World News at a Glance

As Ukraine Fuels Its War Machine, Crooked Deals Undermine the Military

Ukraine’s spending on defense and security has soared since the conflict in the east started in 2014. This bonanza has enabled Ukraine to rebuild its military and fight to a standstill pro-Russian rebels and their Russian backers. But by pumping so much money through the hands of Ukrainian officials and businessmen — often the same people — the surge in spending has also held back efforts to defeat the corruption and self-dealing that many see as Ukraine’s most dangerous enemy.

In South Korea, the #MeToo Movement Is Catching On

One of South Korea’s most prominent theater directors apologized on Monday for sexually abusing actresses, part of a slowly building #MeToo movement in a deeply male-dominated society. The apology by Lee Youn-taek, 66, a former artistic director of the National Theater of Korea, came five days after a Facebook post by a former actress, Kim Soo-hee, set off a cascade of abuse accusations against him. Women’s rights advocates have long warned that male supervisors exploit the country’s command-and-compliance work culture, where an employee’s personal relationship with her bosses often determines her chances for promotion.

For Families of Fallen Kurds in Syria, Martyr Is a Badge of Honor

Soldiers wear pictures of them on their shoulder patches. Museums in every city in northern Syria fill halls with their portraits. Streets are named after them, and billboards commemorate them. They are the war dead of the Kurds’ participation in Syria’s six years of conflict: Syrian Democratic Force fighters, especially from Kurdish units, who were killed in battle — and they are everywhere. In a civil war in which hundreds of thousands of Syrians have died, honoring those killed has become a potent recruiting tool. The Kurds have institutionalized it, lavishing resources on both the dead and their survivors.

Workers Search Mountainous Region in Iran for Plane Wreckage

Search-and-rescue workers continued to scour a mountainous region of Iran on Monday for a plane that crashed a day earlier, most likely killing all 66 people on board. Because of bad weather conditions, the rescue teams have been unable to fly over the crash site in helicopters. Instead, they have climbed Mount Dena, which has an elevation of about 14,500 feet. As of Monday afternoon, the teams had not found any debris from the plane, which was operated by Iran Aseman Airlines. Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi, the minister of roads and urban development, said on Monday said that there was “total ambiguity” surrounding the crashing of the plane.

American Is Charged With Stealing Terra-Cotta Warrior’s Thumb

The terra cotta warrior was a symbol of martial strength, buried more than 2,000 years ago with China’s first emperor. The statue was helpless, however, against a man who, authorities say, sneaked into a closed-off area during a December party at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and stole its thumb. Michael Rohana, 24, of Bear, Delaware, was charged last week in Philadelphia with theft of an artwork from a museum, concealment of the artwork and interstate transportation of stolen property. News of the theft provoked anger in China, where the terra-cotta warriors are national treasures and a major tourist attraction.

Donation Plants Seeds for Parks Across Chile

President Michelle Bachelet announced the creation of a vast park system covering million of acres in Chile stretching from Hornopirén, 715 miles south of the capital, Santiago, to Cape Horn, the southern tip of South America. The park system is the brainchild of Kristine McDivitt Tompkins and her husband, Douglas, who founded The North Face and Esprit clothing companies, and starting in 1991 put $345 million into buying large swathes of land. The cooperation between Tompkins Conversation and the Chilean government was a rare victory for conservation efforts in a region where mining, logging and agriculture are increasingly threatening ecosystems.

This City in Canada Would Rather Not Hum Along

A persistent noise of unknown origin, sometimes compared to a truck idling or distant thunder, has bedeviled a Canadian city for years, damaging people’s health and quality of life, numerous residents say. Known as the Windsor Hum, this sound in Windsor, Ontario, near Detroit, is unpredictable in its duration, timing and intensity, making it all the more maddening for those affected. A University of Windsor report said the hum’s likely source was blast furnace operations on Zug Island on the Detroit River. Activists complained that United States Steel, which operates the furnaces, has been uncooperative.

No More Border Limits for Rhodes Scholars

For the first time in the 116-year history of the Rhodes Scholarship, students from anywhere in the world can now qualify for the award to study at Oxford University, the Rhodes Trust announced Monday. The news culminates a push by the trust to raise money from philanthropists, expand the number of scholarships and broaden the program — which until recently was limited to a short list of countries — into something global. The result is far removed from the legacy of Cecil Rhodes, a South African diamond magnate who saw the scholarships as very much an Anglo-Saxon privilege.