Europe

The Angolan exhibit consists of tall stacks of large photographic posters by artist Edson Chagas. The country, which is exhibiting at Venice for the first time, won the Golden Lion award for best national pavilion.

Art In Context: Venice Biennale Looks Past Pop Culture

11:56am August 12, 2013

by Sylvia Poggioli

Every two years, Venice hosts the largest and oldest noncommercial art exhibit in the world. It's a dizzying and eclectic array of sights by both celebrity artists and total unknowns. More than 150 artists from 88 countries will be on display through November.

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Taxi Riders In Oslo Surprised By Who's Driving Them Around

8:53am August 12, 2013

As part of his re-election campaign, the Norwegian prime minister went under cover as a cab driver for one day in June. A video of the stunt was just released. In it, some passengers are shocked to see their leader taking fares, others were just very critical about his driving skills.

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Kerry, Hagel Aim To Ease U.S.-Russian Tensions

7:43am August 11, 2013

by Michele Kelemen

The U.S. secretaries of state and defense met their Russian counterparts for a day of talks in Washington on Friday. They hope to find common ground despite U.S.-Russian friction over the Edward Snowden asylum case.

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Tightrope walker Andrea Loreni performs in front of the Coliseum in Rome on Saturday. Rome's new mayor is on a crusade to make the ancient monuments more pedestrian friendly, and the city held an all-night street party as it permanently blocked off part o

World News

Rome's New Mayor Wants The Monuments Pedestrian Friendly

9:38pm August 09, 2013

by Sylvia Poggioli

Many cities hold arts festivals during the summer. Rome joined the party last Saturday as part of a larger effort to radically revamp traffic and make the area around the Coliseum and other monuments more welcoming for pedestrians.

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'Magic Flute' Singers End Up In Lake Constance

6:53am August 08, 2013

In Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, Tamino and Pamina can't get married unless brave Tamino passes three tests. At a performance in Austria this week, the trials by silence and fire were no sweat — water turned out to be a bit trickier. A gondola carrying three characters capsized.

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The Emmen Zoo's baboons last week, when they were looking so sad.

Why Were The Baboons So Sad? Many Theories, No Answers

6:06am August 08, 2013

by Mark Memmott

At a zoo in the Netherlands, 112 baboons suddenly started acting oddly. They turned their backs to visitors. They moped around. They didn't want to eat. It was a week before they got back to normal. Were they upset by a storm or an earthquake that people didn't feel? Maybe aliens? It's a mystery.

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World News

Former Soviet Republic's Democratic Transition Questioned

5:45am August 08, 2013

by Corey Flintoff

The former Soviet republic of Georgia passed an important test of democracy last year. After a bitter campaign, the government changed hands peacefully in a free election. But the losing party says democracy in Georgia is threatened because the new government is arresting officials from the old government and putting them on trial for corruption and abuse of power.

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Migrant workers follow a police officer during a raid by Russian immigration authorities at a construction site in Moscow, in 2012.

World News

Migrants Flock To Russia, But Receive A Cool Welcome

1:26am August 08, 2013

Like the U.S., Russia has a large and unresolved problem with illegal immigration. Russia's working-age population is declining, and the country needs workers. But the influx of migrants, especially from Central Asia, is generating friction.

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This week, several women in the U.K. went public about explicit abuse they received on Twitter.

World News

As Twitter Expands Reach, Abuse Policy Gets Added Scrutiny

12:26pm August 07, 2013

by Steve Henn

A series of threats and abusive messages aimed at prominent women in the U.K. have placed Twitter in an awkward spot. As the company gears up to go public and expand its brand around the world, it is increasingly running into cultural and legal hurdles that challenge Twitter's free speech ethos.

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American Tourist Accidentally Breaks Statue

7:12am August 07, 2013

Just about every museum in the world has the same rule: no touching. A rule one man failed to observe on a family vacation to Florence, Italy. He was comparing his own finger to the fingers on a 600-year-old statue when he nudged its ancient pinky and it snapped right off.

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