World News

World News

A Siberian Town Throws A Party For Pests — And Masochists

7:55am July 17, 2015

Many towns hold festivals to celebrate a famed native son or daughter, or its dominant agricultural product. In Berezniki, Russia, they celebrate mosquitoes — partly by getting bitten by them. A lot.

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Ora Mor Yosef, a quadriplegic Israeli woman, had a surrogate child via a niece who underwent the procedure in India and gave birth in Israel. But Israeli authorities, including the High Court, ruled against Mor Yosef, and the baby has been in foster care

World News

Quadriplegic Israeli Woman Challenges Surrogacy Rules And Loses A Child

6:50am July 17, 2015

by Emily Harris

Ora Mor Yosef had a surrogate child via her niece, who underwent the procedure in India and gave birth in Israel. Israeli authorities ruled against Mor Yosef and the baby was placed in foster care.

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On July 9, 2013, heavy floodwaters swept through Beichuan in southwest China's Sichuan province.

How Air Pollution May Have Caused Catastrophic Flooding In China

6:45am July 17, 2015

by Jessie Rack

Scientists believe soot that hangs over the mountains of Sichuan Basin — a byproduct of factories and cars — brought about the floods that devastated the region in 2013.

Japan's Lower House Approves Changes To Military Powers

7:55pm July 16, 2015

The lower house of Japan's parliament passed legislation Thursday giving the country's military limited powers to participate in armed conflicts. NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with Sheila A. Smith, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, about what this decision means.

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A Look Inside El Chapo's Prison Escape Through A Tunnel

7:55pm July 16, 2015

by Carrie Kahn

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped from a Mexican maximum security prison earlier this week. NPR gets a tour of the tunnel he used to escape.

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Bosnians Remember When Their City Became 'One Big Concentration Camp'

7:21pm July 16, 2015

by Emerald O'Brien

It has been 20 years since the massacre at Srebrenica, Bosnia, when some 8,000 Bosnian men and boys died or went missing. Bosnian-Americans now living in Missouri can't escape the memories.

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Chinese Authorites Detain Nearly 150 Human Rights Lawyers

6:26pm July 16, 2015

by Anthony Kuhn

State media are accusing the lawyers of stirring up opposition to the government. Activists are calling for President Obama to cancel President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington, D.C., in September.

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After Years Of Recession, Greeks Fear Bailout Will Only Make Lives Harder

5:37pm July 16, 2015

by Eleanor Beardsley

The Greek Parliament passed measures to support this week's eurozone-backed bailout agreement, but celebrations were muted at best, and there were large demonstrations against new austerity moves.

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A depiction of meal with cheese from Tacuinum Sanitatis, a medieval handbook on health and well-being based on the Taqwim alâsihha, an 11th-century Arab medical treatise.

We Didn't Build This City On Rock 'N' Roll. It Was Yogurt

5:17pm July 16, 2015

by Adam Maskevich

We got milk when we domesticated goats and sheep around 9,000 BC. At first, that milk was easier to digest when fermented. So yogurt, along with other Neolithic foods, helped fuel civilization.

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos attends a session of Parliament in Athens on Wednesday as lawmakers prepared to vote on reforms demanded by eurozone creditors in exchange for a new bailout.

Beyond A Bailout: Greece Needs Debt Relief, IMF Says

5:03pm July 16, 2015

by Jim Zarroli

Greece is so saddled with debt it probably can't turn its economy around for years, the International Monetary Fund says. But writing down debt would require an OK from Germany, which has opposed it.

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