The World: Latest Stories

The Maker Movement was made in the USA, but it's now gone global, to dozens of countries, encouraging people to (re)discover the joy and satisfaction that comes from making something with your own hands, to go from just consuming to also producing. But what if you've already been making for decades, as the factory of the world? Chinese makers embrace the fun and creativity in the movement; the government sees it as a tool to increase China's innovation and drive economic growth. They want to add structure and control. But what if unstructured fun is a path to innovation?

With encouragement from the leader of the Philippines, police and vigilantes are killing suspected criminals.

The first offshore wind farm is being built off New England this month. The fledgling US industry is borrowing expertise from Europe, where offshore wind has a 25-year head start.

Persecuted by ISIS, chased out of Iraq, the Yazidis have suffered a lot. And that was before they got to Greece, where other refugees, mostly Muslims, are still persecuting them.

Nima Samimi, a.k.a Muhammad Seven, gets inspiration from both his Iranian background as well as his American one. His latest album is called Bedouin Cowboy — and was produced entirely on his iPhone.

Stars like Brazil’s first gold medal winner Rafaela Silva and Team USA swimmers Michael Phelps and Lilly King are getting the limelight. But there's way bigger drama going down in Brazil.

Watch Olympic gymnastics this season in Rio and you’ll notice something is missing: Romania’s female gymnastics team.

What happens when volunteers from 10 nationalities come together and make lunch for 1,500 people? Or when a band that incorporates US country folk music, Turkish, and classical Arabic music, plays to raise funds and awareness for refugees?

Thieves cut through the roof of a train carrying millions of dollars worth of banknotes in southern India.

Many Olympic fans are kind of baffled by the equestrian event. But dressage has a fascinating history as the sport of mounted warriors, going back to ancient times.

In an interview, the chairman of a major advertising firm said he believed the debate over gender diversity in advertising is "all over." And he dismissed a woman trying to help other women move forward as just trying to feather her own nest.

Newly-elected President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the police and military to kill suspected drug dealers and users without due process.

Teenage Olympian Lilly King became the face of clean competition in Rio. But drugs have a long and storied link to the Olympics, and truly getting rid of doping will be tough.

They call it stambeli. It’s a style of traditional religious music from Tunisia with roots in the pre-Islamic history of Africa. But it might not be around for too much longer.

Some 50 senior national security officials — all who served in Republican administrations — have denounced the Republican presidential candidate. They say Donald Trump is not qualified to be president and commander-in-chief.

HIV rates are rising among gay men in China. And there are fears that some of these men may infect their wives.

Sometimes it seems like the whole world is wagging its finger at you. The old concept of Russia as the villain in clean sports is back. Some Russians in Rio say it's just bad politics.

Are man-made diamonds more ethically responsible? The diamond industry would tell you to think again.

Three years ago, photographer Misha Friedman traveled to South Africa. He went to Gugulethu, a township near Cape Town, to photograph several women living with HIV and tuberculosis. This year, he went back to try and find the women again. Some have since died. Friedman has now produced a new portrait series — focusing in part on those who were left behind and on the ongoing HIV crisis in South Africa — a country with the highest infection rate in the world.

The events of June 16, 1816 — when Mary Shelley started writing Frankenstein — might offer us a glimpse into our future.

It's not that traditional emojis haven't represented women — they have — just in some of the most gender-traditional ways possible. But now that's changing, with emojis finally representing all the roles women do fill in our society.

Brooks, the author of the new book "How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything," reflects on how the lines between war and peace have blurred since 9/11.

At a clinic in Massachusetts that specializes in treating Cambodians, much thought has gone into creating a facility that doesn't evoke memories of torture or other negative experiences. One treatment is "cupping," which has gotten attention after Olympians Michael Phelps' usage.

Space is at a premium in most big cities — but even then space is usually reserved for the dead. In Berlin, though, many old cemeteries are being converted as public spaces.

What pronouns do you use? Have you ever been asked? Do you ask others their pronouns? This week on the podcast, we hand over the reins to our talented summer intern, Paulus van Horne, to share a very personal story about pronouns. In the spring of 2016, Paulus came out as non-binary at college, asking friends and teachers to use the gender neutral pronouns they/them their. This summer at The World, Paulus came out for the first time at a workplace. This is their story.

Viggo Mortensen talks acting, politics and his new film, Captain Fantastic.

Taxpayers fund billions of dollars in research every year — research that can wind up hidden away from the public's eyes. Should that change?

As federal and state governments attempt to reduce methane leaks from oil and gas operations, scientists are still trying to figure out just how much of it actually escapes from pipes, valves, tanks and gas wells.

The unsung female heroes who made the 1969 moon landing possible — we're guessing you've probably never heard about them

Seventy-seven power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania caused hundreds of premature deaths and cost an estimated $38 billion in health costs and impacts, mostly in already disadvantaged communities.

How much are taxpayers willing to spend to support America’s National Parks? A lot, according to a new study.

The United States isn't the only country that has refused to lower its flag.

The ancient Greeks staged games every four years, for over a thousand years, on the field of Olympia. Times were rough, and so was the competition.

Zika transmission is down during Brazil’s winter, but US health officials say it's still unsafe for pregnant women to visit.

Thousands of Rio residents were evacuated from their homes to make way for Olympic projects. Some resisted. Many feel their communities were torn apart.

Bureaucrazy is an app that helps new arrivals break through Germany's notorious red tape.

The movement for black lives in Minnesota is healing old divisions between African refugees and African Americans.

Citizens United opened a new loophole that, essentially, allows foreign owners of US companies to give unlimited funds to candidates for office.

In the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, there's a government-sponsored festival called the "Guelaguetza" that highlights local cultural traditions. But an alternative "People's Guelaguetza" is seen as more in touch with Oaxaca's indigenous cultures — and as a meeting ground for protesters.

The agency’s effort to improve diversity isn’t about political correctness — it’s about results. But there isn't a straightforward solution.

The International Olympic Committee voted unanimously to add new sports to the official games roster, in an effort organizers hope will get young people pumped again about the event.

In Canada, aboriginal women and girls have been going missing for decades.

In the aftermath of airstrikes, civilians in Aleppo organize to find the injured.

Rio will have drones, an international command center, and even giant surveillance balloons keeping watch over the Games. There’s good reason for officials to stay vigilant.

The government in Rio de Janeiro commissioned an official funk carioca song for the Olympics, because the style is so popular in the city. But funk musicians in Rio say city authorities have been cracking down on them for years, raiding their parties and destroying their equipment.

Turkey's post-coup crackdown continues and one of President Erdogan's targets is his country's political cartoonists. Their response: Even more biting satire.

Researchers have found 15 specific regions in the human genome that could signal a risk of clinical depression.

Tourists come to the Great Bear Rainforest to shoot the grizzly bears that live there. Some are using cameras — others are using rifles.

For the first time, Taiwan’s government has apologized to its indigenous people for centuries of mistreatment.