What in the World

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire, arranged by US President Trump. Under the agreement Hamas will release all Israeli hostages, alive and dead, and Israel will release Palestinian prisoners in exchange. Israeli forces are expected to partially withdraw from Gaza, and humanitarian aid is to be allowed into the territory. This is described as the first phase of Donald Trump’s 20-point “pea...

The Golden Triangle, a border region of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos is the world’s most active production zone for synthetic drugs like methamphetamine. Synthetic drugs are made from chemicals, instead of plants. But yaba - which has been around for decades and is a mix of caffeine and meth - has swept across the region and hit Thailand particularly hard because it’s really cheap and easy to come b...

Renewables are now the world’s leading source of electricity and China has boosted its solar and wind capacity more than the rest of the world combined. But it’s also one of the world’s biggest polluters and is thought to be behind 30% of global emissions. So what's behind the country's boom in green energy - and are other countries set to follow suit? Tony Han from the BBC’s Global China Unit exp...

A teenager recently died in Mexico, reportedly after having cosmetic surgery. Paloma Nicole was just 14. Her dad claims he didn’t know she was having surgery until after she died. BBC Global Affairs Reporter Mimi Swaby joins us to talk through the details. #Lasniñasnonecesitanimplantes (girls don’t need implants) has also been trending. We hear why some people online are so angry, and why the Mexi...

Cameroon’s president Paul Biya is 92-years-old. He’s been the president for decades. This weekend Cameroonians will vote in presidential elections to decide if he will continue in this role. Despite some criticisms, as well as a host of security and economic challenges, many believe that Paul Biya stands a strong chance of victory. BBC journalist Paul Njie, who’s based in Cameroon’s capital Yaound...

Afghanistan has just come out of an internet blackout, which paralysed businesses, banks and airports and cut people off from their friends and family. People in the capital Kabul celebrated in the streets when the Taliban government finally switched it back on. So what do we know about why it was shut down in the first place? And what impact did it have on women in the country, where the Taliban...

In 2017 a cruise ship called the Caledonian Sky was sailing near the Raja Ampat islands in Indonesia when it ran aground in the shallow waters and got stuck. The coral reef was severely damaged. Raja Ampat is one of the world’s most popular dive sites and a national park. The accident caused a serious loss of marine diversity and affected the livelihoods of the islanders, who rely on fishing and t...

It is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio AKA Bad Bunny’s year. In January, he released Debi Tirar Mas Fotos, his sixth album, with great reception from audience and critics and a heavy influence of Puerto Rican culture and sounds. In July he started a two-month gig residency in San Juan, which has boosted the island's economy, and in November he will start a world tour that is largely sold out. In a t...

In Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, two countries in central Asia between Russia and China, there is a so-called tradition of bride kidnapping. Young women are abducted, often in broad daylight, and taken to a man’s house, where they are pressured into accepting his marriage proposal. It’s illegal in both countries but recently the president of Kazakhstan announced a law to further crack down on it and...

Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish may not have much in common, but they do share one thing: asking fans to put their phones away at their concerts. Across the world of music, more artists and venues are asking people to stop filming every moment of the gig and instead, live in the moment to have an authentic experience. However, some artists say fans filming their best moments can help them go v...

#Rapture has been trending on TikTok. Some believe that the Rapture is when Christ’s followers will be taken up to Heaven, while those who do not follow him will be left behind on Earth, changing life for humans forever. It isn’t a belief held by all Christians, however. The Rapture is closely linked to evangelism, in particular its believers based in the US. But the Rapture is also talked about a...

A study published earlier this year showed that cutting the working week to four days instead of five significantly improved people's wellbeing. So why hasn’t it become the norm yet? We’re joined by Sofia Bettiza, the BBC’s Global Health reporter, who breaks down all the data we have about the four-day work week, and tells us how reliable it is. Plus we hear about how work culture differs across c...

PLAVE is your average hit-making K-pop group, but with a twist: its members are virtual avatars. There are real-life performers behind the characters, who control their voices and dance moves using motion capture technology, but their identities are kept secret. Despite their anonymity, a South Korean court has sided with the group after they sued a social media user for insulting comments they po...

Australian koalas are having a hard time in the wild. As many as 80% of some populations in eastern Australia have chlamydia and it can be deadly. They’re also facing habitat loss from urbanisation and natural disasters. In areas like New South Wales, they're listed as endangered - meaning that they're at risk of becoming extinct. BBC reporter Tiffanie Turnbull tells us about some of the recent mo...

Imagine if you took a trip abroad and in an effort to extend your stay, you unknowingly sign a piece of paperwork that makes you a front line soldier. That’s what Evans Kibet, a 36 year old runner from Kenya claims happened to him in Russia. He’s now a prisoner of war in Ukraine. BBC journalist Akisa Wandera tells us what we know about his case currently. Citizens of Somalia, Togo, Cuba and Sierra...

Don’t worry if you haven’t watched The Summer I Turned Pretty, this episode is a great introduction! And fear not, there will also be no spoilers - we won’t tell you what happens. Choosing between two love interests is a classic plot line in series and films. The big one people are talking about right now is in The Summer I Turned Pretty. Fans are Team Jeremiah or Team Conrad - they’re two brother...

Rwanda has made it easier for teenagers to access reproductive health services with a new law. If you’re aged 15 in the country, you’ll be able to start the contraceptive pill or get condoms through a medical professional without your parents’ permission. Those in favour say it’ll help tackle teen pregnancy, which some lawmakers have called a national crisis. But it’s also sparked backlash from re...

Borderlands 4 is now out after a six year wait and Grand Theft Auto VI is expected to come out in 2026 after more than a decade. It’s one of the most anticipated video game sequels. Gaming is one of the biggest industries in entertainment, with budgets that rival Hollywood. Developers come up with impressive graphics and endless missions. But that level of detail also delays releases. Is that the...

Applying for jobs is TOUGH. First you’ve got to find the adverts and openings, then there’s the mental energy and time required to put in an application - and that’s before you get to the nerve wracking interviews. But some of us are finding that process even harder than normal - putting in loads of applications and never hearing back. Some recent studies suggest that AI is a contributing factor,...

Protesters in Nepal were demonstrating against corruption, nepotism, and a social media ban which they said limited their freedom of speech. But the protests turned violent and officials say 72 people died in the unrest, including three police personnel. Gen Z groups leading the protests distanced themselves from the destruction, saying they had been "hijacked" by "opportunists". BBC journalist, E...

On Wednesday 10 September Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a university campus in Utah. Charlie Kirk was a conservative activist who founded the student organisation, Turning Point USA. It aims to spread conservative ideas in liberal universities and now has chapters at more than 850 colleges. Kirk became known for his controversial views and was accused of being racist, misogynistic and trans-phobic...

The Tea Dating Advice app blew up in the US earlier this year - it let women run background checks on men - to see if they were married, using fake identities, or even registered sex offenders. But in July, that backfired. Hackers broke into the app and leaked women’s photos and personal data online. Within hours, online misogynist groups online made several websites to humiliate the women who'd s...

Kim Ju Ae is reportedly around 13-years-old, but she could be the next leader of North Korea. There is huge speculation about why her father, Kim Jong Un, would choose her over her siblings, and what this could mean for the future of the world’s most secretive country. So what’s going on here? And how does North Korea even choose its successors? The BBC’s Rachel Lee breaks down everything we need...

The Mercator projection, a map that’s been around for over 450 years and which most people use, distorts size. It stretches land masses farther from the equator. It can make Greenland looks the same size as Africa, when in reality Africa is actually around 14 times bigger. Campaigners want schools, organisations and governments to use a different one - the Equal Earth map. And now the African Unio...

TikTok is full of people doing the choreography to Charlie XCX’s Apple dance - as well as many other dances. But can you get in trouble for copying someone’s routine online? Well, not if you’re doing it for fun on your page, but potentially yes if you’re a company using it for profit without the artist's permission. Copyright law can be super confusing, so we sat down with Tony Iliakostas to demys...