State of the World from NPR

According to the 20-point peace plan for Gaza brokered by President Trump, “No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return.” But while a border crossing between Egypt and Gaza has technically reopened, few people have been allowed to use it so far. We go to Gaza to meet some of the few people who have been able to return and they report a...

President Trump announced billions of dollars to rebuild Gaza at the meeting of his newly created organization in Washington, D.C. Foreign policy experts try to define Trump’s vision of international affairs. 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

Israel’s military says it’s planning a new barrier along the eastern border of the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank. Palestinian farmers and shepherds say existing walls and the construction of Jewish settlements are keeping them from reaching and working their fields. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage you...

Kyiv residents venture onto the city’s frozen Dnipro River for a favorite past-time of ice fishing. The activity is a much-needed respite in Ukraine as the Russian invasion enters a fifth year. 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 Old Cairo, shoppers prepare for the holy month of Ramadan, a time of fasting and prayer. In Beijing, the Lunar New Year brings the Year of the Fire Horse, which represents action and risk-taking, but many people say they just want stability in this sluggish economy. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast spons...

The Washington Post laid off most of its foreign correspondents, including some of the last American and Western journalists working in authoritarian countries. 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

NATO launches the mission in response to Russian and Chinese ambitions in the high North, and to President Trump’s threat of a U.S. takeover of Greenland. Japan’s last pair of giant pandas returns to China.  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

Syria’s Jewish community fled the country’s repressive Assad regime. Now, a new government is encouraging their return by giving back ownership of synagogues and other property. Jane Arraf is there as one Jewish group turns the key on a synagogue’s door in the northern city of Aleppo. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage yo...

Cuba hasn’t received an oil shipment since December. The shortage has grounded air travel, and disrupted food production, hospitals and schools. Venezuelans stage open demonstrations in the streets that only weeks ago could have meant jail time. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR...

Cuba is in economic crisis. Its ally, Venezuela, is no longer sending oil, and the Trump administration is applying pressure. Life for Cubans is hard, but if they express their opinions they can get in a lot of trouble. So they’ve found other ways to tell you what they think, and a single phrase is doing a lot of the work. Our correspondent in Havana tells us what it is. See pcm.adswizz.com for in...

As the Winter Olympics get underway in Milan and across the Italian Alps, our correspondent looks back at a bold pledge made by the organizers: that these games would be sustainable. They said they would slash the event’s carbon footprint and protect sensitive mountain ecosystems. Environmental groups say that’s not what is happening. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and us...

Ever since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, experts say Russia has stepped up its hybrid war on Western Europe. Attacks on critical infrastructure or using drones to shutdown airports are meant to undermine support for Ukraine. We go to Poland to see one such attack. And in Kyiv, Ukrainians are getting through Russian attacks that have shut down the power grid in the coldest months by holding d...

The United States has been conducting military operations in Syria for more than a decade. Their mission has been to attack ISIS militants and to protect Syrian oil fields. With ISIS weakened and a new government in Syria, the U.S. may pull out the troops it has stationed in Syria. But doing so might hurt some U.S. allies. We hear from NPR reporters who cover the Pentagon and the Middle East about...

While there has been political turmoil in the U.S. over the latest release of photos and emails in the “Epstein files”, the consequences in the U.K. have been more concrete. There, a prince had already been stripped of his title over his connections to the late accused sex trafficker. Now a member of the House of Lords has been forced to step down. We get the latest from London. See pcm.adswizz.co...

Protests in Iran have been ongoing for over a month and according to one human rights group, over 6000 people have died. As the internet blackout begins to lift, we’re learning more about what has happened. Our correspondent brings us the experiences of three Iranian women. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast...

While debate rages in the U.S. about the merits and risks of Artificial Intelligence in schools, in China, it’s a state-mandated part of the school curriculum. Authorities there want to create a pool of AI-savvy professionals. But like in the U.S., some parents have mixed emotions about how and when their kids use A.I.  See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal d...

President Trump approaches Middle East peacemaking as a business deal. In today’s episode we go to Israel and the Palestinian territory of the West Bank to hear about the different ways that those economies are being affected by war, and what that means for the peace process going forward. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to mana...

In the past year, President Trump has often threatened or turned to military force. Yet he likes to present himself as a peacemaker, and that includes his new plan for a global Board of Peace. We hear from two NPR correspondents about what the Board of Peace could be. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponso...

Despite dozens of lethal U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, figures show drug flows to the U.S. continue to rise and coastal communities in countries like Colombia are paying the price. 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 Israel, families whose sons have died in the war in Gaza have the option of having sperm samples retrieved for future offspring. Many have agreed to the procedure. That has raised complicated questions of what can and should be done with this genetic material.  See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorshi...

Dollars are trickling back into Venezuela, they’re the proceeds from the oil seized and by the U.S. That is helping to stabilize runaway prices in Venezuela—at least on paper. But for ordinary shoppers in Caracas, market prices remain dizzying, and families still struggle to make ends meet. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to man...

The booming population along coastal corridor from the cities Lagos to Abidjan has the potential to be a bustling West African economic engine, tied together by a long-promised superhighway that could slash travel time and supercharge trade. But the task of harnessing that potential has barely been met. We travel along a section of the road to understand why. See pcm.adswizz.com for information ab...

We meet a woman in India who estimates she has dozens of biological children. And she says there are many more women like her, because India has a thriving black market for human eggs. Rules constraining the supply of donated eggs, have given rise to this underground supply which have risks for the women giving up their eggs. Our reporter investigates. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our...

It has been a year since President Donald Trump took office for his second term. And in that year many relationships between the United States and countries around the world have begun to be redefined. In this episode, a conversation between four of NPR’s international correspondents in Great Britain, Russia, China and Mexico about how global politics have changed in the last year. See pcm.adswizz...

In 1955, Ruth Ellis was hanged for killing her abusive partner, a scandal that gripped the nation. But the murder investigation was flawed and incomplete, and eventually, Ellis’ case was a catalyst for abolishing Britain’s death penalty. 70 years later, her family is seeking a posthumous pardon.   See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and...