The World: Latest Stories

Derya Yildirim & Grup imek play a funk-infused, psychedelic reinterpretation of traditional Turkish music. Now, they're touring with an album that asks listeners to imagine what kind of world they want in the future. The World's Hosts Carolyn Beeler and Marco Werman explain.This story originally aired on Jan. 30, 2026.

Things have been grim recently for the Norwegian royals. Crown Princess Mette-Marit's son was sentenced to four years in prison for rape and violence. Then came the news that she had to go through a life-saving lung transplant. And she's publicly fought for her reputation after revelations of her friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. So, what do Norwegians now make of the once very popular royal family? Lars Bevanger reports from Oslo.

Mexico may be hosting the World Cup, but soccer wasn't the country's first ball game. Long before FIFA, Indigenous groups across Mesoamerica played versions of a game with a heavy rubber ball, struck with the hip. Today, it's known as ulama, or juego de cadera. In Mexico City, players are hoping the World Cup helps bring this ancestral sport new attention - and The World's Tibisay Zea even tried it herself.

Tens of thousands of international soccer fans are in the US this month for The World Cup. And they're getting exposed to a mostly American phenomenon: sports stadiums located miles outside of the city center. Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco and New York are listed as host cities on paper. But matches are happening far outside of city limits. And the train and bus tickets to get to them are coming at a steep cost. In Boston, for example, the city's transit agency - the MBTA - is charging close to $100 a piece for a roundtrip train ride to Foxboro, where the New England patriots play. The World's Transportation Correspondent Jeremy Siegel joined fans for a raucous ride to the stadium.

Washington's announcement this week that it will end funding for HIV/AIDS prevention programs in South Africa will have an immediate impact in lives lost, according to Helen Rees, director of the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand. Rees tells The World's Host Marco Werman that the consequences extend beyond immediate suffering: A larger immunocompromised population could heighten the risk of future pandemics.

If you're making the long walk to a soccer stadium, or you're just on your feet for hours a day, you might want to consider a pair of "cool shoes." Not as in trendy - but actually cool, and comfortable. They were created by a young Kenyan inventor who wanted to soothe his mother's aching feet. They're made entirely from trash and bits and pieces of old electronics. Reporter Jonathan Miller has the story.

Ten years ago today, Britain voted to leave the European Union, triggering a political earthquake that reshaped the UK's relationship with Europe and transformed British politics. In 2016, 52% of voters backed leaving the bloc, but today opinion polls show a majority would support rejoining the EU. For some, the impact of Brexit goes far beyond politics or economics, as The World's Europe Correspondent Orla Barry reports.

Western Europe is in the midst of a severe heat wave. The temperature in Paris was hovering close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit tonight. An estimated 45 people have already died in France as a result, many from drowning while trying to cool off. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Isabelle Coll, an environmental scientist who says a lot needs to change to mitigate heat waves in France.

There have been a lot of surprises and excitement over the past few days of the 2026 World Cup. The World's Gerry Hadden breaks it all down with Host Carolyn Beeler.

Bahar Movahed has sung Persian classical music in Tehran, while also pursuing a degree in dentistry. She now lives in California and is successful in both. Host Marco Werman spoke to Movahed about both careers. We also hear songs from her new album, "Together Yet Alone."

Extremely low birthrates have long troubled Asia's wealthier countries: Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Now, they're coming for others in the region. Thailand's leaders are grappling with a shocking recent statistic: Its birthrate has somehow sunk below Japan's - a potential bellwether for the rest of the Global South. And unlike better-off countries, these governments have far fewer resources to throw at the problem. Patrick Winn reports from Bangkok.

The National Science Foundation has reversed plans to dismantle a global ocean monitoring network. The Ocean Observatories Initiative tracks ocean currents, climate change and extreme weather, among other marine dynamics.

A conservative pro-Trump lawyer won Colombia's presidential election on Sunday, as expected, though by only 1%. This marks a major shift for one of the biggest US allies in Latin America. Abelardo de la Espriella, a right-wing populist who calls himself "the tiger" has promised to cancel peace talks between the government and rebel groups, and cooperate with the US on issues like eradicating coca crops and blowing up boats that are allegedly trying to smuggle cocaine to the US. Manuel Rueda reports from Bogota.

REI announced it is adding new tags to gear sold in its stores, featuring The Climate Label. Similar to Fair Trade or B Corp certifications, The Climate Label tells consumers that a company meets a high bar" for climate responsibility. But ensuring that high bar isn't easy, as Leila Goldstein explains from Cambodia.

Officials in Crimea have suspended the sale of fuel to the public indefinitely. That measure was taken after Ukraine ramped up its attacks on energy and supply lines. Crimea has long been a summer tourism destination for Russians. The World's Host Marco Werman speaks with Padraic Kenney, a historian with the University of Kentucky, about what is at stake for the region.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer has resigned, less than two years after taking office. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Starmer said his party had questioned whether he was best placed to lead them into the next general election and that he accepted their decision with good grace." His resignation makes him the latest in a series of short-lived UK leaders, with the country now set to see its seventh prime minister in 10 years. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with The World's Europe Correspondent Orla Barry.

Some plantations in the South ignore the role they played in the history of slavery. But others serve to educate visitors. That is the goal of Whitney Plantation and Museum, which focuses on the lives of enslaved people. Reporter Adeline Sire has a report from the Whitney Plantation in Wallace, Louisiana.

In Apartheid South Africa, young Black people were excluded from fully accessing higher education due to race. Now, the restrictions on education are about money and class. With the country's financial aid organization in turmoil, hundreds of thousands of South African students find themselves with enough money to get into school, but not enough to stay.

Each year, India reserves a block of seats in its public universities for the country's most marginalized communities. These reservations were put in place to help India's vulnerable groups overcome centuries of violence and discrimination under the caste system. But just like in the US, India's version of Affirmative Action comes with controversy, and students who get in still deal with discrimination. Reporter Namrata Kolachalam has the story from India.

Musician Rhiannon Giddens is a modern-day Renaissance woman who trained as an opera singer before veering into folk music. She's an award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist. But she is first and foremost a dedicated banjo player who has been researching and teaching the instrument's African heritage. The World's Carolyn Beeler speaks with Giddens about the origins of the banjo.

The history and legacy of slavery in America are not often taught in great detail. That is what Professor Mary Niall Mitchell, the Midlo Endowed Chair in History at the University of New Orleans, contends. But she told The World's Marco Werman that one trailblazing historian worked for decades to uncover the origins of enslaved Africans in Louisiana and shed light on their lives.

On Juneteenth, you can drink whatever you want - as long as it's red. For Black Americans whose ancestors were enslaved, the color red represents perseverance and survival. That association with the color red has roots that go back centuries to West Africa, where beverages made from hibiscus are a staple. Enslaved Africans brought this tradition with them to the United States, where red drinks became an assertion of their own identity and heritage. Host Carolyn Beeler has more.

In Pakistan, the finance minister has just announced that a controversial tax on tampons and pads will be abolished. Back in December, we spoke to the lawyer who had taken the Pakistani government to court, arguing that the tax was in violation of the constitutional rights of women and girls. Today, we listen back on that conversation between Mahnoor Omer and The World's Host Carolyn Beeler.This story originally aired on Dec. 17, 2025.

The US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding aims to end regional fighting. But Israel and Lebanon remain key wild cards. Any renewed violence along their shared border could quickly put the agreement at risk.The World's Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with veteran correspondents Kim Ghattas in Beirut and Noga Tarnopolsky in Jerusalem to discuss whether the deal can work for both countries, and what it would take to make it succeed.

The European Union is rolling out the biggest overhaul of its asylum system in years. The reforms are designed to speed up asylum decisions and tighten controls at the bloc's external borders. On Wednesday the EU parliament also backed plans that could allow deportation centers to be set up outside the bloc. Human rights advocates fear the new rules could make it harder for people fleeing persecution to find protection. The World's Europe Correspondent Orla Barry reports from Madrid.

If you're watching the World Cup, and you're following team Bosnia-Herzegovina, you may have heard fans singing a song that's become an unofficial anthem of sorts. It's called "I Am Bosnian," and it's from 2011, by the Bosnian band Dubioza Kolektiv. He says what began as a spoof on the dream of getting out of Bosnia has become "the American football dream for the entire nation." Host Carolyn Beeler has more.

For years, fentanyl has dominated the opioid crisis in the US - but there's an up-and-coming class of synthetic opioids emerging called nitazenes, drugs that can be 40 times more potent than fentanyl and far more difficult to track. Now, the investigative group Bellingcat has found nitazenes spreading across the United States, and it has discovered links between Chinese suppliers and growing markets in Europe. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler learns more from Jonathan Moens, the journalist behind the reporting.

Minnesota saw an extreme crackdown by federal ICE agents on immigrant communities earlier this year. What was known as Operation Metro Surge has drawn down, but some people remain on edge. That includes college students from the Somali diaspora. Now, as Juneteenth approaches, students reflect on the holiday's meaning and how its message of emancipation resonates with immigrants who see themselves as part of the wider Black community. Reporter Sara Hassan has the story.

Chinese solar panel manufacturers are expanding their businesses to sell battery storage, as well. That's because there's so much competition in the industry - and the scale of production surged so far beyond demand - that making the panels is no longer profitable. For The Big Fix, The World's Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Jeremy Wallace, professor of China studies at Johns Hopkins, about whether that could do for the battery storage market what it did for solar.

As G7 leaders wrapped up talks in France, one key focus for European allies was keeping the US engaged on the war in Ukraine. While leaders praised Ukraine's recent battlefield progress, US President Donald Trump sent mixed signals during the summit. He called his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy very good" but also said the US had nothing to do" with a war taking place thousands of miles away." To help us understand where US-Ukraine relations stand after the summit, The World's Host Carolyn Beeler spoke to Mariia Zolkina, the head of regional security & conflict studies at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation. She joined the show from Warsaw, Poland.

Globally, religious believers face censorship, harassment and imprisonment under the banner of combating extremism or maintaining public order. Many legal tools and political systems are used to control religious life. How do these religious leaders remain resilient in the face of oppression and is the problem on the rise? The World's Europe Correspondent Orla Barry reports from the Oslo Freedom Forum.

Anti-immigration groups in South Africa are stepping up vigilante-style actions aimed at pressuring migrants to leave the country. Some activists have issued a June 30 ultimatum for undocumented migrants to depart, a deadline that has no legal standing. Sharon Ekambaram, the head of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Program at Lawyers for Human Rights in Pretoria describes the implications to The World's Host Carolyn Beeler.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is predicting that following an agreement to end the US-Israeli war in Iran, oil supply will rise throughout the year. But demand is expected to recover much more slowly, leading to an expected oil glut in 2027. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Gregory Brew, senior analyst on Iran and energy at the Eurasia Group, about what this means for the global energy market.

Leaders from the US and Iran will meet in Geneva on Friday to sign an agreement to the war between their two countries. Meanwhile, a major hang-up to the deal is Israel's campaign in Lebanon and the slim likelihood of Tehran agreeing to end its nuclear program. Host Carolyn Beeler looks at what's in the document, and what the problems might be, with Alan Eyre, a former US diplomat who was involved in the negotiations for the JCPOA, the nuclear deal adopted with Iran during the Obama administration.

Colombia opens its World Cup campaign today against Uzbekistan in Mexico City. Fans are pulling out the team's yellow jersey - a symbol of national pride. But this year, that same shirt has become part of a bitter presidential runoff. The World's Tibisay Zea reports on how Colombia's national soccer jersey got caught up in politics.

Jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding was a student in college when she first heard the voice of Milton Nascimento. Now, many years later, Spalding has gotten the chance to produce an album - and sing on it - with her hero. Their latest album is "Milton + Esperanza."This story originally aired on March 7, 2025.

The US Southern Command airstrike on a compound in Venezuela last week killed Tren de Aragua leader Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias Nino Guerrero." Guerrero was hiding for many years in a vast strip of land in southern Venezuela, rich with gold and cobalt. Phil Gunson, Caracas-based analyst for the International Crisis Group, tells The World's Host Carolyn Beeler that eliminating Guerrero may be one first, small step" to opening up the mining region to US interests.

Most songs that reach the top of the charts have a few traits in common: They are a few minutes long, they're played on familiar instruments, and you can dance to them. But what if a composer doesn't care about popularity or dancing? That's when they get into mischief. That's the theme of a new book, "The Madman's Orchestra: The Greatest Curiosities from the History of Music." Author Edward Brooke-Hitching joins Host Marco Werman to take us on a tour through some of history's musical oddities.

Most of the way through the opening round of the World Cup, a slew of ties is injecting hope into teams not expected to get terribly far in the tournament. From Iran to Qatar to Japan to Cape Verde, underdogs aren't winning - but they aren't losing either. And some historically dominant teams are feeling stunned. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from Barcelona.

Greenland's melting glaciers are contributing to rising sea levels. And, they're also reshaping deep-sea ecosystems on the ocean floor, according to a new study in the journal Nature. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler has more.

This year, Haiti's national team will be in the World Cup for only the second time ever, having last participated in 1974. However, the country's World Cup history is more interesting than that. In 1950, as the US vied for the World Cup, it was led by Haitian Joe Gaetjens. Gaetjens scored the only goal of the game, leading the US to a miraculous 1-0 over the powerhouse team from England. Reporter Amy Bracken has the story.

Earlier this year, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged countries caught between the world's superpowers to work together and forge a "third path." Now, as leaders gather for the G7 summit in France, questions remain about whether Carney can translate that vision into real influence. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group, about whether this so-called "middle power moment" has momentum.

"AWAY" is a three-minute audio piece created by Tanzanian audio visual storyteller Edgar Hudson for the Audio Flux audio contest. It's a delightful musing on how one man's trash is another's treasure, and nothing really gets thrown "away." Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Hudson about his inspirations for the piece.

More than a thousand supporters of Scotland's national soccer team packed into a fleet of school buses for a 45-minute trip from Providence, Rhode Island, to "Boston Stadium" to watch their squad compete in the FIFA World Cup for the first time in nearly three decades. The unlikely transportation method began as a novel way to save money as local officials and FIFA organizers have come under mounting criticism over steep prices for trains and buses to the international sporting event. The World's Jeremy Siegel joined the Scots onboard.

Two-hundred and fifty years ago, the American revolution sent shockwaves around the globe. At the same time, events taking place outside the US impacted how democracy grew in America. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with historian Heather Cox Richardson about how the contradictions inherent in the American experiment have played out on the global stage.

For the first time, scientists have mapped the vast networks of fungi that run beneath the Earth's surface. If you stretched them out, they would run more than a billion times longer than the distance from the Earth to the sun. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Professor Katie Field, who worked on the study, about why these networks are so important to plant and ecosystem health.

During the initial phase of the war between Iran and the US, some Iranians hoped that the attacks would lead to regime change in Iran. After decades of protesting the government of the Islamic Republic without success, they thought that a foreign military intervention could pave the way to freedom. Now, with a potential deal between the two sides in the works, Iranians reflect on what the war achieved. The World's Shirin Jaafari reports.

We bring you updates on some of the news stories that we've been covering over the past week.

Many people assume Iran's nuclear program began after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. But in his new book, "Iran and the Bomb," author Sina Azodi traces the country's nuclear program to the early days of the Cold War. Azodi joins The World's Host Carolyn Beeler to discuss the long complex history of Iran's nuclear ambitions, and argues that knowledge of how to build a nuclear weapon can't be bombed away."

During citrus harvest season in southern Turkey, reporter Durrie Bouscaren found herself with 10 pounds of lemons. After running out of sweet dessert recipes, a colleague suggested making pickled lemons - sending her on a quest to learn about the art and history of Turkish pickling.This story originally aired on Oct. 20, 2023.