The World: Latest Stories

To boost the public’s confidence, the French government is putting power in the hands of everyday citizens in the form of a 35-person collective — selected at random — to help oversee the country’s vaccine rollout.

Ship strikes and entanglement in fishing nets threaten the survival of the North Atlantic right whale, one of the world’s most endangered species. Conservation groups have now filed a lawsuit to compel the US to expand protections for the whales.

The Chinese government hasn’t actually forbidden travel this year, but they’re strongly discouraging it.

With the pandemic mostly behind them now, along with a lack of data around the efficacy of Chinese vaccines, many citizens are taking the “wait-and-see” approach to getting vaccinated.

Over the past week, thousands of protesters rallied in rapper Pablo Hasél’s defense while hundreds of artists — including Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar and actor Javier Bardem — signed petitions calling for his release.

Mexico's vaccine rollout has been slow and cumbersome. Mexican residents with US citizenship, permanent residency or valid visas are starting to take matters into their own hands.

Experts say that as the US rejoins the UN Human Rights Council, it should hold allies — and itself — accountable for human rights violations.

During the day, dozens of guests of all backgrounds crowd around long tables at Yemen Kings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to share traditional Yemeni dishes like fahsa, a stew made out of beef or lamb.

​​​​​​​Over the weekend, the country’s electoral council announced the top two candidates who will be headed to a runoff on April 11. But there have been accusations of fraud by the third-place candidate.

Ecologist Carl Safina’s latest book, “Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty and Achieve Peace," explores how animals live their lives within definitive cultures and customs.

The coronavirus death toll is higher in minority communities as many are working front-line jobs. Health inequalities, housing conditions and structural racism are also key factors.

Host Carol Hills speaks to NASA aerospace engineer Diana Trujillo, who worked both on the robotic arm of the Perseverance rover and hosted the broadcast.

Houthi militias have renewed their military campaign to take over Marib, Yemen. Nadwa al-Dawsari, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, tells The World what’s at stake with this new push to take control of Marib.

A Social Security benefit for the nation’s neediest kids would virtually eradicate poverty for children, says one leading economist.

As part of "Movement,” an ongoing series from The World about the lives and work of immigrant musicians, Ethiopian American musician Meklit Hadero recounts conversations with fellow musicians in Ethiopia about the unifying role of music and culture amid the conflict in Tigray.

Several high-profile cases of sexual assault and child rape have bubbled to the surface in recent months. Each story has exposed a common denominator: a culture of silence and complicity in France that has let this kind of abuse continue for years — even decades.

Lebanon’s security forces used French-made rubber bullets, tear gas canisters and other anti-riot equipment to crush protests, according to an Amnesty International report.

“His name will be remembered not just as a failure of US foreign policy, but to remind people that it's not just him," says Mohammad Soltan, founder of the Freedom Initiative.

Leydy Pech, a Mayan beekeeper, launched a legal battle to protect the environment and the Indigenous Mayan community’s ancient practice of beekeeping. Now she is a 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize winner.

As France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen attempts to distance her party from extremism, she appears to be performing well in the polls.

The generals, most of whom are ethnically Burmese, have immense power but little public support. Their coup has enraged much of the population, from the mountains to the sea.

Since Jan. 1, when Britain formally left the European Union, musicians and crews can no longer travel freely through Europe while touring.

Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, which would carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, to Wisconsin, if completed, is facing strong opposition from Native American tribes and environmental activists.

As part of a 2019 agreement with the US, Brazil is looking to expand its space base, but it could mean evicting hundreds of Black families from their ancestral lands.

Nektaria Anastasiadou’s “A Recipe for Daphne” passes as a light, escapist novel with a love story. But at its core, it’s a meditation on Rum identity and the scars of history.

In a movement called #ActOut, actors are advocating for LGBTQ representation on-screen and behind-the-scenes in Germany’s media productions.

In many cities across Latin America, including Mexico City, patients with the coronavirus are struggling to receive vital medical oxygen to stay alive. Many who couldn’t find space in overflowing emergency rooms are dying at home.

The government has secured 9 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine instead, which researchers have said is effective against moderate and severe forms of the coronavirus new variants. They have also secured millions more from the global COVAX and Pfizer.

For years, Afghans have moved to Iran and Pakistan to escape conflict, insecurity and lack of economic opportunities. Since last March, the pandemic, economic woes and deportations have forced many back to home.

On Feb. 11, a new US postage stamp was issued honoring Chien-Shiung Wu, a groundbreaking Chinese American scientist who was unfairly overlooked for years, likely because of her gender.

An Olympic medalist’s sexual assault allegations against a former coach have opened up a conversation about gender roles, discrimination, power dynamics and everyday sexism in Greek society.

Can it help China reach its net-zero goals?

To lose an elder is like burning a textbook, says Jason Salsman, a spokesperson for the Muscogee (Creek) nation in Oklahoma. For Native Americans, the overall COVID-19 mortality rate is nearly twice that of white Americans.

Carbon offsets have been gaining popularity and attention as a solution to climate change. While many offsets projects have major pitfalls, some forestry experts in Canada’s Maritimes Provinces see carbon offsets as a powerful way to change forest management.

Advocates say that ending the migrant detention system is one more piece of the puzzle in achieving racial justice and ending migrant abuse.

Like the US, France is navigating political disagreements about its history and their relationship to modern issues of race.

To meet ambitious Paris climate accord goals, the US government needs to work with business to shift trillions of dollars to investments in new energy and infrastructure, says Alden Meyer, senior associate with climate think tank, E3G.

Over the last few years, Amsterdam’s City Council has adopted increasingly aggressive measures to combat the overwhelming number of visitors.

Over 60,000 Ethiopians have fled to neighboring Sudan and the millions that remain now face a worsening humanitarian crisis.

In al-Hol camp alone, there are currently 27,000 children living in dire conditions. They ended up in this camp after ISIS was territorially defeated.

Friendship Bench pairs older women with anxious or depressed clients for talk therapy sessions. During the pandemic, the program has adapted its approach to offer mental health services online and in socially distant meetups.

Latinos haven’t historically had representation on the board.

South African physician and anti-apartheid activist Mamphela Ramphele explains how the African concept of Ubuntu can bring communities together and support individuals at the same time.

Almost a year into the pandemic, societies are faced with immense contradictions: processing shocking death tolls while finding hope in promising vaccine rollouts. Surgeon, writer and researcher Dr. Atul Gawande speaks with The World’s Marco Werman about what it means to be human in this precarious moment.

Activists are working with children and youth in schools to combat extremism amid a renewed wave of anti-immigrant politics, conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic attacks in Germany.

The pandemic inspired some Wuhan residents to volunteer and help out. Others sought out a change of scenery after the lockdown lifted. Many still have PTSD, says Wuhan-based restaurateur Wang Fan.

The US can’t simply reengage global climate action using the old Obama administration playbook, says Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International.

The performance piece features musician Tcha Limberger, who is Roma, and pays homage to the hundreds of thousands who died in the Romani genocide during the Holocaust, whose stories often go untold.

“Foodie TikTok,” as it’s called, has rallied around a West African dish called fufu — a soft, spongy, stretchy dough that's one of the most common foods in the region.

Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a co-chair of an independent panel reviewing the WHO's response to COVID-19, expressed concerns about COVID-19 vaccine roll-out plans. She tells The World's Marco Werman that vaccine inequities could delay rollouts in poorer countries.