World News

One in every 108 people on the planet has been displaced, says UN Refugee Agency

More than 70 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to violence or persecution, the United Nations has said, as the global migrant crisis pushed the number of refugees and displaced people to a new all-time high. The world’s displaced population is now almost double that from a decade ago, and includes…

NASA releases new image of an impact crater on the surface of Mars

A new image of the Red Planet features some other colors. NASA has spotted a new impact crater on the surface of Mars, and scientists have released an image of it showing some blue and purple. The impact exposed the darker material beneath the planet’s characteristic reddish dust, according to the HiRISE Camera website that…

Hyenas roamed the Arctic during the last ice age. Their teeth tell the tale.

Though today hyenas are often found stalking the African savannas and deserts, these predators once lived in a very different part of the world. A study published Tuesday in journal “Open Quaternary” confirmed scientist’s suspicions that hyenas roamed the Arctic during the last ice age. The study examined two fossil teeth that belonged to the…

How London’s homicide rate stacks up against major US cities

A spate of violence in London sparked another vitriolic tweet from Donald Trump blaming mayor Sadiq Khan for the city’s knife crime problem — but is the British capital as dangerous as the US President suggested? Four people were murdered across London over the weekend, according to the city’s Metropolitan Police. On Saturday, Trump criticized…

They wanted a son so much they made their daughter live as a boy

Sanjoor, Afghanistan — At first glance, 13-year-old Mangal Karimy could be any boy living in a small village in western Afghanistan, hauling firewood and feeding cattle on his father’s farm. Silently he hurries between chores — a slight figure in luminous white trainers, lugging jerry cans of water across barren fields. Until the age of…

Mohamed Morsy’s death in a glass cage speaks volumes about Egypt

Mohamed Morsy was in court when he died, in a glass cage that had almost become a second home during multiple trials. Egypt’s first democratically-elected leader had spent one year as President and six years in prison. Morsy was the most prominent of tens of thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters rounded up after…

Climate change threatens nearly 40% of the world’s primates, study says

As cyclones and droughts are expected to grow in frequency and intensity while global temperatures rise, humankind’s closest relatives will become increasingly vulnerable to extinction, scientists say. At climate change’s current pace, nearly 40% of the Earth’s primates will be threatened by the extreme weather events that accompany rising temperatures, a new study says. And…

Xi gets Russian ice cream from ‘best and bosom friend’ Putin for his birthday

Chinese President Xi Jinping celebrated his 66th birthday Saturday alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, who surprised him with ice cream, the Kremlin said in a statement. The two leaders met in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, where they were attending the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA). It marks their second meeting…

What it takes to be an astronaut: the real ‘right stuff’

During the 1966 Gemini 8 mission, commanded by astronaut Neil Armstrong, an error caused the spacecraft to spin so violently that his and astronaut David Scott’s vision blurred. It was set to be the first space docking in history between two spacecraft, Gemini 8 and the Agena, during NASA’s second human spaceflight program. The astronauts…

‘Massive failure’ leaves Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay with no power, utility says

A “massive failure” in an electrical interconnection system left Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay completely without power, and for many customers, restoring electricity will take all day, a utility distributor said Sunday. Parts of Chile and southern Brazil experienced outages as well, said Edesur, the Buenos Aires-based company. Chile’s system was running normally again Sunday afternoon,…

Crew of oil tanker attacked in the Gulf of Oman arrive in Dubai

Twenty-three crew members from a Norwegian-owned oil tanker that was attacked in the Gulf of Oman have arrived safely in Dubai, the shipping company that owns the tanker said Saturday. The crew of the “Front Altair” includes 11 Russians, one Georgian and 11 Filipinos. “All crew members are well and have been well looked after…

Notre Dame Cathedral celebrates first Mass since fire

A small Mass was celebrated at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday evening — the first since a fire destroyed the structure’s spire, parts of the roof and vault in April. Access to the event was extremely limited due to safety concerns, with around 30 people attending, the Archdiocese of Paris said. The Mass…

These prehistoric reptiles could fly immediately after birth

Baby pterosaurs were overachievers from birth. A paper published Wednesday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B argues that the prehistoric reptiles could fly immediately after birth — something that the researchers say no other vertebrates, living or extinct, have been able to do. Before, scientists thought that pterosaurs could only fly once they had…

NASA orbiter spots ‘Star Trek’ symbol on Mars

It may be time to hail Starfleet and see whether they’ve set up a base on Mars. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured an image of a strange chevron on the Martian surface that looks similar to the symbol for “Star Trek’s” Starfleet, an organization of space exploration, diplomacy, research, defense and peacekeeping. But how did…

The ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa has table salt, just like Earth’s seas

Although Jupiter’s moon Europa looks alien to us, it contains an ingredient familiar to us: sodium chloride, otherwise known as good ol’ table salt. It’s also a main component of sea salt. Europa is one of the intriguing water worlds in our solar system and potentially a place where life could exist in a subsurface…

‘Cold quasar’ discovery could signal galaxies’ ‘retirement party’ phase

Astronomers may need to rethink how galaxies die after researcher Allison Kirkpatrick’s discovery of “cold quasars,” galaxies full of cold gas that still give birth to stars, despite having highly energetic quasars at their center. Kirkpatrick, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas, announced the finding Wednesday during the 234th…

300,000 evacuated in India as Tropical Cyclone Vayu approaches

Six million people could be affected by hurricane-strength Tropical Cyclone Vayu, which is barreling toward northwest India and will skirt the coastline of Gujarat beginning Thursday morning. Almost 300,000 people are set to be evacuated to 700 shelter homes, a spokesperson for India’s Home Ministry said Wednesday. Schools and colleges in the area are closed…