Merrit Kennedy

A new U.N. report says that nearly 20,000 civilians were killed during Iraq's bloody conflict between January 2014 and October 2015.

And that number might be significantly higher.

"Despite their steady losses to pro-government forces, the scourge of [ISIS] continues to kill, maim and displace Iraqi civilians in the ...

Today marks a major milestone in the Iran nuclear deal.

It's known as Implementation Day, the day when the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, says that Iran has curbed its nuclear program enough to begin receiving relief on sanctions. The terms were laid out last July by Iran, ...

Today marks five years since a popular uprising ousted Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Tunisia's 2011 revolution inspired a wave of protests in the region that eventually pushed several dictators from power. And its subsequent transitional process is viewed as a rare bright spot in the region.

There are ...

After numerous drawings without a big winner, there were at least three winning tickets sold for the record Powerball jackpot of $1.6 billion.

We don't know who those lucky people are — but as The Associated Press reports, we do know they bought their tickets in California, Tennessee and Florida. ...

Secretary of State John Kerry says Iran reported to him that a key component of its plutonium nuclear reactor has been removed, as Iran nears the reduction of its nuclear program sufficient to trigger sanctions relief.

Kerry tells reporters that Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif informed him that the reactor ...

A Canadian man has been freed five years after he was abducted by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Canada's minister of foreign affairs, Stéphane Dion, announced that efforts to secure Rutherford's release were successful. "We look forward to Mr. Rutherford being able to return to Canada and reunite with his ...

Mohammed al-Nimr says he felt relieved following his father's execution because the sheikh was abused for years by Saudi authorities.

Archaeologists have found well-preserved houses, textiles, tools and even pots of food. They say a fire destroyed the settlement, and the people had to leave everything behind.

When the Great Earthquake hit San Francisco in 1906, 3-month-old William Del Monte's family fled the city on a horse-drawn cart.

Del Monte was the last known survivor of the 7.8-magnitude quake and fires that killed some 3,000 people and leveled much of the city. He died of natural causes ...

Michigan officials are stepping up their efforts to address elevated lead levels in Flint's water after residents accused them of responding too slowly to the crisis.

Local officials are handing out water filters and jugs in the streets of Flint and have set up five new distribution centers ...

Aid vehicles have simultaneously entered three villages in Syria, to the relief of civilians suffering from the effects of a months-long siege by the Syrian regime.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is delivering "food, medical items, blankets and other materials" to the villages of Madaya, Foua ...

Tributes to iconic rock musician David Bowie are pouring in, as fellow musicians, celebrities, world leaders and even astronauts reflect on what Bowie meant to them.

A statement on Bowie's Facebook page said that he died peacefully, "surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer."

...

West Indian manatees and some colonies of green sea turtles have been in danger of extinction for decades.

But scientists have some good news about the much-loved sea creatures, which both have their largest U.S. populations in Florida.

The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service says the West Indian manatee ...

A 121-foot-high statue of Mao Zedong mysteriously cropped up in a remote field in China's central Henan province, as we reported this week.

But it seems the homage to the founder of Communist China didn't have much time in the sun.

The golden statue grabbed international headlines, sparking criticism ...

South Korea announced plans to restart propaganda broadcasts over its border with North Korea, a day after Pyongyang claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb.

The U.S. is doubtful that the test was actually a hydrogen bomb. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said "The initial analysis is not consistent ...

A truck bomb exploded Thursday at a security training camp in the western Libyan city of Zliten, killing dozens of people and injuring more than 100 others.

The U.N. special representative to Libya, Martin Kobler, described the bombing as a suicide attack.

It's one of the deadliest attacks in Libya ...

Iran is claiming that a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit its embassy in Yemen's rebel-held capital. But witnesses say it's not clear that the embassy sustained damage or was even hit.

This is another sign of the dramatic deterioration in relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. After Saudi executed a ...

With the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon in its fifth day, a local Native American tribe says the militants are "desecrating sacred property."

Oregon Public Broadcasting's Amanda Peacher tells our Newscast unit that Burns Paiute tribal leaders denounced the militants and demanded that they leave. "The ...

A black hole in a nearby galaxy has let out a couple of belches.

Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory say they've spotted two arcs of X-ray emissions near a supermassive black hole, which they believe are fossils "from two enormous blasts when the black hole expelled material outward ...

The FBI says they are working to fill an 18-minute gap in the timeline of the mass shooting in San Bernardino last month. Fourteen people were killed in the attack on the Inland Regional Center.

At a press conference, David Bowdich, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los ...