The World: Latest Stories

Slovakia's hard-right culture minister, Martina imkoviova, fired the director of the country's most influential theater last week. A day later, she fired the director of the Slovak National Gallery. imkoviova cited some reasons, but the artistic community thinks the real reason is a concerted crackdown on artistic expression. The World's Sarah Birnbaum reports.

Li Rui, once a top Chinese official and a personal secretary to Mao Zedong, kept detailed diaries, critiquing seven decades of communist rule in China. Li donated the diaries to Stanford University. Now, Li's widow is suing Stanford University, claiming that the documents belong to her. Columbia University's Andrew Nathan speaks with The World's Host Marco Werman about what's at stake in the trial.

An attack by polar bears on a worker at a remote defense installation in northern Canada this month highlights the growing problem of vanishing ice in the region, and its impact on polar bears who hunt seals from atop ice floes. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Andrew Derocher, professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, about the impact of a warming Earth on polar bears' habitats and their interactions with humans.

When Israelis and Palestinians get information about the war in Gaza, there are two distinct stories being told on the nightly news. In the West Bank, families watch Al Jazeera Arabic playing a constant loop of devastating real time footage of the destruction taking place in Gaza. In Israel, such footage on the nightly TV news has taken a more patriotic tone, as Reporter Rebecca Rosman found out.

Major League Soccer limits each team in the league to what it calls homegrown territories," which are the specific geographic areas from which they can develop youth players. San Diego FC is the only team in the league with an assigned region that includes Mexico - specifically, an area within 62 miles in driving distance from the club's training facility in El Cajon. From KPBS in San Diego, Gustavo Solis reports.

Lithium is critical to the manufacturing of batteries that power electric vehicles. As the West tries to turn away from lithium supplied by China, European leaders are focused on local lithium deposits. One is in Serbia, but a plan by Rio Tinto to mine it, has run up against local anger. Tom Moerenhout is a research scholar at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs where he follows the extraction of lithium for the global energy transition.

A decade-long collaboration by the US and Mexico to restore the wetlands of the Colorado River Delta has borne fruit - or rather birds. Looking at areas where the restoration work took place, a recent study found that more than half of the populations of bird species have stabilized or increased. To learn more, The World's Host Marco Werman spoke with Osvel Hinojosa-Huerta. He is the director of the Coastal Solutions Fellows Program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and one of the authors of the 2024 study.

Cuban singer Dayme Arocena has one of the most stunning voices in music today. But when host of the "Movement" podcast Meklit Hadero heard Dayme's latest album, "Alkemi," she could tell something dramatic had changed. Her voice had changed and Dayme had changed too. The album follows a double migration - first from Cuba to Canada, then from Canada to Puerto Rico.

Ukrainian troops are pushing deeper inside Russia's Kursk region, continuing a surprise offensive" that began on Aug. 6. Washington Post reporter Siobhan O'Grady was among a handful of journalists allowed into the Ukrainian-held territory this weekend. O'Grady tells The World's Host Marco Werman that Russian civilians feel abandoned by the Kremlin, and are increasingly worried about their fate.

The extremist group ISIS was defeated in Syria and Iraq about five years ago. But those who follow the group and its activities closely say it is once again gaining momentum, reports The World's Shirin Jaafari.

Switzerland is holding a contest to clean up a longstanding problem: military munitions that have been dumped into its lakes. The Federal Office for Armaments is offering a $58,000 prize to the winning idea of how to safely retrieve the munitions from the lakes. Host Marco Werman has more.

In Farsi, haarf means to "talk." And that's just what Iranian-Israeli singer Liraz Charhi wants all sides to do in the Middle East, where tensions remain high. Liraz sings about the danger of false narratives swirling around social media, and rhetoric that creates divisions. The World's Host Marco Werman tells us more.

After 20 years of negotiations, the international community failed to reach a peace deal for Afghanistan. And so, when the US withdrew its troops in 2021, the country was left to the Taliban. The most contentious issue between the two sides was the freedom of Afghan women - to access education and work. In this excerpt of the podcast "The Negotiators," from Foreign Policy and Doha Debates, Ashley Jackson, co-director of the Center on Armed Groups looks at how aid workers and activists continued to negotiate with the Taliban.

Two days of ceasefire negotiations over the war in Gaza wrapped up today with the participants planning to reconvene next week in Cairo. Today, the US, Egypt and Qatar issued a joint statement saying this week's meetings in Doha have bridged some gaps, and should allow for a swift implementation of a deal, as The World's Host Marco Werman explains.

As countries from China to Spain break heat records, some architects have been looking to cooling systems used centuries ago for inspiration. In Iran's historic city of Yazd, decorative wind-catching towers, sometimes paired with cooling pools, have been able to provide emissions-free heat relief for many private and public buildings. As The World's Durrie Bouscaren reports, while a lot of these towers are now defunct, architects have been studying them as a model for new, climate-friendly air conditioning.This story originally aired on Sept. 14, 2022.

There's a very quirky kind of vehicle on roads around the US. They're tiny, and the steering wheel is on the right side. For some car enthusiasts, these little Japanese imports are a passion. But as Craig LeMoult reports from GBH in Boston, some states are taking steps to ban them from the roads.

A new study has revealed that islands in the Scottish Hebrides may be the only place on Earth to have a detailed record of how the Earth entered a deep Ice Age hundreds of millions of years ago - and how the thaw which followed led to the emergence of the first animal life. The World's Host Marco Werman speaks with Elias Rugen, a PhD student at University College, London, and lead author of the study out this week in the Journal of the Geological Society of London, about the discovery.

How Olympic athletes earn a living looks different for everyone, but cash after winning gold can often come from sponsors, governments and national Olympic committees. This year, World Athletics has become the first international governing body to reward gold medals. But as The World's Bianca Hillier reports, whether cash prizes belong at the Games is up for debate.

Denmark's violent crime rates have been rising, and a significant portion of it is committed by teens from Sweden. The two countries have decided to work together on law enforcement. Swedish police officers will set up shop in Denmark and work on preventing the import of violent crime to Danish streets. Diamant Salihu, a crime reporter for the Swedish news broadcaster, SVT, talks about the origins of this crime and the methods Denmark and Sweden are using to control it.

Indonesia's capital is in trouble. Greater Jakarta is crammed with 30 million people. The traffic jams and smog are debilitating. On top of that, this big concrete city is slowly sinking into the sea. Tomorrow, Indonesia will inaugurate an improved capital built on a jungly island. But can the new city live up to its promises? The World's Patrick Winn reports.

This week, Germany sent out an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national known as Volodymyr Z in connection with the 2022 sabotage of the Nordstream natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Originally, many blamed Russia to have carried this out. But the Wall Street Journal investigation shows that it was in fact Ukraine who is responsible. The World's Host Marco Werman talks with Bojan Pancevski who broke the story for the Wall Street Journal.

Across Latvia, farmers are planting sunflowers as part of an effort to raise money for Ukraine. The idea is to attract people to take selfies with the flowers and donate to Ukraine. The money will then go to the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv, which was hit by a Russian strike last month. The World's Daniel Ofman reports from Latvia.

US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he backs a new election in Venezuela. The comment to reporters came after Brazil also urged for a new vote. Two weeks ago, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed victory in an election that has been widely criticized by the opposition there. Host Marco Werman has the details.

After the fall of Kabul, exactly three years ago today, the lives of many women and activists in Afghanistan were in peril as the Taliban took over. This is the story of how journalists, diplomats and aid workers around the world formed a network to support them. It was called Digital Dunkirk. The World's Shirin Jaafari was a part of this network and tells the story.

Swedish authorities have recorded the first case of a contagious new variant of mpox outside the African continent. This week, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak inside Africa as a public health emergency of international concern." Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an infectious diseases expert at Emory University, speaks with The World's Host Marco Werman about the race to get mpox vaccines into the arms of the most vulnerable Africans.

NASA officials said on Wednesday that the two astronauts delivered to the International Space Station in June by Boeing's Starliner could return on SpaceX's Crew Dragon in February 2025, if Starliner is still deemed unsafe to return to Earth. Host Marco Werman tells how other astronauts have endured longer-than-expected stays aboard the space station.

Istanbul is one of those rare, historic cities where you can practically trip over ancient history. A 16th-century-old bathhouse, or hamam, is privately owned and on sale for $2 million. Though the city is full of historic buildings that have been stunningly restored, it's often prohibitively expensive. At what point is cultural heritage worth saving? The World's Durrie Bouscaren reports.

Not running while playing soccer is harder than it seems. But it's easier on the knees, making it a boon for the over-50's who still love the "beautiful game" but can no longer play the physically challenging sport. Last October, The World's Gerry Hadden in Barcelona, Spain, reported on a new, slower version of the game.This story originally aired on Oct. 13, 2023.

The Biden administration is flooding the zone in the Middle East with high-level diplomats ahead of a key meeting on Thursday. Getting a ceasefire for Gaza is the immediate goal. But this is also about bringing down the temperature in a region that's on edge after Israel assassinated two top leaders from Hezbollah and Hamas. Israel has been anxiously waiting to see what sort of retaliation Iran and its regional proxies might unleash against the Jewish state. The US wants to prevent a wider regional war as The World's Matthew Bell reports.

US quarters depicting Cuban American singer Celia Cruz have been released and are now in circulation. The image is of her face, microphone in hand singing. Cruz died in 2003. The World's Marco Werman brings us the story.

The British prime minister has vowed to come down hard on rioters involved in violent, far-right protests in the UK last week. Some offenders have already been sentenced to time in prison. But British prisons are already at 99% capacity, and many are dangerously overcrowded. The World's Europe correspondent Orla Barry explores if the government can get tough on violent protesters when its jails are overflowing.

In 2020, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani signed the Doha Agreement. It was an agreement that would hopefully bring peace to Afghanistan. Ali Latifi is a journalist born in Kabul and raised in California. He saw the signing ceremony on TV as President Ghani took the stage along with leaders of the Taliban and the US. He went back to Afghanistan, as a journalist, in 2001. Latifi tells Jenn Williams, host of "The Negotiators" podcast, how he remained skeptical of the agreement.

Last Friday, a young female doctor was raped and murdered at a hospital in Kolkata, India. The doctor was resting following her shift at the hospital. Now, there's outrage in India following the incident with tens of thousand expected to march on Wednesday. Host Marco Werman speaks with Dr. Rimy Day about the violence that women experience at public and private hospitals in India.

In Italy, even though the beaches are public property, the government rents out stretches of beach to beach club operators. And those licenses are handed down from father to son for generations, creating monopolies. The EU has decided to get involved. It says that this practice violates a competition clause. And now, it is forcing the beach club licenses to be reallocated through a fair bidding process. The operators are not happy, as The World's Sarah Birnbaum reports.

A powerful workers union behind a strike at Chile's Escondida mine, which produced nearly 5% of the world's copper in 2023, is looking to snarl production at the site as it pushes for a bigger share of the profits. Host Marco Werman speaks with Dusan Paredes, economics professor at Universidad Catolica del Norte in Antofagasta, Chile, about the miners' demands and the potential impact on the price of copper.

German authorities issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national named Volodymyr Z. His last name is protected by Germany privacy law, but he's a suspect in the explosions that destroyed the natural gas pipeline running beneath the Baltic Sea. Olga Khakova explains stakes of this enduring mystery.

Guerilla artist Banksy has created new bold artworks on buildings in neighborhoods around London each day for more than a week. Host Marco Werman describes the menagerie of wild animal art, from pelicans eating fish atop a restaurant storefront to the latest eye-fooling image - a gorilla, painted upon a metal roll-up door, appearing to rip open an entrance to the London Zoo.

For more than 15 months now, the warring generals of Sudan's Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have brought chaos to a country once on the path toward democracy. New attempts at peace talks this week are already floundering. Meanwhile, parts of Darfur are now experiencing famine, according to independent experts. The World's Africa correspondent Halima Gikandi brings us an update.

Two left-leaning nations, Brazil and Nicaragua, have expelled each other's ambassadors. The root of their dispute is the recent contested election in Venezuela. Nicaragua has thrown its weight behind President Nicolas Maduro. That's a step Brazil hasn't taken, at least not yet. Council on Foreign Relations fellow Will Freeman talks with host Marco Werman about the challenges Venezuela's disputed vote poses to some of Venezuela's one-time allies.

It's the most basic number for any government's leaders to know: how many people do they govern? In the South Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea, the answer is mysterious. And as the government attempts to count its people, it is learning that not every citizen is eager to be counted. The World's Patrick Winn reports.

Ukraine's president and military are acknowledging their forces have invaded Russia's Kursk region and seized approximately 1,000 square kilometers of territory. Now, Ukrainian military sources say Russia is pulling some units out of eastern Ukraine to defend against the invasion in southern Russia. Host Marco Werman speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter Yaroslav Trofimov about what's happening on the ground inside of Kursk and how Russian officials and citizens are reacting to the incursion.

The IOC and France gained ground in reducing the effects of the Olympics on the environment by building fewer new facilities, foregoing air conditioning and creating a greener Olympics Village. But there's more to be done. Globally, if climate change isn't controlled, the future of the Olympics themselves could be in jeopardy. The World's Gerry Hadden reports.

When the Taliban was dismantled after Sept. 11, 2001, the US outsourced negotiations about the future of Afghanistan to the UN, with clear instructions: get disparate Afghan political groups to agree on an interim government leader and a new constitution as soon as possible. The talks that ensued in Bonn, Germany, laid bare the contradictions, omissions and power dynamics that would ultimately undermine Western efforts to broker true peace in Afghanistan. Reporter Soraya Lennie tells the story on a special season of The Negotiators podcast, which marks the three-year anniversary of the fall of Kabul.

A growing number of migrants and asylum-seekers fleeing the authoritarian government in Venezuela, extortionists in Colombia, and drug cartels in Mexico are finding themselves in homeless encampments in San Diego. Immigration advocates warned this would happen when Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began releasing people into the streets last year, and when the county's temporary migrant transit center closed due to lack of funding. From KPBS in San Diego, Gustavo Solis reports.

Nashville has the largest Kurdish population of any city in the United States, and most are from the Iraqi region of Kurdistan. They arrived in waves starting in the 1970s, and later in the 1980s and 1990s after Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaigns. Since the coronavirus pandemic, there's been an uptick in Kurds coming to the United States from Turkey. And many end up in Nashville, where they know there's already a large community. WPLN's Rose Gilbert reports on how they are influencing the city's world-famous music scene.

Paris hosted the closing ceremony for the Paris Olympics over the weekend, but some of the biggest stories from the Games continue to develop. The World's Bianca Hillier shares the latest with host Marco Werman.

Access to Instagram was restored to people in Turkey over the weekend, about a week after the government blocked the app. Turkey's transportation and infrastructure minister claimed that Instagram promised to ban the accounts of Kurdish groups that Turkey considers to be terrorist organizations. Host Marco Werman has more.

The beachside community of Samanda was devastated by last year's earthquakes in southern Turkey, which killed roughly 60,000 people. Today, a small surf center introduces local teenagers to the sport - and a way to process trauma while facing fear. The World's Durrie Bouscaren reports from Hatay.

A revolutionary war is raging across Myanmar, forcing the country's military regime out of towns and cities at astonishing speed. Resistance forces say they're fighting to liberate Myanmar. They intend to rebuild it into a freer place with less oppression. But one of the country's ethnic minorities, the Rohingya - a Muslim group - is reportedly under fire from one of the country's resistance groups. The World's Patrick Winn reports.

Violent protests among far-right groups rocked the UK after three girls were fatally stabbed in the town of Southport two weeks ago. The killings were falsely blamed on a Muslim immigrant. The messaging platform, Telegram, had one 15,000 member group devoted to protesting and now authorities are wondering whether Telegram's moderation is too permissive. Darren Loucaides has reported on Telegram for Wired and is covering its role in the riots in the UK.