Spotlight
Nigeria on Saturday celebrated the announcement by the U.N. health agency that polio is no longer endemic in the country. Polio which can cause life-long paralysis can be prevented with a simple vaccination.
Polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria, the World Health Organization said late Friday, leaving only Pakistan and its war-battered neighbor Afghanistan in the list of countries where the disease is prevalent.

Iran's state TV says Ghazanfar Roknabadi, a former ambassador to Lebanon, is among those missing after at least 719 pilgrims died in a stampede during the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
The Saturday broadcast said two Iranian state TV reporters and a prominent political analyst are also missing. At least 134 Iranian pilgrims died and 85 were injured in the Thursday incident, while 354 Iranian pilgrims remain missing, according to the report.

Global warming and evolution are reshaping the bodies of some American bumblebees, a new study finds.
The tongues of two Rocky Mountains species of bumblebees are about one-quarter shorter than they were 40 years ago, evolving that way because climate change altered the buffet of wildflowers they normally feed from, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will start on Monday, Nov. 21, kicking off a 28-day tournament that will finish on Sunday, Dec. 18.
FIFA's executive committee confirmed the 2022 dates on Friday, six months after picking Dec. 18 — Qatar's national holiday — for the final.

FIFA has canceled a news conference scheduled with President Sepp Blatter without explanation, fueling the sense of turmoil surrounding football's embattled governing body.
Blatter was scheduled to meet international media at FIFA headquarters after a two-day session chairing the executive committee.

A 13-year-old birth control implant came under new scrutiny Thursday as U.S. federal health experts discussed a host of problems reported by women implanted with the metallic device, including chronic pain, bleeding and fatigue.
The Essure implant from German manufacturer Bayer is frequently pitched to women as the only non-surgical option for permanent birth control.

Shakira, a longtime promoter of early childhood development and education, says being a mother has given her an even stronger connection to the issue.
The Grammy-winning performer and her soccer pro-partner Gerard Pique are the parents of 2-year-old Milan and 8-month-old Sasha.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the country's largest rebel group announced on Wednesday an important breakthrough in peace talks that sets the stage to end Latin America's longest-running armed conflict.
In a joint statement from Cuba, Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia said they have overcome the last significant obstacle to a peace deal by settling on a formula to punish belligerents for human rights abuses committed during a half century of bloody, drug-fueled fighting.

After months of delay and debate, European Union leaders agreed early Thursday to mount a broader, more comprehensive response to Europe's migration crisis, including ponying up more money to aid refugees in the Middle East, both to feed them and to reduce the chance they will come to Europe, and to toughen EU border controls.
"In the face of a major challenge, Europe can't just say: we will not deal with this. That would completely wrong," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "We have to find answers together."

European Union leaders, faced with a staggering migration crisis and deep divisions over how to tackle it, managed to agree early Thursday to boost border controls to ease the influx and to send 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to international agencies helping refugees at camps near their home countries.
The leaders also pledged to boost support to Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan to help them cope with the millions fleeing the fighting in Syria.
