World news is the term media use to describe all the news that happens outside a country’s borders. It includes events like wars and summits of multilateral organizations, but also things like immigration, global economics, political instability, cultural and environmental issues, and other topics that affect people around the globe. There is a close link between world news and international relations, and many journalists who specialize in one or the other make the transition from one field to the other.

In the 17th century, when newspapers first started to appear in Europe and North America, most of the news they reported was foreign: it came from other countries or from overseas, where merchants and traders did business. As innovations in telecommunications made it easier to transmit information from faraway places, the first news agencies were established, like AFP (France), Reuters (UK), and Wolff (now DPA, Germany). These organizations prepare hard news stories and feature articles that can be used by other news outlets with little or no modification; they sell these to them in bulk electronically through wire services, which originally ran over telegraphy but now frequently use the Internet. Companies, individuals, and intelligence agencies often subscribe to these services.

Actor Idris Elba has urged Britain to ban machetes and serrated “zombie” knives as part of efforts to cut knife crime. A US-led military mission is seeking to bolster peacekeepers in Lebanon and to help the region’s displaced population. And a new party has formed in Germany that combines left-wing economic policies with restrictive approaches to migration and other positions seen as competition for the far-right Alternative for Germany.