The World: Latest Stories

Mauro Ferrari, head of Europe's top science body, resigned from his post — passionately citing frustration with institutional resistance and bureaucratic infighting in the EU's complex structures. He spoke with The World's Marco Werman about problems facing the European response to COVID-19.

Need a respite from COVID-19 news? Art historian Lindsay Shen writes about the refuge her family found in the cool, clear streams of the mountain village of Tianmushan, China, in Zhejiang Province.

Much of the anti-climate policy efforts in the US can be traced back to one powerful man: Charles Koch, who sits at the helm of a fossil fuel-based corporate empire.

A former head of OSHA explains why science is under attack during the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly 30,000 DACA recipients work as health care professionals. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the industry needs them more than ever. Their fate lies in a Supreme Court decision that could come any week now.

This isn’t the first time that missionaries have been called home in large numbers. It happened in World War II, when hundreds of Latter-day Saints missionaries left Europe.

With Kalsarikännit, the party starts at home and stays at home — there is no intention of going out.

American astronaut Cady Coleman lived on the International Space Station for nearly six months in 2011. During that time, she developed some techniques for staying connected to loved ones even while she was far away — techniques that are helpful whether you’re living in space, or practicing social distancing in the age of the coronavirus.

CareMongering is one of many mutual aid organizations around the world that have either been created or expanded to help people struggling during the pandemic — either because of age, health status or financial vulnerability, among other things.

The reenactment of Jesus' crucifixion has long been an important tradition for the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa. But with stay-at-home measures in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the Passion play's actors are performing for a virtual audience.

Some rabbis think videoconferencing technology such as Zoom is a good platform for bridging the gap during the pandemic. Others make the opposite case.

Wajahat Ali is a writer and lawyer whose Islamic faith was tested last year when he learned his 3-year-old daughter had liver cancer. He tells The World's host Marco Werman what his family's journey taught them about living through great challenges — and maintaining one's faith.

The coronavirus has fundamentally changed how we live our lives, but perhaps most heartbreakingly, how we deal with death. Around the world, centuries-old burial rituals are being stopped. Gatherings to mourn someone’s death are limited. Even something as simple as a hug for a grieving friend is now essentially out of bounds.

The pope, the Vatican — a tiny city-state surrounded by Rome — and the church in predominantly Catholic Italy have all been forced to modify centuries of tradition because of the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Composer and Italian classical piano superstar Ludovico Einaudi teamed up with Greenpeace in 2016 to perform a concert in support of the campaign for a marine sanctuary in the North Pole’s international waters.

Buddhists believe the path to enlightenment requires periods of detachment from the world — so self-quarantine offers an opportunity. Karma Lekshe Tsomo, a Buddhist nun and social activist, speaks with The World's Marco Werman about the role of meditation and reflection during the spread of COVID-19.

The Trump administration designated the Russian Imperial Movement as a terrorist organization. It's the first time ever that such a label has been given to a white supremacy group, opening new paths to countering right-wing extremism in the US.

Renewed interest in online voting is reigniting an old debate about the security risks that come with it.

In the US and elsewhere, alcohol sales shot up as restaurants and bars closed to slow the outbreak. But in parts of Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and Greenland, government officials have banned sales of beer, wine and liquor in an attempt to limit social gatherings and temper alcohol-fueled domestic violence.

In 2006, an amateur fossil hunter made an unprecedented find: two dinosaurs fossilized while apparently locked in battle. A court case followed over mineral versus surface rights, bringing into question the future of fossil discovery in the US.

It's an added question for the holiday this year as social-distancing measures in place all over the world are preventing big, in-person gatherings.

How stable is the global food supply chain? The World's Marco Werman speaks with Maximo Torero, chief economist for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.

Robots like Tommy can measure blood pressure and oxygen saturation for the patients in the ICU. They also limit the number of direct contact doctors and nurses have with patients, thus reducing the risk of infection.

For over three weeks now, Barcelona’s union of African street vendors has been distributing food and other necessary items every day to hundreds of families in vulnerable situations — including fellow street vendors.

Around the world, people are doing their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by staying at home. But that doesn't mean we can't take the time to connect with nature. Richard Louv, author of “Last Child in the Woods," shares some ideas about how to connect with nature in the midst of the pandemic.

As some South Africans retreat to the comfort of their homes, reports of police violence and panic buying in markets foreshadow how the COVID-19 response in South Africa is as unequal as the country itself.

An estimated 32 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in November. Registering them to vote requires a substantial in-person effort that grassroots groups can't do right now because of the coronavirus outbreak. Some are shifting their strategies to the internet.

After most of Israel went into isolation, Bnei Brak was slow to adopt the country’s social distancing regulations.

The World speaks with Gary Kobinger, an expert in special pathogens who helped pioneer an Ebola vaccine, about progress towards a vaccine for COVID-19.

Taiwan leads the world as the most-prepared and best-equipped nation to fight the pandemic. But pressure from China continues to stymie their involvement in international public health care efforts.

A United Nations biodiversity report concludes that as many as one million species are at risk of going extinct in the coming decades. In response, the the UN Convention on Biodiversity and the Center for Biological Diversity have released new plans to avert the crisis.

Contact tracing, or meticulously tracing individuals exposed to illness, has been key to combating outbreaks of Ebola, cholera and tuberculosis throughout the world. Dr. Sheila Davis of the nonprofit Partners in Health explains what the US can learn from those crises.

The virus is spreading quickly across Brazil. As of Monday, there were 11,721 people infected with COVID-19 and 516 deaths in the country, according to state health department information.

Iran has the fifth highest death toll from COVID-19. And while some people are wondering whether they can survive financially, others are struggling to overcome the disease.

Hungary's government under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has granted itself sweeping powers under the auspices of the coronavirus pandemic. But critics warn it is hastening Hungary's authoritarian decline.

Monkeys at the Tulane National Primate Research Center have been infected with the coronavirus. Eventually, the animals will be tested with potential vaccines.

President Jair Bolsonaro has remained defiant even after US President Donald Trump, who has been his political role model, walked back his own skepticism about the coronavirus outbreak. Bolsonaro’s stance has isolated him politically in Brazil.

The COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges for doctors on visas who are already in the US, and for international physicians who are supposed to arrive in the US to start work at US hospitals in a few months.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that what’s “normal” can change dramatically and quickly to protect public health — and those lessons may be good for the climate, too.

The US just passed a $2 trillion stimulus. But how does it look compared to efforts in some European countries to mitigate the economic effect of the coronavirus pandemic?

While an increasing number of countries are tightening their borders in an effort to halt further infections, South Korea is taking a different approach. But a rise in imported cases threatens to roll back some of the country’s progress.

Even before COVID-19 swept through the country, South Korea had a well-known reputation for being a so-called “delivery nation.”

When a treatment for the coronavirus becomes available, who would get access to it? This question is of growing concern to policymakers and medical officials around the globe. Dr. Manuel Martin, an advisor with Médecins Sans Frontières, speaks with The World's Marco Werman about why a potential monopoly by one pharmaceutical company worries him.

Sailors are especially vulnerable in the coronavirus pandemic. Following an outbreak on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, The World's Marco Werman spoke to Acting US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly about the US military's readiness for coronavirus — and the sometimes conflicting goals of protecting US sailors while maintaining combat effectiveness.

What to do with pent up anxiety? Some say profanities help relieve stress. But while English swear words and phrases are often linked to sex, in the Dutch language, many profanities and expletives are derived from disease.

Dating while in isolation is probably not the ideal way to hook up with a new partner, but dating apps are all reporting increases in usage. Boredom and a little loneliness are likely playing a part.

Millions of people across the world have been ordered to stay home under the assumption that home is the safest place for them. That's not the case for people who are now stuck at home with their abusers. A network of women's organizations in Europe explains how groups are stepping in to help domestic violence survivors.

In Kenya, which has confirmed more than 100 cases of the new coronavirus, the latest mitigation measures came in the form of a nationwide curfew, which went into effect on March 27.

In the Gaza Strip, roughly 2 million Palestinians are squeezed into a small territory. And though there have been few reported cases of the coronavirus, experts worry Israel's years-long blockade has left the territory ill-equipped to handle the outbreak.

Across much of Asia, masks are considered an essential weapon in the war against the new coronavirus. Should Americans follow suit?