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Charissa Koh

Charissa is a WORLD reporter who often writes about poverty fighting and prison reform, including profiling ministries in the annual Hope Awards for Effective Compassion competition. She is also a part of WORLD's investigative unit, the Caleb Team. Charissa resides with her husband, Josh, in Austin, Texas. Follow her on Twitter @CharissaKoh.

Associated Press/Photo by Sunday Alamba

Nigeria leads the world in extreme poverty

International | The African nation overtakes India as the problem shifts from Asia to Africa
by Charissa Koh
Posted 7/31/18, 04:54 pm

Nigeria has overtaken India as the country with the most people living in extreme poverty, according to a report released last month by the Brookings Institution. The study found 87 million people in the African nation living in such conditions, a number growing by six people per minute, compared to a steadily decreasing 73 million people in India.

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Associated Press/Photo by Mary Altaffer

Inflating poverty

Compassion | The UN takes aim at American ideals with flawed economic study
by Charissa Koh & Lynde Langdon
Posted 7/25/18, 03:23 pm

The United Nations claims 18.5 million Americans live in extreme poverty, an estimate that U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley called “patently ridiculous.”

Haley commented on the UN report in June at the request of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. She chided the report’s author, special rapporteur Philip Alston, for spending UN time and resources to investigate poverty in “the wealthiest and freest country in the world.”

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FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images

Skill beats scrap

Sports | After surprises and upsets, France wins the World Cup
by Charissa Koh
Posted 7/16/18, 11:32 am

France, the second-youngest team in the FIFA World Cup tournament, yesterday beat Croatia 4-2 to win the cup for the first time since 1998. Croatia had won each of its three previous matches either during the 30 minutes of extra time when the first 90 minutes ended in a tie, or past that in a shootout.

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Rushing to retell the Thai cave rescue

Culture | Two movies and a museum are in the works

Charissa Koh & Lynde Langdon | 7/13/18, 05:28 pm

Now that 12 boys and their soccer coach have made it safely out of a cave in northern Thailand, the race is on to repackage one of the year’s most compelling human interest stories into an entertainment vehicle.

God’s Not Dead producer Michael Scott hopes to make a movie about the rescue. On Tuesday, he posted a video of himself outside the cave. “I think we’re here really looking at this as a movie that could inspire millions of people across the globe,” he said. Scott is a managing partner of Pure Flix, an American film studio that makes Christian movies.

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Hope for Andrew Brunson

International | Turkish newspaper says government authorities might release the jailed American pastor

Charissa Koh | 7/10/18, 02:12 pm

American Pastor Andrew Brunson might be released from a Turkish prison after his July 18 hearing, according to a report in Hurriyet, a state-sanctioned daily news outlet.

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Grave matters

Society | A small-city funeral belies a cremation-trending country

Morgan Channels, Charissa Koh, Tabitha DeHart & Harvest Prude | 7/05/17, 04:14 pm

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa—When Mary Van De Berg, the “meat lady” of Sioux Center, Iowa, died at age 72 a week before Memorial Day, 250 people in the city of 7,400 came to her funeral. Among the crowd sat about 35 of her co-workers from the closed-for-the-day Fareway supermarket, where for 26 years she had a reputation for knowing everything there is to know about meat.

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