Sewell Chan

SeaWorld said Thursday it would cease breeding killer whales this year, bowing to mounting criticism by animal rights activists, regulators and lawmakers over the treatment of the marine mammals in captivity.

Debris that washed up on the coast of Mozambique could be part of the wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished almost exactly two years ago, Malaysian officials said Wednesday.

Julian Assange — the founder of WikiLeaks who sought refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden — has been arbitrarily detained in violation of international law, a United Nations human rights panel has concluded.

Five others also hospitalized. The drug is intended to help with mood, anxiety and motor problems linked to neurodegenerative diseases.

Iraqi forces said Monday they had seized a strategic government complex in the western city of Ramadi from the Islamic State after a fierce weeklong battle, putting them on the verge of a crucial victory following a brutal seven-month occupation of the city by the extremist group.

Pope Francis has recognized a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa, the Roman Catholic nun who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for her work helping the poor of Kolkata, India, clearing the way for her canonization next year.

Fans in the Philippines, Thailand and France were among the first in the world to see “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which began rolling out Wednesday in countries around the world.

The Pentagon said Friday that it was “reasonably certain” that a U.S. airstrike killed Mohammed Emwazi, the Islamic State’s most notorious executioner.

Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi politician who from exile helped persuade the United States to invade Iraq in 2003, and then unsuccessfully tried to attain power as his country was nearly torn apart by sectarian violence, died at his home in Baghdad on Tuesday. He was 71.

Iran has accepted an invitation to join talks with the United States and Russia this week on a possible political resolution to the Syrian civil war, state news media reported on Wednesday.

The Israeli authorities began setting up roadblocks and checkpoints in some Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem on Wednesday and deployed hundreds of police officers and soldiers on the roads and buses, a response to what the government called a “wave of terrorism.”