What in the World

The K-pop industry is known for being super strict and encouraging idols not to share details about their private lives, especially their relationships. For LGBTQ idols, there’s an added layer of pressure, where they can’t reveal or talk about their sexuality at all, due to the stigma associated with homosexuality in South Korea. The country is deeply divided over LGBTQ acceptance. So what happens...

Climate change is one of the biggest issues of our time. Warmer weather and melting ice is forcing people and animals to migrate but it’s also threatening traditions. Myths, dances and national dishes - we’ve all got distinctive, defining customs that we would never want to lose. So what are people across the world doing to keep hold of their identities? BBC journalist Abiona Boja explains how cul...

Ed Sheeran’s long-running copyright battle over his hit Thinking Out Loud is finally over. That’s after the US Supreme Court rejected an appeal to revive the copyright trial. It all started back in 2016 when Sheeran and his co-writer Amy Wadge were sued for allegedly copying Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic Let’s Get It On. Sheeran, whose subsequent hits include Azizam and Shape of You, ended up winning...

There is a small but growing group of people in the US who are concerned that civilisation might collapse if people don’t have enough children. They’re called pro-natalists, and they argue that less children will lead to fewer workers and smaller economies, leading to an eventual collapse. Their solution: to save humanity people simply need to have kids. High-profile supporters of the movement inc...

Israel has launched a huge wave of attacks on Iran. They say the targets of their attacks are Iran’s nuclear facilities and important scientists. Iran has claimed it is not developing any weapons, yet several secret nuclear sites have been uncovered in the past. Iran has responded with drones and missiles. So is Iran developing nuclear weapons? Ghoncheh Habibiazad from the BBC Persian team talks u...

Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moose Wala was at the peak of his fame when he was murdered in 2022. Goldy Brar, a gangster based in Canada, has said that he ordered the killing. But how did one of India’s most popular musical acts become the target of a feared gang? Investigative journalist Ishleen Kaur has spoken to Brar about the murder and his motivations, which she explores in the BBC Eye documentary “T...

More money, more growth, more stuff. Can our economies keep on growing forever? And should they? A group of activists and academics are questioning the possibility of endless economic growth on a finite planet and are advocating for a bold solution: degrowth. The movement argues for a 'democratisation of the economy' and for collectively managing key resources, like housing. This, they argue, woul...

Dog walking has been banned in at least 20 cities across Iran, after it was first outlawed in the capital, Tehran, six years ago. It’s the latest restriction to come from the authorities, who argue that dogs are ‘unclean’ and see having pets as a sign of growing Western influence. Despite this, dog ownership has risen in the country in recent years and many owners have started walking their dogs i...

‘High’ or ‘added’ protein foods are popping up everywhere - from ice cream to pizza and even coffee. The nutrient’s newfound popularity has a lot to do with the fact that it helps our bodies repair and build up muscle. But could these new snacks come with hidden health risks? And are there other nutrients, like fibre, we should be paying more attention to? BBC journalist Chelsea Coates talks us th...

For millions of Moroccans, Eid al-Adha means quality time with your family, eating delicious food - and the tradition of sacrificing sheep. But this year, the king of Morocco, Mohammed VI, has banned the practice because of a seven-year drought in the country. Dry pastures have meant that the number of sheep herds has dropped sharply, while the cost of meat rises. King Mohammed says the ban is nec...

Baggage fees have become part and parcel of international travel, with charges taking off in recent years. Globally, passengers spent $150 billion USD last year on added ‘extras’ such as seat selection and baggage fees - that’s 25% more than they spent in 2023. There’s also a growing number of ‘packing hacks’ videos on social media, with more people looking for ways to avoid paying fees for their...

World leaders pledged to end the AIDS pandemic as a public health threat by 2030. And the World Health Organisation aims to reduce HIV infections from 1.5 million in 2020 to 335,000 by 2030. The African continent still has the highest number of HIV infections globally. How will cuts to the US government's main overseas aid agency, USAID, affect the treatment and prevention of HIV in Africa? And wi...

What do Billie Eilish, Doja Cat and Jennie from Blackpink have in common? They have all been spotted wearing Vietnamese fashion brands. You might have noticed that your clothes and shoes have labels saying "Made in Vietnam". The garment and textile industry in Vietnam is massive - it's the second biggest exporter in the world, after China. And it employs three million people, most of them women. G...

Polar bears are the biggest bears in the world and the only marine bear. There are estimated to be around 26,000 globally. They’re mostly found in Canada, but also in Russia, the US, Norway and Greenland. Their main prey is seal, specifically seal blubber, as they need a diet high in fat to survive the freezing Arctic conditions. Polar bears are great swimmers but they can’t outswim seals. So they...

OnlyFans is an online platform where people create content (photos, videos and live streams), which can be monetised. Although it hosts a variety of content across topics like fitness and cooking, OnlyFans is known widely for hosting adult content, much of it explicit. As its popularity has soared, so too has the controversy and stigma surrounding the platform. Last week, Kurts Adams Rozentals, a...

High school prom may have started off as an American tradition, but now, it’s spread across the globe. In Uganda, proms are often a super lavish event, with couples flying in on helicopters or pulling up in expensive cars, before doing multiple outfit changes through the night. But the government says it’s gone too far — and it’s brought in new rules to curb the celebrations. Uganda’s Ministry of...

The Pyramids of Giza are among Egypt's most famous landmarks. The Great Pyramid is made up of 2.3 million stone blocks, weighing five million tonnes in total. For centuries no one has known precisely how they were built, or how the stones were transported. Using radar satellite imagery, historical maps and geophysical surveys, a research team has mapped a long-lost, ancient branch of the River Nil...

In South Korea, what presidential candidates are wearing is a hot topic. People use fashion to express themselves. Many of us think carefully about what we put on and how others will view our outfits, whether we choose an iconic hat or a monochrome look. But for politicians and their spouses, every look is carefully calculated to send a specific message. South Korea is having a snap election which...

From Taylor Swift to Michael Jackson, there’s been countless superstar musicians who have called out their record labels for how much they’re being paid for their music. For musicians at the start of their careers it can be even more challenging to make money. The emergence of streaming sites like Spotify has made understanding publishing a bit more complicated. So how does it all really work? BBC...

US president Donald Trump has claimed that white farmers in South Africa are being executed en masse. But this is simply not true. South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation went to Washington last week hoping for a boost and a reset after months of bitterness with the Donald Trump administration. Instead they got brutal, high-stakes diplomacy, peppered with insults, which played...

After cutting off the supply of aid to Gaza for more than two months, Israeli officials have allowed some trucks to enter. But despite over a hundred aid trucks carrying essential products like flour and baby food into Gaza, the United Nations says it’s only a “drop in the ocean”. There have also been significant delays to distributing the aid, lasting days in some cases. The UN estimates that one...

If so, President Trump thinks you’re a “stupid person“. The royal family of Qatar wants to gift America a private jet. Critics say the gift is essentially a bribe to give Qatar influence with the U.S. And they’ve pointed out that, during his first term, President Trump accused Qatar of funding terror groups. On 21st April, it was formally announced that the US Defence Secretary had accepted the pl...

One of the biggest unions in the world representing a diverse range of creative professionals, including actors and voice artists, has filed a complaint against the makers of the video game Fortnite over its Darth Vader character. Epic Games used generative AI to recreate the voice of the Star Wars villain, after the late actor who played him in the film franchise signed over the rights in 2022. B...

Skin-lightening is a multi-billion-dollar industry and impacts many women, and men, around the world. Within the African context, women in Nigeria use skin-whitening products the most: according to the World Health Organization 77% of women use them regularly. The situation is so bad that Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (Nafdac) declared a state of emergency...

Hundreds of thousands of students in Nigeria have been told they can retake their JAMB university entrance exam. That’s after nearly 80 per cent of them failed the test in March amid power cuts and computer glitches during the exams. The low pass rate sparked a national outcry, especially after the Minister of Education initially claimed it was caused by students cheating. The Joint Admissions and...