A one-year-old law in Spain meant to control soaring home rental prices has had the opposite effect: Prices have continued to climb. It’s part of a trend going back a couple of decades now. But this year alone, in some cities, rents have jumped by more than 20%. Experts – and renters – say finding an affordable place to live is now next to impossible. The World’s Gerry Hadden reports from Barcelona on why Spain’s rent control law has backfired.

Foreign journalists have mostly been unable to gain access amid Sudan’s ongoing civil war. But New York Times Africa bureau chief Declan Walsh was able to travel across the country for several weeks and told The World what he saw on the ground.

Porto Alegre, the capital of Brazil’s southernmost state, has had to adapt after the metropolitan area of roughly 4.5 million people lost its only international airport. A month ago, unprecedented flooding sank major parts of the city. The rains have continued and the city’s airport is still underwater. So, officials have gotten creative.

Statistically speaking, for every baby born in Japan, two people pass away. The country’s rapidly shrinking population is, according to Japanese officials, a “national emergency” threatening its future prosperity and entire way of life. They’re struggling to reverse this trend but some believe fixing this problem calls for a revolution in Japanese fatherhood. The World’s Patrick Winn reports with Aya Asakura in Tokyo.

Aquaculture heavily depends on a small creature called brine shrimp, whose natural habitats are under threat. Scientists believe the site of an environmental disaster in Uzbekistan can now help produce more shrimp to help feed the planet.