Ndileka Mandela, the eldest of Nelson Mandela's grandchildren, during her Zoom interview with NPR. A climate activist, she had spoken at COP28 earlier in the week, the climate summit, and returned home to Johannesburg to mark the 10th anniversary of her grandfather's passing. Screenshot by NPR hide caption
This is the vaginal ring that releases the antiretroviral drug dapivirine to ward off HIV infection. The ring is now going into wider distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, where girls and young women age 15 to 24 accounted for more than 77% of new HIV infections in 2022, according to UNAIDS. AFP/Stephane de Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A male Greater Honeyguide in Mozambique's Niassa Special Reserve. Claire Spottiswoode hide caption
A 2017 meeting of a rotating savings club formed in a village near Lake Victoria soon after every adult there was chosen to receive a monthly through GiveDirectly's experiment. The clubs have enabled recipients to convert their grants into lump sum payments: Each month the members put $10 into the communual pot — for a total of $100 — and a different person takes it home. Nichole Sobecki for NPR hide caption
Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi speaks to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon during the State Opening of Parliament on December 6 in Wellington, New Zealand. Luxon has called for the abolishment of tough anti-smoking measures — and the Māori Health Authority. Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images hide caption
A pedestrian walks along the roadside amid heavy smoggy conditions in New Delhi. Delhi is considered the world's most polluted megacity, with a melange of factory and vehicle emissions exacerbated by seasonal agricultural fires. Money Sharma/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Manmade pits at construction sites are providing nurseries for malaria-carrying mosquitoes, new research finds. Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec hide caption
In La Paz, a low-income neighborhood on the outskirts of Santa Marta, Colombia, water service from the local utility can be erratic or nonexistent. Pictured: Neighborhood kids stand next to a rain barrel positioned under a corrugated roof. Ben de la Cruz/NPR hide caption
Achuar people ply the Rio Wichimi in a solar canoe. The nonprofit Kara Solar has helped fund a fleet of six sun-powered craft in hopes of benefitting the Indigenous Achuar while reducing pressure to build roads in the rainforest. Peter Yeung for NPR hide caption
A child from the Mbendjele people, a hunter-gatherer community that lives in the northern rainforests of the Republic of Congo. A new study found that children in this society have on average 8 caregivers in addition to the mother to provide hands-on attention. Nikhil Chaudhary hide caption
Members of the Bengaluru Solidarity Group in Support of the Bhopal Struggle take part in a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster in Bangalore on December 2, 2014. Manjunath Kiran /AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A worker in a Bangladeshi lead mill, without safety protection. A new analysis finds the death toll from lead exposure is about six times higher than the previous estimate. Jonathan Raa/Nurphoto via Getty Images hide caption
Children wade through floodwater on Nyangai Island, Sierra Leone. Most of the island has already been lost to the sea, and what remains is routinely flooded at high tide. Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption
An attendee views one of rising artist Adulphina Imuede's dreamlike illustrations at ART X. Manny Jefferson for NPR hide caption
Pakistani teacher Riffat Arif, known as Sister Zeph, is the 2023 winner of the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize. She holds a trophy presented at a dinner in her honor in Paris. She says she faced bad treatment from her teachers at school and dreamed of "a teacher who gives equal respect and love to children with no difference. I could not find that teacher, so I will be that teacher." Ludovic Marin /AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Bonobos (pictured) and chimpanzees are our closest relatives. A new study looks at how a community of bonobos behave when they encounter a different group of bonobos. It's markedly different from the way chimps treat strangers. Martin Surbeck hide caption
A doctor checks chest x-rays of a tuberculosis patient at a clinic in Mumbai, India, that treats those with drug-resistant strains of the disease. The World Health Organization has called for the eradication of this ancient and deadly infectious disease. Punit Paranjpe/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
The aftermath of a mudslide that ripped through villages on the foothills of Mount Elgon in 2012, killing at least 18 people. The slopes of this extinct volcano in eastern Uganda have become increasingly prone to such disasters as a result of climate change. The looming question: How do you help people find a safe new place to live? Isaac Kasamani/AFP via Getty Images hide caption