio Chiellini's shoulder in a key World Cup game has prompted an outpouring of indignation from the game's global congregation.



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Uruguay defend 'hero' Suarez

While Uruguay's star striker faces an uncomfortable wait to see what his alleged chomp on Giorgio Chiellini will mean for the rest of his World Cup -- and possibly his international future post-Brazil -- the world was equally aghast and amused at the sight of the footballer's on-field antics.



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Photos: Controversial striker

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Close encounters: Everything you need to know about UFOs

On July 2nd avid watchers of the skies celebrate World UFO day—the anniversary of the supposed crash of a flying saucer near Roswell in 1947. Helpfully, the National UFO Reporting Centre, a non-profit, has catalogued almost 90,000 reported sightings of UFOs, mostly in America, since 1974. It turns out that aliens are considerate. They seldom disturb earthlings during working or sleeping hours. Rather, they tend to arrive in the evening, especially on Fridays, when folks are sitting on the front porch nursing their fourth beer, the better to appreciate flashing lights in the heavens (see chart). The state aliens like best is Washington—a finding that pre-dates the legalisation of pot there. Other popular destinations are also near the Canadian border, where the Northern lights are sometimes visible. UFOs tend to shun big cities, where there are lots of other lights, and daylight hours, when people might think they were just aeroplanes.



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Ghana sacks two star players

Ghana's World Cup challenge is in danger of imploding after two of its star players were thrown out of their squad following allegations of physical and verbal attacks within the team's camp.



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Zoo kills, stuffs 'neglected' bear

A zoo in Switzerland is the latest to be embroiled in controversy, after it not only killed a healthy bear cub but will now stuff and display it to teach children that "nature can be cruel."



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Why real gun problem is mental health

Next time there's a mass shooting, don't jump to blame the National Rifle Association and lax gun laws. Look first at the shooter and the mental health services he did or didn't get, and the commitment laws in the state where the shooting took place.



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Father charged after boy dies in hot car

When it became clear to Justin Harris that his toddler son, Cooper, was dead, he was so inconsolable that police had to restrain him.



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U.S. vs. Germany: 'Massive game'

Here's a cheat sheet to make you an insta-pundit on the crucial USA-Germany showdown



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Who will lead EU? They can't decide

Who will lead the fractured European Union for the next five years? That question has caused weeks of bickering, but finally a decision must be made.



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Al-Maliki: Sunnis collaborating with ISIS

As Sunni extremist militants and the Iraqi military battle for control, the nation's Vice President issued a decree calling for parliament to meet Tuesday to start the process of creating a new government.



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Sudan Christian faces new charges

A Sudanese Christian woman who was sentenced to die for refusing to renounce her faith -- and then released -- has been charged on two counts after trying to leave the African country for the United States.



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Radical cleric Abu Qatada cleared

A Jordanian court Thursday acquitted radical cleric Abu Qatada of charges of conspiracy to bomb an American school in the late 1990s, state media reported.



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Missing boy found in dad's basement

An 11-day search for a missing Michigan boy came to a bizarre conclusion Wednesday when he was discovered alive and well, hidden in the basement of his father's home in Detroit.



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Syrian warplanes strike Iraq

Dozens of civilians die in what local officials say was a Syrian air raid into Iraq, and now a U.S. official says Iran is flying drones over Iraq.



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Primark 'forced labor' note inquiry

A shopper in Northern Ireland may have gotten more than she bargained for when she reportedly discovered a chilling note stuffed in a pair of pants she purchased from European retailer, Primark.



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Anti-corruption campaign nets 'tiger'

More details emerged in state media Thursday about the dismissal of the highest-ranking Chinese official yet since President Xi Jinping launched a massive campaign against corruption -- a lightning rod for public discontent across the country.



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Is ransom funding Boko Haram?

Wren Thomas grew up in the middle of the cornfields of central Illinois, longing, he says, to do something important in his life "to make his family proud." So when a cousin beckoned him to come work on boats off Louisiana, he jumped at the chance.



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MH370 search to move farther south in Indian Ocean

Australia's deputy Prime Minister announces a new search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, saying it is "highly, highly likely" that it was on autopilot when it crashed.



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Goal! Every scoring moment

A look at every goal scored during the 2014 World Cup.



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On the front lines against ISIS

CNN's Nic Robertson journeys to the front lines, where old Iraqi tanks are being used to keep ISIS out of Baghdad.



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Wife of American jailed in Cuba fearful

Alan Gross has reached his breaking point while serving a 15-year sentence in a Cuban prison, his wife told CNN.



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Suarez faces disciplinary action

FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Luis Suarez after the Uruguayan player was accused of biting an opponent during his team's World Cup match with Italy.



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GoPro to take on Wall Street

CNN's Samuel Burke shows off how GoPro cameras have revolutionized home video and its plans to lure new investors.



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Life under ISIS rule in Iraq

CNN's Arwa Damon reports on how Iraqis are living under ISIS control in Mosul.



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Bindi Irwin to young girls: Cover it up

Bindi Irwin has a message for girls her age: Cover it up.



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Evander Holyfield: Suarez lost it

CNN's Hala Gorani talks with former boxing champion Evander Holyfield about the Luis Suarez biting incident.



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Old tanks defending Baghdad

CNN's Nic Robertson journeys to the front lines, where old Iraqi tanks are being used to keep ISIS out of Baghdad.



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3-goal hero saves Swiss dreams

Switzerland might not have the magic of Lionel Messi, but in Xherdan Shaqiri it has a player who is desperate to shine on the biggest stage of all.



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Oil rigs for soccer pitches

Football pitches on oil rigs and skyscrapers, while monks play in robes.



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Corsica militants to abandon arms

After almost 40 years, a militant group on the island of Corsica says it is abandoning its armed struggle for independence from France.



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Gary Oldman sorry for Playboy rant

Gary Oldman has written a letter apologizing for statements he made in a Playboy interview that have been slammed by Jewish groups.



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Polio threat to Pakistan refugees

The growing refugee crisis in northwestern Pakistan is fueling the danger of spreading the polio virus among the displaced population in emergency camps, the World Health Organization warned on Wednesday.



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Is ransom funding Boko Haram?

A ship captain held by Nigerian pirates talks about his experience and how the ransom could be funding the Boko Haram.



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'Magnificent Seven' star dies

Eli Wallach, whose long acting career included performances in "The Magnificent Seven," "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," "The Godfather Part III" and "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," has died. He was 98.



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Messi stars as Argentina tops group

Lionel Messi scored twice as Argentina sealed top spot in Group F with a 3-2 win over Nigeria at the World Cup on Wednesday.



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Greece makes history with penalty

Greece is through to the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time in its history after a dramatic 2-1 win against Ivory Coast in Group C.



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Arg-Nigeria/Bosnia-Iran latest scores

We've reached the business end of the World Cup group stages as Brazil take on Cameroon. Can the hosts clinch top spot in Group A?



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Blast rocks crowded Nigeria plaza

An explosion destroyed 40 vehicles in a parking lot at a crowded plaza in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, on Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman for Nigeria's relief agency said.



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Gary Oldman goes off on hypocrisy

So, Gary Oldman, tell us what you really think.



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Iraq claims gains against ISIS

Iraqi officials insist they are now holding a huge oil refinery and have retaken two border crossings from ISIS after the militants' swift offensive into Iraqi cities.



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Boko Haram abduct 60 women, girls

Boko Haram Islamists abducted 60 females, including children, and killed 30 men last week in a raid of a village in northeastern Nigeria, two sources said Tuesday.



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Mobile search? Get a warrant

The Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled that police may not search the cell phones of criminal suspects upon arrest without a warrant -- a sweeping endorsement for privacy rights.



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MH370 search zone 'approved'

Australian authorities most likely will announce the next search area for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on Thursday, a senior Malaysian official told CNN on condition of anonymity Wednesday.



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Same-sex marriage bans struck down

Federal courts in Indiana and Utah on Wednesday struck down same-sex marriage bans in those states.



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Uruguay beat Italy amid 'bite' scandal

What further part will Luis Suarez play in the World Cup?



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Murray avoids 'Wacky Wednesday' 2

Defending champion Andy Murray races into the third round as tennis top dogs are out to avoid another "Wacky Wednesday" at Wimbledon.



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Pilots blamed for deadly Asiana crash

Pilots botched the approach and landing of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in San Francisco nearly a year ago, causing a crash that killed three, investigators say.



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Is Afghanistan the next Iraq?

Anish Goel says the Afghan regime could face a threat similar to the one in Iraq unless precautionary steps are taken



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Love story key to gay marriage fight

Roberta Kaplan, who successfully argued the Supreme Court case against DOMA on behalf of Edie Windsor, said her strategy was to concentrate on telling Edie and Thea's great love story.



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'No-fly' list: U.S. violated rights

The U.S. government's "no fly" list violates constitutional protections by depriving travelers of a meaningful way to have their names removed, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.



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Strike: '14,000 hours' of air delays

Thousands of travelers are facing long delays and cancellations as a strike by French air traffic controllers intensifies, wreaking havoc with flight schedules across Europe.



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Putin challenged on Ukraine action

Russia's upper house of parliament voted Wednesday to revoke the right of President Vladimir Putin to use Russian troops in Ukraine, as efforts to calm a separatist uprising in Ukraine's east continue.



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Money changes everything, Hillary

Cyndi Lauper is one fabulous and fun sage. The girl had it goin' on way back in 1984 when she sang "Money Changes Everything." It does. Oh, I hear you. Everybody knows that.



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Crazy to tolerate costly healthcare?

A man in Connecticut walks into an outpatient clinic for his daughter to receive an electrocardiogram and sonogram. He later receives a bill for a "facility fee" of $5,000 that his insurance will not cover. A new resident in California looks for a primary care doctor but must wait 3 weeks for an appointment to get refills on medication. A 25-week pregnant woman who works two part-time minimum wage jobs cannot afford the $50 co-pay for regular visits or the $200 in prenatal vitamins her doctor recommends. When her labor begins, she goes to the emergency room where her baby is delivered.



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Facing jail just for doing your job

The Al Jazeera verdict sends a chilling message to any journalist in Egypt, writes CNN's Hala Gorani.



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Why real gun problem is mental health

Next time there's a mass shooting, don't jump to blame the National Rifle Association and lax gun laws. Look first at the shooter and the mental health services he did or didn't get, and the commitment laws in the state where the shooting took place.



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Helicopter shot down in Ukraine

Militants shot down a Ukrainian military helicopter late Tuesday afternoon in eastern Ukraine, five days after Ukraine's president declared a cease-fire in Kiev's fight against pro-Russian separatists, a Ukrainian anti-terror spokesman said.



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Google wants to sell domain names

Google already is a major player in search, online mapping, social networking and other key functions of the Web. Now it wants to sell domain names, too.



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'Brother:' She should repent or die

Two names and two families at the heart of a tragedy.



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Christians 'don't feel safe in prayer'

"Father we ask that you stand with your child Mariam. We ask that you strengthen and support her and grant her your grace."



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Polls open in key Libyan elections

Polls opened in Libya on Wednesday in the country's second parliamentary elections since the fall of the Gadhafi regime in 2011.



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Sudan Christian faces new charges

A Sudanese Christian woman who was sentenced to die for refusing to renounce her faith -- and then released -- has been charged on two counts after trying to leave the African country for the United States.



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Why was woman rearrested?

A Sudanese woman whose death sentence for refusing to renounce her Christian faith was revoked has been rearrested.



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Coulson awaits final hacking verdict

Former newspaper editor and ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson is due back in court in London Wednesday, as the jury in his phone hacking trial considers the remaining charge against him.



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Is Baghdad ready for an assault by ISIS?

The Iraqi military insists it's ready to beat back Islamist militants if they reach Baghdad. But there appears to be little preparation for an assault.



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Cairo subway explosions injure 3

A number of improvised explosive devices went off early Wednesday in several metro stations in Cairo, injuring at least three people, Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram website reported.



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Boko Haram abduct 60 women, girls

Boko Haram Islamists abducted 60 females, including children, and killed 30 men last week in a raid of a village in northeastern Nigeria, two sources said Tuesday.



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Wimbledon: Wins for Nadal, Federer

He may have fallen at the first hurdle at the All England Club last year, but Rafael Nadal managed to avoid another shock first-round defeat 12 months on.



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Suarez embroiled in fresh controversy

What further part will Luis Suarez play in the World Cup?



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MH370: No search announcement yet

Australian authorities say they're not certain when a new search area for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will be announced, clarifying earlier statements suggesting it would be made public Wednesday.



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Pilots to blame for deadly Asiana crash, NTSB rules

Pilots' actions caused the deadly crash of Asiana Flight 214 in San Francisco in 2013, the National Transportation Safety Board finds.



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Asiana crash: Who's to blame?

When federal safety investigators meet on Tuesday to determine the cause of the Asiana Flight 214 crash, they will have studied not only last summer's deadly accident but also a little-known incident years earlier.



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