The World: Latest Stories

British Canadian scientist Geoffrey Hinton and his US colleague have received the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics for their work laying the foundation for machine learning. Hinton is optimistic about AI's possible contributions to medicine. But he tells host Carolyn Beeler artificial intelligence could also cause serious harm to humanity.

Twenty-one year old computer engineering student Shayma Ahmed used to live in a house with concrete walls. She'd drive to campus each day in a car. Now, home is a tent. Her only means of transport is a donkey cart that winds through streets of rubble in the central Gaza city of Deir al Balah. She tells host Marco Werman about the immeasurable sorrow the past year has brought her family and friends.

In Russia, interest rates for home mortgages are way up. But the Russian government has created a workaround. The catch is, you have to be willing to move out of the city, and into the hinterlands. And once you opt in, you have a vested interest in preserving the status quo of an authoritarian government. Levi Bridges reports on how Russians are navigating their economy in the shadow of ongoing war.

Israelis took part in somber ceremonies on Monday. They marked one year since the Hamas led attack killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians. The war that began in the Gaza Strip on that same day is still not over. And the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is escalating, with Israeli air strikes and an expanding ground invasion. People across the region are also waiting anxiously as Israel is expected to retaliate for the Iranian missile attack on Oct. 1. The World's Matthew Bell reports.

The 2022 Pakistani film "The Legend of Maula Jatt" broke the country's box office records. It should be headed for screenings in India right now, but politics got in the way, keeping an ad hoc ban in place that prevents the two countries from sharing films. As we hear, the musical production values in "The Legend of Maula Jatt" are still what we've come to expect from either Bollywood or Pakistan's equivalent, Lollywood.

Larch trees have become a foliage fan favorite across Canada and even parts of the US. Massive crowds are descending on national parks and forests to bear witness to the larch trees' crisp golden colors. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with David Bird, a professor of biology at Mount Royal University in Canada, about the larches and what makes them so special.

Gershon Baskin, a backchannel hostage negotiator for Israel, says a compromise he wrote with an Israeli general and a senior Hamas negotiator is ready for endorsement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden. He explains to host Carolyn Beeler what's in the proposed deal and what it's like trying to bring the hostages home.

Lake Uru Uru, once clean enough to drink, has been practically ruined by mining waste and urban pollution. But now, a group of Indigenous women are cleaning the Andean lake in hopes they can revive its natural ecosystem. Sarah Birnbaum reports.

As the world's climates change, farmers around the globe need more accurate weather forecasts to help them determine when and what to plant. A new paper from the University of Chicago shows that better monsoon forecasts in southern India, in fact, improved the returns for farmers in 250 villages. Sushmita Pathak visited a few of them in the state of Telangana to hear how the farmers received the forecasts, and what they did with the information.

Parts of Antarctica are turning green at an alarming rate, according to new research. Scientists used satellite imagery and data to analyze vegetation levels on the Antarctic Peninsula, a long mountain chain that points north to the tip of South America. They found plant life had increased in this harsh environment more than 10-fold over the past four decades. Host Carol Hills explains.

Japan shut down all 54 of its nuclear reactors after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Only a dozen reactors have been restarted since then, and the national government wants to more than double that figure by 2030, saying it's essential to meeting energy and climate goals. However, hurdles abound: chief among them, there is widespread citizen pushback to restarting reactors, with community groups near shuttered reactors fighting their reopening in the courts at every step along the way. The World's Carolyn Beeler visits Kashiwazaki, the location of Japan's largest nuclear power plant, and spoke with residents who are divided about the plant's reopening.

Spellcheck and auto-correct can be helpful when you're drafting an email or a text message. But if that red, squiggly line appears under your own name, it's a different story. The World's Bianca Hillier reports on a campaign in the UK to make auto-correct more diverse and inclusive. This story first aired in March, 2024.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, one of the leading museums of the world, just acquired a botanic book about Surinam for its collection. The author, Maria Sibylla Merian, was a 52-year-old divorcee who embarked on a self-funded voyage to Suriname in 1699, driven by relentless curiosity about the lives of insects. The World's Sarah Birnbaum reports.

On Friday, Israel continued to batter the dense population center of Beirut, Lebanon as well as Gaza and the West Bank. Flights to Iran, Lebanon and Iraq have been canceled across the region. Though some airlines have resumed operations, the upset has left many travelers stranded in Turkey - a regional transit hub. This gave The World's Durrie Bouscaren a chance to get a sense of how Iranians - in and outside the country - are reacting to the threat of a wider, regional war.

Lebanon's facing a massive crisis right now. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the past two weeks amid Israel and Hezbollah's war. One million people have also been internally displaced in the past two weeks alone. Host Carol Hill speaks with Nizar Ghanem, research director at the Alternative Policy Institute in Beirut, about how Lebanese civilians are handling the crisis and where they're directing their anger right now.

Former President Donald Trump has promised mass deportations if he makes it back to the Oval Office. Vice President Kamala Harris says if she wins in November, she'll back a revamped version of the bipartisan Senate bill that would make it more difficult for migrants to get asylum. Claudia Masferrer of the El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City tells The World's Marco Werman what the new policies will mean for the people and governments in Latin America.

The Chagos Islands were once part of the British Empire, and islanders were forced out to make way for a military base that is run by the United States. Now, the UK is returning the islands to Mauritius. Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center's South Asia institute, explains the deal the islands' strategic importance today.

Much of the rhetoric in the US presidential race has zeroed in on immigration. Republican candidate Donald Trump blames the Biden administration for challenges at the US-Mexico border. The Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, lays that blame squarely at Trump's feet. She promises to revive a now-defunct border security bill to fund asylum officers, increases in Border Patrol staff, and border wall construction. From Arizona, KJZZ's Alisa Reznick brings the issue back to the reality on the ground.

Nimrod Sheffer is a former chief of staff for the Israeli air force, and was a top war planner for the military until 2016. He says Prime Minister Netanyahu's plans for the regional war are unknown, but he worries that Israel's strategic success against Hezbollah will be squandered. In a conversation with the The World's Marco Werman, he also addresses alleged Israeli war crimes and what a direct war between Iran and Israel could look like.

Hurling is a national sport in Ireland that dates back centuries. It's also one of the fastest field sports in the world. The wooden sticks known as hurleys that are used in the game are made from ash trees. But a deadly fungal disease is threatening to wipe out ash trees across Ireland and much of the EU. The World's Europe correspondent Orla Barry reports.

Extending a helping hand when you know you're breaking the rules is not always easy. For Su Joun, it was particularly hard. As the child of South Korean immigrants, her parents always reminded her to appreciate how lucky they are to be in the US. Despite this, there was one time when Joun ignored the rules. She shared what she did on GBH's Stories From The Stage.

Russia recorded its lowest birth rate in 25 years in the first six months of 2024, with the number of infant deliveries falling under 100,000 for the first time in June. Vladimir Putin is desperately trying to deal with his country's birth dearth. Last week, Russian lawmakers introduced a bill that would make it illegal to advocate for a child-free" lifestyle, with fines of over $4,000 for individuals who don't comply, and much higher fines for state employees or companies.

Almost a year into Israel's campaign to eradicate Hamas in Gaza, life there continues to be dire. Some 42,000 have been killed, according to health officials, and those who have survived lack basic necessities like shelter, food and clean water. Health care and humanitarian workers say they struggle to provide care in the face of daily Israeli bombardments and red tape. The World's Shirin Jaafari reports.

A super typhoon is heading toward Taiwan, with record-setting winds predicted. The typhoon hasn't lost momentum like typhoons typically do before hitting Taiwan because its highly unusual trajectory has avoided the islands in the Philippines. Classes and work are canceled in Taipei, and many other parts of the island. Host Marco Werman speaks with reporter Ashish Valentine in Taipei.

Norton, Massachusetts, recently hosted one of the state's most unique sporting events. The New England Rodeo's championship brought horse and bull riders of all ages to a small dirt arena tucked away in the southeast corner of the state for glory and a little prize money. GBH's Esteban Bustillos reports on the group of immigrants who are keeping this sport alive.

After the attack on Oct. 7, President Joe Biden pledged steady US support for Israel. He flew to the Jewish state a little over a week later and repeated the pledge. A year later, the US military helped intercept Iranian missiles fired at Israel for the second time. But the US-Israel security alliance is facing unprecedented strain. There are big policy differences between the two governments as well, and they won't go away anytime soon. The World's Matthew Bell has our story.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr ZelenskIy has been asking Western leaders for permission to use long-range weapons supplied by the United States and others to strike inside Russian territory. Journalist Volodymyr Solohub hit the streets of Kyiv to speak with Ukrainians and find out how they feel about the prohibition on using these arms to strike Russia.

Sid Sriram wanted to make it big in the American music industry, so when he got an opportunity to live and work in India as a singer for hit films, he wasn't sure he would take it. For The World's regular series Movement about music and migration, Meklit Hadero talks with Sriram about his breakout album Sidharth, playing Coachella, and how he needed that time in India to find his way in the US.

Half of Haiti's population is struggling with acute hunger, according to a new report. Gang violence and lack of food and water are making daily life a constant struggle, especially for children hoping to return to school. The Miami Herald's Jacqueline Charles speaks with The World's Marco Werman about her recent visit to the island.

A day after Iran fired nearly 200 missiles at Israel, the world still waits to see what Israel's response will be to the attack. Meanwhile, more than half a dozen Israeli soldiers and about a dozen Lebanese have been killed as the IDF army and Hezbollah clash in southern Lebanon. Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler bring us the latest.

Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler bring you a few things you might have missed in the news.

"Don't waste your time with generic dating apps that don't understand your unique cultural background. Download our Somali dating app today." That's the pitch from Guurdoon, the first dating app created in Somalia. It was developed by community elders and religious leaders concerned about how to strengthen family values in a country that's suffered through decades of civil war and conflict. The World's Africa correspondent Halima Gikandi reports.

In Turkey, there's a type of pub that's renowned for its ability to help people open up and share emotions not typically expressed in public. Visiting a meyhane involves long hours spent with friends over food and an anise-flavored liqueur. Dating back to the Byzantine Empire, the meyhane is a place where enthusiasts laugh, sing - and often cry. The World's Durrie Bouscaren takes us inside. This story first aired in December 2022.

Germany's dachshund clubs say a new animal protection law could effectively outlaw their beloved sausage dog, whose long body and short legs can cause painful spine problems. Farmers are outraged with proposals in the law for how they should raise their livestock. As Valerie Hamilton tells us, a proxy culture war is playing out in Germany's cities and hinterlands, with dachshunds, cows and their humans as unlikely standard-bearers.

Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and the former mayor of Mexico City, promised to carry on with the agenda of her mentor, outgoing president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. But as The World's Tibisay Zea reports, she has a big opportunity to build a legacy on her own.

Israel came under attack on Tuesday, with strikes from Lebanon in the north, and Iran in the east. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps called the attack a direct retaliation for Israel's assassinations of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, and of top Hamas and Iranian leaders in separate recent attacks. Michael Hanna with the International Crisis Group tells The World's Carol Hills that Tuesday's events are a continuation of the "wider war" the international community has been anxiously anticipating.

Rwanda is dealing with a deadly outbreak of the Marburg virus. It's left eight people dead and 18 more in treatment. Host Carol Hills speaks with Craig Spencer, associate professor at Brown University, about the origins of the virus and Rwanda's capacity to deal with it.

Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas began walking picket lines early Tuesday in a strike over wages and automation that could cause shortages on store shelves and reignite inflation if it is not settled soon. Host Carol Hills speaks with Willy Shih, supply chain expert and professor of management practice at Harvard, about the strike's potential impact on the economy and global trade.

The Jewish community in Turku, Finland, has worshipped at a particular synagogue for more than a hundred years. It was built before Jews even had the right to citizenship in Finland. For The World's series on "Sacred Spaces" around the globe, Jon Kalish tells the story of this synagogue and what it reveals about the unique identity of Finnish Jews.

A cruise ship taking passengers on a 3 1/2-year, around-the-world voyage finally sailed from Belfast's dockside after four months of delays in Belfast only to turn back to finish some paperwork. The World's Carol Hills explains.

The Santiago Bernabeu stadium, home to soccer club Real Madrid, has placed a moratorium on what it hoped would be a couple of giant music shows a month. This, after neighbors complained of painfully high noise levels in their homes. Real Madrid hopes to soundproof the stadium by the spring but locals say that's impossible. They're still fighting to have the shows canceled permanently. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from Madrid.

Mountains are in constant motion. That includes the world's tallest peak, Mt. Everest, in the Himalayas. It's added an extra 160 feet in the past 89,000 years, according to a new study. Adam Smith, a geoscientist at University College London and one of the study's authors talks with The World's Carol Hills about how and why mountain ranges grow.

Over the course of his over 60-year career, Joe Boyd has worked Pink Floyd, R.E.M., Fairport Convention, Toots & the Maytals and so many more. He's now released a new book called "And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey Through Global Music." Host Marco Werman speaks to Boyd about the book and plays a few tracks to help us on the journey.

A coal-fire powerplant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar has shuttered permanently as the UK shifts toward renewable energy. The closure was a long time coming but marks the end of an era in UK history. Ewan Gibbs, a senior lecturer in history at the University of Glasgow and author of "Coal Country," explains how this caps a major shift in identity for the UK.

This troublemaking trio from West Belfast writes rhymes in favor of Irish unification, the health benefits of the pint and anything else they can think of. Their politics have earned them enemies among pro-Britain Northern Irish. But their energetic music and on-stage antics have shot them to fame among young people across Northern Ireland, sectarianism aside. They've also made an award-winning film. The World's Gerry Hadden caught their recent show in Boston.

Afghanistan's Taliban leadership may have smashed TVs in the 1990s, but these days, they're embracing slickly-produced videos and social media influencers to try to rehab their image abroad. From the podcast "Click Here," Dina Temple-Raston has the story.

Israeli military officials are hinting at the possibility of a ground invasion in Lebanon, even as the Biden administration pushes for a ceasefire. While there are mixed feelings about Israel's current government, there seems to be unity within the country for eliminating the threat posed by Hezbollah. The World's Matthew Bell explains.

Pope John Paul II and American President Ronald Reagan were both known for their public speaking. What many people probably don't know is the two were also friends, and allies in the global fight for freedom during the Cold War. Lance Orozco reports from KCLU on a new museum exhibit at the Reagan Library.

Lebanon's Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, says that as many as a million people have been displaced since the start of the Israeli airstrikes in his country. People fleeing bombardments in south and east Lebanon have fled to Beirut. Many have nowhere to go and are sleeping on the streets. The World's Shirin Jaafari reports on the conditions they are facing in Beirut.

Dikembe Mutombo, the man considered one of the best defensive players in NBA basketball history, died on Monday from brain cancer at 58. Mutombo was also a global ambassador for the game, spreading philanthropy through his Dikembe Mutombo Foundation. Host Carolyn Beeler has an appreciation.