The World: Latest Stories

Several thousand US troops are pulling up stakes in Iraq, leaving their remaining bases by the end of the day tomorrow. US soldiers have been stationed in Iraq for more than two decades. Victoria Taylor, director of the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council and a former US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq and Iran during the Biden administration tells The World's Host Carolyn Beeler that Baghdad and Washington will have to hammer out a new relationship.

Jin Hi Kim finds links between traditional music from South Korea and European classical music. Kim was born in South Korea and moved to the US in 1980. For the past 40+ years, she's been composing and playing the komungo, a traditional Korean stringed instrument, to audiences around the globe. Now, the expansive Jin Hi Kim Collection is out: 52 tracks recorded over the course of her career. She recently stopped by The World's studio to speak to Host Carolyn Beeler.

Four years ago, the Restoration Ecology team at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, published new research that uses super-sensitive microphones to listen to and analyze the health of soil. The researchers say this new method could replace traditional ones, which are expensive, disruptive and laborious. Reporter Bianca Hillier has more.

The Moscow Times and TV Rain are two of the most prominent independent Russian newsrooms in exile. After being forced to leave Russia, they've both now headquartered in the Netherlands, and continue to cover Russia from abroad. But even from the relative safety of the Netherlands, they face security threats from Russia. The World's Joshua Coe caught up with journalists at the two organizations, who continue to connect audiences.

What appears to be a copper shark has gotten stuck in a South Korean canal. Experts say the shark probably chased prey into the canal and couldn't find it's way out. Officials have tried to push it back to the open ocean, but so far two different efforts have failed. They say they'll try again on Friday. Host Carolyn Beeler has more.

A massive, slow-moving swell of water is approaching the West Coast of North America. Known as a "Kelvin wave," the ocean phenomenon tied to the current El Nino is expected to raise the sea level up and down the California coast by a foot. The World learned more from Dillon Amaya, an oceanographer at North Carolina State University, who joined from Raleigh.

Dismissed in Taiwan as propaganda, the Chinese television spy drama Jiaofeng," or The Long Watch," has proved a sensation across the strait with its references to real-life political crises. Since its premiere on Sept. 6, it has become a huge hit, with a fictionalized take on a subject rarely treated so directly: the modern history of spies and double agents across two decades of tensions with Taiwan. The series, which received support from China's ministry of state security, will run for 40 episodes. From Taipei, Ashish Valentine reports.

Spain took the coastal city of Melilla by force and acquired Ceuta by treaty. Both events took place centuries ago - and both have been a sore spot for relations with Morocco since the outset. As The World's Gerry Hadden reports, they are a legacy of the colonial era that are not likely to disappear.

British authorities are investigating whether a foreign state was involved in an apparent plot to attack an airbase used by the US military. Five masked men were arrested near an RAF base in England early yesterday on suspicion of "explosives and terrorism offenses." The base has been used by US warplanes to carry out what have been described as defensive operations against Iranian attacks. Iran's embassy in London has denied any involvement in the incident, and the five suspects have since been released. The World's Europe Correspondent Orla Barry joins Host Aaron Schachter with the latest.

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is a growing problem. Much of it ends up in Ghana and Nigeria, where informal recycling operations have blossomed. There's now an effort to organize and formalize some of those informal networks. The World's Host Aaron Schacter speaks with Khiddir Iddris, researcher at the University of Ghana, about e-waste as an economic engine.

More than 30 people have been reported killed in a series of at least four separate mass shootings that have taken place in South Africa over the past week. The World's Host Aaron Schachter learned more from Guy Lamb, a criminologist at Stellenbosch University, who joined the show from Capetown.

Waves of jet-powered drones struck the National Academy of Sciences as well as a hospital in Kyiv today. Elsewhere, Russian attacks killed residents, including children, in Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipro. Increasingly, vital economic targets are coming under fire. Reporter Jared Goyette tells The World's Host Aaron Schachter that Ukraine has few means to defend itself against escalating attacks on its infrastructure.

Teenagers across Latin America are turning an internet joke into a real-world competition. In aura battles," participants face off with poses, dance moves and swagger, trying to win over the crowd - and sometimes cash prizes. The trend has drawn hundreds to public plazas from Mexico to Argentina. The World's Tibisay Zea looks at where farming aura" came from, why it caught on, and why some adults see an unexpected social upside.

Brazil's high-stakes presidential election is less than a week away, and a crisis is unraveling at the country's Supreme Court. A corruption scandal has led to justices trading insults and canceling sessions. Now, some voters are casting their ballots to help shape the Court's future. Michael Fox has the story from Florianopolis, Brazil.

The right of the dead to be buried is a theme so ancient that Sophocles' heroine Antigone gave her fictional life for it almost two and a half thousand years ago. Antigone's principled insistence that the dead must be buried, no matter who they are or what they might have done, is something that speaks straight to us today. Lisa Louis reports from Latvia, where for decades, a group of international volunteers has been painstakingly digging up the remains of tens of thousands of soldiers fallen in battles past. Many of these soldiers were Russian - but the war in Ukraine is making things rather complicated.

The Mighty Sparrow, a musician known as the king of calypso, has died. Sparrow helped preserve and popularize the music of his home country Trinidad and Tobago.

The English Premier League has reportedly found one of its top soccer teams, Manchester City F.C., guilty of wide-ranging financial misconduct. According to several media reports - which have yet to be officially confirmed - investigators have found Man City guilty of 114 violations of league rules.

New research is shedding light on the murky evolutionary history of bats. The World's Carolyn Beeler speaks with evolutionary biologist Ariadna Morales about the latest findings from the largest analysis of the bat genome.

Once a week, since late August, a plane has left Louisiana, carrying Haitians across the sea to the city of Cap-Haitien. Many had been living in the US under Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. But the Department of Homeland Security ended TPS for Haitians in late July. Today, we focus on what that decision actually means for one individual. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with the Miami Herald's Jacqueline Charles, who has been closely following the fate of 33-year-old Haitian pastor Molis Augustave.

The UK is planning to call a Parliamentary Select Committee hearing to ask why Britain always seems to do so badly in the Eurovision Song Contest. DW's Daniel Rosney gathered his own expert witnesses and made a valiant attempt to figure out why the UK can't win.

Global foreign aid is shrinking at a historic rate, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). US aid fell by 57% last year but America is far from alone. Several European countries, including the UK, France and Germany, have all slashed their overseas aid budgets in the past two years. International aid organizations warn that the cutbacks are already having a serious impact. The World's Europe correspondent Orla Barry reports.

The US government says the war with Iran has cost about $44 billion so far. But experts say that figure captures only part of the bill, leaving out long-term costs like military repairs, veterans' care, debt, economic ripple effects and environmental damage. The World's Shirin Jaafari looks at why the true cost of a war can take a long time to come into focus.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping concluded a three-day state visit with a two-month extension of their trade truce, but no major breakthroughs on Taiwan, artificial intelligence or Iran. The World spoke with Wang Guan, an anchor and commentator for China's state-run CGTN, about how Beijing views the talks and why he considers the meeting crucial.

It's the end of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, which means the season of a certain fermented fish delicacy is over. While Swedish food doesn't quite capture international attention, surstromming - fermented herring in a can - is getting noticed in some corners of the internet. Now, the Swedes are hoping to get this delicacy designated as Intangible Cultural Heritage - despite how disgusting some people find it. The World's Joshua Coe brought us this story earlier this year as he set out to see what all the fuss was about.This originally aired on March 9, 2026

Storyteller Shweta Bhatt was just thirteen when her mom took her to have her upper lip hair threaded. Many young Indian girls and others with dark hair have to deal with this experience. Bhatt shared her experience with GBH's Stories From The Stage on World TV.

Forces in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region seized three airports this week - just days after seven armed and political groups announced an alliance against the country's government. The developments threaten to unravel a fragile 2022 peace agreement that ended two years of civil war. For the latest, The World's Carolyn Beeler spoke with Alex De Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation and an expert on the Horn of Africa.

Climate control for art and artifacts accounts for a huge share of museum carbon emissions. These protection standards have been in place for decades. But several years ago, new protocols were published that offer more flexibility to curb emissions while maintaining protection. The World's Carolyn Beeler speaks with Caitlin Southwick, an art conservator and founder of Ki Futures, about the growth of these new protocols.

The town of Betrawati Bazaar in Nepal was nearly entirely flattened by the avalanche and floods on August 26th. Locals say they don't want to rebuild. The World's Carolyn Beeler reports on what the once-vibrant town looks like now and how locals are thinking about what comes next.

A new database holds close to 4 million records of people enslaved in British colonies from the Caribbean to South Africa during the early 1800s. Now free to use and searchable online, the archive was created by Ancestry.com with cooperation from the Center for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at University College London. Host Marco Werman learned more from Matthew Smith, the director of that center at University College London.

A study published in the medical journal The Lancet found an average rise in sudden deaths of just over three percent per year from 2010 to 2020. Causes include less healthy eating habits and stress. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from Girona, Spain.

On the outskirts of Edinburgh, a potato field could soon become the site of a massive AI data center. It is one of two dozen projects proposed across Scotland. But campaigners warn that if every proposed center were built, the data centers alone could consume more electricity than Scotland currently uses. DW's Richard Baynes has been finding out how Scots are taking on the might of data center developers - and may even be starting to win. His story first appeared on the Living Planet podcast.

Ezgi Karakus is a Turkish cellist who moved to Kansas City to study at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory. She's become an important figure in local classical and jazz communities. But she's also starting to make a name for herself playing Turkish disco based on Turkish folk songs. From Kansas City, Sylvia Maria Gross reports.

Host Marco Werman tells us about the Guinness World Record that has just been claimed by Scottish DJ Calvin Harris for his DJ set in the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, last February, by a single DJ. One million, six hundred thousand people were in the streets. How does that happen? Actually, given Harris' fan base and Sao Paulo's population, it isn't too hard.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping lands in Washington today for his first state visit since 2015. Simon Rabinovitch, Beijing bureau chief for The Economist, speaks with The World's Marco Werman about the two leaders' agenda, including questions around safety and artificial intelligence, Taiwan's future and the possible extension of a trade truce.

The Atlantic has yet to see a hurricane this season, while Hurricane Polo, which briefly reached Category 5 strength, threatens Mexico's Pacific coast. The contrast comes as a powerful El Nino develops, bringing potentially devastating consequences worldwide: a new report from the University of Chicago's Climate Impact Lab estimates that unusually high temperatures could contribute to more than 451,000 deaths between June 2026 and February 2027. Indiana University climate scientist Chris Callahan joins The World to discuss the report, the potential impacts of a Super El Nino," and what can be done to protect vulnerable populations.

In the aftermath of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, an American Expressive Arts Therapist created an international network of mental health practitioners to support mental health colleagues in Ukraine. Host Marco Werman speaks with Nathalie Robelot-Timtchenko about this effort and her non-profit organization, First Aid of the Soul.

Perched beneath one of Central Europe's most imposing medieval castles, the Slovak city of Trenin has spent centuries at the crossroads of European history. Its Roman inscription, carved into the castle rock nearly 1,850 years ago, marks the furthest known advance of a Roman army into Central Europe. It's also one of two 2026 European Capitals of Culture. And the town is going all out. DW's Rob Cameron took part in the festivities.

Earlier today, the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland met with the US president in New York for the formal signing of a new security agreement that Trump had announced last week.

He's facing the lowest approval ratings for any Chancellor since records began. Friedrich Merz, who was due to give a speech at the UNGA this week, has canceled the trip to remain in Berlin after what he openly admits were disastrous results in two state elections. The result in one state - the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - was the worst his party, the CDU, has seen in state elections since 1949. There are calls for him to resign. The World's Europe Correspondent Orla Barry has more.

It's that time of year again, when world leaders gather in New York for the UN's biggest diplomatic event. This year's General Assembly agenda includes war and climate change, as well as who will lead the United Nations going forward. Antonio Guterres has been Secretary-General for the past decade but is set to step down at the end of the year. To break down the race for the next UN chief, The World's Host Marco Werman speaks with Stephanie Fillion, the Editor-in-Chief of Envoy Magazine.

Drones are changing the kinds of injuries that doctors see in war. They say they create complex wounds that can look deceptively small from the outside, but do immense damage inside. From Gaza to Ukraine, surgeons describe treating civilians with devastating shrapnel and blast injuries, while also adapting to a battlefield where getting patients to care can be more dangerous and take much longer. The World's Shirin Jaafari reports.

New study highlights how lemurs use a technique similar to opera singers when projecting high notes. Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler take us inside the world of the singing lemurs.

Since its return to office, the Trump administration has expelled some 25,000 migrants to 28 countries where they have no previous connection. Washington Post reporter David Nakamura and FRONTLINE documentary filmmaker Juan Ravell discuss the expulsions with The World's Marco Werman. Nakamura and Ravell are both contributors to The Deportation Project, a collaboration organized by Forbidden Stories, a nonprofit news organization based in Paris.

Latin Grammy winner and Brazilian soul icon Liniker has been a musical trailblazer since 2015. Her latest album is Caju. It's a groundbreaking album for the artist, not just musically, but also personally. Liniker speaks to host Carolyn Beeler.This segment originally aired on Aug. 18, 2025.

"The Marching Band" is a French comedy-drama about two long lost brothers who are musicians from different social classes. They meet only when one of them finds out he has leukemia, and needs a donor for a bone marrow transfusion. A DNA test shows that his sister isn't his biological sister, and he has a brother living in a working-class town an hour from Paris. Reporter Adeline Sire has the story.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is continuing to grow; while cases have plateaued in the original epicenter, transmission is shifting to new regions with limited healthcare infrastructure. At the same time, a clinical trial for an experimental vaccine for healthcare workers is underway; this particular strain of Ebola has no current treatment or vaccine. The World's Marco Werman speaks with John Johnson, vaccination and epidemic response expert at Doctors Without Borders, about the latest.

For the first time in over a century, researchers have named a new species of cat. The Tigrina cat was identified in Bolivia and sheds light on the evolution of small cats in Latin America. Carolyn Beeler has the story.

The United States, Denmark and Greenland are expected to sign a new agreement aimed at easing months of tensions over Greenland's security and strategic importance. While the full details have not yet been made public, the deal could expand U.S. military access and investment while placing tighter limits on adversary countries' influence on the island. The World's Joshua Coe reports from Denmark on what is known about the agreement and how people in Denmark and Greenland are reacting.

Music from Malawi is rarely heard or celebrated outside the country. But a new compilation hopes to change that. "Sounds of Malawi, Vol.1" features a diverse group of musicians and musical traditions from this south African nation. Musician and ethnomusicologist Waliko Makhala helped compile it. He recently spoke to host Marco Werman from the city of Blantyre.

Who was the first country to recognize the United States 250 years ago? The answer: Morocco. The U.S. was delighted. It was all about mutual self-interest. And the relationship has endured to this day. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from Tangier, Morocco.