THE BACKGROUND: Was it real? Or staged? Very real, it turned out. Will Smith's slapping of Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards after the comedian told a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett...

Moves by the U.S., Japan and others to mandate COVID-19 tests for passengers arriving from China reflect global concern that new variants could emerge in its ongoing explosive outbreak...

Pope Francis on Wednesday said his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, is “very sick," and he asked the faithful to pray for the retired pontiff so God will comfort him “to the very...

THE BACKGROUND: Queen Elizabeth II died on Sept. 8 after a 70-year reign over the United Kingdom. She left behind generations of subjects — many of whom had never known any other...

Tunisian authorities recovered the bodies of four people believed to be African migrants, including a pregnant woman, off the coast of Kerkennah Island in the Mediterranean, the regional prosecutor...

THE BACKGROUND: Mass shootings have become part of every year’s news, and 2022 was no exception. In May, a man targeted Black shoppers at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, killing ten people...

Millions of people hunkered down against a deep freeze Sunday to ride out the winter storm that has killed at least 34 people across the United States and is expected to claim more lives after...

Could the COVID-19 surge in China unleash a new coronavirus mutant on the world? Scientists don’t know but worry that might happen. It could be similar to omicron variants circulating there...

THE BACKGROUND: For those worried about climate change — and, by extension, the planet's future — 2022 was a mixed bag. Hurricanes and floods plagues many places, and the COP27...

Pope Francis used his Christmas message Sunday to lament the "icy winds of war” buffeting humanity and to make an impassioned plea for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, a...