The World: Latest Stories

Officials from New Zealand, Australia, Germany, the US and the UK spent this week calling for an independent investigation into the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) handling of the 23 Chinese athletes who tested positive for a banned substance in 2021. WADA continues to stand by its actions, but amid the mounting pressure, the agency announced yesterday that an independent prosecutor will review its handling of the case. The announcement isn't satisfying all critics, though, as The World's Bianca Hillier reports.

Scientists in the UK are hailing trials for the development of an mRNA vaccine used to treat patients with skin cancer. Host Carol Hills speaks with Dr. Lawrence Young, professor of Molecular Oncology at the University of Warwick, about how the vaccine works and other potential benefits.

Residents of Toronto, Canada, are scrambling to protect their cars from an epidemic of car theft. Many are simultaneously installing tire clamps, steering locks, burglar alarms and steel bollards in their driveway, but have their cars stolen anyway. Thefts increased by 40% last year as Anita Elash reports from Toronto.

A baby orca trapped in a lagoon off the coast of Canada's British Columbia swam free this morning at high tide. She managed to get free on her own. Now, the hope is that her cries will be heard by her family so the orca clan can be reunited.

On Saturday, South Africa will celebrate 30 years since Nelson Mandela became the country's first democratically-elected Black president. Under Mandela's leadership, a new constitution abolished apartheid and afforded all South Africans equal rights. While Mandela's party, the African National Congress, has ruled the country ever since that historic 1994 vote, recent polls suggest this could be the first year South Africans vote them out of power. The World's Carol Hills spoke with Thabo Leshilo, the politics editor of The Conversation Africa.

Ukraine has struggled in recent months on the military front, losing territory to Russia. It's also struggling to protect civilian life and infrastructure. US military assistance for Ukraine that was passed this week is supposed to change that. But Ukraine's also looking to beat back Russia and win back its territory. Host Marco Werman speaks with Samuel Charap, senior scientist at the Rand Corporation about what victory means for Washington and Kyiv and how this military aid plays into that.

Authorities in Venice today began charging day-trippers 5 euros - about $5 - to enter the city of canals, alleys and historic architecture. Host Marco Werman tells how the new scheme works, and how it was received on opening day.

The murder of dozens of political candidates since pre-campaign activities kicked off is looming over Mexico's largest election in history. The World's Tibisay Zea reports from Mexico City.

In Haiti, the nine-member Transitional Presidential Council has been sworn in. It replaces the prime minister, Ariel Henry, who officially resigned on Wednesday. It now has the difficult task of leading the gang violence-stricken Haiti. Their main task is to get the country ready for elections in 2026, the first since 2016. Host Marco Werman has the details.

Government officials from around the world are looking on, as the US Supreme Court considers former President Donald Trump's case for legal immunity. Israel, Brazil, France, and South Korea are just a few of the nations that have grappled with the question of legal immunity for their head of state. The University of Chicago Law School's Tom Ginsburg speaks with The World's Marco Werman about how other countries have dealt with the issue.

Following a 2016 deal, the European Union sent 6 billion euros to Turkey to support refugees in the country and prevent asylum-seekers from crossing into Europe. The deal served as a template for later agreements with Egypt, Libya and Mauritania. But a new audit of the money spent raises questions of transparency and how effective the funds were. The World's Durrie Bouscaren reports from Istanbul.

Global average sea-surface temperatures have set records for more than a year straight. It's incredibly anomalous, and worrying for everything from marine life to hurricane season. Scientists believe several factors are at play, but don't think they fully understand why temperatures have jumped up quite so fast. The World's Carolyn Beeler reports on what kinds of questions this global ocean overheating raises about climate change.

European police have busted a criminal ring that over a period of two years stole rare books by famous Russian authors from libraries across Europe. Europol says it has arrested four Georgian nationals in Georgia and Lithuania who are thought to have collaborated in the plot, in which at least 170 books were stolen by Russian writers including Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol. Marco Werman speaks with Pierre-Yves Guillemet, an antiquity books collector and seller behind PY Rare Books in London.

At its height, ISIS recruited and trained children to fight for its cause. Some participated in atrocities and appeared in propaganda videos. Others were brought to the so-called caliphate by their parents or they were born there. The World's Shirin Jaafari visits a rehabilitation center in northeastern Syria and brings us the story of one young man from Trinidad who has been stuck there for 5 1/2 years.

For weeks now, health workers in public hospitals across Kenya have been on strike over low pay and other issues. Union representatives accuse Kenya's government of not investing enough in the health sector. Government officials have shot back, saying they are endangering the lives of Kenyans. Attempts to negotiate an end to the strike have been unsuccessful so far. The World's Halima Gikandi reports from the capital, Nairobi.

Argentina's President Javier Milei ran for office promising to repair the economy through austerity measures. Martin Castellano, head of Latin American Research at the Institute of International Finance in Washington tells host Carolyn Beeler how Milei's "shock therapy" for the country's ailing economy has generated some backlash.

US-China relations are fraying again, as America's top diplomat touches down for a three-day visit. The US is pressuring China on a variety of prickly issues, including arms for Taiwan, and support for Russia's war on Ukraine. The Economist's Beijing bureau chief David Rennie speaks with The World's Marco Werman about the obstacles hamstringing negotiations.

For more than five years, thousands of people with perceived connections to ISIS have been locked up in detention camps, prisons and rehabilitation centers across northeastern Syria. Women and children make up a significant part of the population. The World's Shirin Jaafari visited several of these sites and brings us the first of a three-part series about this forgotten legacy of the war against ISIS.

This week, the US and the Philippines will conduct one of their largest-ever military exercises on the tiny islands called the Batanes. The islands belong to the Philippines but are just 100 miles from Taiwan. The US military is looking to build a permanent seaport there that could serve as a base for warships. As The World's Patrick Winn reports, Beijing, which lays claims to Taiwan, is not happy.

Five horses spooked by construction noise near Buckingham Palace took off galloping through London on Wednesday morning. The Cavalry Horses have a prominent role in official ceremonies with British royals. An army spokesman says the horses were caught, treated by a veterinarian and are doing fine. Three service members and a London cyclist were injured.

Currently in the US, about 10% of the population are naturalized citizens. And many live in critical swing states, which could decide the winner in upcoming presidential election. Alisa Reznick, a reporter with KJZZ, speaks with people considering naturalization and the impact they could make.

A bacterium called Xylella fastidiosa was first noticed in Italy in 2013. Since then, it has killed tens of millions of olive trees and there is no known cure. With Italy's annual olive oil harvest significantly down and the European Union dedicated to an open import system, what is to be done? Marco Werman speaks with Wopke Van der Werf who is a professor of agricultural ecology at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

The 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped on the morning of Oct. 7. On Wednesday, Hamas released a video with the young man speaking to the camera. It's not clear when it was shot, but Goldberg-Polin says he's been held "nearly 200 days."

A new study conducted in a Ugandan forest has established a link between deforestation and viral disease transmission. Animals living in that forest lost a source of food and were forced to eat virus-laden bat feces instead. Among the viruses found in the feces, known as "guano" is a relative of COVID-19. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Pawel Fedurek, lead researcher in the study, about how this research could shed light on how new viruses can spread from animals to humans.

One of the side effects of Israel's war in Gaza has been an increase in violence in the West Bank. The Israeli army has been raiding Palestinian villages, going after what they call "suspected terrorists." And Jewish settlers have been harassing Palestinians living nearby. There have been many innocent people caught in the crossfire, including the eldest son of a family in the village of Burin. Host Marco Werman visits the family at their home to hear their story.

Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people, mostly women and children, have fled the region of western Darfur seeking safety across the border in eastern Chad. Host Marco Werman speaks with reporter Neha Wadekar who has been visiting a refugee camp in eastern Chad. Note: The interview details violence against civilians.

The European Commission (EC) says the new TikTok Lite app is as toxic as cigarettes." It's a spin-off of the original TikTok and it pays people to watch videos. The EC says it was launched without regard for risks of addiction, or safeguards against children using it. Now they're threatening to suspend it. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from Barcelona.

Britain's Parliament has passed contentious legislation aimed at deterring asylum seekers from heading to the UK. People arriving via small boats or any other irregular means" will be deported to Rwanda where their asylum cases will be heard. Joelle Grogan, of the think tank UK in a Changing Europe, describes the plan and its likely consequences to The World's host Carolyn Beeler.

A new report by the Swiss investigative organization Public Eye is taking aim at food giant Nestle. It says that several popular Nestle products sold in lower-income countries contain added sugar, often at high levels, and that the same products, when sold in Switzerland, contain no sugar. Marco Werman speaks with Manuel Abebe, co-author of the report by Public Eye.

At the annual European gull screeching championships in Belgium, 9-year-old Cooper Wallace won the juniors competition. Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler explain how the costumed kid stole the show.

France won the bid to host this summer's Olympic Games, partly on a promise to rejuvenate one of the country's most impoverished areas. Seine-Saint-Denis, is a densely populated working-class department north of Paris, that records some of the country's highest unemployment rates. In July, the region will house more than 14,000 athletes and will host some of the top Olympic events. Not all its residents are convinced the Games will change the area for the better though, as The World's Europe correspondent Orla Barry reports.

Over the weekend, the US House of Representatives passed a measure to ban the social media app TikTok in the US, unless its parent company ByteDance sells its ownership stake. Meanwhile, European Union regulators are looking at a new app from the company called TikTok Lite, which they say defies EU rules on social media technology. Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn Beeler have more.

Washington DC once had a thriving Chinatown that was home to thousands of Chinese people. Today, gentrification has pushed most Asians out to the suburbs. There's not even a full-sized Chinese grocery store. WAMU reporter Amanda Michelle Gomez rides along with Chinatown residents as they take a shopping trip out to Virginia.

A new report from the World Meteorological Organization and the Copernicus climate research group says Europe is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the globe, with 2023 being the hottest year on record for the continent. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Julien Nicolas, a senior scientist with Copernicus, about why Europe is warming faster than other continents and what it means for human health there.

Since the Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7, Germany has struggled to balance democratic rights and freedom of speech enshrined in its constitution. Last weekend, those tensions came to a head in Berlin, as police shut down a conference about Palestine being organized by Arab, Jewish and German organizations. German officials say they are acting on their historic responsibility to protect Israel and Jewish people, activists say the lesson Germany should be taking from its history is the importance of allowing political dissent.

On Monday, the European Space Agency welcomed five new astronauts to its astronaut corps, forming only the fourth class since 1978. Hosts Marco Werman and Carolyn have more details.

Aharon Haliva, the head of military intelligence for Israel, says that his directorate failed to alert the military and nation in time to prevent Hamas's attack on Oct. 7. He is the first senior official to resign in response to the failure. The World's host Marco Werman talks with Yossi Melman, a longtime Israeli intelligence reporter for Haaretz, about Haliva's resignation and what it means.

Since 2020, avian flu has been tearing through bird populations across the globe - even being detected in Antarctica's penguins. This month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported what might be the first documented case of the virus being transmitted from a mammal to a human - from a cow to a person working on a dairy farm in Texas. The World's host Carolyn Beeler spoke to Massimo Palmarini, the director of the Center for Virus Research at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, UK.

The intersection of billionaires and politics is the topic of a new play, "Patriots," by Peter Morgan, the writer of "The Crown." Like that Netflix series, the play is based on real characters. "Patriots" is not about the US; it's about Russia in the 1990s, when an oligarch backs a little-known deputy mayor named Vladimir Putin in national politics and gets more than he bargained for. Jeff Lunden reports from New York.

The US House of Representatives passed another spending package worth $61 billion for Ukraine over the weekend. The World's Daniel Ofman speaks with host Carolyn Beeler from Riga, Latvia, about what that money will go toward, and how people are reacting in Ukraine and Russia.

Ecuadorians voting in a referendum this weekend gave President Daniel Noboa new powers to crack down on increasingly violent drug gangs. But some remain wary that their president's zeal to combat drug lords might endanger the country's democratic institutions, as analyst Sebastian Hurtado explains to The World's host Marco Werman.

Russia and Ukraine won't share exact numbers of fallen soldiers, but it's one man's mission to give those left behind on the battlefield a proper resting place. A team from the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Associated Press follows Oleksiy Yukov as he leads a group of volunteers across dangerous terrain to help the souls of the dead find rest. From Reveal, Michael Montgomery reports. Montgomery was supported by reporter Solomiia Hera. [This story was produced by Stephen Smith, with original reporting from Erika Kinetz of the Associated Press. Hear the full episode at Reveal (https://revealnews.org/podcast/escaping-putins-war-machine/).]

Analysis of new satellite data shows that China's cities are sinking at a rapid rate. Causes include depletion of ground water and the sheer weight of buildings. If this continues, much of the land will sink lower than sea level. That could lead to future disasters with rising sea levels because of climate change. The World's hosts Carolyn Beeler and Carol Hills have more.

Gazoz is an old-school, hyper-local style soda that's been ubiquitous in Turkish beach towns since the drink was invented more than a century ago. Every town has a signature brand, often with some kind of local flavor like pine, lavender or sweet almond. The World's Durrie Bouscaren reports from southern Turkey on why this beloved drink is having a moment.

The United Nations has described the current state of government and society in Haiti as "cataclysmic," with armed gangs seizing control of much of the country. Haiti has managed to create a transitional council of former and current officials, religious leaders and at least one businessman, to chart a course towards government stability and elections. Despite the dangerous situation, the Biden Administration has resume deportations of undocumented Haitians from the United States. The World's host Carol Hills talks with Harold Isaac, an independent reporter in Haiti, about what's happening.

Voting begins today in India in what's being called the largest election in recorded history. Nearly 1 billion people are eligible to vote in the election, which will happen over the next six weeks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to be re-elected for a rare third term, despite concerns about the growing Hindu nationalist movement he represents, and high unemployment. The World's host Carolyn Beeler spoke with journalist Sushmita Pathak, who talked to voters at the polls today, from the city of Jaipur.

Artists who use nature sounds in their recordings - including Brian Eno, the UK's Ellie Golding, India's Anuv Jain, Norway's Aurora and Colombia's Bomba Estereo - are featured on a new Spotify playlist that will help to fund environmental causes. Hosts Carolyn Beeler and Carol Hills preview the music - and the natural sounds - from the "Sounds Right" project.

US and Iranian officials confirmed an Israeli attack on the Iranian city of Isfahan late on Thursday. Explosions were heard over the city which is home to several key military sites in Iran, including nuclear research facilities. Host Carol Hills speaks with Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, to find out more details on the attack and whether or not this will lead to more conflict.

There's a growing social media campaign to boycott Canada's biggest grocery store chain, Loblaws, through the month of May. This is the latest development in an increasingly fractious battle between Canadian grocers and their customers, as prices rise across the market. Anita Elash reports from Toronto.

In 1936, left-leaning athletes from around the world came to Barcelona to hold alternative games as a protest against the official ones hosted by Adolf Hitler, in Berlin. But another fascist - Spanish coup leader Francisco Franco - spoiled their plans. The Olympiad's opening day coincided with the start of the Spanish Civil War. The World's Gerry Hadden reports from Barcelona.