World

LONDON —  An estimated 6.3 million children died before their 15th birthdays in 2017, or one every five seconds, mostly due to a lack of water, sanitation, nutrition and basic healthcare, according to report by United Nations agencies on Tuesday. The vast majority of these deaths – 5.4 million – …

A school-based survey shows nearly 1 in 11 U.S. students have used marijuana in electronic cigarettes, heightening health concerns about the new popularity of vaping among teens. E-cigarettes typically contain nicotine, but many of the battery-powered devices can vaporize other substances, including marijuana. Results published Monday mean 2.1 million middle …

Most Western Europeans favor at least some restrictions on the religious clothing that Muslim women can wear in public, according to research released Monday by the Pew Research Center. A median 50 percent of non-Muslim adults in the 15 countries surveyed said Muslim women should be allowed to wear religious …

JERUSALEM —  An Israeli opposition lawmaker on Sunday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dismiss his ambassador to the United States for failing to report sexual assault allegations against a top Netanyahu aide, ballooning an already embarrassing scandal for the Israeli leader. Karin Elharrar of the centrist Yesh Atid …

Farmers may be among the hardest hit by Hurricane Florence, which is hit at a particularly bad time and is pouring rain on some of the most important agricultural areas of the Carolinas. VOA spoke with one North Carolina farmer, who says the rain is damaging his cash crop. Source …

KHAN AL-AHMAR, WEST BANK —  For the anxious Palestinian residents of Khan al-Ahmar, there’s little left to do but wait. After the West Bank hamlet lost its last legal protection against demolition late last week, Israeli forces could swoop any day now to tear down the desert community’s few dozen …

WELLFLEET, MASSACHUSETTS —  A man was bitten by a shark Saturday in the water off a Cape Cod beach and died later at a hospital, becoming the state’s first shark attack fatality in more than 80 years. The 26-year-old man from Revere succumbed to his injuries following the attack off …

Pope Francis appealed to members of the Sicilian Mafia on Saturday to give up on a life of crime, saying the island does not need men and women of honor but rather of love. The pontiff was paying a one-day visit to the southern Italian island to commemorate the 25th …

The seas are angry this month. While the remnants of Hurricane Florence soak the Carolinas and Typhoon Mangkhut pounds the Philippines, three more tropical cyclones are spinning in the Western Hemisphere, and one is petering out over Southeast Asia. Experts say some of this extreme tropical weather is consistent with …

BRUSSELS —  The European Union on Friday urged member countries to work together to avoid turning Europe into a confusing patchwork of different time zones, after announcing plans to abolish seasonal clock changes. The European Commission wants to end the longstanding practice of putting clocks forward an hour in the …