The World: Latest Stories

Crowds in Boston were treated to a spectacular show over the weekend as the world's top figure skaters fought not only for the title of World Champion, but also for a ticket to the 2026 Winter Olympics. Host Carolyn Beeler has the results.

On Monday, in France, a court convicted the far-right leader Marine Le Pen of embezzling European Union funds. The sentencing will include a ban on holding political office, likely sinking her chances at a run for the French presidency in 2027. The conviction leaves the populist National Rally party without a leader at a time of heightened popularity, raising questions about how the party will proceed. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks to Kevin Arceneaux, head of the Center for Political Research at Sciences Po in Paris.

The 54th Juno Awards took place in Vancouver on Sunday night, with more than 40 awards given out to people in the Canadian music industry. Host Carolyn Beeler shares the big winners, including the winner of the inaugural South Asian music recording of the Year award.

Moreton Bay, on Australia's eastern coast near Brisbane, has lost over 95% of its oyster reefs over the past few centuries. These reefs, one of the world's most-degraded marine ecosystems, are not just the source of a culinary delicacy, but help to filter seawater and protect shorelines from the effects of storms, sea level rise and increasing temperatures. Leila Goldstein visited a research facility to report on how scientists are studying oysters' resilience in the face of climate change.

A massive search has been underway since last Tuesday in Lithuania, near the border of Belarus, where four soldiers went missing after a training exercise. The US Army confirmed on Monday that the bodies of three of those soldiers have been recovered. Host Carolyn Beeler explains.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says lack of coordination between police and intelligence agencies is partly to blame for a rise in the number of migrants attempting to cross the English Channel this year. As host Carolyn Beeler explains, Starmer hosted a summit of 40 countries on Monday to examine the problems of human smuggling and illegal migration.

Sugary soft drinks, candy and highly processed foods are no longer welcome in Mexico's elementary, middle and high schools. It's part of an effort to battle one of the world's worst obesity and diabetes epidemics. Host Carolyn Beeler gets more from Dr. Simon Barquera, director of the Nutrition and Health Research Center at the National Institute of Public Health, Mexico.

Massive flooding on the island of Paros has led to school closings and a ban on traffic. Host Carolyn Beeler has the details.

The Darwin's Rhea bird is native to the Patagonia region, across both Argentina and Chile. But the population on the Chilean side of the border has struggled to survive, while the Argentinian population has thrived. Now, a first of its kind rewilding project is trying to support the Chilean birds by transporting 15 Darwin's Rhea birds across the border. The World's Host Carol Hills spoke with Cristian Saucedo, the wildlife director of Rewilding Chile, about the role ranches played in isolating the Chilean birds, the process of relocating wild birds from Argentina and the role they play in the Patagonian ecosystem.

Israel on Friday leveled a building in a southern suburb of Beirut that it claims was a Hezbollah drone storage facility. Israel's prime minister says the strike was in retaliation for an attack earlier today by Hezbollah on northern Israel that would mark the second set of rockets fired into Israeli towns within a week. Hezbollah has denied the claim. Host Carol Hills explains.

The stakes are high in Boston this week for figure skaters hoping to earn a ticket to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy. The World's Bianca Hillier is backstage speaking with the athletes moments after they step off the ice.

The world is a dramatically different place than it was just a few months ago, when Nicholas Burns was the US ambassador to China. Burns speaks with The World's Host Marco Werman about what he's learned in the first months of the Trump administration and what happens to US foreign policy when the White House acts as though "the allies don't matter to us anymore."

Urban warfare in the Iraqi city of Fallujah back in 2004 was some of the most intense the US military experienced this century. A decade later, the city saw further fighting and bombardment during the conflict with ISIS. This week, a study published by Brown University's Costs of War project shows that the fighting witnessed by Fallujah over the past 20 years lives on in the bones of residents today. The World's Host Carol Hills spoke to Kali Rubaii, the lead author of the study. She said the research team detected high levels of uranium and lead in the bones of study participants.

What's in a name? Well, it often depends on who you're asking - and what language you're speaking - especially in a place like Scotland, which has been home to numerous cultures. We get a "Postcard from the Wind" from Fil Corbitt.

The Oxford English Dictionary released a list of new additions to the lexicon. All of them are words borrowed from other languages due to a lack of a direct equivalent in English. Today, we look at "gigil." It's a word from Tagalog that describes a feeling so intense you can't help but have a physical reaction to it, particularly when something is cute or frustrating. Host Carol Hills has more.

Every year, Muslims across the globe mark the start and end of Ramadan by gathering to see the crescent moon in the sky. Ensuring a view of the moon can be complicated, but the sightings also bring communities together. The World's Shirin Jaafari reports.

This week, South Korea is fighting the largest forest fires in the country's history. Emergency crews and volunteers in the dry and windy southeast region are working around the clock to put down the flames and help evacuate residents. Today, Host Marco Werman spoke to journalist Ifang Bremer, who just visited the city of Andong, where officials ordered residents to evacuate as crews struggled to keep the fires from spreading.

In the three years since Russia's full-scale invasion of their country, parents in Ukraine are increasingly signing their children up for the patriotic education, outdoor activities and summer camps offered by the 112-year-old scouting organization Plast. Think Boy Scouts, but with a mission to preserve Ukrainian identity and language. Emily Johnson reports from Lviv.

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, likes to needle Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum about the high levels of violence in her country compared to his. But Bukele had a Snow White moment on Wednesday when he asked and tweeted the response of the chatbot Grok: "Hey Grok, who is the most popular president in the world?" The answer: "Sheinbaum." The World's Host Marco Werman speaks with Veronica Ortiz-Ortega, a columnist and podcast host at El Heraldo de Mexico and former head of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations.

Forecasts for international tourism in the US are down sharply amid souring international opinions and ramped up immigration enforcement. Canadian airlines say passengers are choosing other destinations, and border crossings are down, too. In Europe, several countries have updated their travel guidance, warning their citizens about the risks of entering the United States. As The World's Transportation Correspondent Jeremy Siegel reports, Trump Administration policies have travelers on high alert.

Singer and storyteller Kaito Winse was born in a small village in the Sourou region of northern Burkina Faso. He was born into a family of griots, a keeper of oral traditions that are steeped in his ancestor's history. As a modern griot, Kaito is sharing some of these stories and proverbs with listeners far from his village on his new EP, "Reele Bumbou."

From the trial of actor Gerard Depardieu for sexual assault to a man who shared his drugged wife with strangers to a doctor who's admitted molesting hundreds of children, this has been a year of reckoning in France. And it's made some women realize that while these trials are a sign of a trend toward speaking out, a lot of work still needs to be done to rid France of sexual predators. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from Montpelier, France.

The UK climate activist group known as Just Stop Oil is ceasing its disruptive protests. In the past, activists with the group have thrown soup at a Van Gogh painting in a museum while also interrupting sports and theater events. Host Marco Werman speaks with Oscar Berglund, a senior lecturer at the University of Bristol's School for Policy Studies, about the group's goals and where it goes from here.

Riyad Mansour has been the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations since 2005. In a conversation with The World's Host Marco Werman, he discusses where talks for a second ceasefire stand, addresses questions about the Palestinian Authority's efficacy as a governing power and the healing he believes peace can achieve.

The JUNO Awards are Canada's biggest night in music. This weekend, the ceremony will feature a new category for the South Asian Music Recording of the Year. The World's Bianca Hillier reports on what led to this addition and how some South Asian musicians are reacting to it.

McDonald's has had the most fast food chain outlets around the world - but not anymore. It is now being surpassed by Mixue Bingcheng. That's Chinese for Honey Snow Ice City." This chain is exploding across Asia. It became a public company this month, joining Hong Kong's stock exchange to great fanfare. Mixue's growth shows no signs of stopping and there is now speculation it will be coming to North America. What's the secret to Mixue's domination? The World's Patrick Winn reports.

Lisa Hamilton's book "The Hungry Season: A Journey of War, Love and Survival" recounts the story of a Hmong immigrant, Ia Moua. After experiencing political violence in Laos and then 15 years in a refugee camp in Thailand, Ia Moua is resettled in California in the early 1990s with her eight children. Author Lisa Hamilton realized that the subject of her book would never able to read it, so she set about producing a Hmong audio book. Marco Werman speaks with author Lisa Hamilton and Hmong translator Bee Vang-Moua about the process of making the book available to their most important audience.

Italians looking to avoid "egg-flation" have been flocking to a farm in northern Italy for classes in how to raise hens. Reporter Dany Mitzman, from our partner Deutsche Welle (DW), reports from Forli, Italy.

Unmet expectations can be a terrible thing. But sometimes, the unexpected can actually be better than what you'd hoped for. That's a lesson learned by producer Fil Corbitt, who met a new group of old friends on a journey to Curitiba, Brazil.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred knocked out power for more than 300,000 residents, injured 13 soldiers and killed a 61-year-old man. But aside from the devastating impacts on people along the east coast of Australia, local wildlife have also been injured and displaced, including koalas, kangaroos and an albatross. Many species were already under threat because of climate change. Leila Goldstein reports from Brisbane, Australia, on people who are helping the animals that are most impacted by weather events and climate change.

Hundreds of Palestinians in Northern Gaza held spontaneous protests against Hamas. Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and protests against the group are rare and quickly stifled. Host Marco Werman speaks with Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, to understand what happens when people in Gaza protest against Hamas rule.

The holy month of Ramadan ends this coming weekend. It's a month when many Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from just before sunrise to sunset. Most Muslims in Ukraine are Crimean Tatars, natives of the Crimean Peninsula. In Ukraine, this is the fourth Ramadan since Russia's full-scale invasion. The World's Daniel Ofman reports from Kyiv.

"If Europe wants to avoid war, Europe must get ready for war." That was the warning from European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen this month as she unveiled a multibillion-dollar plan to strengthen the continent's defenses. For decades, Europe has leaned on the US for security, but since the start of US President Donald Trump's second term, Von der Leyen has been calling for the bloc to become more militarily self-sufficient. It's an ambitious goal though and one that not all EU leaders agree on. The World's Europe Correspondent Orla Barry reports.

Chile's Indigenous Mapuche people have long fought the government over land claims. They've faced discrimination and assimilation in Chilean society. But some Mapuche communities are now turning the page. And they're using an ancestral sport to help protect and revive their culture, customs and language. Michael Fox has the story from Chile's capital, Santiago.This story originally aired on Dec 24, 2024.

As Chinese automakers like BYD announce record sales for their electric vehicles, Americans might be left wondering what these cars are all about. Production and sales have skyrocketed in many global regions, but tariffs have kept Chinese EVs off the roads in the US. Journalist Jane Perlez examines the rapid ascent of Chinese auto manufacturing in the past four years in this excerpt from her podcast, "Face-Off: The US vs. China."

Hamdan Ballal, the co-director of the Oscar-winning film, "No Other Land," was reportedly beaten and detained by settlers and Israel Defense Forces troops. He was released earlier today. Nadav Weiman is the CEO of Breaking the Silence, a collective of former Israeli security personnel and soldiers seeking to disclose wrongdoing in the military.

Lately, the US government has placed mounting pressure on Denmark to give up its claims to Greenland. President Donald Trump even questioned Denmark's territorial right to the world's biggest island. But as Danish journalist Steen Jorgenssen showed, the US officially recognized Denmark's possession of the island over a century ago in order to purchase another Danish territory: the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. Jorgenssen, a reporter for the newspaper Jyllands-Posten, told the World's Host Marco Werman about his investigation leading to the original treaty signed by the US and Denmark in the Scandinavian country's National Archive.

"Mar i Cel" is a musical set in 17th-century Spain. It translates as "Sea and Sky", as a metaphor for a forbidden love between a Muslim and a Christian. Generations have grown up with the musical - which debuted in 1988 - but the show's handling of religious hatred, exclusion, deportation and generational trauma was ahead of its time. As Alan Ruiz Terol reports from Barcelona, "Mar i Cel's" current run in Barcelona could be its last.

A court in Tokyo has ordered the once-powerful Unification Church in Japan to be dissolved. The case against the religious group goes back to the 2022 assassination of Japan's former prime minister, Shinzo Abe. The church is accused of violating the human rights of its followers, by demanding that they hand over their material wealth to the group. But church leaders deny any wrongdoing and say they will appeal the decision. The World's Matthew Bell has our story.

Increasingly brazen armed gangs have taken control of most of the roads leading into and out of Haiti's capital. Haitian police and Kenyan-led multinational forces are pushing back, using new weapons, including explosive drones. But Widlore Merancourt, editor-in-chief of Haiti's AyiboPost, tells The World's Host Marco Werman that the authorities' control is slipping away.

Talks are ongoing to broker an end to the war in Ukraine. Today's development: The US says there's an agreement to ensure safe navigation of the Black Sea. US officials have been meeting with Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Saudi Arabia for the past three days, as Host Marco Werman explains.

Oleg Gordievsky was a top Russian KGB officer who had a growing disillusionment with the Soviet Union after the Prague Spring in 1968. Eventually, he was recruited by the British spy agency, MI6, where Gordievsky became one of the West's most important double agents. Ben Macintyre is an author who interviewed Gordievsky extensively, and explains what made him an exception in the history of intelligence and spycraft.

As fighting escalates in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's biggest battles may be within his own country. Last week, he announced the firing of the Shin Bet security head. Now, he's attempting to remove the attorney general. The World's Host Marco Werman speaks with former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas to learn more about the state of democracy in Israel, and how the political dynamics impact the war.

Dan Dan Noodles, forbidden rice, and beggar's chicken. These are just some of the names of Chinese dishes that beg us to know their backstories. The new cookbook, "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, and Other Curiously Named Classic Chinese Dishes," tells us the stories behind these names. It illustrates them, comic-book style, while also teaching us how to make the recipes. Food writer Ying Chang Compestine speaks to host Carolyn Beeler about her new cookbook, illustrated by Vivian Truong.

Elon Musk recently seemed to threaten to shut down Ukraine's use of his Starlink satellite communications system. Musk quickly issued a statement saying he would never" do this but, given the uncertainty surrounding US policy towards Ukraine since President Donald Trump took office, Europe is examining its options and believes it has an alternative. John Laurenson reports from Paris via our partner DW, Deutsche Welle.

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.