For The World

FIFA, the organizer of the soccer World Cup, has a clear policy against political flags or signs during matches. It includes in that ban the Lion and Sun flag that once flew officially in Iran before the 1979 Islamic revolution. But a group linked to the Iranian diaspora in the US says it will sue to reverse that stand. The World's Gerry Hadden reports.

Deutsche Welle’s Lars Bevanger reports from Finland about the country’s booming gaming industry, sometimes referred to as “Fintech.”

It's not uncommon for people on the Italian island of Sardinia to live to be 100 years old. Medical researchers believe some of their longevity comes down to the foods they eat. Italian chef Francesco Mattana has published a cookbook, “Eat Live a Sardinian: Live to 100,” and shares his insights with Host Marco Werman.

Teachers, families of the disappeared, anti-FIFA activists and other groups are using the run-up to the opening World Cup match to press long-standing demands.

As residents of Minnesota recover from ICE raids on immigrant communities that reached their peak earlier this year, some people remain on edge. That includes college students from the Somali diaspora, one of the targeted groups. Now, as Juneteenth approaches, students reflect on the holiday’s meaning and how its message of emancipation resonates with those immigrants who see themselves as part of the wider Black community.

The history and legacy of slavery in America are not often taught in great detail. That is what Professor Mary Niall Mitchell, the Midlo Endowed Chair in History at the University of New Orleans, contends. But she told The World’s Marco Werman that one trailblazing historian worked for decades to uncover the origins of enslaved Africans in Louisiana and shed light on their lives.

In Apartheid South Africa, young Black people were excluded from fully accessing higher education due to race. Now, the restrictions on education are about money and class. With the country’s financial aid organization in turmoil, hundreds of thousands of South African students find themselves with enough money to get into school, but not enough to stay.

Each year, India reserves a block of seats in its public universities for the country’s most marginalized communities. These reservations were put in place to help India’s vulnerable groups overcome centuries of violence and discrimination under the caste system. But just like in the US, India’s version of affirmative action comes with controversy, and students who get in still deal with discrimination. Reporter Namrata Kolachalam has the story from India.

Musician Rhiannon Giddens is a modern-day Renaissance woman who trained as an opera singer before veering into folk music. She's an award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist. But she is first and foremost a dedicated banjo player who has been researching and teaching the instrument's African heritage. The World’s Carolyn Beeler speaks with Giddens about the origins of the banjo.

Some plantations romanticize the Antebellum South or ignore their role in the slave trade, but one Louisiana plantation has been educating visitors about the history of enslaved Africans and their descendants. Reporter Adeline Sire visited the Whitney Plantation and Museum in Wallace, Louisiana, to learn more about the lives and acts of courage of those who were enslaved there.