The World

Thousands of Haitians who had hoped to seek asylum in the US are arriving at Haiti’s main airport. Haiti’s fragile government has little aid to offer the arriving deportees. And COVID-19 continues to ravage Southeast Asia, with most countries’ borders more or less closed. In Thailand, the virus has killed more than 15,000 people and anger toward the Thai government is spilling into the streets. Also, meet Zandile Ndhlovu, South Africa’s “Black Mermaid.” Ndhlovu started the Black Mermaid Foundation to share her love of free diving with communities that lack access to ocean spaces due to South Africa's racist history.

The Taliban ordered all schools in Afghanistan to reopen this weekend after months of closure because of COVID-19 and political upheaval. But the future of education for millions of high school girls remains unclear because Taliban leadership banned them from returning to their studies. And a new security pact signed between the US, Australia and the UK took Paris by surprise. It means that a big military contract signed between France and Australia several years ago will be scrapped. Also, Afghans have been welcomed in Turkey over the last few decades. But recently, life has become more difficult for new refugees fleeing the Taliban takeover of their homeland.

It's been a month since the Taliban took over Afghanistan. But so far, no nation has recognized them as the official government there. Foreign powers are making their own calculations about how to proceed. Plus, President Joe Biden is asking world leaders to commit more money to help developing countries deal with climate change. It's the latest in a flurry of diplomatic efforts aimed at securing tangible results at the next UN climate summit that’s six weeks away. And remembering a folk singer often called the “Chicano Woody Guthrie.”

President Joe Biden appeared at a virtual joint news conference with Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison, the prime ministers of Britain and Australia, to announce a new security arrangement for the Asia Pacific region. Under the terms of the historic deal, the US will share nuclear submarine technology with Australia. Also, few international humanitarian groups remain in Afghanistan. And, France has declared a health emergency in New Caledonia, as COVID-19 cases there continue to surge. Meanwhile, a law is expected to pass this week in Paris that extends the health emergency to New Caledonia and French Polynesia until mid-November. Plus, in Kenya, entrepreneurs are trying to make camel milk, a traditional pastoralist beverage, the next big drink.

Both North and South Korea tested ballistic missiles on Wednesday within hours of each other. Over the weekend, Pyongyang said that it had successfully launched a long-range cruise missile — its first test in six months. Also, this week, Apple rushed to update its iPhone software after security vulnerabilities were discovered. A hacking tool developed by Israeli spyware firm NSO Group was shown to easily target iPhone users. Plus, a high-profile case of sexual harassment has been dismissed by a court in Beijing. Former TV intern Zhou Xiaoxuan’s case has been a focal point for China’s #MeToo movement.

Two governments claim to run Myanmar. Will the United Nations accept Myanmar’s widely despised military regime or will it recognize a new revolutionary government that has massive public support? Also, Finland has two official languages: Finnish and Swedish. Now, the mayor of Helsinki wants to declare the capital an English-language city, but not everyone agrees. And renowned soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the world's most physically fit athletes. Ronaldo's clean-food living has inspired his fellow players to skip dessert on at least one occasion.

Mexican immigration officials and National Guard soldiers have been chasing and detaining groups of migrants attempting to leave the southern state of Chiapas. Also, Iran and the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog came to an agreement on Sunday with a focus on monitoring devices at Iranian nuclear sites. Plus, the fearsome Komodo dragon can take down animals as big as a horse. But now, the dragons are the ones under threat.

Islam is the key pillar of the Taliban’s vision for their newly formed government in Afghanistan. But which interpretation of Islam will guide the group's governance? And, over the last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko have met six times. Recently, the two leaders announced concrete steps that will lead to further economic integration between the two countries. Also, yesterday police raided a museum in Hong Kong devoted to preserving the memory of the 1989 massacre of protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

A network of 1,500 environmental groups are calling on the British government to delay the UN climate summit scheduled for November in Glasgow, Scotland. They're worried that delegates from vulnerable nations won't be able to attend due to travel restrictions, lack of access to vaccines and the cost of quarantine hotels. And, soon after 9/11, the US created a centralized terrorist watchlist, a major tool used by many local and federal agencies to identify “known or suspected terrorists.” How has the watchlist  grown since 9/11? Also, Elvis Costello has a new album, but you won't hear his voice on it. His classic release, “This Year's Model,” just got a remix with vocalists from across the Spanish-singing world.

Children around the world are returning to class, with schools opening up after a year of closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. But with the rapid spread of the more-contagious delta variant, and coronavirus vaccines not available for much of the global school-aged population, children’s health risks have become even more pressing. As a part of a regular series of conversations presented in partnership with Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and as a special feature in The World's podcast feed, reporter Elana Gordon moderated a discussion about the delta variant’s impact on children with Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch.

Find more of the Coronavirus Conversations series here: https://www.theworld.org/coronavirus-conversations