The World: Latest Stories

Though historians debate whether Washington could have been more assertive in responding to Middle East uprisings a decade ago, some observers believe former President Barack Obama let down the revolutionaries.

As verdicts were announced in a trial centered around the January 2015 Paris terror attacks, Lassana Bathily — who was praised for saving about 15 people in a kosher supermarket — says he still struggles with the word hero: “I prefer the term good citizen. A good citizen who simply acted quickly in the moment.”

The revolts a decade ago were among the first major protests in the age of omnipresent mobile phones, with social-network revolutions powered by Twitter and Facebook.

“One day, I hope all Tunisians live in dignity. That’s what my brother wished for,” said Leila Bouazizi, sister of the Tunisian fruit seller who set himself on fire on Dec. 17, 2010.

Navigating economic survival while trying to minimize harm to public health has been difficult for many in the tourism sector as COVID-19 cases continue to soar.

Egypt has gone from a human rights success story to a place where thousands have been detained or executed — and human rights activists have gone underground.

This year, Jane Austen fans are drawing parallels between the novelist's 18th-century life of limited freedoms and the pandemic of 2020.

Libyan American poet Khaled Mattawa penned "Now That We Have Tasted Hope" in 2011, on the heels of an uprising in Libya that led to the ousting of President Muammar Gaddafi. Looking back, the poem's message of hope still resonates.

"There is no doubt that the US is an outlier when it comes to its use of capital punishment," says Delphine Lourtau, executive director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

The Trump administration thwarted an investigation specifically into the US. But that didn’t deter those who believe an independent inquiry is necessary.

Israel is considered a world leader in medical clowning. When the pandemic hit back in March, one clown knew she could help COVID-19 patients at her hospital — no matter their ages.

Franco Belgian cellist Camille Thomas is performing solo at some of Paris' most striking art venues during France's second COVID-19 lockdown.

Remote learning has been hard for millions of students worldwide, but for the ones living half a world away from school in the US and Canada, the time zone differences and isolation have taken an added toll.

The youngest casualties of the civil war are not from fighting. Malnutrition kills some children and stunts the growth of others. A new film profiles the work of doctors and nurses who treat them.

The Danish parliament voted this month to stop issuing new leases for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea and end oil production by 2050, making Denmark the first major-oil producing country in the world to decide to phase out production.

With Sting's blessing, Benin-born musician Shirazee flipped his 1988 hit "Englishman in New York," to "African in New York." Host Marco Werman speaks to Shirazee about his inspiration for the song.

Climate negotiators are still considering how best to drastically cut carbon emissions to meet the ambitious targets of the landmark accord, a half-decade on.

Brayan Guevara, a 20-year-old first-time Afro Latino voter in North Carolina, is an independent who ultimately decided to support Democratic candidate Joe Biden. He said the election validated that “my voice matters.”

In South America's biggest country, a populist president has taken an ideological stand against help from Beijing in ending the pandemic. But Brazilian scientists want to put public health and science over politics.

For the most part, the mistakes are unintentional. They're largely the result of automated translation by products such as Google Translate.

About 20,000 African migrants have reached the Spanish archipelago this year, half of whom arrived in the last two months alone. More than 500 have died attempting the journey.

Hundreds of arrest warrants have been issued against military personnel and civilians suspected of being involved with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, but ordinary Tigrayans have claimed they too are being targeted.

Some national security experts expressed concerns about the balance of civilian-military power if the Pentagon is led by a retired general. The World spoke to Rosa Brooks, the co-founder of the Leadership Council for Women.

Photographer Obinna Obioma transforms the iconic "Ghana Must Go" bag into a powerful narrative about migration, nostalgia and longing for home.

David McAdams, an economist at Duke University, has been thinking a lot about the nearly 200-year-old concept lately — and how it applies to efforts to end the coronavirus pandemic.

The Trump administration is expected to finish some 450 miles of border wall by the end of the year, and Indigenous groups on both sides of the border are looking to the future.

This year, a bumper crop of mushrooms is rewarding locals with plenty to eat and sell to restaurants, which is helping some families navigate an economic downturn during the pandemic. But mushroom-foraging tours have suffered.

Although rebuilding has started here, for some, too much has been lost.

It’s a weird, weird world.

Leopoldo López, in exile in Spain, is speaking out against the Venezuelan National Assembly elections being held Sunday by the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

The coronavirus pandemic comes with a heavy psychological toll. So, Cristina Mattioli, a bar owner in Rome, banned talking about it to encourage her customers to focus on more positive things.

"No Road Back Home,” by Abduqadir Jalalidin, a detained Uighur poet, bears witness to the suffering of Uighurs detained in Chinese so-called “reeducation” camps.

We may have left office jobs in the prepandemic world.

They are more likely to go without food so others in their family can eat. And, for them, hunger leads to other dangers.

Once vaccines are distributed across the globe, people will need to agree to take them. The World spoke to Julie Leask, who researches vaccine hesitancy, on how to address people's questions.

Grassroots organizations are out mobilizing every vote they can muster for the state of Georgia's Jan. 5 runoff election, including a crucial campaign targeting Latino voters.

Environmental groups try fresh legal tactics with a new lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell in the Netherlands, and also the first-ever climate-related case at the European Court of Human Rights.

Two hurricanes hit Central America back-to-back in November. Watching as your neighborhood gets ripped apart is a risk for developing depression and anxiety among young people.

Humanitarian groups in Yemen are worried that a designation by the US State Department of the movement as a "terrorist organization" would endanger aid activities in the war-torn country.

Deaths among medical professionals in the country have reached an average of nearly eight per day.

During the coronavirus pandemic, people with disabilities who live in long-term care facilities have become one of the most vulnerable populations worldwide.

For years, the plight of the pangolin has been a niche concern, mostly worrying conservationists. But the COVID-19 pandemic has pulled pangolins into the spotlight.

If confirmed, Alejandro Mayorkas would be the first immigrant and the first Latino to serve as DHS secretary.

Human activity is impacting the planet, from the deepest parts of the ocean to the tallest peaks. The highest point in the Himalayas is no exception.

The case has gripped France even as the country battles a deadly second wave of the coronavirus.

While Diego Maradona never ran or held public office, his success on the field, larger-than-life personality and friendships with leftist leaders connected him to political life in Argentina and across Latin America over more than three decades.

British comedian John Finnemore made it his quarantine project to crack "Cain’s Jawbone" — and he succeeded, making him just the third person to solve it in its nearly 90-year history.

In Moldova, poverty and corruption go hand-in-hand. So when Maia Sandu, the recently elected first woman president, ran a campaign focused solely on addressing corruption, 93% of Moldovans abroad voted for her.

Armenians have evacuated houses —and attended church services — in the remote region handed over to Baku's control recently as part of a Russian-administered peace deal.

China’s investments helped Ethiopia become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Now, the country is embroiled in a conflict that has displaced tens of thousands — and threatens to destabilize a region in which China is heavily invested.