The World: Latest Stories

For a few days starting this weekend, Saturn's iconic rings will vanish from the Earth's point of view. The phenomenon occurs every 15 years. Host Marco Werman speaks with Larry Esposito, a professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, about how this cosmic illusion works.

A presidential primary organized by the party of jailed Istanbul mayor, Ekrem mamolu, galvanized millions of voters across the country. If convicted of corruption charges, Imamolu will be disqualified from Turkey's next elections in 2028. mamolu has emerged as a formidable rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in recent years, and his supporters say the case against him is a political effort to remove him. The World reports.

Canada's new prime minister announced a snap election over the weekend as the country faces a trade war and annexation threats from the US. The incumbent Prime Minister Mark Carney of the Liberal Party faces off against the Conservative Party's Pierre Poilivre, who previously earned endorsements from US President Donald Trump's inner circle. The World's Host Marco Werman speaks with Kevin Quigley, a public policy scholar at Dalhousie University. He joined the show from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Costa Rica is a major producer of coffee. But this year's harvest is off to a slow start. Plenty of coffee is growing, but there's no one to pick it, as Nicaraguan migrant farmers who often fill these jobs are staying home due to the risks involved in crossing the border right now. A big campaign is underway to get Costa Ricans to do those jobs, but experts say it's not enough to compensate for the loss of labor. Manuel Rueda brings us the story from Costa Rica.

City life is loud, and the cacophony of noises in urban areas can be bad for human health. Noise pollution pumps up stress levels and damages our hearing, and it can even increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease. The nonprofit Quiet Parks International is on a mission to preserve quiet areas and their health benefits. The World's Host Marco Werman spoke to Ulf Bohman, the group's executive director, who joined the show from the town of Are in central West Sweden.

How does a country rebuild a democracy? It's a question the Polish government under Donald Tusk has been trying to tackle for over a year now. For eight years, the previous administration filled the country's democratic institutions with party loyalists, turning public media into a government mouthpiece and stacking the judiciary with its allies. As The World's Europe correspondent tells us, new Prime Minister Donald Tusk is finding that restoring democracy is not that easy.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who tried to take over Sudan in a surprise attack on Khartoum almost two years ago, made the presidential palace one of their first objectives. During the back-and-forth fighting in Khartoum, the RSF took it and held it, until recently when the Sudanese Armed Forces grabbed it back. It's symbolic of the story of the grinding civil war that has laid waste to most of the country. Declan Walsh, a reporter for The New York Times, explains what the recent military developments mean and what it's like in Khartoum right now.

The world's top producer of natural mineral water is struggling to keep its sources clean of contaminants, from pesticides to bacteria to animal fecal matter. If it filters its water it loses its designation as "natural" and most likely a lot of its business. Perrier is not alone; over 15% of Europe's aquifers are dangerously polluted or over-exploited and things are getting worse. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from Vergeze, France.

On Friday, Germany's Legislature approved debt reforms in hopes that it will give its sluggish economy a shot in the arm. It's a reversal of nearly two decades of restrictive borrowing policy known as the Schuldenbremse, or "debt brake," which limited the government's annual borrowing to an amount equal to 0.35% of the country's GDP. The World's Carol Hills spoke to Shahin Vallee, who called the reform historic.

Hundreds of people gathered in Srinigar, Indian-administered Kashmir, on Friday, for a leech therapy clinic. Friday is the start of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and it is traditionally believed that leech treatments are more effective on this day. The World's Carol Hills spoke with reporter Syed Shahriyar about what he saw at the Hazratbal shrine in Srinigar, how leech therapy works and why Nowruz is celebrated like this in Kashmir.

Yemeni coffee shops have been opening up across the US for years. But this past year, they've really taken New York City by storm with shops opening across the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Host Carol Hills reports with help from The World's producer Omar Duwaji.

Lego posted it's yearly profits in March. They achieved record revenue in a year that was hard on the toy industry as a whole. The reason? Adults. Lego is luring adult builders who are willing to shell out upwards of $500 for a set. Now, other toy companies are following suit with Mattel and Hasbro also focusing on the "kidult" segment. The World's Sarah Birnbaum reports.

Heathrow, one of the world's largest airports, shut down after a fire broke out Thursday night at an electric substation, effectively knocking out the airport's power. Host Carol Hills speaks with Paul Cuffe, an assistant professor at University College Dublin, about the potential causes behind the fire at the substation and how vulnerable airports are to these kinds of incidents.

Israeli ground troops have reentered the Gaza Strip, and airstrikes have been ongoing for the past few days. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health officials. Meanwhile, Hamas has responded by firing rockets at Tel Aviv. With all signs of ceasefire having disappeared, host Marco Werman talks with the Khaled El-Gindy about the return to fighting. He's a visiting scholar at Georgetown University.

Ex-Formula 1 team owner and media personality Eddie Jordan has died at age 76. Host Marco Werman tells the story of the Dublin-born banker turned racing car driver who built a winning F1 team in the 1990s and 2000s, became a popular BBC sportscaster, and is remembered today for having launched the careers of many of F1's top drivers.

At 72 years old, Netumbo Ndaitwah is about to become Namibia's fifth president - and the first woman to ascend to the presidential office. Gender didn't play a big part in her campaign messaging, but employment and poverty did. Ndaitwah's promise to address the issue has women in the country feeling hopeful. Vitalio Angula brings us the story from the capital, Windhoek.

Ever since Latvia authorized its border guards to use "physical force" to prevent irregular border crossings from Belarus in 2021, there have been reports about human rights violations against migrants. Journalist Ben Bathke from our partners Deutsche Welle reports from the Latvian-Belarus border on how migrants are treated there.

Aurelio Martinez, a popular Honduran musician and politician, was one of 12 people killed this week when a small plane crashed near Honduras. Host Marco Werman memorializes Martinez as a singer and songwriter who was one of the best-known champions of Garifuna music.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a vast country in Africa with rich mineral deposits that have been fought over for decades. In recent months, the rebel group M23 has expanded its control in the eastern part of the DRC where those rare earth minerals are located and the crisis has come to a head. Marco Werman teases out the origins of the conflict and what's at stake.

The World Happiness Report for 2025 was released on Thursday. Topping the list is Finland - again - with the rest of the Nordic countries dominating the top four spots. The United States fell to its lowest position ever. Host Marco Werman has more details on what makes a country happy.

National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek was thousands of miles into his Out of Eden Walk when he had to pause his journey in Myanmar to wait out the COVID-19 pandemic. Host Marco Werman speaks with him about the experience of walking and reporting through Asian regions made inaccessible by quarantines and lockdowns.

Police arrested Ekrem mamolu, the mayor of Istanbul and a likely contender to unseat the country's longtime president. Expecting an outcry, authorities blocked roads, stopped metro services and banned demonstrations for four days. As The World reports, demonstrators took to the streets anyway.

A professional Bulgarian soccer team offered a minute of silence before its game over the weekend to celebrate one of its former players. Problem is, the man isn't dead. Seventy-eight-year-old Petko Ganchev is very much alive. Host Marco Werman has more.

An executive order issued late last week has halted US funding for independent news organizations worldwide. Outlets like Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia began in response to the rise of Naziism during World War II, to support access to journalism across the globe. Reporter Levi Bridges explains how crucial the information in these outlets provide has been - and remains - in former Soviet republics.

China is facing some tough economic headwinds right now. A mix of deflation and US tariffs are impacting the country's economy. Despite this, the government is still aiming for 5% growth for 2025. And to help boost the economy, it's looking to domestic consumers to spend more. Host Marco Werman speaks with Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow, Zoe Liu, about what China's government is doing and what's the expected outcome.

President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. Putin rejected a full ceasefire in Ukraine and put forward his own conditions to end the conflict. For some insight into how the Kremlin views this moment, The World's Marco Werman spoke with Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at the New School in New York and the great granddaughter of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

The worst terrorist attack in Japan's history happened 30 years ago, on March 20, 1995, during the morning rush hour on the Tokyo subway system. Members of a violent cult called Aum Shinrikyo released packages of deadly sarin gas on several subway cars, killing 14 people and injuring several thousand more. Japanese authorities say the group remains an "ongoing problem." The World's Matthew Bell spoke with a woman in Tokyo whose husband was killed in the attack, and she has never stopped advocating for the relatives of the victims.

Sam Ruthe, a high schooler from New Zealand, just became the youngest person to run a mile in under four minutes. He's about nine months younger than the previous record holder. Host Marco Werman takes you through Sam's day, starting with a disastrous breakfast before earning his place in the record books.

Lawmakers in Mexico City enacted new rules to make bullfighting less bloody. The fights are not banned outright, but they will be shorter and have more ways to protect bulls and matadors. Diego Ore, a reporter for Reuters, talks about the details of the new rules and what it means for the historic colonial pastime in Mexico.

The energy and auto giant BYD announced on Tuesday that the charging station for its new EVs will power up cars as fast as you can fill up a gas tank. It's still in the beta testing stage, but Wall Street is reacting to the news already. Host Marco Werman has more.

Wildlife biologists and snow leopard fans are excited about a short video that was posted in recent days of a mother snow leopard and her cubs climbing a snowy cliff in northern Pakistan. For conservationists, the fact that it was a local Pakistani who took the video makes it even more significant. Marco Werman speaks with Rodney Jackson of the Snow Leopard Conservancy. He's a conservation biologist who has spent the past 40 years researching and working to protect the snow leopard.

After a nearly two-hour phone call on Tuesday, the White House said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a 30-day cessation of attacks on infrastructure in Ukraine - if Ukraine would agree to the same thing. The agreement came with some demands, though. Putin wants an end to weapons shipments to Ukraine and for intelligence sharing with Ukraine to stop as well. From Kyiv, The World's Daniel Ofman reports that Ukrainians don't believe Russia truly wants an end to the war.

At a time when many are utilizing AI as an alternative to in-person therapy, a new study out this month found that ChatGPT can act like it's anxious when presented with traumatic experiences by users. The study's lead author Ziv Ben-Zion told The World's host Marco Werman that the results raise questions about how language models might impact people at their most vulnerable. Ben-Zion is a clinical neuroscientist at Haifa University in Israel.

A hilltop Buddhist temple in Bhutan, built in the 15th century, attracts visitors from across the globe, many of them struggling to conceive. They often make return visits, with children, believing their prayers here have been answered. As far as destinations for family vacations go, it's not for the bashful: the Chimi Lhakang temple is filled with phallic imagery. That's because the phallus is a symbol of an unconventional guru, who did not live a stereotypically monastic lifestyle. Sushmita Pathak brings us the story from Bhutan.

Veterinarians and pet owners are taking to the streets to protest strict new rules meant to curb the use of antibiotics. Antibiotics are widely used on animals, especially livestock, which is accelerating bacterial resistance in humans who receive the same drugs. Spain's government recently passed a law that essentially makes using antibiotics a last-resort treatment. The World's Gerry Hadden reports.

One man in Ireland has set himself an unusual challenge - to record the sound of every bird species in the country. The mission is not frivolous, though. Many of those birds may soon be extinct. The World's Europe correspondent Orla Barry reports.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says a series of Israeli airstrikes killed some 400 people overnight. This effectively ends the ceasefire the two sides had maintained. Gershon Baskin is an Israeli peace advocate and negotiator- he's been in touch with Hamas for years and follows Israeli politics closely. Host Marco Werman caught up with him on the phone as he was heading to the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin for a meeting.

When a tropical storm hit the shores of eastern Australia last week, it battered most of the beaches along a 300-mile stretch of coastline that draws millions of tourists each year. Now, local governments and volunteers are working to clean up the destruction. This rare storm is just the latest example of increasingly extreme weather events in Australia. Climate change has left the country often battling multiple natural disasters at once. Leila Goldstein reports from Brisbane.

El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele says he's imprisoned some 200 Venezuelans and 23 Salvador deportees from the US in "very good jails" at a fair price. Carlos Dada, co-founder and director of the Salvadoran digital news outlet El Faro tells The World's Marco Werman that the men will join tens of thousands of others locked in a megaprison without legal representation.

A professional magician from Denmark had a dream of making people in North Korea laugh. So, he asked regime officials if he could come perform silly magic tricks and capture the audience reactions on film. To his surprise, they agreed. Traveling under close supervision, performer Jesper Gronkjaer filmed North Koreans squealing with delight - kids mostly, but even uniformed guards. His video has roughly 4.5 million views. He spoke to The World's Patrick Winn.

Travelers will someday be able to get in a car and drive from Germany to Denmark and back - through the Baltic Sea. That's thanks to the Fehmarn Belt Link, now under construction. Developers say it will fundamentally reshape travel in the European Union by drastically cutting commute times. But some question whether the benefits justify the risks. The World's transportation correspondent Jeremy Siegel reports.

Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, many people in Ukraine's Jewish community have adopted a distinctly Jewish-Ukrainian identity. The war has inspired more national pride, a drive to speak Ukrainian, and a stronger feeling of patriotism. That's alongside an embrace of Jewish identity, as the Ukrainian Jewish community steps up to help military families and those who have been displaced by war. The World's Daniel Ofman reports.

The border between Lebanon and Syria has been tense for weeks, and now that tension has spilled into violence. Syria's interim government accused militants from Hezbollah in Lebanon of crossing into Syria this weekend and kidnapping and killing three Syrian soldiers. Hezbollah denied any involvement. Host Marco Werman has more.

President Donald Trump announced over the weekend that he is speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to discuss what it would take to end the war in Ukraine. Trump says the fate of Ukrainian land and power plants is up for discussion as part of a deal he hopes to broker with Putin. Host Marco Werman has the details.

A massive fire broke out at a nightclub in North Macedonia on Sunday and proved lethal, killing dozens. Families of the victims are blaming rampant corruption. Host Marco Werman speaks with Guy De Launey, a BBC correspondent in the Balkans, about the role corruption is believed to have played, as well as how North Macedonians are coping with the tragedy.

"We have nothing to discuss with him." That's what Marco Rubio wrote on social media on Friday about South Africa's ambassador to the US, who was expelled from the country over the weekend. Rubio accused the ambassador of hating the US and Donald Trump. Host Marco Werman has more.

Rising sea levels are a threat to coastal regions everywhere, but especially for islands. No example stands out more than the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu. However, Kathleen Schuster reports from our partners at Deutsche Welle, that people on Tuvalu aren't willing to give up their land yet.

For many people around the world, the next few days are sure to be filled with St. Patrick's Day celebrations. But for folks in Finland - Finland, Minnesota, that is - this upcoming weekend is about a different patron saint. The World's Bianca Hillier explains.

Hosts Carolyn Beeler and Carol Hills list a few headlines in the news you might have missed.

Today, millions of people in Southeast Asia and throughout the Indian diaspora celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of color. Hosts Carol Hills and Carolyn Beeler have more.