Ekemeni Riley is the managing director of Aligning Science Across Parkinson's, a research initiative that worked on an effort to bring a more diverse population into a study on genes that carry a greater risk for the disease. A team that included scientists from Lagos, London and the U.S. found a previously unknown gene variant that can nearly quadruple the risk for people of African ancestry. Anna Rose Layden/Anna Rose Layden hide caption
Archaeologists dug into a riverbank in Zambia and uncovered what they call the earliest known wood construction by humans. The half-million year-old artifacts could change how we see Stone-Age people. Larry Barham and Geoff Duller/University of Liverpool hide caption
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve by 2030. United Nations hide caption
Bulbul Aktar, a shasthya kormi, or community health worker, with the malaria elimination program in Bangladesh, goes door to door to treat malaria patients. "This is my job, my duty," says Aktar. "Every single home, I have to know about them and visit them." Fatima Tuj Johora for NPR hide caption
Kwame Alexander (left) and Jerry Craft have each won a Newbery Medal for their children's books. Alexander invited Craft on a trip to Kenya this summer to speak to schoolkids about reading. The kids were impressed. So were the authors. Brian Otieno for NPR hide caption
A field researcher holds a male bat that was trapped in an overhead net as part of an effort to find out how the animals pass Nipah virus to humans. The animal will be tested for the virus, examined and ultimately released. Fatima Tuj Johora for NPR hide caption
Laila Aseel, 24, holds her 1-year-old daughter, Aram. Aseel came to the hospital from an internally displaced persons camp, where she was living with her husband and four children after fleeing fighting in the north. She says she is unable to feed her kids more than one meal a day; when she arrived at the hospital, her daughter was near death from malnutrition. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption
Gerhardt Boukes, chief scientist at Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, formulates mRNA for use in a vaccine against COVID-19. The company — based in Cape Town, South Africa — is the linchpin of a global project to enable low- and middle-income countries to make mRNA vaccines against all manner of diseases. Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption
John Chiti is a Zambian musician and police commissioner. He also has albinism, a pigmentation condition that has shaped his life. His story inspired the film "Can You See Us?" — now streaming on Netflix. Jason Milikita/Sightsavers hide caption
Natasha Poonawalla, executive director of the vaccine-manufacturing Serum Institute of India, donned an haute couture sari for the 2022 Met Gala. The garment is on display at the museum show '"The Offbeat Sari" (pictured, right). The designer is Sabyasachi Mukherjee and the metal corset is by Schiaparelli. Mike Coppola/Getty Images (l), Andy Stagg. Courtesy of the Design Museum hide caption
A field of green beans growing in Kigali, Rwanda. Small-scale farms provide 70 to 80% of Africa's food. Camille Delbos/Art In All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption
My grandpa Yeye and grandma Nainai. After they both caught COVID last December when China abruptly lifted its restrictions, my grandparents have felt significantly weaker. Their morning walks now consist of more resting than walking. To my grandparents, the virus should've been a death sentence. However, they were still kicking and cooking on my screen on a video call last week. Laura Gao for NPR hide caption
A view of the Pakistani territory of Baltistan from the heights of the mountain above the village of Chunda. The patches of white in the foreground are snow and water. The patches of silver in the distance are clouds that shroud the peaks of most mountains in Baltistan. The territory boasts towering peaks, including K2, the world's second highest mountain. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption
Ukrainian refugee Anastasiia Ivanova says her faith is what's helped her get through all of her trials. She brought her Bible with her when the family fled Kharkiv for a new home in Brazil. But a new crisis made her wonder if Brazil was the right place for her. Gabriela Portilho/NPR hide caption
These Rwandan women were imprisoned for having abortions, before they were pardoned and released in 2019. From left: Nyiramahirwe Epiphanie, 26, was sentenced to 15 years. Akingeneye Theopiste was sentenced to 10 years. Akimanizanye Florentine was sentenced to 10 years. Mushimiyimana Anjerike, 29, served more than five years for inducing an abortion using pills she says she bought at a pharmacy. Sarah McCammon/NPR hide caption
Back in March, four or five goats scrambled along the streets of San Francisco and became instantly famous as videos of their runabout were posted on social media. What became of the runaway ruminants? screengrab by NPR via u/kevin1760/Reddit hide caption