What in the World

It’s estimated that a garbage truck full of clothing is being sent to a landfill every second, with less than 1% recycled into new clothes. One way to stop clothes reaching landfill is reusing, repairing and recycling them. This is part of ‘circular fashion’ - where textiles already in circulation are used again and again, instead of producing new ones. Lots of fashion brands and consumers are try...

Cape Verde has become the first sub-Saharan nation to be declared malaria-free in fifty years. But mosquitoes, the insects that spread the deadly disease, have started to fight back. One type of the insect has adapted to break all the rules and dodge all the measures we’ve brought in to beat them. Unlike most mosquitoes, Anopheles Stephensi, can live in urban environments potentially putting peopl...

The Houthi, a political and military group in Yemen, have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November. They say they’re targeting vessels headed to or owned by Israel as a way to support Palestinians in Gaza. Not all of the ships are connected to Israel. And now the US and UK has launched military airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen to reduce their military capability. So what’s happening...

Hundreds of people have been trying to set new world records in Ghana, with applications flying in since July 2023. Earlier this week a Ghanaian chef, Faila Abdul-Razak, completed the longest non-stop cook-a-thon, chopping and frying for more than 227 hours. She hasn’t yet officially been given the title. She isn’t the first to try though - last year a Nigerian chef, Hilda Baci, broke the world re...

The notorious leader of Ecuador’s main criminal gang escaped from prison this week - he is still missing. The country’s President declared a state of emergency and the gangs fought back, with gunmen breaking into a TV studio during a live broadcast. Separately 130 prison staff are being held hostage by inmates. BBC Monitoring’s Rachelle Krygier, who focuses on Latin America, explains who the gangs...

More than one in five people between the ages of 16 and 24 are jobless in China according to the latest government data. But the figure could be even higher. Millions of university graduates are struggling to find high paying jobs. So the government is encouraging them to roll up their sleeves and consider manual work in the countryside instead. But many aren’t keen and some are ducking out of the...

We need precious metals to run green tech but what’s the cost of mining them? Norway has approved commercial-scale deep-sea mining off its shores in the hunt for precious metals which are in high demand for green technologies. However, environmental scientists warn it could be devastating for marine life. Climate reporter Esme Stallard takes us through the controversial plans. One of the metals No...

It’s been nearly two years since Russia invaded Ukraine. Millions of people have fled the country and thousands have been killed. The fighting is still going on, with Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky continuing to appeal for international support. BBC Monitoring’s Russia editor, Vitaly Shevchenko, takes us through what Zelensky’s life has been like since the war began. Before becoming president...

Disney’s copyright on ‘Steamboat Willie’, which features the earliest version of Mickey Mouse, expired in the US on New Year’s Day - meaning the image is in the public domain and free to use… with some caveats. So what’s next for Mickey? Some creatives have already sprung into action. Noor Nanji, a BBC Culture reporter, tells us about an upcoming Mickey Mouse slasher movie and a video game. We als...

Pictures of a burning Japan Airlines plane have been all over the news this week after it collided with a smaller aircraft on a runway in Tokyo. Amazingly, all 379 passengers in the larger plane survived, thanks to a flawless evacuation. But how common are plane crashes, and how can you improve your chances of survival? Geoffrey Thomas, the editor of the website Airline Ratings, explains. Sadly, f...

Officials in Lahore, Pakistan have been using artificial rain in an effort to lower levels of air pollution. They make it rain through cloud seeding, a process that involves firing special particulates from a plane. Alex from the What in the World team explains how the process works. And Navin Singh Kadka, the BBC’s global environment correspondent, discusses the impact of creating artificial rain...

China’s population is shrinking so its government is trying to get more people to have kids by offering financial incentives and its own dating app. But not everyone is on board. Some people, especially young women, aren’t keen to follow in their parents’ more traditional footsteps. The BBC’s Fan Wang tells us how China got into this situation. Is it fair to put it all on women? And Mei Fong, the...

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin says he’s going to stand for the top job again in March. He’s been in charge of the country in some way or another for almost 25 years. The BBC’s Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg takes us through his rise to power and how the country has dramatically changed under his rule. Plus Alex from the What in the World team brings us five surprising facts about the man himsel...

From the Chupacabra to the Yeti, lots of countries and regions around the world have their own myths about strange creatures whose existence has never been scientifically proven - known as cryptids. These 'eyewitness sightings' have captured people’s imaginations for decades and even centuries. Alex from the What in the World team takes Hannah on a tour of some of them - with help from BBC reporte...

There are more than 2000 billionaires worldwide with a combined wealth of $13 trillion. Some say they’re good for society, others call them a symbol of inequality. Even though many billionaires donate to philanthropic causes, there is growing scrutiny on how they make and spend their money. We hear from Simon Jack, the BBC’s Business Editor, about how people get rich nowadays - and why tax is such...

Ethiopia says its huge dam upstream on the Nile will generate electricity for millions. But downstream countries like Sudan and Egypt are worried about what it’ll mean for their water supply. We get the details from two BBC reporters: Kalkidan Yibeltal, in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa and Jaidaa Taha, in Egypt’s capital Cairo. We also take a look at disagreements over the Mekong River in Asia. I...

Kush is rumoured to contain everything from chemicals used to preserve dead bodies to shoe polish. Nobody really know what’s in it or where it’s coming from. But we do know that it’s having a big impact on young people in Sierra Leone, who are already struggling with high unemployment and a difficult economy. We speak to the BBC’s West Africa Correspondent, Mayeni Jones, to establish what we know...

Indian software billionaire Narayana Murthy (the father-in-law of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak!) - says that young people in his country should be happy to work 70 hours a week to help India’s development. Indians already work long hours but how does it compare to other countries? We take a trip to India, Mexico, and Sweden to hear from three BBC reporters: Umang Podder, Laura Garcia and Phelan C...

A volcanic eruption in the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland has captured the world’s attention. But how dangerous are volcanoes, and how much do we know about their activity? The BBC's Science correspondent Pallab Ghosh explains why Iceland is such a hotbed of volcanic activity and the health risks that volcanoes can pose. Nick Beake, the BBC’s Europe correspondent, describes his helicopt...

Since April this year the Sudanese army and a rival military group called the RSF, the Rapid Support Forces, have been locked in a civil war that’s raged across the country. The United Nations says more than 12,000 people have been killed, and over seven million displaced. Two Sudanese women in different parts of the country describe the effect the war has had on their lives. Kalkidan Yibetal, a B...

Myanmar is now the world's largest producer of opium, overtaking Afghanistan. That’s after the Taliban banned the cultivation of opium poppies, which can be used to make heroin. Growing opium is illegal in both counties, but that isn’t stopping all farmers from growing the crop. Yogita Limaye, the BBC’s South Asia and Afghanistan correspondent, explains how the ban has impacted farmers who previou...

As AI technology advances, new image generator apps pop up all the time. Some of these can be used to make deepfake pornography where someone’s face is stitched onto an image of a naked body. Pictures of faces are often taken from social media profiles and used without consent. Our Disinformation Reporter, Jack Goodman, takes us through how the tech works and what you should do if a deepfake video...

There’s a concerning rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) across Europe. That’s according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). In a new report they focus on three specific STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV). Lina Nerlander, the lead STI expert at the ECDC, explains some of the factors that may be contributing to the increase. So h...

All members of BTS are now in the South Korean military. This week, lead vocalist Jung Kook joined the rest of the group to enlist - a requirement of all able-bodied South Korean men aged 18-28. There have been exemptions given to Olympic medallists and classical musicians but not for the BTS boys - although they were allowed to defer their service until the age of 30. The BBC’s Frances Mao explai...

It’s been over two months since Hamas attacked Israel. The war between both sides has continued since then, with a temporary ceasefire and pauses in fighting in recent weeks. The BBC’s International Editor Jeremy Bowen, who has been covering the Middle East for nearly 30 years, gives us his analysis on how the war could end. One challenge for Israel is Hamas’s network of tunnels, where its leaders...