PROVIDENCE, R.I. The curtain fell a final time for elephants performing at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as the circus ended a practice that enthralled audiences for two centuries but became caught between animal rights activists’ concerns and Americans’ shifting views. Six Asian elephants danced, balanced on each others’ backs and sat on […]

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. On a recent Thursday, the staff at Sunny Vista Living Center in Colorado Springs bustled in the kitchen. The phone rang with a last minute order as Chris Willard tended to a large pot of Thai-style soup with fresh ginger, vegetables and thin-sliced beef. It was a special meal for a woman […]

MEMPHIS, TENN. Candelario Jimon Alonzo came to the U.S. dreaming of becoming something more than what seemed possible along the rutted roads of his hometown in Guatemala’s highlands. This was his chance: He could earn a U.S. high school education and eventually become a teacher. Instead, the 16-year-old spends most days alone in the tumbledown […]

HARTFORD, Conn. One of America’s largest troves of political and campaign memorabilia is headed for the auction block, spurring protests from some who do not want to see it divided up and sold to private collectors. The University of Hartford plans to hire an auction house and sell off more than 70,000 items, many of […]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand An American exchange student and her mother were rescued over the weekend in the New Zealand wilderness, where they were lost for five days after setting off on a day hike. A helicopter pilot spotted the large “ help” signs they had made from fern fronds. After thinking she would die, 22- […]

NEW YORK Puerto Rico’s debt crisis has reached a new level, with the island’s governor saying Puerto Rico will not pay most of its $470 million in debt payments due by today. Island officials spent the weekend trying to negotiate a settlement that would have avoided the default. The development comes as Congress has so […]

SEOUL, South Korea The future of Asia’s largest, most-awaited film festival is in question as local filmmakers threaten to boycott the red carpet over what they view as government interference. Officials of the Busan International Film Festival say the feud between organizers and the host city Busan, its largest financial sponsor, started two years ago […]

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia Cambodia has shortened the school day by one hour to help students cope with a heat wave that has pushed temperatures as high as 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron signed the rule into effect today, and it will remain in place until the cooling rains begin. […]