World News

Romeo Orlando Vasquez Velasquez took a combat arms course at the School of the Americas at Georgia's Fort Benning in 1976 and another on small unit training in 1984. As a general in 2009, Vasquez overthrew the democratically elected president of Honduras.

Egypt's Top General And His U.S. Lessons In Democracy

6:56pm August 08, 2013

by Tom Bowman

Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi led the recent ouster of Egypt's democratically elected president. Seven years earlier, he was a student at the U.S. Army War College and wrote a paper called "Democracy in the Middle East." He's the latest in a series of U.S.-trained military officers to topple a civilian government.

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World News

Fukushima Nuclear Plant Leaking 300 Tons Of Tainted Water Daily

6:56pm August 08, 2013

The Japanese government has announced that radioactive groundwater is leaking from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. To try and stop it, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which owns the plant, has proposed building an underground wall of frozen earth around the reactors. The ice wall is supposed to keep groundwater from flowing in and radioactive water from leaking out, but nobody knows for sure whether it will work.

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Thai Elephant Orchestra co-founder David Sulzer (bottom center, in red) poses with the animals and their mahouts, or keepers.

The Biggest Thing Out Of Thailand: An Elephant Orchestra

3:01pm August 08, 2013

by NPR Staff

Based out of a conservation center for former work animals, the Thai Elephant Orchestra is just what it sounds like: a group of elephants trained to play enormous percussion instruments, holding mallets in their trunks and sometimes trumpeting along.

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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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Kerry, Hagel To Meet Russian Counterparts On Friday

5:41am August 08, 2013

by Michele Kelemen

The U.S. has canceled plans for an Obama-Putin summit because Russia granted temporary asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden. But Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will go ahead with plans to meet their counterparts in Washington.

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Victor Reyes has been photographing tourists atop Tijuana's "zonkeys" since he was 12, and says at one time he could earn $150 a day. Now, he's lucky to earn $15, he says. Here, Reyes poses with his donkey, Ruben.

Working To Save The Painted 'Zonkeys' Of Tijuana

4:31am August 08, 2013

by Amy Isackson

Americans once waited in line for the chance to be photographed atop the striped donkeys on this famed tourist strip. But 9/11, the recession and the Mexican drug war have stifled tourism and nearly put the "zonkeys" and their owners out of work. A new push is on to save the historic icons.

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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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Mekedes Getachew, 19, has been working at construction sites in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, since she was 15 years old. Except for the heaviest lifting, she says, the laborers "all do the same work and we don't really say this is a man's job, but when it comes

World News

For Ethiopian Women, Construction Jobs Offer A Better Life

7:32pm August 07, 2013

by Gregory Warner

The fast-growing economy has created a demand for construction workers, and more women are taking those jobs. It's difficult work, but for some it offers a path to independence.

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People cool off Wednesday in a pool in Shanghai, where temperatures reached an all-time record: 105.4 degrees.

'It's Too Hot': Shanghai Wilts In Record-Setting Heat Wave

6:41pm August 07, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

Usually bustling streets are nearly empty at noon, and thousands have gone to hospitals for relief. China's National Meteorological Center says the long-running heat wave is driven by a variety of factors, including climate change, as well as Shanghai's construction density, growing population and shrinking green space.

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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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