• The artists we lost in 2014

    The artists we lost in 2014

    Dec 31, 2014 02:06 PM EDT

    ... list below is in chronological order of their death. We know there were many others who made a mark on the world but didn’t make it on to this list. La Scala, Berlin Philharmonic conductor Claudio Abbado dies at 80 While lauded for his extraordinary skills, Italian conductor Claudio ...

  • 22 countries where voting is mandatory

    22 countries where voting is mandatory

    Nov 03, 2014 08:01 PM EDT

    ... one-third fewer U.S. voters show up to the polls during a midterm election than a presidential election. However, 22 nations around the world make voting mandatory for its citizens, often starting at age 18, according to the CIA World Factbook. Several of these countries are in Latin America ...

  • Viewers respond to report on the risk of soccer concussions for kids

    Viewers respond to report on the risk of soccer concussions for kids

    Oct 26, 2014 08:45 PM EDT

    ... HARI SREENIVASAN: And now to Viewers Like You: Your feedback about some of our recent work. We heard from many of you about our report last night examining whether soccer is safe, given the thousands of concussions that occur every year after kids use their heads to make contact ...

  • Celebrating 8 years of Twitter with 8 superlative tweets

    Celebrating 8 years of Twitter with 8 superlative tweets

    Jul 15, 2014 07:27 PM EDT

    ... Out of this World Victory Tweet Germans around the world celebrated when their country won the World Cup Sunday in a 1-0 victory over Argentina. One loyal fan was even celebrating from outer space. Astronaut Alexander Gerst tweeted this congratulatory photo from the International Space Station after the game ...

  • World Cup is an accomplishment for Brazil, despite losses and costs

    World Cup is an accomplishment for Brazil, despite losses and costs

    Jul 15, 2014 12:05 AM EDT

    ... whole lot of conversation since the games, during and since the games ended. MATTHEW FUTTERMAN: Well, the first thing they're saying is, thank God Argentina didn't win, because that's their big rival, and that would have been the ultimate nightmare, if Argentina had won on Brazilian soil ...

  • Pope Francis reforms scandal-ridden Vatican Bank in hopes of making it ‘boringly successful’

    Pope Francis reforms scandal-ridden Vatican Bank in hopes of making it ‘boringly successful’

    Jul 10, 2014 12:47 AM EDT

    ... pope's finance czar, in an interview with The Boston Globe today, the idea is to get the Vatican off the gossip pages and to make it boringly successful. HARI SREENIVASAN: And what are some of the reasons why it is not as successful as it used to be? We ...

  • Pope pledges neutrality in World Cup

    Pope pledges neutrality in World Cup

    Jun 13, 2014 05:22 PM EDT

    ... word because Brazil and Argentina are always opponents," Francis told the paper. On Thursday, Francis issued a video message that urges players and fans to make the World Cup a showcase for teamwork and solidarity and not an demonstration of racism and greed. Argentina plays its first match Sunday, against ...

  • For Brazil, it’s not just about winning World Cup, it’s winning with style

    For Brazil, it’s not just about winning World Cup, it’s winning with style

    Jun 12, 2014 09:25 PM EDT

    ... other teams should people be watching? What are you -- who are you watching? TOMMY SMYTH, ESPN: Well, I'm going to be watching -- I mean, Argentina certainly are a team that you're going to have to watch. They're playing in South America. They have one of -- arguably the ...

  • Pope completes spiritual pilgrimage in Holy Land calling for unity and peace

    Pope completes spiritual pilgrimage in Holy Land calling for unity and peace

    May 26, 2014 09:49 PM EDT

    While the pope's spokesman said that Francis had "no political agenda or proposals to make" during his trip to Israel, Francis' presence in the Holy Land, in Palestinian territory and Jerusalem, was filled with political implications. After meeting with Israeli survivors of the Holocaust, Francis unexpectedly went and prayed ...

  • Should scientists bring extinct species back from oblivion?

    Should scientists bring extinct species back from oblivion?

    Apr 22, 2014 02:27 PM EDT

    [nh_related_content align="right"]Ever since the 1993 blockbuster "Jurassic Park," the possibility of bringing extinct species back to life has been part of our collective imagination. The film, based on a Michael Crichton novel, was itself inspired by actual scientific breakthroughs in the early 1990s that allowed scientists to use DNA from museum specimens and fossils to...