International agencies in Lebanon have begun distributing aid to Syrian refugees through a single debit card.

Biologist Colleen Handel saw her first black-capped chickadee with the heartrending disorder in 1998.

The tiny birds showed up at birdfeeders in Alaska's largest city with freakishly long beaks. Some beaks looked like sprung scissors, unable to come together at the tips. Others curved up or down like crossed sickles.

Think autism and an image of an awkward boy typically emerges, but the way autism strikes girls — or doesn't — may help reveal some of the developmental disorder's frustrating secrets.

Autism is at least four times more common in boys, but scientists taking a closer look are finding some gender-based surprises: Many girls with autism have social skills that can mask the condition. And some girls do not show symptoms of autism even when they have the same genetic mutations seen in boys with the condition.

Use of solar power is soaring, but Europe's biggest solar panel manufacturer, SolarWorld, took the surprise step last month of cutting 500 jobs from its workforce of 3,000.

The reason? Global sales are on track for a record year but prices are plunging due to a glut of supply. That is encouraging the spread of clean energy but squeezing manufacturers, leading to politically sensitive job losses.

The candidacies of Saudi Arabia and Russia for the U.N.'s top human rights body are compromised by their actions in Yemen and Syria respectively, where they have been accused of unlawful attacks on civilians, a prominent rights group said Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch said the two countries' membership bids risked undermining the credibility of the U.N. Human Rights Council and its ability to hold rights abusers accountable.

Firebrand Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced Monday that Israel has “no intention” of starting a new war against Lebanon.

The Aleppo that Ibrahim al-Haj's son Laith was born into 10 months ago is now being destroyed.

The opposition-held districts of the Syrian city have been surrounded and under siege for months. Russian and Syrian warplanes are bombing the streets into rubble and government forces are chipping away at the pocket of opposition control. For the 270,000 people holding out there, everything is getting harder to find — food, drinkable water and fuel. Residents are planting vegetables in bomb craters and digging wells.

The entire territory of Syria must be "liberated," Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said in remarks televised Saturday, dismissing demands for Syrian President Bashar Assad's departure as "thoughtless."

Dmitry Peskov said Assad needs to stay in power to prevent the country from falling into the hands of jihadis.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter arrived in Iraq Saturday to meet with his commanders and assess the progress in the opening days of the operation to retake the northern city of Mosul from Islamic State militants.

His unannounced visit comes two days after a U.S. service member was killed outside Mosul, underscoring the risk that American troops are taking as they advise Iraqi forces in the fight. And it comes on the heels of meetings Carter had with Turkish leaders in Ankara Friday when he announced there "is an agreement in principle" for Turkey to play a role in the battle to retake Mosul, and that friction between Turkey and Iraq can be worked out.

Security forces battled for a second day Saturday with Islamic State gunmen who infiltrated Kirkuk in a brazen raid that rattled Iraq as it ramped up an offensive to retake Mosul.

A day after the shock attack on the Kurdish-controlled city, jihadist snipers and suspected suicide bombers were still at large, prompting Baghdad to send reinforcements.