The meetings are part of a process outlined in a U.N. resolution last month that envisages an 18-month timetable for a political transition in Syria, including the drafting of a new constitution and elections. The opposition boycott is a blow to the U.N.'s attempt to bring representatives of President Bashar Assad's government and his opponents together for the first time in two years.

The warning from the World Health Organization came amid a call to arms by officials on both sides of the Atlantic over the mosquito-borne virus, which has been linked to a spike in a rare birth defect in Brazil. Brazil's president—noting there is no medical defense against the infection—called for a crusade against the mosquitoes spreading it.

In what may prove to be confirmation of a national trend among part-time or adjunct faculty at U.S. colleges and universities, contingent faculty at Loyola University Chicago voted today to join Local 73 of the Service Employees International Union, becoming the third Chicago group of part-time

The grand jury in Harris County indicted David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record. Daleiden was also indicted on a misdemeanor charge of “prohibition of the purchase and sale of human organs,” Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said in a statement.

"Archbishop Nienstedt has a deep concern for the church, and in light of the unintended discord that his presence was causing, he decided that this would be the best course of action so the church can remain focused on its mission."

For the hundreds of South Sudanese refugee children settled into a Ugandan camp, learning how to react without violence is as much a part of their schoolwork as academic pursuits.The refugee families, who have fled two years of ethnic fighting in newly independent South Sudan, value the material the