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How social media helped Caribbean islanders say: Don't forget us

U.S. That’s us,” said MSNBC host Rachel Maddow in a segment devoted to the devastation hurricane Irma wrought across the United States Virgin Islands. Ms. Maddow’s report highlighted how hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, transformed the once green and leafy paradise in the southeastern Caribbean to a dull, brown mess.

What's really important about Facebook Russia Ads

Yes, a shadowy Russian firm with ties to the Kremlin bought about $100,000 worth of Facebook ads intended to sway voters during last year’s presidential campaign, the social media giant disclosed earlier this month. The problem is, those Russian-bought online spots might be just a hint of a darker, undetected flood of attempts at influence, according to experts in political communication. Recommended: Sochi, Soviets, and czars: How much do you know about Russia?

Tale of two Mexicos? Amid NAFTA rethink, some urge more inclusive growth

Omar Chavira grew up near the rolling foothills of this state capital, coming of age when the US, Mexico, and Canada first signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mr. Chavira had already dropped out of high school and soon married his wife, Soledad, who halted her education before junior high. “Back then, there weren’t many incentives to stay in school,” Chavira says, remembering high school fees and few formal job opportunities.

Do Russia's western war games deliver a threat, or just a message?

President Vladimir Putin watched through a cool drizzle in Russia's far western reaches Monday, just 70 miles from his country’s border with the European Union, as Russian tanks and paratroopers battled fictional extremist groups. The confrontation was just one part of “Zapad 2017,” a huge military exercise involving both Russia and Belarus that has caused some hand-wringing in parts of NATO, not least its eastern capitals. While the war games are nothing out of the ordinary – a regular effort by the Kremlin to exercise and train its forces, as all militaries tend to do – there is also little doubt that Moscow intends a message to be sent loud and clear to leaders in the West, a demonstration of its modernized forces and a warning not to venture too close.

Trump's nationalist vision: Does it promote or endanger peace?

President Trump used his first appearance before world leaders assembled at the United Nations’ annual opening session Tuesday to offer a vision for international cooperation that was part red meat, part kumbaya. Recommended: What do you know about the United Nations?

Not mad, just adventurous: Cyclist completes trip around the world in 80 days

As he got off his bike in front of the Arc de Triomphe, Mark Beaumont looked remarkably fresh for a man who had just cycled around the globe in less than 80 days, shattering the world record. After pedaling for 16 hours a day through 16 countries, Mr. Beaumont arrived on Monday evening to a welcome from family and friends at the spot from which he had set off before dawn 78 days, 14 hours, and 40 minutes earlier. Recommended: Are you a savvy global traveler?

Can Houston find path to recovery that doesn't leave poor behind?

Two weeks after hurricane Harvey, Soni Herrera is trapped at her home – a home she and her family cannot yet live in. Like many of the tens of thousands of Houstonians flooded out of their houses, Ms. Herrera, her husband, Jaime, and their four children benefited from the indiscriminate bravery of her community during and immediately after the storm. Recommended: How much do you know about Texas?

In South Sudan's capital, a bridge – and a nation – on hold

South Sudan’s largest city needed a new bridge, and a Japanese aid agency was going to build one. “The way the city was growing was unbelievable,” says Justin Tata, the head of the department of architecture and urban planning at the University of Juba. Every day, a huge portion of the country’s economy rattled over the 45-year-old bridge’s two narrow lanes, as heaving 18-wheelers carried imported goods from the port of Mombasa, in Kenya, into the growing capital city.

Apple thinks different – and the same – about the ‘town square’

Ten years after Apple made the smartphone “cool,” it wants to turn its retail stores into something warm. It announced last week that the nearly 500 Apple Stores will no longer really be stores but “town squares.” In the era of social everything, Apple’s glass-and-white-walled boxes are to become gathering places. If that sounds a lot like your local mall, Starbucks, or even McDonald’s – commercial places designed to be social spaces – Apple’s idea goes further.

Trump visits UN: As a global leader, can the US do more with less?

President Trump has already shaken the post-World War II global order by pulling the United States out of American-led international pacts like the Paris Climate Accords and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal – and by threatening to dump others, like the Iran nuclear deal. For many in the community of 193 UN member states who have been anticipating General Assembly week to see for themselves how Mr. Trump intends to meld his nationalist policies with America’s global role, the impression may be that of the incredible shrinking superpower.