The World: Latest Stories

Michael Pack, a close ally of conservative political strategists including Steve Bannon, has been confirmed by the Senate as the head of VOA, America's tax-payer funded federal media agency.

Maha al-Mutairi filmed herself after being called in to the police station for being an openly transgender woman in Kuwait, where “imitating the opposite sex” is illegal. Her message went viral, and sparked a groundswell of support and attention for the LGBTQ community in the country.

It’s one of many recent incidents of police violence against Indigenous and black people causing an outcry.

COVID-19 has left Venezuelans across the region reeling and with dwindling options, at the same moment the World Health Organization declared Latin America the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ali Kushayb, a former militia leader, appeared at the International Criminal Court after more than a decade evading charges of war crimes against humanity. Some Darfuris say Kushayb’s arrest is a sign that justice — long-elusive — could be on the horizon.

Sarah Hegazi will be remembered as someone who just wanted to be herself — and was imprisoned and tortured for doing so. On Saturday, the Egyptian LGBTQ activist died by suicide in exile in Canada. She was 30 years old.

The World's host Marco Werman speaks with Siana Bangura, an author, poet and organizer in London, and Miski Noor, an organizer and writer with Black Visions Collective in Minneapolis. They've each been organizing and pushing for changes to policing in their cities for years.

One economist calls it a “modern policy for a modern labor market.”

Across the Americas, police violence disproportionately targets young black men. The protests sparked by George Floyd's death in Minneapolis have shined a new light on police brutality in South America.

Researchers at the Swear Lab at Keele University in the UK have found that swearing can actually increase a person’s pain tolerance.

Many health care workers say the pandemic and systemic racism are intertwined. But they stress the need for people to take precautions as COVID-19 continues to spread.

A world leader in cutting emissions from electricity production, the German government, in thrall to the auto industry, ‘overlooked’ pollution from cars and trucks.

Critics of the Trump administration say it’s trying to dodge accountability for atrocities, including torture.

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.