Stories for

A supporter holds up a large sign during a rally.
Every 30 Seconds
‘Georgia, all eyes are on you’: Activists galvanize Latino voters ahead of runoffs 
A massive protest of women wearing colorful head wraps and masks with signs supporting Karima Mehrab Baloch.
Human rights
Canada urged to investigate the death of Baloch human rights activist 
Two men wearing black sweaters pose for a photo.
Music
‘SulaMadiana’: Mino Cinélu and Nils Petter Molvær release new album during pandemic
A man stands in front of the Skogafoss waterfall in Skogar, Iceland, March 8, 2020.
COVID-19
2020: The year of the primal scream — and other pandemic remedies 
A blue ball in a black field surrounded by white, tiny dots.
Science & Technology
Got space junk? Wooden satellites may be the solution.
Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs for sale.
Menace or delicacy? It’s hairy crab season in China.
Several rows of outdoor seating are shown with cars in the distance and a movie project shining bright in the distance.
Arts, Culture & Media
The pop culture that got us through 2020
A woman is shown wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and jacket with a home in the distance flying a tattered US flag.
Every 30 Seconds
Now what? Young Latinos struggle post-election to find their place in US
A man with an Armenian national flag visits a 12th-13th an old brick monastery surrounded by mountain vistas
Conflict
Armenian winemakers hope to maintain ancient tradition following Nagorno-Karabakh conflict 
In this handout photo released by Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) and the Roscosmos space agency, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, center, reacts after landing near the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Oct. 22, 2020.
Science & Technology
Cassidy from space: ‘Looking down at Earth, it’s just this blue ball of peace’
In this March 26, 2020, file photo, a boy wears a mask as a preventative measure against the spread of the coronavirus, as he navigates floodwaters mixed with garbage following heavy rains, in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya.
The Big Fix
‘Connecting with God by caring for the environment’: Franciscan monk in Kenya shares Christmas message
Three Ethiopian travelers sit inside a blue bus with white-bordered windows, saying goodbye to someone whose arms rest on the window frame.
Borders
Tensions mount at Sudan-Ethiopia border as refugees flee Tigray conflict 
People crowd Via del Corso shopping street ahead of a Christmas Eve national lockdown due to start on Dec. 24, in Rome.
COVID-19
For many across Europe, Christmas is ‘canceled’ this year
A girl wearing a pink shirt drinks a beverage with her mother, wearing a grey shirt, outdoors at a table.
Immigrant communities connect with Indigenous products to nurture, heal during pandemic
Volunteers wearing face masks wave after they load boxes onto a delivery truck during an event to send Christmas gifts for the underprivileged in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 22, 2020.
Top of The World
East Asia faces rising COVID-19 threat; UK truck drivers in test uproar; EU-China talks hit snag
Colombian singer Carlos Vives stresses the importance of protecting the environment. 
Music
Colombian singer Carlos Vives: Protecting the environment is the ‘only way to save folklore’
Three women related to each other stand together outside for a portrait wearing casual clothes and makeup.
Every 30 Seconds
Two sides of a Mexican American family show how identity and politics diverge
A Komodo dragon yawns on Rinca island, Indonesia, April 28, 2009.
Environment
Fears over Indonesia’s ‘Jurassic Park’
Two people stand at a protest with a loud speaker in their hands.
Health
A therapists’ network supports immigrants, advocates during pandemic 
Dusk falls over the Capitol, Dec. 21, 2020, in Washington.
US Congress passes bipartisan relief bill; Pfizer, Moderna test against variant; Lockerbie bombing suspect charged
Leo Hornak's Christmas Pudding
Food
Recipe: Victorian Christmas pudding perfect for first-time cooks
Demonstrators wave a large rainbow flag outside congress in support of a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage in Buenos Aires. 
Language
Royal Spanish Academy dismisses movement to make Spanish more gender-inclusive
Uighur security personnel patrol near the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar in western China's Xinjiang region, Nov. 4, 2017. A Chinese Communist Party official signaled Monday, Dec. 21, 2020, that there would likely be no let-up in its crackdown in the Xinjiang r
Justice
Undeterred by ICC decision, Uighurs hail EU, UK steps toward holding China accountable
The cultured chicken dish prepared by chefs at 1880 restaurant was served to customers for the first time this past weekend.
The Big Fix
Is Singapore’s approval of lab-grown meat a win for the climate?
A police officer directs traffic at the entrance to the closed ferry terminal in Dover, England, after the Port of Dover was closed and access to the Eurotunnel terminal suspended following a French government's announcement.
Top of The World
Officials fear mutated coronavirus from UK; Moderna vaccine ships out; Navalny poisoning details revealed
A devil cartoon sits on shoulder of cartoon image of a president with Arabic script.
Global Cartoons
No joke! How two cartoonists spurred revolution during the Arab uprisings.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, left, and French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, center, award citizenship to Lassana Bathily during a ceremony in Paris, Jan. 20, 2015.
Sacred Nation
A ‘hero’ of 2015 France terror attacks reflects on trial verdict
In this Aug. 18, 2009 file photo, US President Barack Obama meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.
Foreign policy
Arab Spring: ‘It’s time to rethink’ US approach to the Middle East, says Kim Ghattas
A group of schoolboys are escorted by Nigerian military and officials following their release after they were kidnapped last week, Dec. 18, 2020, Katsina, Nigeria.
Top of The World
344 schoolboys return home in northwestern Nigeria; Milley meets with Taliban in Doha; Pence gets vaccine on TV
In this Feb. 8, 2011, file photo, a leader of Egypt's anti-government protesters, Egyptian Wael Ghonim, center, 30, a Google Inc. marketing manager who was a key organizer of the online campaign that sparked the first protest on Jan. 25.
Social media
Arab uprisings: What role did social media really play?
Sandra Martínez stands in a plant-filled patio of the Las Golondrinas Hotel.
COVID-19
Mexico’s battered tourism sector teeters fine line between economy and public health
Marco Werman is shown with a microphone and his dog Frankie sitting on his lap.
Marco Werman: Your support keeps us going
Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zied, known by his nickname Shawkan, gestures in a soundproof glass cage.
Human rights
10 years after the Arab uprisings, Egypt at ‘lowest point’ for human rights
A compiliation of images from the Arab uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East
Top of The World
Looking back at a historic time in the Middle East and North Africa
In this Jan. 29, 2011 file photo, anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt.
Photography
Photos: Arab uprisings began with quest for freedom and led to repression, wars
A red brick house next to a tree with Christmas lights
Arts, Culture & Media
Happy Birthday, Jane Austen! 245 years on, devotees celebrate with virtual tours of the writer’s home
Tunisian protesters demonstrate beneath a poster of Mohamed Bouazizi near the prime minister's office in Tunis, Tunisia, Jan. 28, 2011.
Global Politics
Fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi’s protest inspired the Arab uprisings. A decade later, his sister still mourns.
A crowd of people celebrate with flashes of red, black and green flags waving in the air.
Conflict
A poem penned during Libya’s 2011 uprising continues to inspire hope
Then EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, speaking during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, 2017. President-elect Joe Biden is set to pick McCarthy as domestic climate czar.
Top of The World
Biden taps trusted figures to lead US climate fight; FDA says Moderna vaccine is highly protective; SolarWinds hack fallout spreads
Album covers on a grey backgound
Tunes that kept The World spinning in 2020: A playlist
In this Aug. 28, 2020, file photo, a no-trespassing sign is displayed outside the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind. As Donald Trump’s presidency winds down, his administration is throttling up the pace of federal executions despite a surge of CO
Human rights
Executions under Trump administration buck global trend away from death penalty
A member of Iowa's Electoral College signs the Certificate of Vote of Electors for the State of Iowa at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa, Dec. 14, 2020.
Top of The World
Electoral College solidifies Biden victory; US begins COVID-19 vaccine rollout; COVAX faces major hurdles
A woman wearing a colorful sweater and brimmed hat is shown from behind walking in a narrow path on a lawn filled with small white flags.
Coronavirus Conversations
Discussion: The year ahead in the coronavirus pandemic
Leah Weiss, who is also a medial clown named Rosie, has been working in the COVID-19 ward of a Jerusalem hospital most of this year.
COVID-19
To cheer up COVID-19 patients, Israeli hospitals send in the clowns
A Black American man wears glasses and a blue suit jacket and speaks via video with a blue background
Global Politics
International lawyers and activists organize independent inquiry into US police violence
A woman playin cello appears in an empty museum hall.
Coronavirus Art
‘Food for our soul’: Cellist Camille Thomas performs solo at Paris museums during lockdown
The US Treasury Department building is shown from above with its large Greek columns marking the entrance.
Top of The World
Treasury, Commerce departments hacked; Canada receives first COVID-19 vaccine shipment; Hong Kong court denied bail for Jimmy Lai
Emily Mao, second from left, joined a co-living community of students in Hangzhou, China, who are studying online — often overnight — at US and Canada-based colleges and universities.
Education
Kept from foreign universities during pandemic, Chinese students form ‘study pods’ in shared housing
A large red oil tanker is shown in the distance passing underneath two tall bridge columns.
In landmark decision, Denmark will phase out oil and gas by 2050. Here’s how.
Sadaqa Hospital, as seen from the street
Conflict
Film shows how Yemen’s health workers struggle to save young victims of malnutrition
A black and white photograph of musician Shirazee wearing a traditional hat and looking up.
Global Hit
‘African in New York’: Shirazee’s personal twist on an iconic song by Sting
Tigray refugee children sing and dance inside a tent run by UNICEF for children's activities, in Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020.
Displacement
Ethiopians struggle to reach loved ones inside the Tigray region
A worker wearing a face mask clears snow from the roof of a bar, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Dec. 5, 2020.
Top of The World
European leaders approve stimulus package; Argentina moves to legalize abortion; SCOTUS rules on no-fly list
A row of children are shown with their hands raised and wearing school uniforms.
Coronavirus Conversations
Discussion: Airborne transmission, ventilation, and reopening schools and workplaces
The bust of French statesman Robert Schuman, one of the founders of the European Union, is seen while environmental activists launch a hot air balloon during a demonstration outside of an EU summit in Brussels, Belgium, Dec. 10, 2020.
Climate Change
5 years into Paris agreement, net-zero pledges are boosting optimism
Brayan Guevara identifies as Afro Latino. His family comes from Honduras.
Every 30 Seconds
‘I feel really good’: Afro Latino first-time voter looks forward to Biden administration
A close-up photograph show a syringe being held by two hands wearing blue medical gloves and the face of a nurse in soft focus in the background.
Top of The World
Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine clears another hurdle; Facebook faces twin antitrust cases; Lebanon judge charges PM in port blast
São Paulo Governor João Doria points to a container carrying the experimental COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac during a photo opportunity, after it was unloaded from a cargo plane that arrived from China at Guarulhos International Airport near São Paulo, Brazil
Global Politics
Vaccine wars: Brazil needs China’s COVID-19 shot, but Bolsonaro prefers Oxford jab
People pose for a photo, mimicking the character in an advertisement as they visit Ebisu-bashi bridge, a popular tourist spot in Osaka, western Japan, Nov. 30, 2020.
Language
This group in Japan is on a mission to correct English mistranslations
Passengers walk through a bus station in the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Nov. 6, 2020.
Conflict
Ethiopians from conflict-torn Tigray region say they face ethnic profiling