WASHINGTON After millions of Americans vote next week, it’s possible that one or two men will decide which party controls the Senate. One is Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who generally “caucuses” — or cooperates — with Democrats but says he might switch to the Republicans. The other is Greg Orman of Kansas, an […]

SURUC, TURKEY Activists say 10 Iraqi peshmerga fighters have entered a northern Syrian border town, the first from among a group of 150 Kurdish troops on their way into the embattled Kobani. Kobani-based activist Musrafa Bani says 10 fighters entered the town. He says the rest will follow gradually today because the border crossing point […]

DONETSK, UKRAINE Dark tunnels in the basement of a bombed-out hospital in the eastern city of Donetsk lead to a makeshift shelter. Opening the door hardly alleviates the gloom, for the only lighting inside is the flicker of handmade oil lamps. The inhabitants move around like shadows, eyes dull and faces weary with hardship, dressed […]

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA Hwang In-yeol and his wife waited seven years to have a child, and then she was born on Oct. 29, 1997. After a ferry disaster in April that killed her and 303 others, the couple waited again for nearly seven months to see Ji-hyeon’s body. The vigil ended Wednesday when divers retrieved […]

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN From her wheelchair, Maryam Samimi punched the air as the referee’s whistle signaled her basketball team’s win in an Afghan national tournament, a moment of joy in a country often unkind to those missing limbs. Many amputees in Afghanistan languish without access to care and become depressed and isolated. And with mines and […]