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Lionel Messi has received his record fifth Golden Shoe award for leading all of Europe's leagues in scoring last season

Organizers of Vatican summit on sex abuse prevention are warning that the credibility of the Catholic Church is in jeopardy over the abuse scandal and are urging participants to meet with victims to hear their pain first-hand

French officials say that nine migrants, including a woman and child, have been rescued off the coast of Dunkirk after two distress calls from their small boat as they tried to sneak to Britain

President Vladimir Putin says Russia's new weapons have no foreign equivalents, helping ensure the country's security for decades to come

The Washington-based Fulbright Association says its 2018 prize for international understanding will go to German Chancellor Angela Merkel

German champion Bayern Munich says former Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn has left its supervisory board, three years are he resigned from the automaker amid its diesel emissions scandal

President Donald Trump is wishing ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn "good luck" in court as Flynn awaits sentencing for lying to the FBI.

Police say Romanian-Canadian singer and songwriter Anca Pop has died after her car plunged into the River Danube

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Liberty Vittert, Washington University in St Louis(THE CONVERSATION) This year, I served on the judging panel for The Royal Statistical Society’s International Statistic of the Year. On Dec. 18, we announced the winner: 90.5 percent, the amount of plastic that has never been recycled. Okay – but why is that such a big deal? Much like Oxford English Dictionary’s “Word of the Year”

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) H. Richard Milner IV, Vanderbilt University(THE CONVERSATION) Of all the challenges that vex black parents, perhaps none is more frustrating than to be forced to send their children to schools where their children’s talents go unrecognized, overlooked, ignored or even squashed.As I argue in my book – “Rac(e)ing to Class: Confronting Poverty and Race in Schools and Classrooms” –

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Jennifer Tucker, Wesleyan University(THE CONVERSATION) “Mary Poppins Returns” transports audiences back to 1930s London.The beloved nanny at the center of the original 1964 hit film will return, this time played by Emily Blunt.But Mary’s original companion, Bert, a chimney sweep played by Dick Van Dyke, has been replaced by Jack, a lamplighter played by Lin-Manuel Miranda.Some fans

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Robert Stavins, Harvard University(THE CONVERSATION) The global climate change conference in Katowice, Poland, that wrapped up on Dec. 15 had a challenging mission. Three years ago in Paris, 196 countries and regions agreed to curb global greenhouse gas emissions Now they had to agree on rules and guidelines for how to do it. Two urgent realities hung over the negotiations. First,

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Felipe A. Filomeno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County(THE CONVERSATION) President Donald Trump tends to portray migrants as a foreign problem that has suddenly – and unfairly – been “dumped” at America’s doorstep. Migration “is a way they get certain people out of their country and dump in U.S.,” he wrote on Nov. 25 about a caravan of mostly Honduran women, children and young

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Henrik Selin, Boston University and Rebecca Cowing, Boston University(THE CONVERSATION) Maritime shipping transports 90 percent of the goods traded around the world by volume. Moving large amounts of goods such as oil, computers, blue jeans and wheat across oceans drives the global economy, making it cheaper and easier to buy almost anything. But hauling goods around by sea requires

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Patricia Smith, University of Michigan and Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University(THE CONVERSATION) It’s that time of year when cookies, cakes, candy and treats show up at work, home and every place in between. As researchers who have investigated obesity, people’s body image, and fast food and other nutritional topics we often get questions from people concerned about their weight and

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Salvatore Domenic Morgera, University of South Florida(THE CONVERSATION) Parents have experienced how newborns grab their finger and hold tight. This almost instantaneous response is one of the sweetest involuntary movements that babies exhibit. The newborn’s nerves sense a touch, process the information and react without having to send a signal to the brain. Though in people this

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Annmarie Cano, Wayne State University(THE CONVERSATION) Humans are social animals who crave connection with others. It’s a drive that seems hard-wired into our systems so that when we experience rejection or estrangement from others, the experience can feel much like physical pain. The desire to avoid these painful feelings may be why many people go out of their way to reconnect

British Airways to resume flights to Pakistan in June, suspended after deadly 2008 Marriott bombing

Sri Lanka's Parliament has questioned whether Mahinda Rajapaksa, who recently quit as prime minister can hold his seat as well because he has relinquished membership of the political party from which he contested the last election

Pope Francis is shaking up the Vatican's communications operations, replacing the longtime editor of the Holy See newspaper and naming a prominent Italian journalist to coordinate the editorial line of all Vatican media