DSCHANG, Cameroon (AP) — In a classroom nestled in Cameroon’s lush highlands, a former rebel fighter teaches logic and philosophy. His students know him as calm and thoughtful, but his past tells a more turbulent story.

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — A nurse who fled Cuba as part of the Caribbean nation’s largest exodus in more than six decades needed a place to stay in Mexico as she waited to legally enter the U.S. using a government app. A woman who had lived her whole life in the same Tijuana neighborhood was desperate for medical help after a dog attack left her with wounds to her legs.

Samara Follette encountered something unexpected on the path to New York City last year for a prestigious high school theater program: fellow Nebraskans with Broadway chops.

While in the Big Apple, the 2024 Lincoln Northeast graduate received coaching from two Broadway veterans from her home state. For Follette, it proved transformational.