Japan: The country is combating the worst measles outbreak in years, with a total of 167 cases reported as of Feb. 10, according to health officials. Many of the cases were people connected to a religious group that promotes alternative healing and avoids vaccinations.

Afghanistan: A U.N. report released amid peace talks shows that 2018 was the single deadliest year for civilians in the war-torn country, with children dying in record numbers last year. Roughly two-thirds of the civilian casualties were attributed to operations by insurgent groups, primarily the Taliban and the Islamic State, and 24 percent to Afghan and American forces.

The U.S. dollar: Despite a ballooning public debt and fractured politics, the dollar has remained supreme around the world, enhancing President Trump’s ability to dictate foreign policy and trade deals.

Sex trafficking: A vast investigation in Florida and New York uncovered a multimillion-dollar prostitution operation in which women who the police believe were brought from China on false promises of jobs were trapped in brothels sometimes visited by the rich and famous.

Australia: A billionaire businessman and well-connected political donor, Chau Chak Wing, won a defamation case against Fairfax Media over a 2015 report linking him to an international bribery scandal involving a former top U.N. official. Mr. Chau was awarded about $200,000 in damages, but Fairfax Media said it would appeal.

R. Kelly: The R&B singer was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four women, three of whom had been minors at the time. He resolved several earlier such cases with nondisclosure agreements, but his actions have come under fresh scrutiny after BuzzFeed and a recent six-part documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly,” reported on his apparent sex cult.

Charles Dickens: The famed novelist and journalist not only sought to banish his wife of two decades, Catherine, after their separation in 1858 but also tried to have her imprisoned in an asylum, in an attempt to maintain a tight control over his image, according to newly revealed letters.