Lifestyle & Belief

They’re called “Festas Juninas” — or June Festivals — and they are the heart of Brazilian culture this time of the year. What’s special about these festivals is that they’re generally not celebrated in big mega events, like Carnival in February, but they’re held in each town and community across the country. As Michael Fox reports from Florianopolis, in southern Brazil, these festivals spring from a deep well of history and broad mix of cultural influences passed from one generation to the next.

Panama has built a new village for the residents of Gardi Sugdub, an island in the Caribbean that is expected to sink due to climate change.

Japan is entering what some sociologists call a “marriage ice age.”
So, the government is trying its hand at matchmaking.

Anti-Muslim policies are a key tenet of the Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) led by Geert Wilders. Many of those policies were devised by former lawmaker and once close confidante of Wilders, Joram van Klaveren. Today van Klaveren dedicates his life to defending Islam.

In Shibuya, a busy ward in Tokyo, Japan, officials want public toilets to inspire wonder. They’ve recently started a tour of 17 bathroom facilities designed by world-class artists and architects. The World’s Patrick Winn reports.