One religious group in Iraq finds their ancient faith threatened by the pollution.

Egypt’s new capital city is under construction. The new city (a proper name has yet to be assigned) will replace the Nile-side Cairo. Cairo has been the ancient nation’s seat of power for more than 1,000 years. Read More

Images of the finch-like red siskin pop up everywhere in Venezuela. The bird appears on printed money, food labels, and the covers of school books. But despite the brilliant plumage, finding a red siskin in the wild is getting harder and harder. What’s the answer? Read More

Wearing colorful, disposable boots, tourists last fall slogged to outdoor cafés in Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) in Venice—even as waters were receding from one of the city’s worst floods since 1872. The saltwater damaged St. Mark’s Basilica’s marble columns and mosaic floors. Read More

Strong. Frank. Charismatic. That’s how colleagues describe U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. Now Haley is planning to step down from her job at the end of 2018. Read More

It’s not quite a world wide web—but the spiders of Aitoliko in Greece have made a good start in covering their corner of the globe. Thick white spider webs blanket the coastal trees, bushes, and low vegetation of the western Greek town’s shoreline. The spider invasion won’t last forever. Read More

It’s an annual late-summer event on Alaska’s northwest shore. Each year, residents of an Inupiaq village report hearing walruses. Thousands of thick-skinned, flippered, tusked mammals gather onshore as the Chukchi Sea’s ice level reaches its yearly minimum. Read More

This summer, drought hit Central Europe hard. Spain endured record-breaking temperatures. Polish authorities banned beach swimming because of warm-water bacteria. And in Germany, 2018’s April to July was the hottest and driest on record. Read More

It’s like an underwater museum. Buried beneath Albania’s coastal waters are hundreds of Roman and Greek artifacts from ancient shipwrecks. But researchers and archaeologists warn that the secret is out. This treasure trove is in danger of falling prey to looters!   Read More

The winds of change are blowing in Saudi Arabia. The most visible sign came this summer, when females in the desert kingdom were finally allowed to drive. Now women are at the center of a tug-of-war between the strict Islamic majority and people pushing for more freedoms. Read More