World news is the name given to news that spans a region, country or continent. It may be about politics, culture, economics or social issues. It could be about natural disasters or wars, or it may be about the achievements of a particular person. It is generally considered to be a distinct field of journalism from local news, which refers to events that affect only one state or territory.

There are a number of international news agencies. These include Agence France-Presse (AFP, France), Reuters (UK) and Xinhua News Agency (China). They are an important part of the media landscape, providing essential content for journalists to use in their reporting.

The Weekly World News is a US-based tabloid that was printed in black and white from 1979 to 2007. Its stories, often verging on the satirical, were based on supernatural or paranormal themes. Its covers were iconic, becoming pop-culture images. WWN stories frequently involved alien abductions, the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot and time travel. It was also common for the tabloid to report on lost prophecies or religious relics. Its most famous characters included Bat Boy, a half-bat half-boy discovered in West Virginia caverns, and P’lod, an alien who became involved in Earth politics.

Other regular topics featured in WWN were shockingly obese people, such as Roland Gillespie, who was proclaimed the world’s fattest man in 1989. He was shown being weighed, measured and even possibly sat on by the tabloid’s crew.