The World: Latest Stories

By taking steps to address obesity, we can improve outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic, says Tufts cardiologist Dariush Mozaffarian.

Foreign residents in Sweden are reconsidering life in the Nordic country as a result of its light-handed approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Travel bubbles" are popping up around the world in an attempt to revitalize tourism economies.

In mid-April, reports of “imported cases” of COVID-19 from abroad stoked fears and prejudices in the country.

"If you want to change, it has to start with an acknowledgment," says Stan Henkeman, executive director of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in Cape Town.

Approximately every 30 seconds, a Latino in the US turns 18. Young Latinos could swing the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election — if they come out to vote.

The proposal includes a number of changes that would make it more difficult for applicants to gain asylum in the US — including changing which applicants would get asylum hearings in the first place.

This is only the latest of Brazil’s tumultuous fight with the coronavirus. The country has over 710,000 confirmed infections, the second-highest number of cases after the United States. It recently overtook Italy as the country with the third-highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the world, with more than 37,000 deaths.

The pandemic is robbing the world of institutional memories of the past as older people fall victim to COVID-19. Indira Lakshmanan, the senior executive editor for National Geographic, shares her mother's story.

A recent exchange of alleged cyberattacks on critical infrastructure between the two regional rivals is rattling the Middle East and threatens to change the unofficial but implicit agreement on the rules of engagement.

Leticia Arcila, a 20-year-old first-generation Mexican American living in Atlanta, was eager to cast her vote for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Georgia primary. When the coronavirus hit, the primary was delayed — and Sanders dropped out of the race.

The Strade Aperte plan, translated as “Open Roads,” is one of the world’s most dramatic examples of how city planners around the world, after COVID-19 lockdowns, are redesigning city streets to be friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists.

The mental health repercussions of the 2015 MERS outbreak were little acknowledged. But this time around, experts are sounding the alarm on the mental health crisis of the novel coronavirus as it sweeps the globe.

George Floyd’s killing sparked protests across the world. In France, it reignited calls for justice for Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old French Malian man who died in police custody almost four years ago.

On Saturday, around 100 demonstrators walked through downtown Seoul in protest of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in what was perhaps the first showing of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the nation.

James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral and former NATO supreme allied commander said he’s “quite surprised” that two major military leaders refused to testify regarding military use to quell protests. He thinks “It’s a significant misstep by the Department of Defense,” he told The World.

International human rights advocates observing how the US is handling the protests have said the US may be violating international law. The World spoke to UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard on the use of force by US police.

Could the US become a so-called “competitive authoritarian regime” which only bears the “outer look of democracy?”

What's happening on US streets right now looks familiar to veterans of the US intelligence community who've monitored foreign government responses to social unrest.

If the US can’t take care of itself in times of major crisis, how exactly is it supposed to “beat” China in global competition?

Millennials in China have been known to be big spenders. But as the Chinese economy recovers from a coronavirus-induced slowdown, many young people are reexamining their lives and their spending habits.

George Floyd's killing by a police offer in the US struck a chord with Kenyans who have also spoken out against police brutality. When Kenya enacted restrictive policies to curb the spread of coronavirus, activists sounded the alarm about deadly policing.

Yemen, made vulnerable by more than five years of war, is ill-equipped to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The public health problem is exacerbated by warring factions, who downplay the threat of the pandemic even as Yemeni hospitals — and graveyards — are crowded with victims.

Sudan's women were also the target on June 3, 2019, when Sudanese security forces raided a protest camp of pro-democracy activists. Now, a year on, many are concerned that those responsible for the attack are not being held accountable.

Tendayi Achiume, United Nations special rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance speaks with The World's Marco Werman about the impact of George Floyd's death and protests against systemic racism around the world.

Long before the pandemic, Adela Diaz, an Arizona college freshman, was aware of disparities in health care access and outcomes for minorities in the US. The pandemic has widened the gap, she says.

Khatia Dekanoidze knows about police reform. As the former chief of the National Police of Ukraine, she continues to work on police reform efforts in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. She spoke with The World's host Marco Werman to talk about what US police officers can do now to reform.

Fault lines of inequality have existed for generations, says Dr. Michelle Morse, co-founder of the Campaign Against Racism.

One Somali American in Minneapolis organized a prayer gathering online to process it together.

Like many US states, Nevada was struggling to test residents when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Eventually, help did arrive — from an AI company in the UAE.

After months of staying home in self-isolation, people in some parts of Canada are being told they can begin to expand their real-life, in-person social circles.

Hoping to replace billions in lost revenue, Costa Rica is embarking on a marketing blitz geared toward locals.

Since the first brick was thrown at Stonewall in the summer of 1969, LGBTQ communities around the world have celebrated queerness each June, with protests, parties and day-long parades. Celebrations this year will look different — online.

Some of the more than 800,000 satellite images taken during the Cold War are being used by researchers to track biodiversity and species decline.

The World's Marco Werman speaks with Darnella Wade, an organizer for Black Lives Matter in St. Paul and founder of the Black Truce Peace Organization about the world's response to protests over the death of George Floyd.

Indigenous communities in Colombia's Amazon region lack medical personnel and infrastructure to handle a pandemic. Some worry the spread of the coronavirus could wipe out entire ethnic groups.

Some Sudanese in the diaspora are trying to help — but the country says the need is great.

Opération Mer Propre, or Operation Clean Sea, is a nonprofit group that cleans the waters of France’s Mediterranean coast. In addition to the usual waste they find, they’re now picking up masks and gloves.

This multimedia show tells the story of Vincent Van Gogh’s life and work through more than 400 high-resolution images of his paintings projected across the exhibit space.

Taking care of the entire family is at the heart of this school, which sits on the edge of the Aylesbury Estate, a vast network of highrises that used to be the largest public housing unit in Western Europe.

It's been nearly a decade since an astronaut was launched into space from American soil. Wednesday, at Cape Canaveral Florida, the company SpaceX and NASA tried to end that streak on board the Falcon 9 until weather scrapped the launch. The World's Marco Werman speaks with Margaret Weitekamp, head of the space history department at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, about the future of US space flight.

As the world continues to try to find ways to reopen and cope with the coronavirus in the aftermath of lockdowns, many in workplaces will shortly have to go through thermal imaging cameras to enter public buildings and offices.

About one third of all food produced across the globe goes to waste, with profound implications for hunger, climate change and political stability. The pandemic is making the problem worse.

Facing an outbreak of the coronavirus, Iran has been sending signals that it's willing to release foreigners in detention. But the wife of an imprisoned British Iranian says a window of opportunity for Western nations to reach a deal with Iran on a prisoner swap "seems to have been wasted completely."

The Haida are one of many Indigenous groups across the world trying to stay closed as surrounding areas reopen following restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

With time on their hands under quarantine, Spanish film researchers from the national film archive, Filmoteca Española, came across a film that had been ignored for decades. “Mallorca," likely made between 1932 and 1934, by María Forteza, appears to be the first talking film directed by a woman in Spain.

Countries around the world are developing contact-tracing apps to limit the spread of COVID-19. Part of that effort is balancing privacy with data collection. MIT is tracking how some of those worldwide apps compare.

For the past few weeks, the world has been getting a rare glimpse into a heated feud between Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, and his maternal cousin, Rami Makhlouf.

Bank of America projects that the region’s economy will shrink by almost 7% this year.

A public health crisis. An economic crisis. And no live shows. It's these challenges and more that stand-up comedians Joanna Hausmann and Joe Wong are navigating during the pandemic.