First US cruise in decades reaches Cuba

Hundreds of tourists and a handful of emotional Cuban-Americans arrived on the first US cruise ship to sail to Havana in decades on Monday, spilling onto the cobbled streets of the old city where they were warmly greeted by residents.

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Elephants take final bow with circus

The curtain fell a final time for elephants performing at Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus as the circus ended a practice that enthralled audiences for two centuries but became caught between animal rights activists' concerns and Americans' shifting views.

World's driest desert quenches thirst with fog

Every morning at dawn, a thick mist known as "The Darkness" blows in from the Pacific to the edge of the Atacama Desert, the most arid place in the world.

Thousands battle deadly forest fires

Massive forest fires sweeping across the north Indian state of Uttarakhand have killed at least seven people in recent weeks, and were threatening two tiger reserves, officials said on Monday.

Nation celebrates crowded communal apartments

A leftover from the Soviet era, the communal flat or kommunalka with bathroom and kitchen shared by a dozen or so residents is very much alive in Russia's historic city of Saint Petersburg.

President sets clocks forward to save electricity

With their country gripped by an economic crisis, Venezuelans lost half an hour of sleep on Sunday as their clocks were set forward to save power on President Nicolas Maduro's orders.

Killing of five Egyptians deepens mystery over Italian's death

It was a brutal killing that became an international incident: An Italian graduate student disappeared from the streets of the Egyptian capital in January, his body discovered days later dumped by a roadside, tortured to death.

Tear gas fired in Paris and Istanbul

French and Turkish police fired tear gas at protesters as tensions erupted in both countries during May Day rallies on Sunday, while thousands marched across the globe for the annual celebration of worker's rights.

US again turns to Russia for help

Scrambling to resuscitate a nearly dead truce in Syria, the Obama administration has again been forced to turn to Russia for help, with little hope for the desired US outcome.

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Long journey from coal mines to wine

After quitting his job as a civil servant in his hometown Xiangning county in North China's Shanxi province in 1997 when he was in his mid-30s, Zhang Wenquan became a billionaire by operating several coal mines, coking plants, a cement plant and a power station.