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Matiullah Wesa, cofounder of the education charity PenPath in Afghanistan, speaks to children during a class next to his mobile library in a district of Kandahar Province. Wesa and his brother were among the Afghan men who have called for the Taliban to reverse its bans on higher education for girls. He was arrested in March and has been held in prison since then with no formal charges. Sanaullah Seiam/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Advancements may help fight the chikungunya virus wave in South America
Teenage girl writes her school work under the tree while watching over the tuck shop. Atang L.S Arnold for NPR hide caption
A patient infected with chikungunya looks out from mosquito netting at a hospital in San Lorenzo, Paraguay. The country has counted over 100,000 cases of the mosquito-borne virus this year. Jorge Saenz/AP hide caption
Chikungunya virus surges in South America. But a new discovery could help outfox it
An illustration of the head and mouth parts of Anopheles sp. female and male mosquitoes. The hairs (or fibrillae) on the antenna of the male enable them to hear the buzz of females in a swarm. Joe Brock/Francis Crick Institute hide caption
Nurse and public health official Rukaya Mumuni and community health worker Prossy Muyingo are among the "heroines of health" honored this year. Heidi de Marco for NPR hide caption
It was scorching hot across much of the planet this summer. Asia, Africa, and South America had their hottest July's ever. Temperatures in Beijing and other parts of northern China hovered around 100 degrees Fahrenheit for weeks, with some cities topping 120 F on the worst days. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images hide caption
Just how hot was July? Hotter than anything on record
Erica Lacerda de Souza, Bruce Lee Sousa and son Henrique of São Paulo, Brazil, lost their home during the pandemic but got a fresh start from a program that offers tiny houses to homeless people. At first they said no — it seemed too good to be true. Felipe Iruata for NPR hide caption
In a hot room, you're told to play a vicious game. Will heat make you behave badly?
A COVID booster is administered in Jakarta, Indonesia. Eko Siswono Toyudho/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images hide caption
Trash collectors from Marsabit Safi Services offload waste at the Dadach Boshe dump. Even though Kenyan banned single-use plastic bags in 2016, they're still piling up at the dump and blowing off to litter the landscape and bodies of water. Scovian Lillian for NPR hide caption
Protesters march outside the White House to call attention to those who have long COVID and those who have the disabling disease Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images hide caption
Yogurt-based drinks such as the lassi from India are go-to beverages for cooling down in the hot summer. The glasses at left add mango to the recipe. Chona Kasinger for NPR hide caption
Why India's yogurt drink lassi is the perfect drink for the hottest summer on record
Shaimaa Ali Ahmed, 12, lost her leg at age 6 after happening upon an unexploded rocket. Yemeni children like her bear an outsized burden from the civil war, where land mines and ordnance litter the landscape. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption
She's 12. A rocket took her leg. She defines the pain and resilience of Yemen
Ambassador-at-Large John Nkengasong, who will lead the State Department's Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy, speaks to the press about the new agency. He told NPR that the pandemic "taught us three key lessons. We are collectively more connected than we thought. We are more vulnerable than we thought. And we have [vast] inequities" when it comes to disease threats. Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images hide caption
A new U.S. agency is a response to the fact that nobody was ready for the pandemic
Don't worry, this six-foot-tall tsetse fly didn't bite anyone. He was part of a performance to teach Malawians about preventing sleeping sickness. Hannah Bialic hide caption
Karl Ohiri: Untitled, from "The Archive of Becoming." Ohiri features old negatives and prints that have been transformed by heat, humidity and time. Karl Ohiri hide caption
Vichitra Rajasingh had 80 Barbies as a kid. Living in a small town at a time when there wasn't much entertainment, she says Barbie was a source of limitless imagination. At the bakery she now runs, she bakes about half-a-dozen Barbie cakes a week. She says the dolls remind her of her grandmother, who passed away at age 87 in January and who used to surprise her by sewing outfits for her dolls. Anushree Bhatter for NPR hide caption
An image of the hepatitis C virus Image made from a transmission electron microscopy. The virus is adept at evading the immune system. BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images hide caption
Jacqueline Trejo, mayor of Macuelizo, walks past one of the town's murals. The pink flowering tree that's depicted is the source of the town's name. She wanted to Excellerate the quality of life there but lacked the funds to fulfill her plans. Tomas Ayuso for NPR hide caption
Migrants onboard the Adriana, during a rescue operation before the boat capsized on the open sea off Greece on June 14. Egypt is the country with the highest number of illegal migrants heading to Europe. Hellenic Coast Guard/Reuters hide caption
Egypt's vanishing village men: Risking it all to get to Europe
This colorized transmission electron micrograph of a human white blood cell (bottom) shows the HLA antigen — the uneven red areas on the cell's exterior surface. A variant of the HLA gene could play a role in warding off COVID symptoms. CNRI / Science Source hide caption
