For the first time in South Africa’s democratic history, the African National Congress is posed to lose its majority. The ANC may be forced to form a coalition with some of its larger, rival parties.
President?Lopez Obrador’s?Maya Train initiative aims to connect tourist hubs to rural areas across Mexico. But underground, drills and new construction threaten a network of caverns and aquifers?as the nation?faces a deepening water crisis.
Albania and Serbia have teamed up in an attempt to bid for the 2027 men’s Under-21 European Championship. It has been almost 10 years since a fan riot ended a Serbia-Albania soccer game in Belgrade. Reactions from fans and players are still mixed.
One lesson of the Russia-Ukraine war is that Ukrainian farmers’ prosperity and the world’s food security are very much linked. Now, in David-and-Goliath fashion, a Ukrainian sea drone has been deployed in the Black Sea to help keep the grain flowing.
The different ways in which immigration is influencing elections in the United States and in Mexico underscores each country’s distinct relationships with migrants and asylum-seekers.?
A felony conviction today does not preclude Donald Trump from running for or serving again as president. But it promises to scramble an already fraught campaign season.
Two new giant pandas are returning to Washington’s National Zoo from China this year. The announcement from the Smithsonian Institution on May 29 reverses the trend of American zoos sending pandas back to China as loan agreements lapsed.
America’s police departments are trying not only to rebuild trust, but also to show how equitable policing prevents crime and protects officers, too.
Boston has been a pioneer of community policing. That’s showing signs of success. The next step is to build a deeper sense of trust with?residents.?
The world’s third-largest democracy begins reforms necessary to join a global body that tracks its members' adherence to liberty, rule of law, and human rights.
Combining the historical statistics of players from the Negro Leagues and Major League Baseball marks the latest progress in equality on and off the ball field.
A corruption purge of military generals hints the Kremlin realizes it can’t win the war without honest governance.
Only a third of the nations around the world have ever had a female leader. Yet, research shows that nations led by women consistently benefit from a slate of economic and political benefits.
New projects cultivate accountability and community cooperation on education by tying funding to verifiable results.
Americans are expected to fly more this summer, with a spike already this Memorial Day. A new law means changes are coming for airline passengers.?
By rolling out AI Overview, Google is in effect competing with its own internet search results. This comes as lawsuits and AI rivals threaten Google’s dominance.
GameStop stocks had a meteoric climb this week in a moment reminiscent of 2021 and some say Roaring Kitty may be behind it all. But this time Wall Street isn’t caught off guard.
If Mercedes employees in Alabama vote to join the United Auto Workers, it may signal a power shift in America’s most union-resistant region.?
Mondragon, Spain, is the home of an innovative cooperative that uses capitalism to provide a different and more equitable vision of economic success.
Leaking underground tanks threaten to contaminate groundwater relied upon by nearly half of Americans. Even a pinprick-size hole in an underground tank can send 400 gallons of fuel a year into the ground.?
In Brazil, a South African couple is working with local communities to reintroduce the highly endangered Spix’s?macaw into nature. There are about 360 in captivity and few are in the wild.
Some cities around the world are experiencing the warmest temperatures in 2,000 years. From Miami to Athens, local heat officers work to prepare urban environments for hot summers by planting trees and installing water fountains.
The emergence of two periodical cicada broods that haven’t overlapped since 1803 is inspiring some people to dive deeper into citizen science.
Progress roundup: EV company in China makes battery swaps faster than charging. And in Pakistan, volunteers spread the joy of books in an outdoor story time.
Georgia Power Co. announced one of its two new reactors reached self-sustaining nuclear fission on Monday. The announcement is a key step toward reaching commercial operation of nuclear energy in the United States.?
Cellphone inventor Martin Cooper, who placed the first mobile call on April 3, 1973, remains hopeful the technology can transform lives, but he’s also concerned about its impact. “We don’t have any privacy anymore,”?Mr. Cooper said at a trade show in Spain.
The U.S. government has reached a rare bipartisan agreement to invest $52 billion to develop advanced computer chips. Factories, autos, appliances, electronics, toys, toothbrushes, and weapons systems all depend on semiconductors.
Two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court this week challenge?Section 230, a 1996 law that protects tech companies from liability for material posted on their networks. The cases are part of a global trend toward holding social media platforms accountable.
ChatGPT has spurred lively conversations about the role of educational technology. While some colleges and universities are cracking down on ChatGPT, the AI-powered chatbot, other educators believe ChatGPT could help with assisted learning.?
For years, researchers have tried to link sperm whales’ underwater clicks to the meanings they communicate. A new study of their codas could serve as the basis for future translations of their alphabet.
A black hole named Gaia BH3,?33 times greater in size than the sun, was discovered 2,000 light years from Earth. The only other in our Milky Way galaxy, Sagittarius, is 26,000 light years away from Earth and traveling in the opposite direction.
Our reporter, like many parents, wanted his son to experience the wonder of a total solar eclipse. As so often happens with parenting, the one left most in awe by the celestial event was not the fifth grader.
In a country seemingly fractured about most things, on Monday, Americans came together under one sky.
Factors such as poaching and habitat loss have decimated wild African elephant populations. Operation “Frozen Dumbo” aims to bolster the animals’ numbers in the wild and in zoos.
When an animated film is invested with the full range of feeling, the result is “Robot Dreams.” The movie is a tribute to the beauty and frailty of friendship, our critic writes.?
For the intrepid willing to chase down the desert blossoms, an endless carpet of yellow goldfields is the reward.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced an antitrust lawsuit against the entertainment company Live Nation. Ticketmaster, which merged with Live Nation in 2010, has been blamed for inflated ticket prices by both consumers and artists.
The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis hosts teams from Mexico to New Zealand ? all united by a shared love of the southern town's distinct BBQ style, which brings out a fuller flavor in the pork with dry rubs and sauces.
“Reading Rainbow” remains a touchstone for generations of American children. But as a new documentary shows, it ? and host LeVar Burton ? means so much more than nostalgia.
In Simon Van Booy’s charming novel “Sipsworth,” a woman’s closed world is opened up by the unexpected arrival of a mouse.??
Immigration policy failures led John Washington, who reports on the U.S. border, to write “The Case for Open Borders.”??
In “Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here,” Jonathan Blitzer examines the U.S. government’s role in Central America as a factor in the rising numbers of asylum-seekers today.?
Public service means genuinely wanting good for others, says?Michael Wear, author of “The Spirit of Our Politics.”?
The Monitor’s 10 best books of May 2024 include tales of betrayal and redemption spanning the globe from China to Europe to the U.S.?