Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Since the start of mass demonstrations in Hong Kong in early June, there has been a significant escalation of Beijing's rhetoric and tactics.

Aug. 14 (UPI) -- The architects and participants in the 1988 massacre in Iran have been richly rewarded with positions of power and influence in government and various state-affiliated organizations.

Are America and its allies safer or more secure than two years ago? The answer must be a resounding no.

Aug. 13 (UPI) -- France's brief experiment with cannabidiol seems to have started a movement to legalize cannabis, which has been illegal since 1970.

Aug. 13 (UPI) -- India's government scrapped Article 370, the part of the 1956 Constitution that gave the state of Jammu and Kashmir special autonomous status after independence. How consequential is this for India?

Aug. 12 (UPI) -- People living in rural and small-town America in particular have much at stake in the 2020 census. Unfortunately, census participation tends to be lower in rural areas.

Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Scientists have long known that the warming temperatures associated with climate change are diminishing the snowpack in the western U.S., with more precipitation falling as rain, rather than snow. That's a problem.

Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Over the weekend, Chidinma Ibeleji, a deaconess in the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria, was kidnapped along with four others on her way to her Pentecostal denomination's annual convention in Lagos.

Aug. 8 (UPI) -- The news that 8chan, the far-right online community allegedly home to mass shooting manifestos, has been effectively removed from the Internet is cause for celebration, but should also make us consider the implications.

Aug. 7 (UPI) -- With his neatly trimmed beard, wide smile and receding white hair, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, is viewed in the Western media as the moderate face of his regime. The reality is somewhat different.

CNN produced two made-for-television carnival shows mistakenly called Democratic presidential debates. While not always presidential in conduct, one of the 20 carnival contestants will likely be the next nominee.

Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Americans own nearly half of the world's guns, with approximately 120 firearms for every 100 U.S. residents.

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- As a bad Catholic, I need to make a confession: I no longer pay attention to mass shootings.

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Add my hometown of El Paso to the list that, in Texas alone, includes Sutherland Springs and Santa Fe - places where people were shot where they went to pray, shop and go to school.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- South Africa's crisis of gender-based violence needs more than slogans and summits to fix, and the impact of government's interventions cannot be fully effective without data and performance monitoring.

Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Central Asia is the one region on the planet where Russia and China have enjoyed greater influence than the United States. However, this situation is rapidly changing.