The World: Latest Stories

US colleges and universities are grappling with divisive international issues while pledging to create spaces for free expression

Saturday's solar eclipse cut across the western United States, dipping down into parts of Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Brazil. It was Panama's first eclipse in 25 years and it came at an auspicious time when scientists are promoting an interest in astronomy.

On Oct. 14, Australians will vote on a referendum that would officially recognize First Nations people for the first time and establish an advisory body called Voice to Parliament.

Soccer is a sport with lots of contact - and injuries. But imagine the game played much slower. In Barcelona, walking soccer" allows soccer lovers of all ages to continue playing the game.

Israel's response to the deadly attack by Hamas over the weekend is already underway. But as hundreds of thousands of Israeli troops gather on the border of the Gaza Strip, they're facing a new challenge. More than a hundred Israeli hostages are being held inside Gaza by Hamas. This has to be something that Israeli military leaders are thinking about as they plan for what looks like a major military assault against Hamas.

Costa Rica is the only country in the Western Hemisphere with a state religion. The religion is Catholicism. But what happens when a president is elected promising to lift evangelical voices to the fore?

In recent months, Russia, Ukraine and the US have been running online ad campaigns all targeting Russian citizens. Russia wants more men to join its military. Ukraine wants them to lay down their arms. And the US is looking to recruit spies.

Many people are questioning how Israeli intelligence services were unable to detect and deter Hamas's attack on Saturday that left hundreds of Israelis dead, while others were taken hostage. Subsequent Israeli airstrikes killed hundreds of Palestinians. Colin Clarke, director of research at The Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security consultancy, discussed the possibilities with The World's host Marco Werman.

In Eastern Europe, some are asking whether the upheaval in the Middle East will impact the war in Ukraine. So far, Moscow's and Kyiv's responses to the war between Israel and Hamas have been starkly different.

Longtime Gaza resident and journalist Hind Khoudary is in Gaza City. She describes to The World's Marco Werman a city of flattened neighborhoods, where doctors are treating patients on the floor.

Daniel Jobim is now on the road playing his grandad's music on tour with Seu Jorge, another Brazilian superstar.

What does it mean to find home in a new country and a new language? That's the inspiration behind a massive new mural in Miami Beach - created by a Spanish art collective known for its vibrant designs and unconventional canvases.

The overall situation in Haiti has been deteriorating for many years, but things have rapidly declined since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021.

In Venezuela, security forces recently seized one of the country's most-notorious prisons, with the mission of dismantling a transnational criminal gang that was ruled from inside. But the head of the gang was able to escape, and now, countries across South America are searching for him.

Brazil has embraced carbon credits as a way to protect the Amazon and mitigate climate change. But many community activists in the Amazon say carbon offset projects can be problematic.

Rewilding Spain has reintroduced back-bred" cattle from nearly 10,000 years ago. They hope the aurochs roaming here once again benefits the environment as well as the economy.

"The Lemberg Machine," by Ukrainian filmmaker Dana Kavelina, tells the wartime history of Lviv, in western Ukraine. The city, known in German as Lemberg, was first occupied by the Soviets, then the Nazis.

The new opera, Monkey: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable," had its world premiere in Boston over the weekend. The story is based on an ancient Chinese folk tale and uses modern and diverse cultural elements to create a unique rendition of the popular fable.

Sasami's latest album, Squeeze," is a musical concoction of different genres and influences -including her family's multicultural heritage as zainichi Koreans. Meklit Hadero, host ofMovement," our series on music and migration, speaks with Sasami about her family history and upbringing.

The Biden administration announced it will grant work permits for nearly half a million Venezuelans. City officials in New York have been calling for it, as tens of thousands of migrants, mainly from Venezuela, have arrived in the city in recent months. However, the process of applying for the legal right to work can take months.

Yahritza Martinez, 16, went from apple picking in rural Washington, to becoming a TikTok sensation and chart-topping musician. But her career nearly came to a halt after her comments about Mexico went viral. Despite the controversy, Martinez played at a major Mexican Independence Day concert in Mexico City -but some fans were not yet ready to embrace her.

After more than 700 uninterrupted years of boys-only belting, Spain's La Escolania de Montserrat Choir is finally mixing things up. Beginning this September, a select group of girls will be allowed to join the boys at the altar, singing the liturgy at Saturday afternoon and Sunday masses. Choir organizers are calling it a revolution.

More than 20,000 Japanese Canadians were forced from their homes during World War II. They were incarcerated, while, back home, much of their property was forcibly sold by the government. Redress came 44 years later, but much of what was lost is gone forever.

The culinary contributions of Taiwan are often overshadowed by other cuisine from the region, especially China. Now, a new cookbook highlights some of the ingredients and flavors that make Taiwanese cooking unique.

Moroccans continue digging out victims from this month's 6.8-magnitude earthquake in the Atlas Mountains. The death toll now stands at nearly 3,000 people. Many more have been left homeless. Morocco's government has so far only accepted aid from a handful of countries, but Moroccans overseas are stepping up. In Spain, they're collecting supplies to send to victims, but it isn't always easy.

Despite prevailing narratives of coral bleaching and decline, the reefs of American Samoa have been particularly resilient to warming temperatures that have laid waste to other corals. Scientists there are finding out why, and looking for ways to use this knowledge to help reefs in other parts of the world.

Pope Francis recently praised Russian historical figures in a speech to Russian youth. To members of Ukraine's Greek Catholic community, these comments were deemed "painful" amid the ongoing war with Russia, and put a spotlight on their needs and concerns.

A group of Tibetan Buddhist monks, living in exile in India, are doing a sacred arts tour" this month in the US. They're demonstrating an ancient artistic and spiritual practice, creating big, colorful sand mandalas. They say Buddhist traditions like this are under threat because of Chinese government policies in their historic homeland of Tibet.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sent energy costs surging, European leaders scrambling for alternative suppliers of gas, and redirected flows of Russian oil toward Asia. Some European countries also burned more coal in response to the energy shock. But the most transformational long-term change will be in increased investments in renewable energy, according to International Energy Agency chief energy economist Tim Gould.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine upended energy markets and sent prices through the roof. As Europe weaned itself off of Russian fuels, it turned to Norway. The country is now the largest exporter of natural gas to Europe.

Tensions have escalated between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The neighboring countries are now in a serious dispute over water rights. The Dominican government sealed the border and stopped issuing visas to all Haitian citizens until the dispute is resolved.

Since the Yemen war began in 2014, Western journalists have been telling the world about the fighting, the human toll and the geopolitical underpinnings of the conflict. Many reports, even today, contain no Yemeni perspective. A new project is inviting Yemenis from across the country and in the diaspora to talk about their own experiences of war and daily lives. Host Marco Werman speaks with Nuha Al-Junaid, the Yemeni woman coordinating The Yemen Listening Project.

Faculty and students who are opposed argue that the move would put the state's flagship university at risk of offering a subpar education, especially in terms of producing graduates who can compete in the international workforce.

Faculty and students who are opposed argue that the move puts the state's flagship university at risk of offering a subpar education, especially in terms of producing graduates who can compete in the international workforce.

In Hamburg, Germany, an international tribunal makes rulings on the UN's Law of the Sea, which deals with marine territorial rights and navigation, and requires states to prevent and control marine pollution. This week, a coalition of small island states is asking the court to rule on an unusual case: that greenhouse gas pollution is covered under this law of the sea.

Some years back, an American in Spain became homeless after a string of bad luck. Now, he's helping others who've hit a similar rough spot. Especially other foreigners with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Five decades after the 1973 coup in Chile that toppled the government of Salvador Allende and brought General Augusto Pinochet to power with help from the US, people in Chile are deeply divided about what the coup anniversary means today.

Supporters of newly elected Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo say that the nation's courts have long favored the elites including some former military members. But now under Arevalo, whose victory is under dispute, they say that they hope for change, including for the victims of war crimes committed during Guatemala's civil war.

In much of Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand, three-year undergraduate degrees are standard. Now, a US college accrediting body is allowing Brigham Young University in Idaho and affiliated Ensign College to offer shorter programs that require fewer credits.

Puerto Rican rapper Villano Antillano is a leading voice in a new generation of LGBTQ artists subverting traditional gender norms in reggaeton and reclaiming the political roots of the genre.

But critics say that India has turned the G20 into a marketing campaign for itself - and for Prime Minister Narendra Modi - ahead of general elections next year. The summit will also be a test for India as it seeks to establish itself as a rising power and as a voice for the global south.

Costa Rica sells its image as a green paradise," with ample nature reserves and no standing military. But many say this reputation is more myth than reality as violence, poverty and unemployment is on the rise.

Getting an acceptance letter from a US university is cause for celebration. However, getting a student visa in time to attend the first day of class can be a bigger achievement. That's because the wait can last months, even more than a year, for some countries. The World looks into the delays that are discouraging global talent from coming to the US.

Amie Ferris-Rotman, a global news editor for New Lines Magazine, wrote a personal essay about her experience being pregnant in Russia, where many citizens believe it is a woman's patriotic duty to give birth and become a mother.She talked about it with The World's Marco Werman.

The walk culminates in the city of Karbala to remember the legacy of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Husayn.

As we wrap up Planet Hip Hop," our summer series celebrating 50 years of hip-hop music around the world, H. Samy Alim returns to talk with host Marco Werman about the next 50 years. Alim is an anthropology professor and the director of the Hip Hop Initiative at UCLA.

In the US, interest on student loans started accruing again on Sept. 1. Soon, more than 40 million borrowers will have to resume their payments. The US is an outlier when it comes to high tuition and the debts that students take on.

European countries that border the Rhine River are working together to restore an old migration route, but manmade structures present a major hurdle.

Most Cambodians live in rural areas, with many struggling to make a living on small farms. Even with low public school tuition fees, sending a child to college is nearly impossible. Those who want a higher education must be resourceful.