A teenager imprisoned in Egypt, determined to do so Witness the abuses he suffered from the years of imprisonment. A supporter of peace in Colombia, overshadowed by death threats. A father in India, He fights against his own patriarchal impulses to give his two daughters a better life.

With reports from six continents and 34 countries revealed the Saturday Profile in 2023 People make a difference, mostly under the radar. Each week our correspondents often sought out neither the famous nor the powerful; the unannounced with Stories worth hearing.

Now a Muslim cleric in Ukraine a medic at the front of the war. An anti-corruption Whistleblowers in Bangkok, with (he would be the first to admit it) a disreputable past. A scientist and hair salon owner in Paris who is committed styling curly hair.

Some of our subjects covered top news trends, such as: E.g. “Africa’s First”. Heat Officer; a former fisherman who aims to convince his Senegalese compatriots not to emigrate to Europe; and a rap producer in France who lost his voice to ALS and was Experimenting with artificial intelligence to replace it.

Johannes Fritz once taught endangered ibises a migratory route over the Alps using an ultralight aircraft. Due to climate change, he decided that he had to show them a much longer route to a winter home using the same innovative method, otherwise the birds, once completely extinct in the wild, would disappear a second time.

“In two or three years they would be extinct again,” said Mr. Fritz.

— By Denise Hruby, photographs by Nina Riggio

Lisa LaFlamme was fired after a decades-long television career, not long after she stopped dyeing her hair, sparking debates across Canada about sexism, ageism and graying.

“The most comments I have ever received came not over months in Baghdad or Afghanistan or any other story, but as I was letting my hair grow gray — bar none,” Ms. LaFlamme said. “And I say that 98 percent positively, except for a couple of men and one woman – it’s funny that I can actually remember that – but they were summarily destroyed on social media because women support women.”

— By Norimitsu Onishi, photographs by Ian Willms

Shinjiro Atae, a J-pop idol, stood on stage in a dark auditorium in front of 2,000 fans in central Tokyo and revealed something he had kept hidden most of his life: He is gay.

“I don’t want people to fight like I did,” Mr. Atae said, making an announcement that is highly unusual in conservative Japan.

— By Motoko Rich and Hikari Hida, photographs by Noriko Hayashi

After filming her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, María Mercedes Coroy returned to her life as a farmer and trader in a Guatemalan town at the foot of a volcano.

“People ask me what I do after filming,” Ms. Coroy said. “I’ll go back to normal.”

— By Julia Lieblich, photographs by Daniele Volpe

After 17 years in France, Tharshan Selvarajah has yet to apply for citizenship. But he made bread for President Emmanuel Macron.

He said it is his hands that make his bread special.

“My mother’s chicken curry and my wife’s chicken curry use the same chicken, but they don’t taste the same,” he said. “God gave me the hands to make the best baguette in France! I’m never mad at the flour when I’m kneading the dough.”

— By Roger Cohen, photographs by Dmitry Kostyukov

The fight for change cost Narges Mohammadi her career, separated her from her family and took away her freedom. But a prison cell has failed to silence them.

“I sit in front of the window every day, staring at the greenery and dreaming of a free Iran,” Ms. Mohammadi said in a rare and unauthorized telephone interview from Tehran’s Evin prison. “The more they punish me, the more they take away from me, the more determined I become to fight until we achieve democracy and freedom and nothing less.”

In October, four months after this profile was published, Ms. Narges came forward won the Nobel Peace Prize.

– By Farnaz Fassihi

Moha Alsshawamreh is one of the few Palestinians working in the Israeli technology industry. His commute demonstrates both the inequalities of life in the West Bank and an exception to it.

“My message is that we should learn more from each other,” Mr. Alsshawamreh said. “Break through the walls, talk – and put yourself in each other’s shoes and see yourself as two traumatized people.”

(This profile was published in March, seven months before a Hamas-led attack on Israel led to war in Gaza.)

— By Patrick Kingsley, photographs by Laura Boushnak

South Korean writer Hwang In-suk feeds stray cats on nighttime walks through Seoul. Routine shapes her poems about loneliness and transience.

“I discovered worlds that I wouldn’t have found if I hadn’t fed cats at night,” she said on a recent nighttime walk.

— By Mike Ives, photos by Jun Michael Park

Dan Carter was on the streets for 17 years. His experiences shape his political agenda as mayor of Oshawa, Ontario, a city of 175,000 struggling with overdoses and affordability.

“For 17 years I was an absolutely terrible person,” Mr. Carter said of his years as an addict. “Terrible person. I lied, cheated, stole.”

— By Ian Austen, photos by Ian Willms

Sadiq Fitrat Nashenas, an 88-year-old star singer from a golden era, reminds his exiles of the Afghanistan they left behind and what could have been.

“I just tried to hold on to my music because music leads me to God, to heaven,” he said before taking the stage for a recent concert, his first public appearance in nearly 20 years. “A life without music is a mistake.”

— By Mujib Mashal, photographs by Jim Huylebroek

Nomcebo Zikode, the South African singer of the pandemic hit “Jerusalema,” which inspired a global dance challenge, wrote the chorus while battling her own depression.

“As if there was a voice saying that you have to kill yourself,” said Ms. Zikode, describing her depression at the time. “I remember talking to myself and saying, ‘No, I can’t kill myself.’ I have to raise my children. I can’t, I can’t do that.’”

— By Lynsey Chutel, photos by Alexia Webster

Being the leader of Kherson might feel more like a curse than an honor. But one woman doesn’t give up, even though the Russians are on the other side of the river and are shelling her city almost every hour.

“If I could disappear into thin air and end this war, I would do it,” said Halyna Luhova, the mayor. “I would easily sacrifice myself to end this hell.”

— By Jeffrey Gettleman, photos by Ivor Prickett