World

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Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The latest robot sensation in Japan is so lifelike that when she was on the floor of a Tokyo department store recently, she was confused for a human being. The new humanoid's name is Aiko Chihira, and she was working in customer service, clad in a traditional silk kimono.

Once the scene of tragedy, a school in the West Point slums of Liberia is now a work of art — and it's an international affair. Street artists from Baltimore collaborated with Liberian artists to create murals on the Nathaniel Varney Massaquoi Elementary and Junior High School.

President Obama assured allies in the Persian Gulf the U.S. would stand by them in the event of an external attack, tried to assuage their fears over U.S. talks with Iran over its nuclear program and said he shared their concerns about the Islamic republic's "destabilizing actions in the region."

NATO foreign ministers in Antalya, Turkey, were persuaded at the end of their meeting this week to come up on stage for a rendition of "We are the World."

Here's the video:

Greece has backed off a threat to sue the United Kingdom for the return of the Elgin Marbles, a set of sculptures dating to 400 B.C. that were removed from the Parthenon 200 years ago and have been in the British Museum ever since.

Greece's Culture Minister Nikos Xydakis said Athens would pursue the matter through "diplomatic and political" channels rather than take it to the International Court of Justice.

"One cannot go to court over whatever issue. Besides, in international courts the outcome is uncertain," Xydakis told the country's Mega TV.

Boatloads of migrants fleeing Myanmar and Bangladesh who were turned away by authorities in three countries are adrift in the Andaman Sea near Thailand.

Here's the video, captured by The New York Times:

Thailand is the latest country to turn them away — after Malaysia and Indonesia did the same this week. An estimated 6,000 to 20,000 migrants are at sea in the region.

Nepal's mountains are achingly beautiful. And extraordinarily dangerous.

Since April 25, when a 7.6 magnitude earthquake tore through central and eastern Nepal, the most affected were the hamlets, villages and towns in Nepal's Himalayan steep foothills. These have become more inaccessible than ever, places of death, dread and fear.