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China has announced a plan to phase out all ivory processing and trade by the end of 2017, the government said on Friday, a move that conservationists hope will stymie the mass killing -- and threat of extinction -- of African elephants.

More than 100 years ago, on December 31, 1907, the New York Times threw a party in Times Square. Instead of the traditional fireworks — the city had banned them — it decided to try something a little different: lower a 700-lb ball, made of wood and iron and decorated with 100 light bulbs.

Edgar Matobato's days are spent -- for now, at least -- in a verdant, bucolic compound some way outside Manila.

What comes next and who holds the advantage? Here's what we know, what the players are saying -- and how the chess match is unfolding.

A planet named Proxima b has been discovered orbiting the closest star to our sun. It may be the closest possible home for life outside of the solar system.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has recommended that the Kremlin expel 35 US diplomats from Russia in response to sanctions announced by Washington, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

Sen. John McCain said Friday that Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election amounted to an "act of war."

Another member of a group selected to perform at Donald Trump's inauguration is protesting.

Call it a pop-up alliance. After spending much of this year berating each other after Turkey shot down a Russian jet over the Syrian-Turkish border, the two governments are suddenly the "honest brokers" of a ceasefire in Syria -- one that is designed to lead to political negotiations. The United States, which has long championed the stuttering diplomatic process on resolving the Syrian conflict, is nowhere to be seen.

A Texas mother died and her two daughters were injured when they fell from a chairlift at a Colorado ski resort, authorities said.

The political battle between North Carolina's Republican-controlled legislature and Democratic Governor-elect Ray Cooper has moved into the courtroom.

A Texas mother died and her two daughters were injured when they fell from a chairlift at a Colorado ski resort, authorities said.

Donald Trump loves to imagine himself as the best dealmaker in America. But many Democrats are not buying it. When they look at the new White House, they see little room for finding common ground. The President-elect ran a campaign that was antithetical to their party values, in addition to, they believe, consistently lying and spreading falsehoods. And now he has assembled a right-wing cabinet, which makes many Democrats' skin crawl.

In a year-end tradition, Chief White House photographer Pete Souza selects the best photos of President Barack Obama from 2016.

A woman discovered a baby boy left in a box on the streets of Brazil near a trash bin -- with the umbilical cord still attached to him.

It's a Cold War-era dance of spies that continues, even in 2016. CNN's Barbara Starr reports.

It's been a busy year for the US Border Patrol, with total nationwide arrests up 23% from 2015, according to a year-end report issued Friday by the Department of Homeland Security.

Reports are swirling over President-elect Donald Trump's apparent decision to bring a private security detail with him to the White House. Given America's checkered experience with private military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Trump's anti-government rhetoric, and his apparent comfort with commingling state and commercial power, the last thing we need is a Blackwater on the Potomac.

As a group of expelled Russian diplomats and their families prepare to leave the US, Russian President Vladimir Putin took no action against their American counterparts, opting instead to issue a statement criticizing the Obama administration. CNN's Jim Sciutto reports