The World: Latest Stories

Syria's Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa is in France for talks. French President Emmanuel Macron says he's willing to help the new government, as long as it respects the rights of all Syrians. In the town of Maaloula in western Syria, which has long been a center of Christianity in the country, residents speak Aramaic, the language believed to have been used by Jesus. Years of conflict and displacement forced many of them to flee the town, which also has a small Muslim population. But as The World's Shirin Jaafari reports, they continue to push to keep their language and religion alive.

Zhao Xintong made history at the Men's World Snooker Championship this week when he became the first player from any Asian country to win the title. The win also marks Zhao's return to the sport after serving a 20-month ban for being part of a match-fixing scandal that rocked the snooker world in 2023. Now, he hopes his comeback will spark a wave of snooker champions from China in the years to come. The World's Bianca Hillier reports.

The Zool (Torch) Festival is held annually at a mountain shrine south of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. It's a vibrant blend of folklore, Sufi devotion and seasonal tradition. Rooted in a local legend about a demon who once terrorized the area and was eventually defeated, the festival symbolizes the victory of light over darkness. Syed Shahriyar reports from Kashmir.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met today with US President Donald Trump. The two men were cordial, and agreed on the need for Canada to step up its military. Carney also praised Trump's work on the world stage. But as Host Carolyn Beeler tells us, when the idea of Canada as the 51st US state came up, things got a little tense.

It may be hundreds of miles away from any coastline, but the Bavarian capital of Munich is home to one of the world's most iconic - albeit dangerous - waves. The Eisbach wave apparently appeared overnight in 1972 after the city submerged several concrete blocks under a bridge to block the river's strong current. This created an accidental constant flowing wave effect - one which experienced surfers immediately seized upon. Reporter Rebecca Rosman has the story from Munich.This story originally aired on May 23, 2024.

Israel has targeted the international airport in Sanaa, Yemen, after the Houthis fired missiles at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel that managed to evade Israeli air defense systems on Sunday. US President Donald Trump later announced that United States bombing campaign against the Houthis would end after they, in the president's words, "capitulated."

This week, photographer Moises Saman was declared the winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. Photographs he took in Syria depicting the horrors of the Assad regime won him the award. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Saman about his work in Syria and what he's learned about humanity as he's captured the tragedy of war in the Middle East and beyond.

There are 135 Catholic cardinals from 70 different countries who will convene on Wednesday, May 7, for a secretive conclave that will end with the selection a new pope. Vatican watchers are wondering whether the next pontiff will be a reform-minded modernist, like Pope Francis himself, or more of a conservative traditionalist, like many of Francis' critics. Among the cardinals voting for a new pope, 80% were elevated by Francis. But that doesn't mean they're all like-minded. As The World's Matthew Bell reports, it's not clear at all who will ultimately be chosen to lead the Catholic Church next.

For three straight days, drone strikes by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been pummeling Sudan's principal seaport, Port Sudan. The strikes have torched the country's

Bergen, Norway, is already one of the rainiest cities in the world. And now, it's getting more rain and more intense rain because of climate change. In response, the city is opening up its stormwater infrastructure, building rivers instead of adding pipes to manage flooding. The World's Hannah Chanatry reports that this is part of a city-wide mandate to use nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change wherever possible.

North Korea confirmed that it sent troops to fight in Ukraine, but with tens of thousands of Russians killed in the fighting, the Wall Street Journal reports that Moscow is now turning to Pyongyang to reinforce another sector: Russia's workforce. North Korea analyst Rachel Minyoung Lee told The World's Host Carolyn Beeler that ties are likely to only deepen between the two countries moving forward. Lee is a senior fellow at the Stimson Center and joined from Washington.

Since last month's deadly attack in Kashmir, when gunmen opened fire on mostly Indian tourists, killing 26, India and Pakistan's already tense relationship is in even greater crisis. Last week, a Pakistani cabinet minister said their intelligence suggests India might attack. The whole thing seems to have alarmed Iran enough that they've sent their foreign minister to Islamabad to help mediate today. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center.

Two quick election updates today. The first from Romania, where the far-right candidate George Simion won a decisive victory yesterday in the first round of the presidential election. And then to Australia, which has re-elected Anthony Albanese as prime minister. He won over hardline conservative Peter Dutton, who appeared to have the upper hand as recently as a month ago.

Skype has been shut down by its owner Microsoft today. It comes more than two decades after its inital launch in 2003. Skype was among the most popular chat services across the globe until the rise of Viber, WhatsApp and, later, Zoom. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, a senior writer with TechCrunch, about the rise of Skype and why it was it was so innovative at the time of its launch.

A Soviet-era spacecraft is expected to come hurling down back to Earth after being stuck in orbit for more than 50 years. The Kosmos 482 probe was intended to reach Venus, but never made it. Instead, it's been circling Earth since 1972, and gradually descending. The World's Daniel Ofman reports.

When the Taliban regained power in 2021, women were barred from sports and the Afghanistan national women's cricket team was effectively disbanded. Many of the team members fled to Australia, where they've been fighting to play together again. Now, the International Cricket Council - the sport's global governing body - has announced support for the exiled athletes. The World's Bianca Hillier reports.

Musician El Leon Pardo has pronounced himself king of Cumbia Espacial, or Space Cumbia. It's here that he's created a tropical, psychedelic-like world where the coral is constantly changing color and the trees have a language all their own. And because El Leon Pardo is king, when he gives the signal, we all have to get up and dance.

Anyone around in the 1980s might recall the hand wringing over test tube" babies, conceived in IVF labs. That now seems quaint - today, more than 1 in 50 US babies are conceived by IVF - but on the horizon are mind-blowing experiments in reproductive science that may cause much more controversy. Breakthroughs are happening in East Asia, where birthrates are in free fall and officials are clamoring for solutions. The World's Patrick Winn reports.

Israel's security cabinet has approved a new military offensive designed to capture" Gaza and hold it indefinitely. The plan entails relocating many of Gaza's 2 million residents to the south and shuttering hundreds of community kitchens. The kitchens will be replaced with centers guarded by Israeli soldiers. UN officials and aid groups have denounced the plan. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler discusses the implications with Amir Tibon, the author of "The Gates of Gaza."

A new book by journalist Ted Genoways sheds light on the obscure history behind Mexico's most iconic spirit. Once little-known outside its homeland, tequila found unexpected fame during US Prohibition, when Americans crossed the border in search of legal libations. The World's Tibisay Zea traveled to the city of Tequila in Jalisco, Mexico, alongside Genoways, to understand why Americans saved tequila, and how it became a billion-dollar industry - and a symbol of Mexican pride.

Using coded language and emojis, cartels are dodging social media censorship to reach out to potential recruits. Their ads are vague, lean into machismo, and flashy vehicles. David Mora, a senior analyst for Mexico at Crisis Group, speaks with host Carolyn Beeler about how these ads look and feel, and what jobs are really behind them.

India is reeling from the shock of the terror attack in Kashmir last week. Gunmen opened fire on tourists, killing 26 men, mostly Hindus. Tourists have been targeted many times in Kashmir's long, bloody history, but this is the deadliest attack in two decades. And it comes amid a strong push by the Indian government to promote tourism in the region. The rising tourist numbers helped Kashmir's economy. But as Sushmita Pathak reports from Delhi, they also served political interests.

This week, clashes broke out in the suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus. The Druze minority group, unknown gunmen and security forces exchanged fire, leaving dozens dead and injured. Israel says it carried out a strike in support of the Druze population. The World's Shirin Jaafari visits the town of Ashrafiyat Sahnaya just outside of Damascus and brings us the latest.

President Donald Trump has eliminated a tax loophole used by China's government to export cheap products to the US. It's called the "de minimus provision," and enabled small parcels valued at less than $800 to escape taxes. The loophole was often used by Chinese e-commerce giants Temu and Shein. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Rana Mitter, ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School, about how China's reacting internally to the current economic clash with the US.

Film director Rungano Nyoni moved to Wales with her family at age 9, but her films are set in her home country of Zambia. Her latest, "On Becoming a Guinea Fowl" is set in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, and is about how a family reacts to the death of a relative who turns out to not be a very good guy after all. The World's Carol Hills speaks to the director about the secrets families keep and what happens when they are revealed.

"Maybe Happy Ending" is an eccentric, endearing story, set in 2064, about two retired robots who fall in love. One of its authors, Hue Park, is Korean and the musical is set in both Seoul and an island off the Korean peninsula. And three out of the four actors in the show are Asian. It's had an interesting journey. The show was originally a hit IN South Korea, playing in Seoul in 2016, with five subsequent productions. Jeff Lunden reports.

Romania heads back to the polls this weekend just six months after a disputed presidential election was thrown out over alleged Russian interference and covert social media manipulation. The country's Constitutional Court annulled November's results amid claims that TikTok influencers were paid to boost a far-right candidate. But instead of halting their rise, the decision may have only strengthened the far right's momentum. The World's Europe correspondent Orla Barry reports.

More than two years after the worst train disaster in Greek history, the country's leaders are planning to install a new system aimed at preventing similar tragedies. The upgrade is a longtime coming and is expected to increase safety across the country's railways, but will it be enough to quell the frustration among victims' families and advocates who have consistently protested since the deadly 2023 crash? The World's Jeremy Siegel takes a look.

Wolfgang Porsche, heir to the Porsche fortune, wants to build a private tunnel to connect his palatial villa to Salzburg's city center. As The World's Sarah Birnbaum reports, his plans have reignited a debate on special treatment for the rich.

"Streetfight" is the Spanish version of the international hardcore music scene. It has many names, from Hakken to Gabber to Newstyle, but the music is essentially the same: loud, harsh and insanely up tempo, at least to the uninitiated. The World's Gerry Hadden attended a Streetfight dance night in Sabadell, Spain, and has this report.

Fifty years have passed since Vietnam's people reunified after a long and bloody struggle. Most scars from that time have healed, but not all. The chemical Agent Orange - dropped from US planes to eradicate jungles - has proven notoriously hard to remove from Vietnam's soil, even though the US has spent decades trying to do just that. As The World's Patrick Winn reports, there's another wartime chemical, Agent Blue, that's received far less attention even though it's still making people in Vietnam sick.

Journalist Maria Ressa, the co-founder of the Filipino investigative news site Rappler, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and the author of "How to Stand Up to a Dictator," speaks with The World's Carolyn Beeler. They discuss how the slide toward authoritarianism Ressa experienced firsthand in the Philippines is eerily similar to what she's seeing today in the US.

Rabbi Moshe Azman is one of the chief rabbis of Ukraine. In the early days of the full-scale invasion, like President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Azman stayed in Kyiv. This decision has had a major impact on the Jewish community in Ukraine - it was seen as a courageous act of resilience. Since then, Azman has become an even more popular figure in Ukraine, because of his multifaith outreach efforts and his engagement with important figures in Ukraine government and security establishment. The World's Daniel Ofman has a profile.

Tarot cards have been around for 600 years and seem to find new adherents with each generation. One reason is that artists, mystics and writers have given them their own particular stamp over the centuries. Carolyn Beeler speaks with independent scholar, writer, teacher and tarot card expert Mary K. Greer about the origins of tarot cards and why they continue to fascinate.

An team of scientists has conducted research into the specific ways birch trees in the Costa Bocche forest in the Dolomites mountain range use bioelectrical signals to prepare for solar eclipses. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Alessandro Chiolerio, lead author the study, about how this research was conducted and what it tells us about tree communication.

The work to choose a new pope begins next week with the secretive Papal Conclave. One of Pope Francis' lingering legacies that will need to be addressed: the late pontiff's efforts to reform the Vatican's less-than-transparent finances. The World's Carolyn Beeler heard from Massimo Faggioli who teaches theology and religious studies at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

The South Korean Indie rock group HOA may sound like a Beatles knock-off band, but since 2015, they've generated their own unique sound in a country where K-pop rules. Fans have taken notice. We'll hear two of the groups most recent tunes.

Colombia and Venezuela are neighbors in South America, and they share deep cultural ties despite different political histories. The Latin rock bands Bomba Estereo from Colombia and Rawayana, of Venezuela, have long wanted to work together. Now, the lead singers have finally made it happen in a newly released collaborative album called "Astropical." Manuel Rueda caught up with Li Saumet and Beto Montenegro before a show in Bogota ahead of a North American tour to hear about their vision for the album, and what it reflects about their countries' political situations.

A conservation charity based in the UK runs a citizen science survey called Bugs Matter. It tracks movements in the population of local flying insects via the number of bugs that splatter on the license plates of its participants' cars. There has been a worrying downward trend in recent years. Host Carolyn Beeler has more.

Operas are often performed in Italian, German, or French.That's why there are what's called surtitles" or supertitles" projected above the stage. They translate the lyrics into the audience's main language. That doesn't help blind and low-vision audience members, though. So now, an opera company in New Zealand has come up with an accessible solution. The World's Bianca Hillier reports.

Fifty years ago on Wednesday, the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, marked the end of the Vietnam War. Most Americans remember is as one of the longest and most-unpopular conflicts in US history. But in Vietnam, the anniversary is being celebrated as the end of a much-longer struggle for liberation, one that predates US involvement by several decades. The World's Matthew Bell reports.

The Sycamore Gap tree once sat symmetrically between two hills along Hadrian's Wall. But more than 1 1/2 years ago it was chopped down, causing disbelief for locals and admirers that considered it a sacred site. Now, two individuals in the UK are being tried for chopping the tree down. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with lawyer Sarah Dodd, a tree law expert, about the trial and how the Sycamore Gap tree is being remembered.

Ukrainian officials flew to Washington on Wednesday with high hopes. They thought they might finally sign a long-awaited deal with the US to develop Ukraine's mineral, oil and gas resources. Ukraine and the US were originally expected to sign the agreement back in February, until a public argument erupted in the Oval Office. Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, discusses the roadblocks to an agreement with The World's Carolyn Beeler.

Spain is testing out new artificial intelligence technology that will change the speed limit on a major highway based on weather conditions, the amount of traffic, time of day and road conditions. They hope the system will help alleviate gridlock and increase safety on one of the country's busiest highways. The World's transportation correspondent Jeremy Siegel reports.

German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a leader of the Protestant resistance to the Nazi regime, was executed 80 years ago for his role on the fringes of a failed plot to assassinate Hitler. In the past decade, US Christian nationalists and others on the far-right have adopted Bonhoeffer as a patron saint, reading into his life and writings a theological reasoning for Christians to abandon pacifism in resistance to what they consider the evils of a repressive state. Valerie Hamilton reports from Munich.

Fourteen-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi cemented his future in cricket on Monday when he became the youngest person to score a century in men's T20 cricket, a format of the sport. A century" in cricket is when a batter scores 100 or more runs in a single inning. Host Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler have the details.

The Herd initiative is bringing life-size puppet animals on a migration across the globe. It's from the same team that also took Little Amal, the Syrian refugee puppet, on a global tour. This time, however, it's about raising awareness about the planet's climate crisis. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with David Lan, producer of The Herd project, about the puppet production and its mission.

The European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched a first-of-a-kind satellite on Tuesday that will count the carbon in Earth's rainforests. Scientists hope to better understand the importance of rainforests in storing carbon and the impact of deforestation. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Mat Disney, a professor of remote sensing at the University College London, about his involvement with the satellite project and how the satellite will operate.

In the years following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, political repression inside Russia has increased considerably. Russia now has hundreds of political prisoners, who are tried under new laws that are all meant to suppress any form of dissent - especially against the war. The World's Daniel Ofman reports, that despite relentless pressure, there are still lawyers, and human rights defenders in Russia fighting for the rights of political prisoners.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has closed its renowned but controversial Benin Kingdom Gallery. The space prominently displayed bronze and ivory objects considered masterpieces from the former African kingdom, now a part of Nigeria. The collection has raised questions about the legacy of colonialism, looted art - and proper museum stewardship. The renowned collector who donated the works has so far remained mum about the situation. GBH's James Bennett the Second reports from Boston.