The streets are safer in Baghdad than in Caracas, Venezuela, where the soaring homicide toll is a blemish on the revolutionary government that promised reform. (NYT)

A 14-year-old Afghan girl is inadvertently killed by shrapnel from a U.S. mortar strike (Time)

Local heroes throughout south Asia emerge to combat the effects of global warming. (China Daily)

Meet the young members of the Bangladesh Surf Club, an oxymoron in a country with plenty of beach, but a conservative Islamic culture that frowns on swimming. (Telegraph21)

A fragrance expert reveals why the rare ingredient 'oud' is so prized in the Middle East -- and why it's heading to a perfume counter near you. (The Guardian)

Soldiers' wives struggle to care for their 'minimally conscious' husbands who were severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. (NJ Star-Ledger)

A 13-year-old Haitian girl adjusts to a prosthetic leg provided by a New Hampshire team that aids earthquake victims. (Boston Globe)

The sport of Course Landaise, France's answer to bullfighting, combines leaping, spinning and smarter bovines. (Time)

In Johannesburg, being a member of an openly lesbian soccer team can mean risking your life. (NYT)

Seventy years after being sent to an internment camp for Japanese-Americans, Bessie Kawachi Chin, 87, receives an honorary college degree. (SJMN)