WORLD NEWS

Rapper’s Arrest Awakens Rage in Spanish Youth Chafing in Pandemic

Protesters marching in support of Pablo Hasél, a controversial Spanish rapper, in Barcelona this week.

‘I Wake Up and Scream’: Secret Taliban Prisons Terrorize Thousands

Sayed Hiatullah, 42; Naqibullah Momand, 26; Mohammed Aman, 31; Atiqullah Hassanzada, 31.

How to Unite a Deeply Divided Kosovo? Name a Lake After Trump

An artificial lake in Kosovo has not one but two names: one used by Serbians  and another used by ethnic Albanians. A huge banner suggested a third name: “Trump Lake.”

China Tried to Slow Divorces by Making Couples Wait. Instead, They Rushed.

Posing for a wedding photographer in Wuhan, China, last year. There were more than a million filings for divorce in China in the last three months of 2020, up 13 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Rwanda Official Admits Legal Violations in ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Case

Paul Rusesabagina in court in Kigali this month.

Myanmar Military Fires U.N. Envoy Who Spoke Against Its Coup

An image released by the United Nations shows U Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s ambassador to the U.N., pleading for international action in overturning the military coup in the country.

Crushing Dissent: The Saudi Kill Team Behind Khashoggi’s Death

American intelligence agencies concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia ordered the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Ethiopia’s War Leads to Ethnic Cleansing in Tigray Region, U.S. Report Says

Ethiopian refugees who fled the Tigray region at a United Nations compound in Sudan in December.

An ‘Old Men’s Club’ Dominates Japan. The Young Just Put Them on Notice.

Momoko Nojo, a student at Keio University in Tokyo, and one of the authors of the petition that called for systemic change in the wake of sexist remarks by the president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee.

With Strikes in Syria, Biden Confronts Iran’s Militant Network

President Biden “is kind of putting his first red line,” one analyst said.

Who Is Arora Akanksha, the 34-Year-Old Running for U.N. Secretary General?

Arora Akanksha, 34, who has announced her candidacy for U.N. secretary general.

Amid Slow Vaccine Deliveries, Desperate E.U. Nations Hunt for More

A patient receiving a coronavirus vaccine in Gdansk, Poland, last month. The country gave up a chunk of its expected Moderna vaccine quota, reasoning that it would not come soon enough to make much difference.

‘Guernica’ Tapestry Is Taken Back From U.N. by a Rockefeller

Nikki Haley, a former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, walking past the “Guernica” tapestry in 2018.

Harry and Meghan Going Public at a Tough Time for the Royals

Harry and Meghan, shown in Sydney, in 2018, cemented their split with the royal family last week.

Aging Beer in a Sunken Ship Sounded Like a Good Idea. Thieves Thought So Too.

Barrels of beer, intended for deep-water aging, being loaded onto a ship before being taken out to sea and attached to a ship that had sunk 66 feet. 

Saudis Say They Intercepted Houthi Missile Attack Over Capital

'Captain Tom' Moore, Britain's Pandemic Hero, Gets Funeral Worthy

The coffin of Captain Sir Tom Moore is carried by members of the Armed Forces during his funeral at Bedford Crematorium on February 27, 2021 in Bedford, England. WWII veteran, Sir Tom raised nearly £33 million for NHS charities ahead of his 100th birthday last year by walking laps of his garden in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

Maldives Courts Influencers Amid Covid-19

The Maldives in 2017. More than 300,000 tourists have visited since the country reopened its borders last summer, including several dozen influencers who have traveled on paid junkets.

Palestinians Go Into New Lockdown While Awaiting Vaccines

The West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday. The lockdown restrictions will last for 12 days.

U.S. Universities Plan for a 'More Normal' Fall

Members of the Kansas State University marching band maintained social distance as they played before a college football game in October 2020.

Canada Catches Up in the Race to Produce Zero-Emission Vehicles

A minivan plant in Windsor, Ontario, that is expected to produce more electric vehicles.

U.S. Officials Warn Governors Against Easing Restrictions

A drive-through coronavirus testing site at Pelicans Ballpark in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Mark Machin Resigns From Canada's Top Pension Fund After U.A.E. Vaccination

Mark Machin, the chief executive of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, speaks at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., in April 2019.

U.S. Buys 100,000 Doses of an Eli Lilly Antibody Treatment

A trial site for treatments from Regeneron and Eli Lilly in Mesa, Ariz., last summer.

Bangladeshi Writer, Detained Over Social Media Posts, Dies in Jail

Praying during a protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, this month in support of Mushtaq Ahmed, a writer who died on Thursday in police custody.

Canada Authorizes AstraZeneca's Covid Vaccine, the Country's Third

A senior receives the coronavirus vaccine in Quebec on Thursday.

Bolsonaro Rails at Masks as Brazil's Covid Deaths Surge

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil at his official office at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia on Wednesday. 

Britain’s Transgender Stand-Ups Find Comedy in a Hostile Climate

“If you make someone laugh,” said Jen Ives, a British comedian, “you’re at least showing them that you are a person.” 

N.Y.C.’s public schools chancellor, Richard Carranza, will resign.

Richard Carranza, who oversees the nation’s largest schools system, will step down after about three years as chancellor.

No vaccination, no job: That’s the warning from Zimbabwe’s leader.

“The time shall come when those who are not vaccinated won’t get jobs,” said President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, center.

Russians Escape North Korea on a Hand-Pushed Railcar

An image from a video released by Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday showing the group’s journey.

Harvard Professor's 'Comfort Women' Claims Stir Wake-up Call

Lee Yong-soo, who was forced to serve in a wartime Japanese brothel, next to a statue symbolizing South Korean “comfort women” in Seoul in 2019.

Virus Mobilization

President Biden marking the milestone of 50 million Covid-19 vaccine shots having been administered in the U.S. yesterday.

France tightens restrictions at German border, adding a mandatory virus test.

German and French border police officers at a train station in Strasbourg, eastern France, this month.

Boeing 777 Makes an Emergency Landing in Moscow After Engine Warning

A Boeing 777 plane operated by Rossiya Airlines.

Shamima Begum Loses Effort to Return to U.K. in Fight for Citizenship

A photograph showing Shamima Begum when she was 15.

One Pfizer dose offers robust protection for those who have had Covid-19, studies find.

A doctor administering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Salisbury, England, last month.

Johnson & Johnson's Vaccine Expected to Get F.D.A. Green Light Saturday

Empty vials of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at a hospital in South Africa.

What Kind of Plane Am I Flying On?

A United Airlines plane flying from Denver to Honolulu returned to Denver International Airport with an engine on fire after it called a Mayday alert on Feb. 20.

Hundreds of Nigerian Students Kidnapped, Police Say

Michael Somare, Papua New Guinea’s ‘Father of the Nation,’ Dies at 84

Prime Minister Michael Somare in 2010. He was Papua New Guinea’s first prime minister and served in that office for 17 of its 45 years of independence.

Your Friday Briefing

A patient receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in Rostock, Germany, this month.

Governors relax restrictions as infection numbers fall.

Fenway Park will be allowed to reopen at 12 percent capacity starting March 22.

At Least Eight Killed in Haiti Prison Break

Recaptured inmates are led by the police outside the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison after an attempted breakout, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Thursday.

‘Victim Blaming’ and Sex Education in the Boys’ Club of Australian Politics

The Coronavirus Is Threatening a Comeback. Here’s How to Stop It.

Lincoln Park in Chicago. Scientists are hopeful, as vaccinations continue and despite the emergence of variants, that we’re past the worst of the pandemic.

Germans Clamor for Covid Vaccines, but Shun AstraZeneca’s Offering

A patient receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in Rostock, Germany, this month.

Canadians Try to Solve the Enigma of Hard Butter

Dairy cows feeding at a farm in Ontario, Canada, last year. A palm fat supplement in cow feed may be responsible for the high melting point of some Canadian butters.

Police in Malta Say Arrests Are Complete in Journalist’s 2017 Murder

Photos of the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Valletta, Malta, in 2019.

Armenia's Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, Warns of an Attempted Coup

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, center, addressing supporters on Thursday during a march through Yerevan, Armenia.

Canada’s Top Military Officer Steps Aside Amid Investigation

Adm. Art McDonald in Victoria, Canada, in 2016. 

Refugee Who Set Herself on Fire in Greece Is Charged With Arson

Refugees in a makeshift camp on the Greek island of Lesbos in September. 

Is ‘Avalanche’ the Answer to a 62-Year-Old Russian Mystery Over 9 Deaths?

An image of the hiking trip from Jan. 28, 1959. Cameras and film were recovered after the hikers were found.

Pakistan and India Renew Pledge on Cease-Fire at Troubled Border

Indian soldiers at the Pakistan border in December. About 5,000 cease-fire violations were recorded between the nations in 2020.

Pfizer will test a booster shot and develop an adapted vaccine to address variant concerns.

Pfizer and BioNTech see the tests as a way to prepare for a scenario in which a mutation makes the coronavirus resistant to vaccines.

Nursing Home Deaths Plummet

A nursing home resident in Brooklyn received a vaccination last month.

The pandemic has put some governors in the crosshairs. Just ask Gavin Newsom.

Some Californians see Gov. Gavin Newsom’s handling of the pandemic as grounds for a recall campaign.

Public dismay turns to anger as South American officials jump the line for vaccines.

Juan Carlos Zevallos, Ecuador’s health minister, is accused of funneling the delivery of vaccine doses to a nursing home where his mother lives.

‘V.I.P. Immunization’ for the Powerful and Their Cronies Rattles South America

A nurse preparing a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Sinopharm of China during a health workers vaccination campaign in Lima last week.

For Travel, a Sustainable Comeback?

Squealing Children and Noisy Neighbors? There’s a Map for That