The World: Latest Stories

The past two days in Ukraine have seen heavy bombardment in Kyiv and other cities. On Tuesday, Russia launched one of its largest airstrikes on the capital in over three years of war. And on Monday, Russia carried out the biggest drone assault of the war on Ukraine in what Moscow said is retaliation for attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russia. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Ukrainian political analyst Oleksandr Kraiev about life in Kyiv with air raid sirens constantly going off.

Athletes dedicate years and possibly their whole lives to make an Olympic team. Once the competition is over, they often enter a period called the "post-Olympic blues," no matter how well they performed at the Games. Some athletes who won medals at last summer's Paris Olympics say they had those same experiences. The World's Bianca Hillier hears how some athletes manage those feelings. This story originally aired in August 2024.

For two days in a row last week, some 2,600 undocumented immigrants were arrested in the US. That's up from 600 similar arrests per day in the Biden administration, Homeland Security statistics show. Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, tells The World's Carolyn Beeler why those arrests don't mean the Trump administration will necessarily meet its goal of deporting a million unauthorized immigrants per year.

At Loughborough University in the UK, scientists have made a violin out of platinum that's narrower than a human hair. Although it's not a playable instrument, the violin is a demonstration of a so-called nanolithography system. That's a new technology for creating microscopic patterns that could become essential to the next generation of computer chips. Host Carolyn Beeler has the story.

Police say the suspect in a school shooting that left at least 10 people dead, including the shooter, was a 21-year-old former student at the school. It's believed to be the worst school shooting in the country's history. Host Carolyn Beeler spoke to Martina Marx who covers the region around Graz for Kleine Zeitung, a national daily newspaper in Austria.

Every summer in the Swiss cities of Bern, Basel and Zurich, residents engage in a surprising form of commuting: Rather than hopping in the car or onto a train, they hop into a river and let the current carry them. The World's transportation correspondent Jeremy Siegel reports.

If you're considering moving to a German ex-communist model city that is trying to lure new residents with a range of perks, Eisenhuttenstadt is the place for you. The city has many charms, but perhaps best of all is two weeks free rent to check the place out. The population is now less than half the 53,000 it counted before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the city desperately wants to bolster its ranks. The World's Sarah Birnbaum reports.

The al-Kharrat family in Syria has kept the tradition of Sema, or the whirling dervishes, alive for decades. Under the Assad regime, they faced restrictions on traveling abroad to participate in international events. Now, with a new government in place, they hope to expand their programs and to teach the dance to younger Syrians. The World's Shirin Jaafari visits the family in Damascus.

As world leaders gather in the city of Nice in France this week for the UN Ocean conference, experts are raising concerns about the acidification of the high seas - a phenomenon that is having a damaging affect on marine life. A new study published on Monday found that the Earth's oceans are acidifying faster than previously believed. The World's Carolyn Beeler learned more from Helen Findlay, the study's lead author.

Say you're a performer swept up in a whirlwind romance with a fellow puppeteer, and he leaves on an extended trip to go to a puppetry festival on another continent. Impulsively, you decide to surprise him there - while disguised in a wearable puppet. This is the story Martha Rollins tells of youthful spontaneity gone awry, for GBH's "Stories From the Stage" event series.

Date crumble, rosewater-scented halva, tres leches cake. In a new memoir by imprisoned Iranian activist Sepideh Gholian, each recipe is a story for a fellow prisoner abused by the government. Newly released in English, The World's Durrie Bouscaren explores "The Evin Prison Bakers' Club: Surviving Iran's Notorious Prisons in 16 Recipes."

Wu Wei plays an ancient Chinese instrument with thousands of years of tradition that's been "updated" for a modern audience. It's called the sheng, or Chinese mouth organ. Reporter Caroline Feraday caught up with the artist at the Ojai Music Festival this past weekend.

"Maybe Happy Ending" -- about decommissioned robots falling in love - took home the Tony award for best musical on Sunday night. The show had a six-season run in South Korea and opened on Broadway last fall. Korean-born author Hue Park co-wrote "Maybe Happy Ending" with Will Aronson. The World's Carolyn Beeler has more.

When a young attacker drew a gun at a campaign rally and tried to shoot conservative Colombian politician and Sen. Miguel Uribe Turbay, the deed was captured on video. So was that assailant's effort to escape. The footage has gone viral on social media, with Colombians watching and rewatching the dramatic scenes. Sergio Guzman, director of the Bogota-based consulting firm Colombia Risk Analysis, told The World's Carolyn Beeler that the incident is traumatizing an already deeply polarized society.

Botswana's state-owned diamond mining partnership with De Beers, called Debswana, has announced it's halting operations at some of its mines. Debswana also says that revenues have dropped 50% amid an international decline in the value of diamonds. The World's Carolyn Beeler talks with Joel Konopo, who manages a Botswanan investigative outlet called INK.

Remittances to Mexico fell over 12% in April - the sharpest decline in more than a decade. Now, a proposed 3.5% US tax on money sent abroad by non-citizens is raising fears of deeper cuts. Experts warn the move could push transfers underground and harm families who depend on dollars from abroad. The World's Tibisay Zea reports from Mexico City.

Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz are two of the big names in tennis who are still in the running for the trophy at this year's French Open in Paris. There's one other player who has gotten more attention this week than the top-ranked athletes, though: Lois Boisson. The World's Bianca Hillier reports.

After Israeli lawmaker Avigdor Liberman told the press that Israel is arming criminal groups in Gaza, news outlets scrambled to confirm the news. Ultimately, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did it for them. The World's Host Carol Hills talks to Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, about who these groups are, and what this means for humanitarian aid, and Gaza's future.

The Hajj pilgrimage is underway in Saudi Arabia and, like last year, extreme heat is expected. Government officials have deployed new strategies to help keep pilgrims cool. The World's Host Carol Hills speaks with Dr. Hina Shahid, chair of the Muslim Doctor's Association, about why the heat is a concern.

After a truce between the United States and the Houthis, details of the battles between the militant group in Yemen and the US Navy are becoming much clearer. The Houthis, using anti-ship missiles, drones and other weaponry, kept US carriers and destroyers under pressure for months, pushing crews to their limit in some of the fiercest engagements at sea for the US Navy since World War II. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler talks with Stephen Kalin from the Wall Street Journal who reported the inside details of what this naval war was like.

The year 2027. That's how soon China will be ready to invade Taiwan, according to US intelligence. There's a new push in US Congress to get American weapons to the island as fast as possible so that Taiwan will be ready to fight if need be. But some also wonder: Is America even sending the right weapons to Taiwan? The World's Patrick Winn reports.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has just begun an exhibit focusing on 19th-century sexuality and prostitution, a subject they say is underrepresented in their collection. A centerpiece of the exhibit is a 200-year-old condom, with an etching on it that would make many blush. The World's Aaron Schachter has more.

A woman from Leeds, in the UK, is trying to help her mother fulfill a lifelong dream - to travel the world. Cara Melia's mom died young, at 51, without getting to travel the world as she had always hoped. So, Cara put her mother's ashes in a bottle and threw it out to sea. Hosts Carol Hills and Carolyn Beeler explain what happened next.

Very secular France saw a 46% jump in adult baptisms this past Easter. It's the largest increase in the 20 years that baptism numbers have been recorded. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler puts the numbers into historical perspective and the discusses the reasons younger people in France may be joining the Catholic Church with Charles Collins, managing editor of the Catholic news site CruxNow.com.

Wildfires are continuing to burn across western and central Canada as the number of people who've been evacuated climbs to more than 30,000. The conditions are hot and dry, similar to what was experienced in 2023, Canada's worst fire season on record. John Vaillant is a journalist and author of the book "Fire Weather." He spoke with The World's Host Carolyn Beeler about how climate change is exacerbating Canada's fire season.

US President Donald Trump described his 90-minute conversation today with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping as "very good." The call comes as Washington and Beijing have been accusing one another of violating a 90-day trade truce both nations had agreed to three weeks ago. Former US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns discusses the implications with The World's Host Carolyn Beeler.

More than a billion euros in EU funding (around $1.1 billion) meant to support inclusion is instead being used to segregate and isolate vulnerable communities across Europe, according to a new report. Eight NGOs across six EU countries have documented dozens of projects they say violate basic human rights - from Roma children being separated in EU-funded schools, to migrants placed in remote detention centers far from essential services. The World's Europe Correspondent Orla Barry reports.

This year, the annual June 6 celebrations of D-Day, which marked the beginning of the end of WWII, are taking place against a backdrop of transatlantic uncertainty. Nevertheless, when Deutsche Welle's Lisa Bryant visited the village of Baupte in Normandy, US flags were hanging from buildings in a region that hasn't forgotten the day the Americans landed.

The 2025 Stanley Cup Final is a rematch of last year, with the Edmonton Oilers going head-to-head with the Florida Panthers. The latter are the reigning champions, while the Canadians are looking to win their first trophy since 1993. The World's Bianca Hillier reports.

A constant fixture of National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek's journey through rural Japan was the whirligig, or as he called them, "seismic scarecrows." Gardeners he spoke to use these contraptions to scare away crop pests like mice and foxes. Host Carolyn Beeler spoke with Salopek about the whirligigs, rural Japanese architectural aesthetics and how he managed to get aboard a cargo ship to cross to North America.

Developers of genetically modified seeds hope to boost production and prevent crop diseases in countries hit the hardest by climate change. But farmers on the ground in Kenya have big concerns. The World's Durrie Bouscaren reports.

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a US-based firm that helped design and manage an aid initiative to deliver food to Palestinians in Gaza in areas controlled by the Israeli military, has withdrawn its team from the operation. The Washington Post's Karen DeYoung speaks with host Carolyn Beeler about the role BCG and US security contractors have played in the relief effort.

The city of Cologne, Germany, evacuated more than 20,000 people from its city center, after three unexploded bombs from World War II were found. That's the largest evacuation the city has seen since that war. The city went quiet as emergency services moved in to defuse the bombs. Host Carolyn Beeler has the story.

The Trump administration has banned DEI policies across the US and wants the same for anyone, anywhere, who does business with the country. That includes overseas companies that offer services to US missions or to the US government. But the White House may have gone a step too far in trying to get a public library in Barcelona to change its inclusion policies. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from the Spanish city.

The Dutch Election Commission has to schedule new elections, after far-right politician Geert Wilders pulled his ministers from the four-party governing coalition. Opposition leaders in parliament today condemned the choice to bring Wilders into the coalition in the first place, and said he should never be allowed into government again. Host Carolyn Beeler explains.

According to recent research, the semicolon has declined in use in British books by 50%. The World's Sarah Birnbaum explores why the misunderstood punctuation mark is under threat.

Images of candles, flowers or a single banana in front of four apples in a line. These are among the images that are being erased from the internet in China today. That's because it's June 4, and also the 36th anniversary of the bloody crackdown in Beijing against the massive student-led protests at Tiananmen Square. The Chinese government has never come clean about what happened that day. And after all these years, China goes to extraordinary lengths to suppress just about any online reference to those events. The World's Matthew Bell reports.

Vietnam is scrapping a long-standing rule that families can only have two children. The National Assembly passed amendments on Tuesday to make that change. Host Carolyn Beeler has more details.

Seaweed plays a key role in the world's oceans. But too much of it disrupted ecosystems in the Caribbean this May. Brian Barnes has written about it in a new report published this week by the University of South Florida's Optical Oceanography Lab. Barnes tells Host Carolyn Beeler that there's no single scientific explanation for the explosive growth.

South Korea appears to have a new president. Polls and early results show Lee Jae-Myung winning a snap election today by a wide margin. Lee is a center-left politician promising to end a chaotic period for South Korea. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with The World's Patrick Winn, who's been following the election.

Japan's iconic terraced rice paddies are held in place by traditional stone walls. But the craft of building these walls is a dying art. Reporter Hannah Kirshner recently traveled to Fukuoka prefecture, in southern Japan, where she met a group dedicated to preserving agricultural practices, including stone wall building.

During the 13-year civil war in Syria, the forces under former President Bashar al-Assad carried out some of the most horrific chemical attacks in recent history. One of them was in April 2018, on the outskirts of Damascus, where at least 43 people were killed. The World's Shirin Jaafari visits the site and speaks with survivors, who say they need psychological support.

Japan is about a week into a new postal program that assigns a digital code to individuals that can stand in for physical addresses. The program is designed to do away with errors in labeling or addressing packages. Host Carolyn Beeler explains that, so far, the seven-digit code can only be used for package delivery.

Shima's days of being in a manufactured J-Pop band in Tokyo are over. Now, she's doing things her way, with total creative control. Shima's real name is Tina Johnson. As a Japanese American musician, she's made the move to Los Angeles as an electronic solo artist. Host Carolyn

US officials have suspended visa interviews for all international students looking to study in the United States. They say they're revamping policies to include the vetting of applicants' social media accounts. The US has long been the top destination for students from Latin America; many Latin American leaders have been educated in the United States. But as Michael Fox reports from Quito, Ecuador, that trajectory could be shifting suddenly.

The images of Monday's eruption of Mount Etna in Sicily were eye-popping. Towering plumes of charcoal-colored ash rose miles into the air. But scientists say what made this new eruption interesting was material that gushed across the land from the crater: pyroclastic flow. Host Carolyn Beeler explains.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is facing growing calls to disarm following its battle with Israel last year. The group is now faced with major losses to its infrastructure and top leadership. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Sami Halabi from the Alternative Policy Institute about the complexities of disarmament for the group.

The octopus population in the waters south of England is booming. Typically a rare species, fishermen in one town pulled in more than 70,500 pounds of octopus on a single day - compared to the usual average of about 400 pounds. This population boom comes as those same waters are experiencing a marine heat wave that has lasted for several months. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with marine ecologist Lissa Batey about the increased population, the response from the fisheries and how the overall marine environment is shifting due to climate change.

A declaration of martial law. Impeachment. Months of protest and deep political divisions. That's what South Korea has been through over the last six months. Tomorrow, the country will vote for a new president. There's one clear frontrunner. But the political divide - along with big economic and security challenges - will remain, no matter who wins this election. The World's Matthew Bell has the story.

Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia met today in Istanbul, Turkey, for peace talks on the heels of a spike in airstrikes between the two sides. As The World's Durrie Bouscaren reports from Istanbul, the delegations agreed to a major prisoner exchange, but no ceasefire.