The World: Latest Stories

Leopoldstadt" is a gripping play about the changing fortunes of a Jewish family in Austria. In 2023, it won a number of Tony Awards, including for best play. Now, a new production of Leopoldstadt" is being performed in Riga, Latvia. And the choice of director has helped it draw a lot of attention.

The AfD, or Alternative for Germany, has been around for over a decade and has significant public support. But there's been widespread protests against them since news broke that AfD members had met with neo-Nazis to discuss mass deportations from Germany.

While most of Europe is getting tough on migrants and asylum-seekers, residents on one Canary island are taking a more friendly approach to newcomers. The people of El Hierro, part of the Spanish archipelago, say they can relate to the long journey many people make in search of a better life - because it reflects their own recent history.

Ehud Eiran, who was a foreign policy aide to former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and is an assistant professor in international relations at Haifa University in Israel, speaks to The World's host, Carolyn Beeler, about the situation.

On Jan. 22, a temple of Lord Ram will open its doors in Ayodhya, in northern India. The temple stands where the Babri mosque once existed, before it was torn down by a Hindu mob. The occasion marks a victory for Hindus and a sorrowful reminder for Muslims of the ongoing tensions between the two groups in a Hindu-majority country.

Turkey is famous for its elaborate breakfasts, featuring a huge spread of a wide variety of foods that can take hours to eat. Critics say the traditional breakfast is indulgent and leads to food waste. Others say it's part of the culture and here to stay.

In the Chinese American community in New York City, almost half of older adults are living in poverty, and paying rent is tough. Particularly given the gentrification of New York City's traditional Chinatown in lower Manhattan. Some agencies are trying to help them.

Healthcare professionals are struggling to treat a staggering number of patients in Gaza. The World's Carolyn Beeler speaks with Nick Maynard, a surgeon who recently returned to the UK after leading an emergency medical team in Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza.

Birdwatching is a rapidly growing and lucrative part of the tourism sector worldwide, but women make up a very small minority of professional guides. Uganda Women Birders, a bird guide club, is revolutionizing the industry by encouraging and supporting women who want to get into the business. Anita Elash reports from the town of Entebbe, Uganda.

Gender-based violence has become a systematic problem in Haiti, with rape incidents on the rise. Activists say the documented cases are just the tip of the iceberg.

The fighting between Sudan's Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary militia broke out last April following tensions over integrating the two forces. Those plans were part of an effort to transition Sudan to a civilian-led democracy after years of dictatorship. Now, the country is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world. The fighting has led more than 7 million people to flee their homes.

Over the course of two years, Sima shares her struggle to make a life in the US in the podcast Stranger Becomes Neighbor." The evacuation from Afghanistan is just the beginning of a story that is still developing.

The small Baltic nation of Estonia is experiencing a folk music renaissance, with young musicians bringing traditional songs and instruments to the forefront in an attempt to reassert a unique Estonian identity and keep the country's ancient heritage alive.

In 2021, the NCAA made major headlines when it announced that student athletes would finally be allowed to monetize from their name, image and likeness. The market for NIL deals, as they're called, has exploded, bringing in an estimated $1 billion annually. But international student athletes have yet to be included in lucrative deals due to visa laws. The World's Bianca Hillier reports.

Commercial surrogacy is banned in many European countries. In the US, the laws vary from state to state. The pope wants to see the practice outlawed worldwide.

It's been 100 days since renewed fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7. The World's host Marco Werman discusses the latest with professor Nathan Brown.

The art of hacking has become stealthier and smarter over the years. Chinese hackers can hide the code they use to infiltrate systems worldwide. These include vulnerabilities that attackers can use to sneak into a computer network. Exploits allow them to start stealing data once they are inside. "Click Here's" Dina Temple-Raston reports on how they can do this.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy just wrapped up a two-day tour of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. His trip is part of a wider diplomatic effort to shore up support for his country.

Taiwan votes in a general election on Saturday. The top issue on the ballot is the island's relationship with China, with stakes that could affect the whole Asia Pacific.

When Ellie Highwood was crocheting a blanket as a baby gift in 2017, she wanted to make something that would mean something to the baby's climate-scientist parents. She ended up making a "global warming blanket." And she never could have guessed the impact that the blanket would have.

A new exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art takes visitors on a journey to explore food and art through the Middle East and beyond. It includes recipes by an Iranian American chef dating back to 10th-century Baghdad and artwork influenced by different cultures.

Millions of people have migrated from villages in coastal Bangladesh to escape climate-related disasters, but people with disabilities often stay behind. This puts their lives in even greater danger as weather conditions become more severe, advocates say.

In recent weeks Russia has intensified its bombardment of Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion nearly two years ago, the Kremlin has justified the war with a list of dubious explanations, including the need to protect traditional values" under assault from the West.

Greenland's Indigenous peoples once wore bold face tattoos that carried deep spiritual and cultural significance. But during the centuries of Denmark's colonial rule, the Inuit tradition of getting face and hand tattoos disappeared. One Inuk tattoo artist is now reviving a piece of Inuit heritage for community members living in Denmark.

For decades, the cotton industry in Uzbekistan was plagued with labor abuses, including the rampant use of child labor. Practices have improved dramatically in recent years, but some advocates are concerned that the exploitation of adults is still happening.

Nicaragua is the only country in Central America that does not require visas from citizens of several troubled nations in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. The country has long been a springboard for migrants seeking to get to the United States by land.

Getting visas to travel to the US has never been easy for people of certain nationalities. But pandemic closures made visa processing delays extend to a year or more. Now consulates are staffed up again, but as Sushmita Pathak reports from New Delhi, substantial delays remain because of large numbers of visa applicants.

With a reputation for being fun, affordable and surrounded by nature, Medellin has become Colombia's most visited city. But a recent boom in tourism has also been bittersweet for some locals, who are being priced out of the city's most appealing neighborhoods.

For Palestinians in the diaspora, staying connected to their ancestral home and making sense of the politics in the region has long been a challenge. Meklit Hadero, host of Movement," a series on music and migration, spoke with Clarissa Bitar, a Palestinian American who found that a musical instrument could bridge history and great distance.

Al-Iraqiya news recently started a Syriac-language broadcast in an attempt to preserve the ancient language, which derives from Aramaic, the original language of the Bible and Jesus. They are based in Baghdad. People at the network and in the Iraqi Christian community talk about what this means for them.

Christians make up about 1,000 of the roughly 2 million people in Gaza but they have deep connections to the land. So far, 2% of the Christian population has been killed; and members of the community worry this could be the end of Christian presence in Gaza.

After Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, anti-government protests in Israel quieted, but Israelis are back in the streets, saying their message is more important than ever.

From 1943 to 1945, Curt Bloch, a German Jew, published the magazine Het Onderwater Cabaret" from a crawl space in the Dutch home he was hiding in. His work is being featured next year in an exhibit at the Jewish Museum Berlin.

More than 80% of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced. The fear they may never be allowed back to their homes is bolstered by a growing movement in Israel to resettle in the Gaza Strip.

In Peru, cancer patients are facing enormous challenges to be able to survive. The situation is especially dire for children with leukemia. Many die because they couldn't get access to treatment in time. More and more parents are seeking help in Spain.

The University of the People bills itself as the first nonprofit, tuition-free, American-accredited online university. Thanks to technological developments and the acceptance of online learning, the nature of higher education is changing fast. But are the university's 137,000 students from more than 200 countries, including the US, getting a quality education? Emily Haavik reports on how the university works.

Dec. 20 is a national day of mourning in Panama in memory of the victims of the 1989 US invasion of the country. At the time, it was the largest invasion since Vietnam and the first after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the US, it was heralded as liberating the country from dictator Manuel Noriega, a former US ally. But in Panama, many saw it as something much different. The victims of the US action are still demanding justice.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's political party has unanimously nominated him to be their presidential candidate for the upcoming election in March 2024. The nomination comes amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, heavy political repression and heightened censorship.

The war in Gaza has entered its third month. In neighboring Jordan, the suffering in Gaza has led to a rise in an expression of support for Hamas. Many people in Jordan are Palestinians whose ancestors fled or were driven from what is now Israel. Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US, doesn't have an official representation in Jordan. But some tribal leaders are saying it's time it did.

New York's Big Apple Circus is collaborating with a famed German circus this year, giving the annual show a distinctly European flair. Jeff Lunden reports on the mind-boggling juggling, the clowns and the poetry.

Ever since Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, the group has been charged with committing acts of sexual violence. Host Carol Hills speaks with journalist and author Christina Lamb, who is recently back from reporting in Israel, where she spoke with first responders and others on the ground.

In Spain, the government is facing legal action over one of the country's most popular prescription painkillers. A patients' advocacy group claims the drug can have potentially fatal side effects. And Britons traveling in Spain may be most at risk.

Every year, thousands of tourists and Christian pilgrims flock to Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. But this year, Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem and across the Middle East will be dramatically toned down.

Palestinian refugees from Gaza live in a state of limbo in Jordan. Despite having lived in the country for decades -and even being born there -Jordan hasn't granted them citizenship. The World's Shirin Jaafari reports from Amman, Jordan.

In the Canary archipelago, the Laurel forest of La Gomera island looks like something from the age of the dinosaurs. Because it is from the age of the dinosaurs. It's lush and eerie, with trees" that grow horizontally along the ground like enormous vines. In recent times, the UNESCO-protected forest has been threatened by building, forestry and tourists. Locals are figuring out ways to protect this special place.

In wartime, it is rare that people are held accountable for the crimes they commit. Sometimes justice takes decades, or it never comes. But cell phones and city surveillance videos mean that atrocities can be caught on cameras. Dina Temple-Raston, the host of the podcast, "Click Here," reports that Ukrainian officials are working with the International Criminal Court to collect the data and file cases so those who commit war crimes don't go free.

In the Canary archipelago, the Laurel forest of La Gomera island looks like something from the age of the dinosaurs. Because it is from the age of the dinosaurs. It's lush and eerie, with trees" that grow horizontally along the ground like enormous vines. In recent times, the UNESCO-protected forest has been threatened by building, forestry and tourists. Locals are figuring out ways to protect this special place.

For the past few weeks, a floating film festival has been plying the waters of Ecuador's Amazon region. The films are transported aboard a solar-powered boat. It stops in Indigenous communities along the rivers, sets up a projector, and shows films by and about Indigenous people around the globe.

Jordan's economy relies heavily on tourism but since Hamas' attack on Israel in October and the ongoing war in Gaza, tourism in the country has slowed down. This is also the case in other countries in the region, including Israel itself, Lebanon and Egypt.

Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was detained in October in Russia's Tatarstan region. Officials there have accused her of failing to register as a foreign agent;" however, it's widely believed that she was arrested because she's a US citizen.