CNN – World

By AJ Willingham, CNN Much divides us, but one thing that knows no cultural bounds is the human desire to pull some silly, goofy little tricks. April Fools’ Day has a shockingly global history, for a holiday devoted fully to mild deception. For some cultures, it’s not even relegated to one day in April, cracking

By Jackie Wattles, CNN Researchers in New York developed a virtual reality maze for mice in an attempt to demystify a question that’s been plaguing neuroscientists for decades: How are long-term memories stored? What they found surprised them. After forming in the hippocampus, a curved structure that lies deep within the brain, the mice’s memories

By Katie Hunt, CNN Plants make popping sounds that are undetectable to the human ear, according to recordings made in a new study — and they make more sounds when thirsty or under other kinds of stress. The research shakes up what most botanists thought they knew about the plant kingdom, which had been considered

By Hilary Whiteman, CNN Melting ice in the Antarctic is not just raising sea levels but slowing down the circulation of deep ocean water with vast implications for the global climate and for marine life, a new study warns. Led by scientists from the University of New South Wales and published Wednesday in the journal

By Rachel Ramirez, CNN Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu on Wednesday won a historic vote at the United Nations that calls on the world’s highest court to establish for the first time the obligations countries have to address the climate crisis — and the consequences if they don’t. Vanuatu has long faced the disproportionate impacts

By Gawon Bae, Emi Jozuka and Brad Lendon, CNN North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Monday morning, South Korean authorities said, the latest in series of missile firings as South Korean and United States forces engage in their largest military exercises since

By CNN’s Barbie Latza Nadeau At least 28 migrants have died after their boats sank off the coast of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, Italian officials say. In one wreck alone at least 20 migrants died with more than 60 people still missing. Meanwhile, the Italian coast guard said they

By Laura Paddison, CNN Cities’ relationship with water is a fragile balance. Too little leads to parched landscapes and water shortages; too much can cause deadly flooding, washing away homes, lives and livelihoods. Last year severe flooding caused devastation around the world, including in Nigeria, Pakistan and Australia. And it’s predicted to get worse. Parts

By Heather Chen, Hira Humayun, Mariya Knight, Andrew Carey, Radina Gigova and Maria Kostenko, CNN Russia plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday. Moscow will complete the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus by the beginning of July, Putin told state broadcaster

By Zoe Sottile, CNN Each year, millions of people from over 190 countries and territories coordinate to turn off their lights for just one hour. The event is part of an annual tradition to raise awareness about climate change. Here’s what you need to know ahead of the 16th annual Earth Hour celebration. What is

By Jackie Wattles, CNN For centuries, a setting sun has signaled the end of fasting rituals on holidays such as Ramadan and Yom Kippur, a cue to tuck into a delicious meal after a full day of abstaining from food and drink. But what if the sun’s clockwork were to suddenly change, as it does

By Sana Noor Haq, CNN The world is facing a looming global water crisis that threatens to “spiral out of control” as increased demand for water and the intensifying impacts of the climate crisis put huge pressure on water resources, a UN report has warned. Water use has increased by about 1% a year over

By Ashley Strickland, CNN Organic molecules have been detected in samples collected by Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission from the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu. “When researchers analyzed the samples, collected from two different locations on the asteroid, they found uracil, one of the building blocks of RNA, as well as vitamin B3, or niacin (a key cofactor for

By Jackie Wattles, CNN Video by Channon Hodge, CNN Researchers have been pushing the limits of 3D printing for decades, using the manufacturing technique to churn out consumer goods such as furniture and shoes, human organs and even a rocket. But can the industrial technology be applied to make a fully baked dessert that can

By Laura Paddison, CNN The world is rapidly approaching catastrophic levels of heating with international climate goals set to slip out of reach unless immediate and radical action is taken, according to a new UN-backed report. “The climate time-bomb is ticking,” said António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in a statement to mark the

By Dalal Mawad, Oliver Briscoe, Chris Liakos and Jack Guy, CNN Two no-confidence votes against French President Emmanuel Macron’s government have failed in the country’s parliament, clearing the way for his hugely unpopular pension reforms to be implemented and sparking new protests in Paris. The government triggered special constitutional powers last Thursday to push through

By Heather Chen, CNN Millions of dead fish have washed up in a river near a small Australian town, in a phenomenon state officials say is related to the “heatwave conditions” that are sweeping the country. Video emerged this week showing masses of dead fish floating at the Menindee Weir pool near Broken Hill, CNN

By Nick Paton Walsh and Allegra Goodwin, CNN British and German fighter jets intercepted a Russian aircraft flying close to Estonian airspace Friday, according to a statement from the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF). It was the second such encounter this week, as NATO carries out joint air policing efforts in the region. The two

By Ashley Strickland, CNN The remains of a glacier have been found near the Martian equator, suggesting that some form of water could still exist in a region on the red planet where humans may one day land. The ice mass is no longer there, but scientists spotted telltale remains among other mineral deposits near

CNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at the International Atomic Energy Agency and nuclear power. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspects nuclear and related facilities under safeguard agreements. Most agreements are with countries that have committed to not possessing nuclear weapons. The IAEA is the verification authority to enforce the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation

By Rachel Ramirez, CNN The bottled water industry is a juggernaut. More than 1 million bottles of water are sold every minute around the world and the industry shows no sign of slowing down, according to a new report. Global sales of bottled water are expected to nearly double by 2030. But the industry’s enormous

By Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland, CNN NASA and Texas-based company Axiom Space have revealed a new spacesuit design — and it could be these very suits that are eventually worn by the first woman and person of color to walk on the moon. The spacesuits unveiled by Axiom Space at Space Center Houston on

By Gawon Bae, Yoonjung Seo and Brad Lendon, CNN North Korea launched two missiles from a submarine in the waters of the Sea of Japan Sunday morning local time, according to the state-run news agency KCNA. The “strategic cruise missiles” were launched from a “8.24 Yongung” submarine, according to KCNA — the same vessel used

By Mohammed Tawfeeq and Heather Chen, CNN Iran has arrested more than 100 people “in connection with” the suspected poisoning of hundreds of schoolgirls across the country, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Citing a statement from Iran’s Interior Ministry, IRNA said the people had been “identified, arrested and investigated” in several cities, including

By Katie Hunt, CNN Scientists met this week in London at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing to discuss advances in the field — and the thorny ethical issues posed by a cutting-edge technology. The last time the high-profile forum took place was in 2018 in Hong Kong. There, Chinese scientist He Jiankui

By Ashley Strickland, CNN The Curiosity rover just sent back a stunning postcard capturing its view of a shimmering sunset on Mars. The NASA rover has been roaming across the surface of Mars for more than 10 years, searching for answers as to why the red planet went from warm and wet to a frozen

By Harmeet Kaur, CNN Millions of people in India and around the world celebrating Holi this week. The Hindu festival of love, color and spring is one of the most joyous celebrations of the year. It’s a time when people don simple, inexpensive clothes and take to the streets to drench each other in clouds

By Tara Subramaniam, CNN Progress toward gender equality is “vanishing before our eyes,” United Nations Secretary General António Guterres told the Commission on the Status of Women on Monday. Speaking to the key UN women’s rights group ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, Guterres said gender equality is “300 years away” according to

By Zachary Cohen, Aaron Pellish, Chloe Liu and Heather Chen, CNN The US is working with Ukrainian pilots in the United States to determine how long it would take to train them to fly F-16 fighter jets, three sources briefed on the matter told CNN. Two Ukrainian pilots are currently at a military base in

By Xiaofei Xu and Kareem El Damanhoury, CNN Several sub-Saharan countries, including Ivory Coast, Mali, Guinea and Gabon, are helping their citizens return from Tunisia following controversial remarks from the country’s president last month concerning illegal immigration into the North African country. In a meeting of Tunisia’s National Security Council on February 21, President Kais

By Zoe Sottile, CNN After enlisting the public’s help to find Elvis Francois, a sailor who survived weeks lost at sea off of ketchup and seasonings, ketchup giant Heinz has finally tracked him down — and plans to gift him a new boat. On February 14, the company published a call for help on social

By Jackie Wattles, CNN A crew of astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docked at the International Space Station, concluding a one-day trip to rendezvous with the orbiting laboratory after launching from Florida early Thursday. The capsule made first contact with the space station at 1:40 a.m. ET Friday and began opening the hatches

By Jackie Wattles, CNN SpaceX and NASA launched a fresh crew of astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station, kicking off a roughly six-month stay in space. The mission — which is carrying two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates — took off from NASA’s Kennedy

By Jackie Wattles, CNN SpaceX and NASA have called off an astronaut launch to the International Space Station after an issue with the rocket’s ground system was detected. With about two minutes left on the countdown clock, the launch was called off because of a problem related to the TEA-TEB ignition fluid, which is used

By Laura Paddison, CNN Duncan Enright never imagined he’d get death threats over a plan to reduce grinding city traffic. But it is exactly what happened to the local politician in the UK, who found himself deluged with abusive messages on social media and by email over his involvement in a proposed traffic filtering trial