The World: Latest Stories

The World Happiness Report for 2025 was released on Thursday. Topping the list is Finland - again - with the rest of the Nordic countries dominating the top four spots. The United States fell to its lowest position ever. Host Marco Werman has more details on what makes a country happy.

National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek was thousands of miles into his Out of Eden Walk when he had to pause his journey in Myanmar to wait out the COVID-19 pandemic. Host Marco Werman speaks with him about the experience of walking and reporting through Asian regions made inaccessible by quarantines and lockdowns.

Police arrested Ekrem mamolu, the mayor of Istanbul and a likely contender to unseat the country's longtime president. Expecting an outcry, authorities blocked roads, stopped metro services and banned demonstrations for four days. As The World reports, demonstrators took to the streets anyway.

A professional Bulgarian soccer team offered a minute of silence before its game over the weekend to celebrate one of its former players. Problem is, the man isn't dead. Seventy-eight-year-old Petko Ganchev is very much alive. Host Marco Werman has more.

An executive order issued late last week has halted US funding for independent news organizations worldwide. Outlets like Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia began in response to the rise of Naziism during World War II, to support access to journalism across the globe. Reporter Levi Bridges explains how crucial the information in these outlets provide has been - and remains - in former Soviet republics.

China is facing some tough economic headwinds right now. A mix of deflation and US tariffs are impacting the country's economy. Despite this, the government is still aiming for 5% growth for 2025. And to help boost the economy, it's looking to domestic consumers to spend more. Host Marco Werman speaks with Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow, Zoe Liu, about what China's government is doing and what's the expected outcome.

President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. Putin rejected a full ceasefire in Ukraine and put forward his own conditions to end the conflict. For some insight into how the Kremlin views this moment, The World's Marco Werman spoke with Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at the New School in New York and the great granddaughter of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

The worst terrorist attack in Japan's history happened 30 years ago, on March 20, 1995, during the morning rush hour on the Tokyo subway system. Members of a violent cult called Aum Shinrikyo released packages of deadly sarin gas on several subway cars, killing 14 people and injuring several thousand more. Japanese authorities say the group remains an "ongoing problem." The World's Matthew Bell spoke with a woman in Tokyo whose husband was killed in the attack, and she has never stopped advocating for the relatives of the victims.

Sam Ruthe, a high schooler from New Zealand, just became the youngest person to run a mile in under four minutes. He's about nine months younger than the previous record holder. Host Marco Werman takes you through Sam's day, starting with a disastrous breakfast before earning his place in the record books.

Lawmakers in Mexico City enacted new rules to make bullfighting less bloody. The fights are not banned outright, but they will be shorter and have more ways to protect bulls and matadors. Diego Ore, a reporter for Reuters, talks about the details of the new rules and what it means for the historic colonial pastime in Mexico.

The energy and auto giant BYD announced on Tuesday that the charging station for its new EVs will power up cars as fast as you can fill up a gas tank. It's still in the beta testing stage, but Wall Street is reacting to the news already. Host Marco Werman has more.

Wildlife biologists and snow leopard fans are excited about a short video that was posted in recent days of a mother snow leopard and her cubs climbing a snowy cliff in northern Pakistan. For conservationists, the fact that it was a local Pakistani who took the video makes it even more significant. Marco Werman speaks with Rodney Jackson of the Snow Leopard Conservancy. He's a conservation biologist who has spent the past 40 years researching and working to protect the snow leopard.

After a nearly two-hour phone call on Tuesday, the White House said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a 30-day cessation of attacks on infrastructure in Ukraine - if Ukraine would agree to the same thing. The agreement came with some demands, though. Putin wants an end to weapons shipments to Ukraine and for intelligence sharing with Ukraine to stop as well. From Kyiv, The World's Daniel Ofman reports that Ukrainians don't believe Russia truly wants an end to the war.

At a time when many are utilizing AI as an alternative to in-person therapy, a new study out this month found that ChatGPT can act like it's anxious when presented with traumatic experiences by users. The study's lead author Ziv Ben-Zion told The World's host Marco Werman that the results raise questions about how language models might impact people at their most vulnerable. Ben-Zion is a clinical neuroscientist at Haifa University in Israel.

A hilltop Buddhist temple in Bhutan, built in the 15th century, attracts visitors from across the globe, many of them struggling to conceive. They often make return visits, with children, believing their prayers here have been answered. As far as destinations for family vacations go, it's not for the bashful: the Chimi Lhakang temple is filled with phallic imagery. That's because the phallus is a symbol of an unconventional guru, who did not live a stereotypically monastic lifestyle. Sushmita Pathak brings us the story from Bhutan.

Veterinarians and pet owners are taking to the streets to protest strict new rules meant to curb the use of antibiotics. Antibiotics are widely used on animals, especially livestock, which is accelerating bacterial resistance in humans who receive the same drugs. Spain's government recently passed a law that essentially makes using antibiotics a last-resort treatment. The World's Gerry Hadden reports.

One man in Ireland has set himself an unusual challenge - to record the sound of every bird species in the country. The mission is not frivolous, though. Many of those birds may soon be extinct. The World's Europe correspondent Orla Barry reports.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says a series of Israeli airstrikes killed some 400 people overnight. This effectively ends the ceasefire the two sides had maintained. Gershon Baskin is an Israeli peace advocate and negotiator- he's been in touch with Hamas for years and follows Israeli politics closely. Host Marco Werman caught up with him on the phone as he was heading to the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin for a meeting.

When a tropical storm hit the shores of eastern Australia last week, it battered most of the beaches along a 300-mile stretch of coastline that draws millions of tourists each year. Now, local governments and volunteers are working to clean up the destruction. This rare storm is just the latest example of increasingly extreme weather events in Australia. Climate change has left the country often battling multiple natural disasters at once. Leila Goldstein reports from Brisbane.

El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele says he's imprisoned some 200 Venezuelans and 23 Salvador deportees from the US in "very good jails" at a fair price. Carlos Dada, co-founder and director of the Salvadoran digital news outlet El Faro tells The World's Marco Werman that the men will join tens of thousands of others locked in a megaprison without legal representation.

A professional magician from Denmark had a dream of making people in North Korea laugh. So, he asked regime officials if he could come perform silly magic tricks and capture the audience reactions on film. To his surprise, they agreed. Traveling under close supervision, performer Jesper Gronkjaer filmed North Koreans squealing with delight - kids mostly, but even uniformed guards. His video has roughly 4.5 million views. He spoke to The World's Patrick Winn.

Travelers will someday be able to get in a car and drive from Germany to Denmark and back - through the Baltic Sea. That's thanks to the Fehmarn Belt Link, now under construction. Developers say it will fundamentally reshape travel in the European Union by drastically cutting commute times. But some question whether the benefits justify the risks. The World's transportation correspondent Jeremy Siegel reports.

Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, many people in Ukraine's Jewish community have adopted a distinctly Jewish-Ukrainian identity. The war has inspired more national pride, a drive to speak Ukrainian, and a stronger feeling of patriotism. That's alongside an embrace of Jewish identity, as the Ukrainian Jewish community steps up to help military families and those who have been displaced by war. The World's Daniel Ofman reports.

The border between Lebanon and Syria has been tense for weeks, and now that tension has spilled into violence. Syria's interim government accused militants from Hezbollah in Lebanon of crossing into Syria this weekend and kidnapping and killing three Syrian soldiers. Hezbollah denied any involvement. Host Marco Werman has more.

President Donald Trump announced over the weekend that he is speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to discuss what it would take to end the war in Ukraine. Trump says the fate of Ukrainian land and power plants is up for discussion as part of a deal he hopes to broker with Putin. Host Marco Werman has the details.

A massive fire broke out at a nightclub in North Macedonia on Sunday and proved lethal, killing dozens. Families of the victims are blaming rampant corruption. Host Marco Werman speaks with Guy De Launey, a BBC correspondent in the Balkans, about the role corruption is believed to have played, as well as how North Macedonians are coping with the tragedy.

"We have nothing to discuss with him." That's what Marco Rubio wrote on social media on Friday about South Africa's ambassador to the US, who was expelled from the country over the weekend. Rubio accused the ambassador of hating the US and Donald Trump. Host Marco Werman has more.

Rising sea levels are a threat to coastal regions everywhere, but especially for islands. No example stands out more than the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu. However, Kathleen Schuster reports from our partners at Deutsche Welle, that people on Tuvalu aren't willing to give up their land yet.

For many people around the world, the next few days are sure to be filled with St. Patrick's Day celebrations. But for folks in Finland - Finland, Minnesota, that is - this upcoming weekend is about a different patron saint. The World's Bianca Hillier explains.

Hosts Carolyn Beeler and Carol Hills list a few headlines in the news you might have missed.

Today, millions of people in Southeast Asia and throughout the Indian diaspora celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of color. Hosts Carol Hills and Carolyn Beeler have more.

This week, Oslo hosts the ski jumping world championships, but Norway's team kicked off the event with a cheating scandal. Members of the team, including Olympic medalists, are barred from competing as the International Ski and Snowboard Federation investigates suspected modifications of Norwegian ski jumpers' suits. The World's Host Carol Hills spoke to Sigmund Loland, a professor of sports philosophy and ethics at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo.

Civil society groups in Peru are warning a new anti-NGO law in Peru could infringe on human rights in the country. The law, passed yesterday by the Peruvian Congress, bans NGOs from providing legal support of any kind to lawsuits against the state, including legal claims of human rights abuses. Supporters say it's targeting financial problems with NGOs, with oversight and transparency. Host Carol Hills speaks with Julia Urrunaga, Peru director for the Environmental Investigation Agency, about the implications of this law for people in the country.

In London, an unofficial memorial - right across from Parliament - has become a pilgrimage site for the grieving. More than 240,000 hand-painted hearts adorn a wall, each heart representing someone who died of COVID-19 in the UK. In a story originally broadcast in October, Leo Hornak reports that painting these hearts has brought healing and a sense of community to those who lost loved ones in the pandemic. We hear it again, to mark the five-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the 1960s, France had around 200,000 cafes nationwide. It's down to 36,000 today. Most of the bistros that disappeared were in small, rural towns. Up until now, it's been virtually impossible to bring them back, mainly because of restrictive French liquor laws. But a bill in Parliament hopes to change that, and breathe some life back into thousands of small towns. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from Jujols, France.

In an audio postcard from the project Postcards from the Wind, Fil Corbitt brings us a performance of a heavy metal band in Kathmandu, Nepal, which mixes traditional Nepali instruments with rock guitars.

Scientists are zeroing in on wastewater surveillance of airplanes as a critical tool to quickly detect the global spread of emerging pathogens. To learn more about what a monitoring system would look like, The World's Carolyn Beeler went to Logan International Airport in Boston to speak with Alessandro Vespignani, a professor at Northeastern University and director of the Network Science Institute.

Twelve years ago today, Pope Francis became the first pope from Latin America. Since then, in all his travels around the world, he has never gone back to visit his home country, Argentina. Now, Pope Francis is facing health issues and has been hospitalized since Feb. 14. His followers in Argentina are praying for his recovery - and hoping that he will finally come back on a papal visit. From Buenos Aires, Natalio Cosoy reports on why analysts believe he's stayed away.

In Germany, employees miss an average of 20 days a year because of illness - a whole lot more than in the rest of the EU. Businesses see a direct link between that and the generosity of the country's mandated sick pay system. The World's Sarah Birnbaum has more on the debate over sick pay raging in Germany.

Scientists working with the Ocean Census have discovered more than 800 new marine species over the past two years. It's part of a decade-long project trying to expand what we know about life under the sea. Studies estimate only about 10% of the world's marine species have actually been identified. The discoveries could have wide ranging implications for biodiversity management and medicine. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler spoke with Michelle Taylor, a scientist working with the Ocean Census, about the new discoveries, the importance of marine biodiversity and the future of her research

Today at a news conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced tentative support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal put forward by the United States and Ukraine. But the Russian leader also made it clear he was in no hurry to agree to it and wanted to continue negotiating on a number of points. Host Carolyn Beeler gets reaction from Dmitri Alperovitch, a political analyst and author of "World On the Brink."

Over the course of three decades, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury built a multi-million-dollar real estate empire with properties across the globe, as recent investigations by the Financial Times and Al Jazeera show. But he did so during his tenure as Bangladesh's minister of land, and most of the money used by Chowdhury to purchase real estate was laundered from the country he was supposed to serve. Now, Bangladesh's interim government wants that money back. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler spoke to Iftekhar Zaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh. He also headed an anti-corruption commission formed by the new government when it came to power.

The US has reported more than 200 cases of measles this year, mostly in Texas and mostly affecting unvaccinated people. Public health experts in the US and worldwide are concerned about the spread of this highly contagious disease. Host Marco Werman speaks with Dr. Peter Hotez at Baylor College of Medicine about the outbreaks of measles in other countries, its spread across borders and the correlation between measles outbreaks and local rates of vaccination.

The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, has found that Israeli forces have used sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians. The report also seeks to explain why these activities have expanded without check. The IDF referred The World to the Israeli prime minister's office for comment, but they did not reply. Chris Sidoti, who led the commission's investigation, explains the contents of the report and how sexual and gender-based violence became a de facto policy.

Donatella Versace is stepping down after nearly 30 years at the helm of the luxury fashion house started by her brother Gianni. Donatella took on the role in a crisis, after her brother was murdered outside his Miami Beach mansion in 1997. Host Marco Werman speaks to Robin Givhan, critic-at-large, at the Washington Post, about the legacy of Donatella Versace on the fashion world and the role of women in it.

Kids in northern Israel are starting to return to school this week following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. This comes after the Israeli military deemed it safe for families to move back into their homes and children to go to school. Host Marco Werman speaks with journalist Davide Lerner who recently reported from Israel on the returning Israeli school children and the impact all the time away has had on their education and personal lives.

The owner of a London comedy club announced he is banning audience members who have had Botox injections. He said performers complained about unresponsive faces in the crowd. Botox, the target of many a stand-up comic's humor, is now raising eyebrows - or not - when customers are barred from entering The Top Secret Comedy Club in Covent Garden.

The head of the interim government in Syria has signed a deal with the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish militia that controls the northeast. The World's Shirin Jaafari reports on the parameters of the deal, and what will happen to the US-backed camps for the suspected ISIS fighters and their families that are based there.

The Trump administration has revoked Chevron's license to pump oil in Venezuela, accusing its president of not making progress on electoral reforms. In response, Venezuela says it will stop receiving deportees from the US. Phil Gunson, a Caracas-based analyst with the International Crisis Group tells The World's Host Marco Werman that the White House may be quietly lobbying for a return of the migrant flights and a resumption of some sort of oil deal.

Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, hundreds of thousands of Spain's poorest families who received monthly government assistance are now being told they were overpaid and must return the money. The trouble is, the recipients were already low-income earners and most say they don't have any savings, much less cash on hand, to pay back the COVID aid based on errors the government admits it made. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from Sabadell, Spain.