State of the World from NPR

With ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz at a virtual standstill due to the war in Iran, companies are scrambling to find new and alternative ways to move everything from oil to fertilizer to household goods. We look at how they’re doing it. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NP...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio answers questions from Congress about radical changes to the U.S. refugee program— a program that once had bipartisan support. We hear what was said about the revamped program And as the start of The World Cup approaches, fans in Colombia are eager to see their national team return to the global tournament. But even as they are getting ready to put on their jersey to...

People in Iran are back online after a government-imposed digital blackout that lasted nearly three months. We hear from Iranians that reconnecting has been bittersweet. And a deadly strike during the first days of the Iran war hit far away in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka, jolting a quiet seaside town and showing just how far the conflict’s reach extends. See pcm.adswizz.com for inf...

Raja Ampat is a collection of some 600 islands in Indonesia’s West Papua province. It is a beautiful area with clear blue waters and coral reefs that is mostly untouched by development except for the recent growth of a nickel mining industry that has split locals. We go to Raja Ampat and her from people who want mining jobs and those that want to protect the fishing and tourism in the area.   You...

After the last few years of war, Israel controls adjacent territory in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. Israeli officials say these areas are security buffer zones. But some in Israel want to permanently extend their country's borders, using the Bible as a map. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferenc...

Sri Lanka was careening from crisis to crisis, then came the Mideast war. People say they've got no buffer left. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Mongbwalu, a once-thriving gold-mining town in eastern DRC, is now emerging as the epicenter of the country’s latest Ebola outbreak. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

In a West Bank spring where Palestinians used to rest and water their flocks, Israeli settlers now swim. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

In recent months, a number of fishermen in Ecuador say a U.S.-flagged vessel attacked them at sea and destroyed their boats. Their accounts come amid more than 50 U.S. maritime strikes across the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean that have killed nearly 200 people. The Trump administration says the operations are lawful and aimed at alleged narco-traffickers, but has not publicly provided evidence or...

Uyghurs are a mostly Muslim ethnic minority in China, that number in the millions. Human rights groups have accused China of persecuting Uyghurs because the government fears they have played a role in militant attacks. In today’s episode we hear the story of thousands of Uyghurs who travelled to Syria to gain battlefield experience fighting in the Syrian civil war. Are these people freedom fighter...

Climate change is making rainfall in Britain heavier and more erratic, meaning places that used to be dry are flooding regularly. So communities are reintroducing a creature that was hunted to extinction 400 hundred years ago. Beavers are working as little climate warriors, building their dams and reducing flooding. We meet some. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of...

The World Health Organization has declared an international public health emergency because of an outbreak of Ebola centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has so far likely killed over 130 people and sickened more than 600. The size of the new outbreak raises questions about whether there were delays in detection. We’ll hear about this outbreak and about the U.S. role in containing the...

Cuba’s government says the Caribbean island nation has run out of oil, following a months-long energy blockade by the U.S. in hopes of forcing political change. We hear about what might happen next for Cubans. And the State Department is changing the way the U.S. diplomats talk about migration and refugees, embracing the "Great Replacement" theory promoted by white nationalists.  See pcm.adswizz.c...

It has been more than four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is a war that has been grinding on without major changes in battle lines, but the conflict may have reached a turning point. There are signs that Russians are growing weary of the military operation and Ukraine has improved its drone technology, hitting deeper inside Russian territory. We hear from NPR reporters in...

President Trump’s recent decision to withdraw at least five thousand troops from Germany has sent shockwaves through a Bavarian town that, for decades, has hosted U.S. troops and may now lose its main source of revenue. We speak to residents. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Pri...

Jonathan Pollard worked as an analyst for the U.S. Navy in the 1980s. He spent 30 years behind bars in the U.S., convicted for spying for Israel. Now he has announced he’s running for Israel’s Parliament. Our correspondent talks to him. And cigarette smoking among men is ingrained in Chinese culture. We meet some women who are trying to change that. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our co...

Over a year ago, President Trump started imposing tariffs on China as part of “Liberation Day”. There was a back-and-forth escalation and at one point the tariffs on China peaked at 145%. A truce was eventually declared and the temperature on the tariff war cooled, but there were lasting effects for manufacturers in both countries. Trump is in China this week and trade is on the agenda. We look at...

President Trump has been using a wide range of tactics in the war with Iran in an effort to force the country to bend to U.S. demands. But experts say the seesaw may be hampering efforts to reach a deal. And nearly all of Iran’s population has been cut off from the internet since the war began. But certain people have stayed connected this entire time. We look at Iran’s internet haves and have not...

President Trump heads to China this week in an effort to stabilize the relationship between the two great powers. But the war in Iran hangs over the visit. And as part of the struggle with the U.S. for global dominance, China has been expanding it’s nuclear arsenal, doubling its size in the last decade. We look at the history of their program and why it is growing now. See pcm.adswizz.com for info...

Russia’s annual celebration of Victory Day, commemorating the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, is traditionally a huge celebration in Moscow’s Red Square featuring a parade with missiles, tanks and other military hardware. But this year the holiday has been scaled back considerably due to fears of Ukrainian drone attacks. Our correspondent in Moscow says the move is a symbol...

In Nairobi, Kenya, tricked-out buses known as, “matatus,” roll through the streets, entertaining both passengers and passers-by. Matatu buses bump with heavy bass over their sound systems, and are painted up with mural montages. It’s a rolling dance club and mobile art gallery in one.  See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage y...

Although there is officially a ceasefire, fighting in south Lebanon between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah has escalated recently. According to the U.N. attacks this week have been the most intense since the truce started. And a family mourns the loss of their ancestral home in southern Lebanon, when their whole village was levelled by Israel during the conflict. See pcm.adswizz.com for i...

Senior career diplomats at the U.S. State Department are effectively being forced into retirement. It’s a loss of talent that one former diplomat calls a “unilateral disarmament”.   And we visit the new Grand Egyptian Museum outside Cairo, which was more than 30 years in the making. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your...

The U.S military has begun an operation to end Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in an effort and re-open the waterway to global shipping traffic. The U.S. Navy says it came under fire Monday, but helped two commercial ships safely through the strait. Iran meanwhile, reaffirmed that it will attack any ships that try to go through the strait of Hormuz without its permission. We hear from two...

From fuel to food, fertilizer and flights, the fallout from the Iran war is reshaping the global economy. We hear from reporters in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America on the ways it’s affecting their regions and how they’re coping. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Po...