The World

In the chaos of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the mass evacuation, a number of unaccompanied minors ended up on flights out of the country. Now comes the difficult task of reuniting them with families or helping them find new homes. Also, if you’re in the market for a puffy vest this winter, you may need to be patient. The shipping bottlenecks occurring at California ports continue to have an outsized impact on US retailers like Eddie Bauer. And the world mourns the loss of pioneering Black filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles, who died on Tuesday at the age of 89 in his home in New York. Van Peebles was known as the “godfather of modern Black cinema” with themes of resistance and Black liberation.

Over the past few months, China's regulatory crackdowns have impacted almost every corner of Chinese society, with new restrictions targeting everything from entertainment to after-school education to car-share apps and video games. Also, Haitians gathered under the Del Rio International Bridge in south Texas will be allowed to cross the Mexico-US border, but those who make it across often have to scramble for lodging and aid from volunteers. Plus, the National Theater of Somalia in Mogadishu hosted the country's first movie screening in 30 years on Wednesday. The theater opened in 1967, a gift from Mao Zedong, but shut down at the start of Somalia's civil war in 1991.

President Biden is proposing one of the most ambitious spending plans since the 1930s — a $3.5 trillion investment tackling everything from clean energy, to early education, to health care. A total overhaul of the American economy. The big question: How do we pay for it? Also, the cost of energy is hitting record highs in Spain. It's driven by the rising cost of gas and lower-than-usual winds (not pushing Spain's windmills). It's a problem across Europe as the continent transitions toward renewable energies. And, we look back at the legacy and impact of the classic Cuban album, "The Buena Vista Social Club,” which is now 25 years old.

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.