Our most popular global health and development stories in 2025 covered the human impact of the upheaval in U.S. foreign aid, surprising news about familiar diseases and the beauty of earth captured by drone cameras.
(Image credit: Clockwise from top left: U.S. Embassy Zambia; Mohammad Ataei Mohammadi; Claire Harbage/NPR; Tommy Trenchard for NPR)
About 5.5 million borrowers are currently in default. They haven't risked wage garnishment since the beginning of the pandemic, when policymakers paused the practice.