ZIKA VIRUS-BRAZIL

RIO DE JANEIRO — New figures released by Brazil's Health Ministry as part of a probe into the Zika virus have found fewer cases of a rare birth defect than first feared. 

PRESIDENTIAL RACE

DES MOINES, Iowa — 2016 Republican presidential candidates take the debate stage Thursday night absent their front-runner, billionaire Donald Trump, who will instead seek to starve his rivals of attention at a critical juncture in the campaign by holding a competing event of his own. 

OBAMA-HOLOCAUST

WASHINGTON — As he honored four people for risking their lives to protect Jews, President Barack Obama warned that anti-Semitism is on the rise and that an attack on any faith is an attack on all faiths. 

HAITI-OAS-IMPASSE

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The threat of instability in Haiti has prompted the Organization of American States to authorize a special mission to help the troubled nation find a way out of a simmering political crisis and set a new date for a runoff election. 

GRENADA-US TOURIST SLAIN

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada — A man accused of killing a tourist from Georgia in a machete attack on an isolated beach in Grenada made his first appearance before a judge on the Caribbean island to face a charge of capital murder. 

CHALLENGER-30th

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — When the families of the lost Challenger astronauts gather with NASA to mark the accident's 30th anniversary, there will be a new voice addressing the crowd.