The games featuring disabled athletes required last-minute help from the Brazilian government and a surge of ticket sales to ensure the event's financial viability.
Regular commercial flights from the U.S. to Cuba began last week. Wednesday marks the first week of direct flights from the U.S. to the communist island, and Cubans are reacting to the rush of American tourists.
Laos is in the interesting position of remaining aligned with the increasingly-shut out North Korea and forging closer ties with South Korea and the U.S.
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Fintan O'Toole, an op-ed columnist for The Irish Times, about how collecting back taxes from Apple could transform Ireland.
The full-body swimsuit is now part of the French presidential campaign. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who supports the burkini bans, is making "national identity" key to his re-election message.
Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen discusses the Soviet effort, in 1929, to create an autonomous Jewish state in the country's far eastern region. Gessen is the author of Where The Jews Aren't.
Syria's government once again faces accusations of using chemical weapons against civilians. Activists and doctors say chlorine bombs were dropped in an airstrike on a rebel-held area of Aleppo.