Alexandra Starr

The issue of so-called comfort women — tens of thousands of Korean women and girls forced by the Japanese into sexual slavery before and during World War II — has long strained relations between South Korea and Japan. On Monday, the two countries announced a deal that South Korean Foreign ...

Meadowlark Lemon, a star with the Harlem Globetrotters for nearly a quarter century, died on Sunday at the age of 83. He had dreamed of playing for the Globetrotters when he was growing up in the Jim Crow South and joined the team in 1954 after serving in the ...

On Sunday, Pope Francis called for Central American governments to help thousands of Cuban migrants stuck in Costa Rica as they attempt to journey to the United States.

"I invite the countries of the region to renew with generosity all necessary efforts in order to find a rapid solution to ...

Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, intends to join Arizona State University as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2016-17 season, according to the Arizona Republic. That will follow his presumed retirement after the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil, where Sports Illustrated sees him ...

Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, who died Dec. 25 at the age of 83, was considered one of the most influential psychiatrists of his generation. He headed the effort to more rigorously categorize mental disorders for the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (D.S.M.), the ...

Baltimore Police Officer William Porter will be retried for his role in the death of Freddie Gray — a 25-year-old black man who died in April of a spinal cord injury that prosecutors say can be traced to police misconduct. The trial is set for June 13 of next year. ...

Spaniards went to the polls Sunday and upended the traditional two-party system, where the conservative Popular Party and more liberal Socialists dominated the political scene. The Popular Party won the most votes, as The New York Times reports, but fell far short of a majority, leaving it unclear whether the ...

The Harry Potter saga lives on. A new play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — which delves into Potter's life as an adult — will open in London in the summer of 2016. Casting for major characters was announced this week, and Hermione will be played by Noma ...

Global weekend ticket sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens could reach $528 million, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger told Bloomberg TV on Monday.

The latest film in the Star Wars saga logged the biggest domestic opening in history, collecting $238 million in the United States and ...

Anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise, and Muslim women wearing hijabs can be particularly vulnerable. That has prompted two women in New York to organize an all-female class for observant Muslims.

Last month saw a sharp rise in the number of Central Americans, especially unaccompanied youth, apprehended by U.S. border authorities. According to The New York Times, a total of 5,622 young people without parents, mostly from Central America, were caught. That is more than twice the number as November ...

The Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge from gun owners over a Chicago suburb's ban on the sale or possession of semiautomatic weapons.

NPR's Nina Totenberg filed this report for our Newscast unit on the ban in Highland Park, Ill.:

"The high court left in place a lower ...

France's far-right National Front party scored big gains in the first round of voting in regional elections on Sunday.

It was on track to place first in six of the 13 regions. If the party is able to solidify those gains in the second round of voting next Sunday, it ...

This Sunday, Venezuelans go to the polls to elect all 167 members of the National Assembly. For the first time since the late President Hugo Chavez first won election in 1998, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela could suffer major losses.

According to Reuters, polls conducted in August ...

On Friday, lawmakers in Germany voted in favor of Chancellor Angela Merkel's plan to join the coalition of nations that are fighting ISIS in Syria.

Reporting for NPR, Esme Nicholson says Germany will send six Tornado jets, a naval frigate and up to 1,200 soldiers to fight ISIS in Syria. ...

Turkish authorities rounded up some 1,300 migrants on Monday whom they said were planning to sail to Greece. The crackdown came a day after Turkey reached an agreement with the leaders from the European Union to stem the flow of migrants.

Under the terms of the deal, the E.U. ...

A High Court judge in Belfast has ruled that Northern Ireland's abortion restrictions are incompatible with human rights.

Currently, abortion is permitted only when the life of the mother is under threat or her long-term health would be compromised by carrying the fetus to term. Monday's decision will put pressure ...

There are few costumes more recognizable than the blue-and-white checkered dress Judy Garland wore as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz. On Monday, an unidentified buyer snapped it up for $1.5 million over the phone during an auction at Bonhams in New York City.

The price exceeded expectations. ...

Since massive student protests forced University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe to resign earlier this month, students on a number of campuses have staged protests of their own. One of their most consistent demands has been to identify and remove campus symbols tied to racism and ...

A northern white rhinoceros named Nola was put down at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park on Sunday. With Nola's death, there are now only three northern white rhinos left on Earth, all living in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

The 41-year-old rhino had been suffering from a ...