The World: Latest Stories

Germany's far-right party, the AfD, lost state elections in Brangenburg over the weekend. Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler explain.

A new study out of the University of Toronto and St. Michael's Hospital found that using an AI-based tool called ChartWatch led to a 26% drop in the number of unexpected deaths in the hospital unit where it was tested. The World's Bianca Hillier reports.

The new Libyan government has put around $2 billion into the recovery of the city of Derna after major floods last year. To the surprise of many, downtown Derna has been cleaned up and renewed, and many people have moved into newly built homes. But some people have been left out. The World's Durrie Bouscaren reports.

Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon today killed more than 356 people and injured at least 1,200 others. It marks a major escalation of the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which have continuously traded fire for months. The US also announced it was increasing troop levels in the region in response to the attack. Host Marco Werman speaks with Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East Correspondent at the Economist, about what the latest attack on Lebanon means for the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Black mambas, spitting cobras and puff adders. These are some of the venomous deadly snakes that call Kenya home. For years, people in rural areas have lost their lives or limbs due to bites from these snakes. After years of overlooking the problem, Kenya's government is now taking it seriously. The World's Africa Correspondent Halima Gikandi has the story.

Two new studies add to the research that has found microplastics in tissues throughout the human body. Meanwhile, scientists are calling for global action to limit the long-term harm that all plastics - including microplastics - can cause. Richard Thompson of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth is one of the leading voices behind that effort, and he tells Host Carolyn Beeler that although there is still time to make a difference, the time to act is now.

After a painstaking count, Mediazona and the BBC found that 70,112 Russian soldiers have died in the war in Ukraine. Mika Golibovsky, a journalist for Mediazona who worked on the count, explains what went into it and what it means.

Germans are voting again this weekend in local elections, and the far-right is again expected to top the polls. But there is another anti-establishment party competing and, despite being just eight months old, has managed to put itself in the position of political kingmaker as Germany's established political parties try to build governing coalitions without the AfD. Rebecca Collard reports from Potsdam.

Israel's military says it killed a top military commander from Hezbollah, alongside other "senior operatives", in an air strike today in Beirut. The attack followed around 200 rockets fired from Lebanon at northern Israel earlier, and a series of strikes by the Israeli air force overnight. The two sides appear to be on a path toward war. But when asked about it today, President Joe Biden said, his administration is not giving up on efforts to get a comprehensive peace deal in place. "We have to keep at it," Biden said. Hosts Carol Hills and Carolyn Beeler have an update on a story we'll continue to follow.

Ugandan singer-songwriter Jon Muq was in Kampala, when he first heard the charity single, "We Are the World" from his cousin's CD collection. This song opened Muq's world to pop music and inspired him to learn English and start writing his own songs. Earlier this year, Jon Muq released his debut album, "Flying Away."

There are just three left in Europe, not counting Kevin. Kevin "Dola" de la Torre is Spain's last human cannonball. The reason for the daredevils' declining numbers: mainly the danger involved in being sling-shotted out of a cannon several times a day. There's also waning interest among the younger generations within human cannonball families. The World's Gerry Hadden catches up with Kevin the Human Cannonball in northeast Spain, and brings us his story.

Margrethe Vestager is one of Europe's leading voices on regulating Big Tech. She is executive vice president of the European Commission, the primary executive arm of the European Union. She speaks with Host Carol Hills about EU regulatory actions involving platforms like X and Meta, and companies such as Apple and Google.

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger - all led by military juntas - have announced plans to introduce a new biometric passport. It's the latest step in their withdrawal from the regions' main bloc of nations: ECOWAS. One year after the three countries signed the Alliance of Sahel States, The World's Sarah Birnbaum has this check in on the region.

In August, a female doctor was raped and murdered in the Kolkata hospital where she worked, while resting after her night shift. There's been massive public outcry, and healthcare workers have been demanding the implementation of safety regulations. But the incident has also brought attention to sexual violence in India, as Sushmita Pathak reports from Delhi.

In a rare expression of consensus, most of the UN General Assembly supports the establishment of an intergovernmental panel to help keep track of AI and guide policy discussions and recommendations. Ian Bremmer is the rapporteur who wrote the proposal on behalf of the secretary-general's AI advisory board and explains what the panel would do and why it could be important.

Contrary to election-year rhetoric, Mexican drug cartels don't rely on migrants crossing the border illegally to bring fentanyl into the country.

In Lebanon today, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech, acknowledging the deadly attacks this week that caused pagers and walkie-talkies to explode across the country. He called it a "severe blow." But Nasrallah also promised that Hezbollah will continue attacking Israel until the war in Gaza ends. Host Marco Werman speaks with The World's Matthew Bell about the escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanon.

A year ago, Azerbaijan's military took control of Nagorno-Karabakh. Some 100,000 Armenians fled the enclave - a region within Azerbaijan made up largely of Armenian residents. As The World's Daniel Ofman reports from southern Armenia, many families who fled Nagorno-Karabakh are still struggling to adjust to life in their new home.

The US and Chinese militaries seldom see eye to eye, but at least they are talking again. A top Chinese military commander is in Hawaii today to meet the head of US Indo-Pacific Command. It's the latest high-level sit-down between the two nuclear-armed superpowers - drawing down a period of nearly two years when China cut communication. Can more face time avert a dangerous conflict? The World's Patrick Winn reports.

Israel's planting of explosives in everyday low-tech items like pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon raises new security concerns. Will these kinds of things be added to lists of suspicious objects? And why were these very simple forms of technology used as explosive devices? Host Carolyn Beeler explores these questions with Richard Forno, assistant director of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's Center for Cybersecurity.

Singer-songwriter Susan O'Neill is an award-winning artist from Ireland. She's hoping to break through to a wider audience with her new album 'Now in a Minute.' Susan O'Neill describes the inspiration behind it and plays a few tracks.

Over the past 30 years, hundreds of thousands of people have fled political instability and civil war in Somalia. Over that time, there's been something of a trend of displaced Somalis returning home to seek public office. As Maine Public Radio's Ari Snider reports, a man who's lived in Maine for over a decade is hoping he can make a difference by becoming president of Jubaland state in Somalia.

The Restoration Ecology team at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, has recently published new research that uses super-sensitive microphones to listen to and analyze the health of soil. The researchers say this new method could replace traditional ones, which are expensive, disruptive, and laborious. The World's Bianca Hillier reports.

Peace talks between the warring parties in Switzerland have led to small improvements in access for humanitarian workers to move food into food-insecure areas. But as Leni Kinzli, a spokesperson for the UN's World Food Program in Sudan, explains, the crisis spans the entire country and things are getting worse.

Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler share a roundup of stories that may not have caught your attention.

Lebanon is in crisis. On Tuesday, a coordinated attack targeted members of the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, that were carrying electronic pagers. The attack killed 12 people and injured more than 2,800 others. On Wednesday, a similar attack was carried out via walkie-talkie radios. It's left three people dead and more than 1,000 injured so far. Host Marco Werman speaks with Nizar Ghanem, research director at the Alternative Policy Institute in Lebanon, about how these repeated attacks have left residents feeling.

More than 100 wildfires are stretching thousands of firefighters to their limits in northern Portugal this week. Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro declared a state of calamity for the hardest-hit areas late on Tuesday. Host Marco Werman explains that European Union officials are calling this an example of the continent's "climate breakdown."

A recent shortage of high-quality, low-cost rice in Japan has been pinned on the large number of tourists visiting the country, as well as hot weather exacerbated by climate change. But farmers and agricultural analysts say there's something else at play - a decades-old government program that pays farmers not to plant their rice. Hannah Kirshner reports on some rice farms in Kaga, a town in the Hokuriku region along the Japan sea.

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales and current President Luis Arce are at loggerheads. Arce has accused Morales of attempting a coup while Morales called on supporters this week to conduct a "March to Save Bolivia. " That demonstration turned violent on Tuesday when supporters of Arce intervened. Host Carolyn Beeler finds out why this political crisis has dragged on so long with Kathryn Ledebur of the Andean Information Network in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Across the world, the credibility of elections is declining. That's the conclusion of a new report by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Sweden. Despite a record number of elections happening this year, the report says fewer people are turning out to vote, and the results are increasingly contested. The World's Tibisay Zea reports that the deterioration in election quality is part of a global trend of democracy under threat.

Itaipu is one of the largest hydroelectric plants in the world. It provides electricity to 80 million people in Brazil and Paraguay. Not only is it huge, but it represents a unique model of cross-border energy cooperation. Michael Fox takes us on a tour of the dam, and explains the energy negotiations that help maintain the relationship between these two countries.

In the Indian city of Mumbai, millions of Hindus are just now wrapping up the annual 10-day celebration of Ganpati, a holiday dedicated to the elephant god Ganesha. The holiday has come under scrutiny, however, because of the incredible environmental damage that results from the 11 billion statues that are released into water bodies in the city and across the state each year. Many of the statues are made from a plaster that carries pollutants. Namrata Kolachalam reports from Mumbai on struggling efforts to make the statues more eco-friendly.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous enclave located in the South Caucasus. For decades, the territory has been the source of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, however, ethnic Armenians have been living in this territory for hundreds of years. The World's Daniel Ofman reports on how the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is still shaping the fraught relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan today.

Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler review a mix of Canadian news stories that don't quite make the headlines.

In the Canadian Province of British Columbia, a new intervention measure will force people with concurrent mental health issues and drug addiction to receive treatment. In a recent press conference, the premier of British Columbia David Eby said this expansion of involuntary care is as much a public safety precaution as it is a public health measure. Host Marco Werman speaks with Andrea Woo, who covers health for the Globe and Mail, in Vancouver.

Ryosuke Kiyasu is a respected heavy metal and jazz drummer in Japan who takes on a different style in his solo drum shows --playing a snare drum with his teeth, kicking the drum around the room and often destroying furniture, among other things. He spends six months on the road and sells out small venues all over the world. Jamie Fullerton caught up with the drummer in Warsaw, Poland.

Coaches, players and fans see a parallel to the rise of youth soccer in the United States a few decades ago. There's now Major League Cricket in six US cities, and youth leagues are on the rise. Liz Neisloss reports from GBH in Boston.

The tiny landlocked South American country of Paraguay is one of the top soy producers on the planet. Soy is the country's top export, and it accounts for a major chunk of the country's gross domestic product. But the soy explosion has wreaked havoc on Paraguay's ecosystem and been a disaster for many small farmers, whose farms have been inundated with pesticides from neighboring soy plantations. Mike Fox reports from the Paraguyan state of Alto Parana.

Several regions of the world are experiencing severe flooding. The African countries of Nigeria, Mali and Chad are coping with massive displacement as a result of flooding there. And in Europe, the current downpours are being called historic" and unprecedented." Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler check in with people on the ground in each region to get the latest on shared struggles, as well as how the crises are playing out differently. Olasunkanmi Okunola is a Nigerian scientist who focuses on flood risks and climate adaptation; he explains the flooding and displacement in Africa. And Andreas von Weissenberg is The International Federation of Red Cross's Head of Health, Disasters, Climate and Crises in Europe. He's been monitoring the situation there from Budapest.

Across Lebanon and reportedly in Syria, Hezbollah operatives have been gravely injured and killed when their pagers exploded. It bears the hallmarks of a coordinated attack and is a major strike against Hezbollah. Hannah McCarthy is a foreign correspondent in Beirut, who explains the latest on what's happened as tensions in the Middle East climb to a new level.

The Pantanal region in Brazil is the world's largest tropical wetlands and one of the most ecologically diverse places in the world. It's home to more than 4,700 species of plants and animals, including jaguars, capybaras - the world's largest rodent - striking cobalt-blue Hyacinth Macaws and anteaters. Many of these iconic species burned or had their habitat destroyed in this year's record-setting wildfires. The World's Carolyn Beeler speaks with wildlife biologist Jorge Gallo about the impact the fires are having on wildlife, and visits an animal clinic in Campo Grande, Brazil, to see how veterinarians are treating an injured anteater.

More details are emerging about the background of the man allegedly involved in the second attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump. One particular aspect of the would-be shooter's history that stands out: His obsession with Ukraine's fight against Russia. Host Marco Werman speaks with Ken Gray, a retired FBI agent. He is a distinguished lecturer at the University of New Haven.

A top Venezuelan official claims that the CIA has been plotting to overthrow the government. Six people, including three Americans, have been arrested. The US State Department denies the accusations. Host Marco Werman has the details.

Maria Fernanda Gonzalez, better known as Mafer Bandola, is a master musician from Venezuela who arrived in New York City in 2017. Just a few years later, many other migrants from Venezuela followed, as part of a massive migration from the country to the United States, and cities in the US like New York. As part of our series from the podcast Movement, about migration and music, Meklit Hadero talks to Bandola about how she developed community and has helped her fellow Venezuelans.

Women, activists and human rights advocates in Iraq say they are worried about a set of changes that the parliament is considering to family law. The new proposal would give religious authorities more power over marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody. The World's Shirin Jaafari reports.

The series Shogun" has been a shocking success. The show, already popular with audiences, has now won a record-breaking number of Emmy's. It's also unique as the main characters speak in Japanese the majority of the time, depicting feudal Japan at the turn of the 17th century. Host Marco Werman speaks with Morgan Pitelka about the authenticity of the history presented in the series.

The results of New Zealand's annual poll to crown its bird of the year are in. The winner is a rare penguin called the hoiho, Maori for "noise shouter." Host Marco Werman explains why conservationists are glad the bird is getting the spotlight.

Record-setting wildfires are raging in Brazil's Pantanal region. In a densely vegetated rural area the size of England, it can be hard for firefighters to find and reach the blazes to combat them. That's why one nonprofit is training local fighters to use drones to pinpoint the exact location and size of fires, and scope out roads to reach them. The World's Carolyn Beeler reports from the area.

Brazil's wetlands region called the Pantanal cover an area roughly the size of England. Although this region is typically flooded for much of the year, historic droughts have led to historic wildfires, destroying large swaths of vegetation and wildlife. Scientists say these kinds of fires in this region will now be four to five times more likely because of climate change. The World's host Carolyn Beeler is in Brazil's Pantanal, and reports on the impacts of the wildfires on people in this region.

Indigenous leaders in Brazil are celebrating after a Danish museum returned a sacred cloak. It has been on display in Denmark for more than 300 years. The nearly 6-foot-long cloak is made of 4,000 red feathers from the scarlet ibis bird. Host Carol Hills has the details.