The World: Latest Stories

The US has opened a new facility in Mexico to breed and release millions of sterile flies. It's part of an effort to curb the spread of the New World screwworm, a flesh eating parasite that has spread through Central America and into southern Mexico. Host Marco Werman learns more from entomologist Phillip Kaufman at Texas A&M University.

Today is Equal Pay Day in Europe, according to the European Commission. It's the symbolic date that represents the wage gap between men and women. As Hosts Carolyn Beeler and Marco Werman explain, today marks the day when European women "work for free" for the rest of the calendar year.

An early snapshot of US colleges and universities this fall shows the number of first-year international students is down 17% compared to last year. That's according to a new report out today from the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit that tracks these trends. GBH's Kirk Carapezza has been taking a closer look at the numbers and shares an update with Host Carolyn Beeler.

A special tribunal in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka has found ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year, and has sentenced her to death. Zafar Sobhan, the editor of the Bangladeshi news site Counterpoint, joins The World's Host Marco Werman from Dhaka to talk about the implications.

"Practically every district" of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv came under heavy bombardment by Russia on Friday, according to a city official. The strikes killed at least five people and have been condemned by Ukraine's international supporters - as Russian forces are hitting Ukraine along key areas of the front line. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler spoke to Mariia Zolkina, the Head of Regional Security & Conflict Studies at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, a Kyiv-based think tank.

The Deaflympic Games started in 1924. That was decades before even the Paralympics, which doesn't have categories for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. The 2025 edition kicks off in Tokyo this weekend, and The World's Bianca Hillier has the details.

Paniz Faryousefi led the Tehran Symphony Orchestra this week, marking a rare performance by a woman conductor. Only one other women conductor has been allowed to lead a symphony orchestra in Iran in the past four decades. Faryousefi said she hopes her achievement opens the door to other women musicians in Iran.

Chileans go to the polls Sunday to elect their next president and Congress in a first-round vote where security is front of mind. Chileans have a growing perception that their country's security is deteriorating, even when Chile stands as one of the safest countries in the region. The World's Tibisay Zea reports.

Sudan's civil war is escalating. The paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which now controls the Darfur region, is escalating its attacks and turning its focus east. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Council meets today to address the growing humanitarian crisis. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler spoke with Kholood Khair, head of Confluence Advisory, a think tank founded in Sudan.

Last night in Las Vegas, Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny took home five Grammy awards, including for best album and best urban song. But the extravagant hip-hop and soul duo, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, took home five as well - and wowed the world with an explosive live show. The World's Gerry Hadden reports.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a home for astronauts that entails a lot of risks and challenges. It's the subject of a new two-part documentary, "Operation Space Station," from our colleagues at NOVA. One of the people we meet in that documentary is Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano. He's among the lucky few to have lived at the ISS and speaks to Host Carolyn Beeler.

National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek has been walking across the globe on foot for over a decade, for a project called the Out of Eden Walk. He often walks through sparsely populated, extremely remote places. That trek comes with a major concern: What do you do when you get sick? Salopek tells Host Carolyn Beeler about how he stays healthy on the road, where health care comes in many forms.

It's meant to be the antithesis of the polluted, climate-threatened megacity. A "forest capital" with no smog, no traffic jams, no overflowing sewage and no encroaching seawater. Instead, Indonesia's new capital has solar-powered trains, flying taxis and buildings ensconced in the green jungle like some sci-fi "Star Wars" city - or at least it will, someday, according to the master plan. Nusantara is one of the most ambitious city-building projects ever. And it's now up and running - sort of. Reporter Patrick Winn went to see for himself.

Israeli forces have carried out near-daily airstrikes in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreement signed in November of last year. Both Israel and the US say Hezbollah, the Lebanese group opposing Israel, has to disarm. But so far, the group has rejected those demands. The World's Shirin Jaafari reports.

Pakistan's parliament cemented the power of its military chief today by passing a constitutional amendment limiting the independence of the country's highest court. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler discusses the implications with Ayesha Siddiqa, an expert on Pakistan's military at King's College in London and the author of "Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy."

Ten days ago, a flamingo named Frankie made a daring escape from the wildlife sanctuary where she was born and raised. After a week of attempting to bring Frankie home, the sanctuary confirmed that she was now living in France, where she is well-fed and thriving. The sanctuary has now called off their search, and left Frankie to her freedom.

The group Venessia.com, which has tracked the population of Venice for 25 years, says the city now has fewer than 45,000 residents. That's a loss of more than 120,000 people since the 1950s. They're fleeing an ever-increasing number of tourists, who some say make their beloved city seem more like Disneyland than a living, breathing place. Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler explain.

Exactly a decade ago, 10 ISIS gunmen opened fire on people in cafes, at a rock concert and at France's national soccer stadium. They killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more. Ten years on, survivors are slowly rebuilding their lives. Many are attending ceremonies across Paris, including at a new memorial garden in their honor. The World's Gerry Hadden reports.

Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler catch us up on some stories that are flying below the radar.

The Turkish Football Federation announced mass suspensions this week after it found more than 1,000 active players linked to illegal betting accounts. The news breaks just weeks after hundreds of referees were linked to breaking similar gambling rules. The World's Bianca Hillier reports.

The new Japanese prime minister sparked a diplomatic flare-up late last week, when she said that an attack by China against Taiwan could lead to a military response from Japan. China's foreign ministry is demanding that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi retract her "egregious" remarks or "bear all consequences." The back and forth also comes at a time when Taiwan's leaders are stepping into the international spotlight to talk about the importance of defending democracy. The World's Matthew Bell reports.

Which European country do you think is leading the pack in terms of paternity leave right now?

Co-hosts Carolyn Beeler and Marco Werman tell us about the Hungarian man who spent 144 hours dancing to over 3,000 songs and burned more than 22,000 calories in his quest to make the Guinness Book of World Records for consecutive time spent on the dancing game platform.

In 2015, Christiana Figueres was a key architect of the Paris Agreement, the landmark global climate treaty that mandated emissions reductions. Now, at the start of this year's COP30 conference, she speaks with The World's Host Marco Werman on the legacy of that agreement.

As the largest US warship sails into the Caribbean, Venezuela has announced a "massive mobilization" of its land, air, naval and reserve forces. Former CIA Latin America analyst Fulton Armstrong tells The World's Host Carolyn Beeler that, even if Venezuela's military retreated in the aftermath of US strikes, its populace might unify to repel a foreign invader.

Two Swedish teenagers, arrested last year for throwing hand grenades at the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, went on trial in Denmark today. Swedish authorities say the case highlights a growing problem at home: the recruitment of children and teenagers by criminal gangs. The Swedish government is now proposing a radical measure to try and tackle the problem. Lowering the age of criminal responsibility to just 13. The World's Europe Correspondent Orla Barry reports.

Ekpar Asat dreamed of building a digital home for his people - a place where Uyghurs could share music, stories and a sense of belonging. Beijing saw that dream as a threat. They erased the network, and then they erased him. But what happened in Xinjiang wasn't only about one man or one community. It has become a blueprint for how repression spreads - far beyond China's borders. Dina Temple-Raston, from the "Click Here" podcast, reports.

A group of 374 musicians set a record on Wednesday for the most number of bagpipers piping in one place at one time. They played AC/DC's iconic rock anthem "It's a Long Way to the Top" in honor of the band's 1976 video in Melbourne, Australia, that featured bagpipes. Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler have more.

Have you been keeping up on your Duolingo streak? New research suggests that learning a second language could play a role in keeping the mind younger and healthier for longer. A study published in the journal "Nature Aging" found that people who speak two or more languages were more likely to see delayed symptoms of dementia. The World's Host Carolyn Beeler learned more from Lucia Amoruso, one of the main authors of the research. She's a psychologist with The Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language based in San Sebastian, Spain.

Scientists have developed a new potato variety that is resilient to late blight, a disease that is increasingly threatening the potato crop in the Peruvian Andes. The World's Host Marco Werman speaks with Thiago Mendes, scientist at the International Potato Center, about the new variety.

This year, the genre-bending American band Deerhoof released its first single, "Immigrant Songs," off its new album. And it launched it, not on any of the usual platforms, but on Craigslist. Lead singer Satomi Matsuzaki joined Meklit Hadero on the podcast "Movement," telling stories of music and migration, to break down her band's commentary on immigration, how it connects to her personal experience and how she uses her voice to get her point across.

New Delhi and Islamabad were both hit with bombs, killing at least 20 people between them. Neither country's officials know the exact cause of the explosions or who was responsible. But unlike previous attacks, the long-term rivals aren't seriously blaming each other. We get the latest from Sushmita Pathak.

US foreign direct investment in Africa has surpassed China's for the first time since 2012. But for African countries, concerns are growing that this increase in investment could lead to a shifting picture of dependency. The World's Host Marco Werman spoke with professor Lina Benabdallah about this dynamic.

She was sitting on a pile of Bitcoin that British police say was worth more $7 billion, money that came from scamming thousands of Chinese pensioners. But on Tuesday, Qian Zhimin was handed a prison sentence of 11 years and eight months for money laundering. Judge Sally-Ann Hales told Qian that she was "the architect of this offending from its inception to its conclusion. ... Your motive was one of pure greed." The World's Matthew Bell reports.

More than 20 miles of gigantic wall, out in the ocean, are defending Southeast Asia's biggest mega-city from rising seawater. That's the idea anyway. Jakarta and its 30 million people are sinking, while climate change is causing ocean levels to rise. Indonesian officials have hired experts from the Netherlands, with their dyke-building expertise, to make the massive sea wall a reality. But the project has some serious downsides. Patrick Winn reports from Jakarta.

Today marks the start of COP30, the annual gathering where delegates from countries around the world meet to hash out global action on climate change. The World's Host Marco Werman speaks with Megan Rowling, editor at Climate Home News, about what to watch at this year's meeting.

The first snowfall of the season blanketed the Canadian Premier League's North Star Cup in Ottawa yesterday. Despite the weather, the game saw one of the most outstanding goals ever scored in the CPL, a bicycle kick from Atletico Ottawa's David Rodriguez. As Host Marco Werman tells us, Atletico beat Cavalry FC of Calgary 2-1 in extra time in a game that saw nearly five inches of snow.

Two years ago, the coastal fishing town of Grindavik was evacuated after hundreds of earthquakes shook southwest Iceland and sent fractures running through the ground in town. The World's Carolyn Beeler visited Grindivik, with a lifelong resident who still can't return, to see what the town looks like two years later.

At least eight people were killed on Monday in a car explosion near the historic Red Fort in a densely populated area of the Indian capital Delhi, a heavily guarded city of more than 30 million people. The exact cause of the blast is being investigated. Host Marco Werman has the latest.

Baker and writer Laurel Kratochvila tells us that when it comes to Polish baking, it's best when the food is "good, good, not too sweet." That phrase inspired the title of her new cookbook, "Dobre Dobre: Baking from Poland and Beyond." Kratochvila speaks to Host Carolyn Beeler.

An art auction later this month for a painting by Frida Kahlo is causing a stir. If predictions bare out, the painting could become the most expensive work by any female or Latin American artist. Estimates range from $40 million to $60 million, as Host Marco Werman explains.

This summer and fall have seen a sudden resurgence in violence in the Basque Country of Spain. The street fighting is eerily reminiscent of the campaign waged by the separatist group ETA, from the 1980s until it renounced its violent campaign for independence in 2011. The World's Gerry Hadden has the story.

Italy's Court of Auditors has rejected the government's ambitious plan to build one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. The long-debated, multi-billion dollar bridge project would connect Sicily to the mainland. The court didn't give a reason for its decision last week, but Italy's infrastructure minister has pledged to carry on fighting for its construction. Deutsche Welle, DW's Angelo van Schaik reports.

Guitarist and singer Amadou Bagayoko died earlier this year, just before the release of the final album he recorded with his wife Mariam Doumbia, "L'Amour a la Folie" (crazy love). Host Marco Werman takes a listen to the title track and then takes us back to perhaps a more relevant song for Mali these days as it faces a serious terrorist threat, their 2004 hit, "Politic Amagni 'La Politique, C'est Pas Bon'" (politics isn't good).

New research has found the Roman Empire's prolific network of roads is even bigger than previously thought. The World's Host Marco Werman spoke with Tom Brughmans, one of the researchers behind the project about just how expansive the network was.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that she is bringing a lawsuit against the man who groped her in public earlier this week. She says she hopes to call attention to a problem that women in the country experience every day. And she's calling on every state in Mexico to enact laws protecting women from gender-based violence. Host Marco Werman has the details.

In Mexico, a wave of bold political assassinations is putting new pressure on the country's fight against drug cartels. Last week, a mayor in the western state of Michoacan was gunned down during a public celebration. He had openly challenged the cartels. Days earlier, a lime grower who spoke out about extortion was also murdered. The back-to-back killings show how dangerous it remains to oppose organized crime. From Mexico City, The World's Tibisay Zea reports.

Playwrights Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson met with scores of diplomats and climate scientists who participated in crafting the 1997 United Nations agreement on greenhouse gas emissions known as the Kyoto Protocol. The drama of multilateral negotiations left a powerful impression. "How can we bottle this and put it on a stage?" Murphy remembers thinking. The result? "Kyoto," the play making its US debut at New York City's Lincoln Center. Reporter Jeff Lunden brings us the story.

In the United States, thousands of flights have been canceled due to a shortage of air traffic controllers. They're all domestic flights, but many passengers need them to make connections to international airports, and final destinations. The World's Jeremy Siegel caught up with travelers stuck in Boston.

Government employees in the US aren't the only ones enduring the longest shutdown in the country's history. At military bases across the world, locals employed by the US have seen their pay suspended. While governments like Germany have stepped in to pay some of their citizens working for the US, others are caught working without pay. That's the case for Portuguese citizens at Lajes air force base on the island of Terceira. Host Marco Werman learned more from Paula Terra, who is president of the Portuguese Workers' Representative Committee.