The World: Latest Stories

The devastation from flash flooding in eastern Spain has not let up. And the death toll continues to climb. Residents of the hardest-hit towns are furious with the government. Mobile phone alerts that might possibly have saved lives arrived late. And desperately needed supplies and provisions haven't arrived at all. The World's Gerry Hadden, who's been reporting from the region, takes us on a walk through the storm-torn city of Chiva - four days later.

A referendum in Moldova intended to put an end to decades of swerving between East and West yielded a microscopic win for the pro-Western crowd. The vote will amend the country's constitution to lock in alignment with Europe rather than Russia. This Sunday, Moldovans will vote for their president in a run-off between firmly pro-Western President Maia Sandu and challenger Alexandr Stoianoglo. Katie Toth reports from the Moldovan capital Chiinu.

Mexicans are celebrating "Dia de Muertos", or the Day of the Dead, this weekend, a holiday where deceased ancestors are the guests of honor. Around this time of the year, there's a popular character that always shows up: La Catrina, a skeleton lady who wears an elegant dress and a flowered hat. The World's Tibisay Zea takes us to a big parade in Mexico City, to tell the story of La Catrina.

The number of aid trucks entering Gaza has hit an all-time low since the current war began. The shortages are prompting new dire warnings from aid organizations. Karin Huster, the Doctors Without Borders medical team leader in Gaza, talks to The World's Host Carolyn Beeler about what it's like to operate in a time of acute scarcity.

Italy shut down all of its nuclear power plants following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and the public voted to keep them shuttered in a referendum in 2011. But with growing concern about global warming, the mood is changing, particularly among the country's youth. The Italian government says it's planning to reverse the ban, but energy specialists question those intentions. The World's Europe Correspondent Orla Barry reports.

Sweden's conservative government today eliminated a 25-cent tax on plastic shopping bags. The tax was introduced in 2020 to meet the European Union's consumption target for plastic bags, and by 2023 it had reduced plastic bag use by nearly 80%. Host Carol Hills speaks with Agnes Willen, coordinator for waste statistics at Sweden's Environmental Protection Agency, about Sweden's success in reducing waste and concerns that, without the tax, more bags will be used by shoppers.

An affluent neighborhood of Seoul is the latest stretch of National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek's worldwide walking journey. He tells Host Carolyn Beeler about the Gangnam entertainment district, its important links to K-Pop and the hyper-competitive career paths young people have pursued to stardom.

Mark Galeotti, a scholar of Russian security affairs, is out with a new book called "Forged in War: A military history of Russia from its beginnings to today." Galeotti tells Host Marco Werman that through the centuries, Russia has seen threats from every direction and that its national identity is the product of insecurity.

A future run on clean energy is impossible without lots of copper, a key component in solar panels and electric cars. That has some looking to a small island in the South Pacific called Bougainville, part of Papua New Guinea. It holds one of the largest copper deposits on earth. This island's people once waged war to keep mining corporations off their sacred land. But now they're open to selling it - if that'll help them achieve a long-held dream. Patrick Winn brings us the second of a three-part series on Bougainville, potentially the world's next country.

After facing a major political setback, what's next for Japan's longtime ruling party? For the first time in 15 years, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost its absolute majority in the lower house of parliament, following last weekend's snap elections. Rebecca Rosman is in Tokyo, where she talked to voters about waning support for the LDP.

Erik Alejandro Iglesias Rodriguez started out studying medicine in his hometown of Pinar del Rio in Cuba. But he dropped out and headed to Havana to pursue a career in music, eventually adopting the name Cimafunk. His change in career has certainly paid off in dividends. Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler tell us more as we hear one of this recent tracks, "I Don't Care."

Hello Kitty is turning 50 this week. Fans of the cartoon continue to learn more about Hello Kitty, including the revelation by the original cartoonist that she is not a cat, but a girl named Kitty White, and lives in London, not Japan. Host Carolyn Beeler unpacks Hello Kitty's origins, her marketability and the meaning of "Kawaii" style with Leslie Bow, a professor of English and Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

As the death toll rises and the damage to homes and infrastructure becomes clear, authorities are saying this could be the worst flooding disaster in Spain's modern history. Gerry Hadden reports from the devastated village of Paiporta on how residents are starting to clean up while trying to make sense of what happened.

Yesterday in Brazil, two police officers were brought before a judge. They're charged with the 2018 assassination of a city council member named Marielle Franco and her driver in Rio de Janeiro. The assassination made Franco a major social justice icon in Brazil. It also surfaced allegations of deep-seated corruption and ties between the local politicians, the police and powerful gangs. Host Marco Werman speaks to New York-based Brazilian journalist Leticia Duarte, who's been following the trial.

Today, seven people in Israel were killed in attacks launched from Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Israeli military told people to evacuate more areas in southern Lebanon. That's after Israeli airstrikes killed at least eight people last night. Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler have updates from the region.

Flash floods in eastern Spain have taken the lives of at least 95 people. Spanish authorities said on Wednesday that in some areas, more than a month's worth of rain fell in less than 24 hours, causing the worst flooding in decades. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Hannah Cloke, a hydrologist at the University of Reading, about what caused this natural disaster and why it seemed to come out of nowhere.

Out in the Pacific Ocean lies Bougainville, a part of Papua New Guinea. It's been called a treasure island for holding one of the world's biggest mother lodes of copper and gold. But the last Western corporation to extract that treasure didn't share the wealth - and got run off by locals, at first armed with bows and arrows, and later, machine guns. This anti-corporate rebellion has ended. Bougainville now seeks independence - and an alliance with the United States. The World's Patrick Winn brings us the first of a three-part series on Bougainville, potentially the world's next country.

With elections less than a week away, many people in the US are glued to the news. So are many in Ukraine, as both candidates hold very different views on the war there. For Ukrainians, the next US president could be a matter of life and death. Emily Johnson reports from Kyiv.

Wikipedia's caught in a big legal battle in India's court system. It involves an Indian media giant ANI, which says it's been defamed on the online encyclopedia. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Nikhil Pahwa, founder and editor of digitial policy publication MediaNama, about the case and the implications it could have on Wikipedia's operations in India.

The claymation animator Adam Elliot doesn't want his films to look too perfect. He celebrates the bumps and cracks in the clay, just as he celebrates the flaws in his characters. The World's Sarah Birnbaum talks to Elliot about his newest film, "Memoir of a Snail," which touches on themes of bullying, hoarding, alcoholism, loneliness and grief... with a big dose of gallows humor.

Peru's President Dina Boluarte announced new immigration policies in response to rising crime that she linked to Venezuelan migrants. Experts say her narrative is fueling xenophobic sentiments in Peru. The World's Tibisay Zea reports.Abby Ardiles contributed to this report from Lima, Peru.

IKEA's German branch announced Tuesday that it will contribute $6.5 million to support victims of the former communist East German regime. During the 1970s and '80s, the company used the forced labor of political prisoners in East Germany to help keep prices low. It's one of many companies that exploited the cheap source of labor. Host Marco Werman speaks to a former East German political prisoner, Peter Keup, who was forced to work during his internment. He's now a historian with the Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Tyranny and says IKEA's acknowledgement of its past is unusual.

With the LA Dodgers one win away from claiming the World Series championship title, all eyes are on star player Shohei Ohtani. That is especially true in Japan, where bars are opening at 9 a.m. for Ohtani fans to watch their hometown hero play live. Rebecca Rosman reports from Tokyo.

Early Sunday, American Airlines landed its more than 8,000-mile flight from Dallas to Brisbane, Australia. In addition to being the airlines' longest-ever flight, it may have been the most-tracked flight ever. Brisbane Airport live-streamed the flight path and the landing, which was watched by some 12,000 people. Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler have the details.

Naim Qassem has been chosen as the successor to longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Israel has already announced its intent to assassinate him. Hussien Ibish, a senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, explains what new direction Hezbollah could go, and explains how Iran shapes its near future.

Using a Google search and laser technology, an archaeology PhD student accidentally discovered what may be one of the most important cities from the Classic period of Mayan civilization (between the years 250-900). The hidden city, located under the present-day Mexican state of Campeche, has more than 6,000 structures, including pyramids, and could accommodate up to 50,000 inhabitants. Host Marco Werman speaks to Luke Auld-Thomas, the Tulane University graduate student who discovered this important Mayan site.

Opposing political parties in Taiwan are wrangling over constitutional issues at a time when the island is under threat like never before from neighboring China. Its president was elected earlier this year promising to increase defense spending, while the opposition, which controls the legislature, doesn't want to provoke China. Ashish Valentine reports from Taipei that this past week could plunge Taiwan even further into crisis.

After nearly 1,000 days, the war in Ukraine is causing mental health issues for soldiers and civilians - including anxiety, panic attacks and PTSD. Ukraine's health ministry estimates that 15 million people will need psychological support in the future. As Lydia Tomkiw reports, psychologists are working hard to make mental health counseling more palatable to Ukrainians and train more psychologists.

Sheds - wooden buildings at the bottom of gardens - are important to British culture, or at least to many men of a certain age in the country. But now, sheds are playing a far greater role in the UK - bringing older men together to help soothe loneliness. Jamie Fullerton reports from Oxfordshire, England.

Israeli lawmakers overwhelmingly passed legislation on Monday to ban the United Nations' relief agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA. US officials are urging Israel's government to hold off on implementing the legislation because they say it will mean "catastrophe" for millions of Palestinians. The World's Matthew Bell reports.

European auto giant Volkswagen has plans that may include closing some of its manufacturing plants in Germany. The controversial decision could lead to tens of thousands of layoffs. Host Marco Werman speaks with Marie Sina, business reporter for German broadcaster DW News.

Today, India inaugurated its first private military aircraft plant. Established in partnership with Airbus Spain, the plant is part of the country's long-term goal of reducing its reliance on foreign defense manufacturing. India has been the world's top arms importer in recent years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Host Marco Werman spoke to Gunjan Singh, an associate professor at Jindal Global Law School in Sonipat, India, to learn more.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, all the stuff people ordered online - from stationary bikes to toilet paper - drove up demand for delivery services, which required more drivers, many of them, immigrants. And that gave rise to a new kind of business, on the other side of the globe. Call centers, in Central Asia, providing remote help to truckers in the US, as they zig-zag their way across the country. Levi Bridges reports from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Pakistan is experiencing a resurgence of polio cases in recent weeks. It's prompted the government to launch a mass vaccination campaign across several districts. Around 45 million children are expected to be vaccinated in the coming days. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Dr. Rana Jawad Asghar, a Pakistani epidemiologist, about Pakistan's struggles with polio.

Many of the apple pickers working each fall in the Champlain Valley's apple orchards are from Jamaica. The workers are well-known in the town of Peru in New York State, where hundreds of Jamaicans work on special visas. North Country Public Radio's David Escobar traveled to an orchard to learn more about the men behind the North Country's harvest.

Africa is barely mentioned on the campaign trail in the race for the US president. That, despite the major war raging in Sudan and the key role the continent plays in counter-terrorism, climate change and immigration. Center for Strategic and International Studies senior fellow Cameron Hudson talks with The World's Host Carolyn Beeler about how the Harris or Trump administration might approach relations with African nations.

When Nobuko Oshiro decided to take up karate lessons in her late 20s, no one in her dojo would have thought they were looking at a future karate legend. But that's exactly what she's become - the highest-ranking woman practicing karate on the Japanese island of Okinawa. Rebecca Rosman has this profile.

The Republic of Georgia, located in the center of the Caucasus, with Russia on its northern border, is a polarized nation. Over the weekend, Georgians went to the polls to vote in parliamentary elections. The result: a contested election, which could plunge the country into a political crisis. The World's Daniel Ofman reports.

In London, a wall stretching along the River Thames has become something of a pilgrimage site, not for people who practice a certain religion, but for those sharing a particular kind of grief. Reporter Leo Hornak visited the COVID Memorial Wall, and found a piece of art, still very much a work in progress.

After Israel's strike on Iran on Saturday, it was not immediately clear what the Israeli military had hit, and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamanei downplayed the impact. Jeffrey Lewis, an arms control expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies talks about what damage was documented in satellite images of Iran.

More than a dozen researchers collaborated on a report for Lancet that deems gambling as a public health threat on the same level as alcohol and tobacco. Manoj Sharma is a professor of social and behavioral health at the University of Nevada who worked on the Lancet's commission and explains the findings. He speaks with host Carolyn Beeler.

Major League Baseball is known for having athletes from all across the globe. In 2024, 28% of all players in the league were born outside the States. A big chunk of them are from the Dominican Republic, while others hail from Venezuela, the Bahamas, and Japan. The World's Bianca Hillier reports on those players ahead of Friday's first game in the World Series.

On Friday, the Bram Stoker Festival kicks off in Dublin to celebrate the Irish author's literary and cultural impact. This year, it highlights a long-lost horror story by the writer who brought the world Dracula." The recently uncovered Gibbet Hill," a short tale of horror, will be read publicly at the festival on Saturday. Host Carol Hills speaks with Stoker enthusiast Brian Cleary who discovered the 130-year-old story.

The group Monsieur Perine was inspired by the natural beauty of Colombia's Pacific coast. So, they wanted to recognize their government's commitment to preserving the country's coastal communities. This after decades of increased flooding and erosion brought on by climate change. Not to mention the damage done by illegal mining and deforestation. We hear their tune, "Jardin Del Paraiso."

A kiss has been a signal of special affection across continents and cultures for millennia. But there's long been debate over how the practice started. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with professor Adriano Lameira at the University of Warwick in the UK, whose research with apes indicates a strong connection between kissing and primate grooming behavior.

Canada is set to reduce immigration levels following a major policy reversal by the country's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The new policy was announced Thursday and comes as Prime Minister Trudeau's poll numbers are declining amid rising anti-immigrant sentiments. Host Carol Hills speaks with Thomas Soehl, an associate professor at McGill University, about the factors behind Trudeau's decision to reverse his previous policy.

Weeks before the US presidential elections, the fear of a second Donald Trump presidency has compelled thousands to hasten their pace to cross the Rio Grande as quickly as possible. The World's Tibisay Zea reports from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Hosts Carolyn Beeler and Carol Hills look at Italy's embrace of old fascists, Israeli reservist soldiers refusal to fight and an extended prison sentence for a longtime Iranian activist.

This week, authorities in Nigeria released Tigran Gambaryan from detention. He's an American citizen, and the head of financial crime compliance for the crypto-currency firm Binance. Both Gambaryan and Binance were accused of laundering tens of millions of dollars through its platform. Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler explain.

Beginning in June 2025, it will be illegal to sell disposable vapes in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to follow suit. The move is to protect young people's health in Britain and to reduce the waste of throwaway vapes. Marco Werman speaks with Hazel Cheeseman, the chief executive of the British charity, Action on Smoking and Health, about how the public health community is trying to preserve vaping as a smoking cessation tool while recognizing its hazards for young people.