Protested

Hundreds of thousands of Catalans took to the streets of Barcelona, protesting the imprisonment of their separatist leaders in Spain. The demonstrators waved Catalan flags and held posters with the faces of the leaders imprisoned or exiled. Spanish courts ruled an October referendum for Catalan independence illegal, and the Spanish government is still holding nine of the politicians and activists connected with the vote. Spanish police also issued extradition warrants for separatist leaders who fled the country. Police estimated 315,000 protesters attended the April 15 demonstration, but organizers said the number was closer to 750,000.

Enslaved

Three international investigative teams have uncovered what they believe to be North Korea’s new principal export: slave gangs. According to the BBC, the regime sends around 150,000 North Koreans per year to work abroad, mostly in China, Russia, and Poland. For two years journalists from the BBC followed some of these men and the people who employed them. Most were afraid of the cameras, but one, refusing to give his name, told them the workers were forced to give most of their monthly salary to a North Korean captain who sends it back to the state. Polish employers told the journalists that the North Koreans worked longer hours than Poles and were not paid for holidays. The United Nations has passed a resolution to end North Korean laborers being sent abroad, but host countries have two years to comply.

Feared

Experts are warning the global community of a possible revival of malaria, an often-fatal disease. Scientists report an increase of 216 million cases across 91 different countries between 2015 and 2016. Philanthropist Bill Gates stood with several experts at the Commonwealth summit in London to ask for more money to fight the outbreak. Mosquitoes are adapting to the insecticides and drugs currently in use, Gates told the media, and new solutions are needed. A new malaria vaccine is in development, but the vaccine is not yet ready and will take money to implement. The U.K. government pledged more than $2 billion to fight the outbreak.

Found

A 13-year-old boy and his teacher found the lost treasure of a 10th-century Danish king. Amateur archaeologist René Schön and teenager Luca Malaschnitschenko reportedly used metal detectors to search a field on a German island near Denmark and found what looked like aluminum. After looking closer, they realized it was silver. German archaeologists are currently excavating the site and have already found more then 600 coins and pieces of silver jewelry including a Thor’s hammer dated from the 10th century. According to an official statement, around 100 of the coins might have belonged to Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson, the famous ruler of Denmark who is believed to have converted to Christianity in A.D. 960.

Finished

Former WORLD intern Courtney Thompson ran the Boston Marathon in a cold downpour, 38 degrees with brutal winds, on April 16 and was the 30th-fastest woman out of 12,603. Before the race she summarized several Bible passages by writing “joy, gratitude, and courage” on her hand with a Sharpie. She finished in 2 hours and 54 minutes: “God willed weather that was tough, but He was also gracious.” The 2018 marathon was a cause of celebration—for the first time in 33 years an American took the women’s championship. Des Linden, a two-time Olympian, finished with a winning time of 2 hours and 39 minutes.