The World: Latest Stories

Lithium batteries are in everything: smartphones, laptops, headphones, electric cars. But they're difficult to mine and bad for the environment. Sodium, on the other hand, is abundant and could provide an alternative. The World's Transportation Correspondent Jeremy Siegel looks at how China is bringing sodium-powered e-scooters to the market.

Israel has ordered Iranians living in the capital, Tehran, to evacuate as it plans to escalate its attacks. The city is home to roughly 10 million people and the rush to get out has led to gridlocks along major highways. But as The World's Shirin's Jaafari reports, leaving is not an option for some residents.

Knife crime in Britain has almost doubled over the past decade. On Friday, experts, survivors and policymakers gathered in London for a conference aimed at tackling the root causes and consequences of knife crime. Among the voices calling for change is a survivor of one of England's most-devastating knife attacks from last year. She's campaigning for sharp-pointed kitchen knives to be replaced with blunt-tipped alternatives in homes across the country. The World's Europe correspondent Orla Barry has more.

In Colombia, religious leaders are calling on politicians to tone down their rhetoric as incidents of political violence have people on edge. Earlier this week, seven people were killed as rebels bombed police stations around the city of Cali. Last week, a would-be assassin shot presidential candidate Miguel Uribe who's still recovering in the hospital. From Colombia's capital Bogota, Manuel Rueda reports.

Authorities in India say as many as 300 people were killed when an Air India plane crashed into a medical college shortly after takeoff in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. The World's transportation correspondent Jeremy Siegel reports on how recovery efforts are progressing and what's next in the investigation of the tragedy.

To mark Democracy Day in Nigeria on Thursday, President Bola Tinubu posthumously pardoned human activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and other members of the Ogoni Nine, a group of activists from the oil-rich Niger Delta executed by the military junta in 1995. The World's Carol Hill heard from Noo Saro-Wiwa, a writer and the daughter of the Ken Saro-Wiwa. She says the pardon is a step in the right direction, but falls short of the exoneration her family has long sought.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is bigger than ever before, with more teams and a much-bigger prize pot on the table. But the upcoming matches will kick off in the shadow of intense immigration fears with US federal agents expected to be on-site. The World's Bianca Hillier reports.

Mexican singer and songwriter Vivir Quintana is reshaping one of Mexico's most-sexist musical genres - the corrido - by using it to tell real stories of women imprisoned for defending themselves against violent partners. The World's Tibisay Zea caught up with Quintana to talk about her new album.

In the early hours of Friday morning, Israel's military carried out a major military operation against Iran. Israel struck numerous military and nuclear facilities, targeting top military figures and nuclear scientists. Israeli strikes also hit civilian areas in Iran with the latter reporting up to 75 people killed in the attack. Iran has responded to the attack by launching a fleet of drones with the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamanei, promising further attacks in retaliation. Host Carol Hills speaks with Sina Azodi, an assistant professer of Middle East politics at George Washington University, about the significance of the attack and how Iran carries forward from here.

Some 2 1/2 years after a massive earthquake destroyed parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria, both countries are still working to rebuild. From the Turkish city of Hatay, Deutsche Welle's Ylenia Gostoli reports.

Ellie Wilson is a classically trained violinist who has previously performed in rock and folk bands. But her latest work involves a new collaborator: the humble moth. The World's Bianca Hillier has the story.

Britain's energy secretary, Ed Miliband, says his country is poised to lead the world into a new nuclear golden age. The British government has just signed on to fund a $19 billion new nuclear power plant. It says embracing nuclear energy will help protect Britain's energy security and meet the demands of the climate crisis. Carolyn Beeler speaks with Simon Evans, deputy editor and senior policy editor at Carbon Brief, a UK-based website covering the latest developments in climate science and energy policy.

The government of Bashar al-Assad made the media in Syria a tool of its propaganda. It arrested and intimidated writers and journalists who opposed the official line. Books were censored and newspapers were shut down. Now, with Assad gone, journalists and writers are shaping a new, more open media and literary landscape. The World's Shirin Jaafari reports from Damascus.

For the last three nights running, rioters have clashed with police in Northern Ireland, burning cars, homes and businesses. UK officials have described it as "racist thuggery." The justice minister from Northern Ireland said the,"three-day festival of hate and destruction" needs to stop before someone is killed. More than 40 police officers have been injured. The violence was sparked by reports of a sexual assault in the town of Ballymena. The World's Matthew Bell reports.

The United States is withdrawing diplomatic personnel in Iraq after warnings that Israel appears ready to launch an attack on Iran as it's only a step away from nuclear weapon capabilities. But there's still a meeting for nuclear talks between the United States and Iran in Oman on Sunday. The World's Marco Werman talks with Ali Vaez, who teaches at Georgetown University, about the prospects for conflict and what diplomatic runway still remains.

Of the 240 passengers who boarded an Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London -- just one survived Thursday morning's plane crash. The aircraft, a Boeing Dreamliner, went down five minutes after takeoff. The World's transportation correspondent Jeremy Siegel has the latest.

The tragic crash of the Air India flight earlier Thursday has renewed concerns around the safety record of planes produced by Boeing. But as retired aircraft accident investigator Jeff Guzzetti told The World's Carolyn Beeler, Boeing's 787 Dreamliners have had good track record - this is the first to experience a deadly crash. Guzzetti worked for both the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board. He joined the show from Oklahoma City.

Recently, 25 people - including six minors - were charged in Paris over a series of kidnappings and attempted abductions targeting Frances's top crypto entrepreneurs and their families. From our partners at Deutsche Welle, DW, John Laurenson investigates this bizarre and brutal crime wave.

The Palestinian national football team was seconds away from defeating Oman, stamping their first ever ticket to the FIFA World Cup. But a last-minute penalty awarded a free kick to Oman, who then tied the game. The Palestinian team needed a win to advance to the World Cup next year. Hosts Carolyn Beeler and Marco Werman have the details.

Members of the boy-band BTS, the K-pop sensation, are boys no more. With all the members due to be discharged from Korean military service by the end of the month, a reunion is imminent. The World's Sarah Birnbaum reports.

One of Southeast Asia's most bombastic political dynasties faces judgment day. An impeachment court convenes on Wednesday against Sara Duterte, vice president of the Philippines. Her father is Rodrigo Duterte, the ex-president now detained by the International Criminal Court for overseeing a violent war on drugs. That leaves Sara Duterte as the family's great hope. But if she is impeached by the Philippines Senate, for a range of charges, their future in politics could be over. The World's Patrick Winn reports.

Gang violence has driven more than a million people in Haiti to flee their homes and settle in other parts of their own country. That's the most internal displacement due to violence recorded in Haiti, according to a new report from the International Organization of Migration. In one small town in northern Haiti, reporter Amy Bracken met a pastor who's helping displaced people get back on their feet.

In a new analysis released on Wednesday, scientists said climate change boosted Iceland and Greenland's temperatures by several degrees during a record-setting May heat wave. That's raising concerns about the far-reaching implications melting Arctic ice has for weather around the world. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Nicholas Foukal, an assistant professor at the University of Georgia's Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, about what's happening in the North Atlantic and what impacts this could have elsewhere.

UK Foreign Minister David Lammy says he's troubled by Israel's behavior in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian towns and homes there are routinely attacked by Israeli settlers, and the Israeli army does little if anything to stop them. Now, the UK has slapped sanctions on two Israeli Cabinet ministers. Canada, Norway, Australia and New Zealand are joining in the sanctions. The World's Marco Werman speaks with Aaron David Miller, senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Carolyn Beeler and Marco Werman take a look at the big stories of the day.

Jair Bolsonaro and seven allies face charges of attempting to stage a coup after losing the 2022 elections. Rafael Ioris, a professor of Latin American history and politics at the University of Denver, talks with The World's Marco Werman about what's at stake in the historic proceedings.

British fathers made history on Tuesday with the world's first "Dad Strike" - and their message was simple: two weeks isn't enough. Pushing prams and holding protest signs, fathers gathered in London and Edinburgh to demand better paternity leave. While other European nations provide months of paid leave, British fathers get just 14 days - a policy campaigners say is decades behind the times. The World's Europe correspondent Orla Barry reports.

Italy has long been on the front lines of the European border crisis and - under Giorgia Meloni's far-right government - is pursuing a hard-line approach to immigration. But there is one institution that is going out of its way to help. The SaMiFo Medical Center in Rome now specializes in treating PTSD among migrants and refugees. From DW, Deutsche Welle, Angelo van Shaik reports.

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.