What in the World

A 20 year old woman in the US has successfully sued Meta and YouTube over her childhood addiction to social media, winning $6million in damages. Jurors found that Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, and Google, owner of YouTube, intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed her mental health. This result is likely to have implications for hundreds of similar cases...

Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham, Michael B Jordan and AFC Bournemouth, Snoop Dogg and Swansea City FC. And now YouTuber KSI and Dagenham and Redbridge. There’s a growing list of celebrities investing in lower league English and Welsh football clubs. But is this a good thing for the clubs? And how much influence do these celebs actually have? Emma Middleton from BBC Sport explains. We also hear from some...

The war in Iran isn't just affecting people in countries directly involved in the conflict. It has driven up oil prices around the world, impacting the lives of people from the Philippines and India to Nigeria. Nick Marsh, our Asia business correspondent, explains how some governments are reacting. Plus we hear from Azadeh Moshiri, our correspondent in Dubai. She explains how Iran’s strikes on the...

South Africa is facing a water crisis. South Africa is one of the driest countries in the world. It relies on its rainwater, levels of which are unpredictable, unevenly distributed, and decreasing as a result of global warming. But the main issue contributing to water shortages is ageing infrastructure; rusting pipes that break and leak. And there are also allegations of theft by “water tanker maf...

BTS are back! It’s the first time all seven members have been together since completing mandatory military service in South Korea. They’ve returned with a 14-track album titled Arirang and an 82-date world tour. Fans in South Korea were treated with the opportunity to see them for free in a huge opening night show in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. BBC Korean’s Yuna Ku tells us what it was like be at...

The White House is stepping up their social media promotion on the war in Iran... with memes. Clips from the NFL, Spongebob Squarepants and Call of Duty have all been spliced together with scenes military strike footage from the Iran war, racking up millions of views on TikTok. President Trump’s team say it’s a modern way to get their message across to young audiences and show their military succe...

Looksmaxxing has been all over the internet lately - this is the trend aimed at young men and it’s based on the idea of self-improvement, maximising your physical attractiveness and increasing your sexual market value. It's been part of fringe reddit forums for years now but recently it’s become mainstream, with the hashtag going viral on TikTok, X and Instagram. The trend promotes extreme dieting...

Senegal has been stripped of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title. Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 in January's final but Caf (the Confederation of African Football) has changed the result. It’s because Senegal's players walked off the pitch in protest when Morocco was given a penalty. We LOVE a bit of drama on What in the World and this truly feels like something out of our fave reality TV shows (thin...

LED technology has been used to address a number of skin issues, such as eczema, mild to moderate acne and psoriasis in a medical setting. But now you can buy your own LED mask or device for use at home. Adverts are everywhere on social media, with lots of influencers promoting them. Mask developers make big claims that at-home LED masks can be used to treat acne scars, sun damage and fine lines -...

The 2026 Oscars are over, the red carpet has been rolled up and celebrities are polishing their golden awards at home in the quiet. The big winner of the night was political thriller One Battle After Another, which took home six wins including best picture. Other winners included Sinners star Michael B Jordan, who beat Timothée Chalamet to the best actor award, and Irish actress Jessie Buckley for...

The US and Israel first launched strikes on Iran two weeks ago. In response, Iran has launched more than 2,000 drones at targets across the Middle East, towards Israel and Gulf countries with US military bases. We’ve seen attacks on oil tankers, airports, and even luxury hotels and banks. The drones are causing considerable damage across the region considering they have a simple design and are rel...

Timothée Chalamet has come for ballet and opera. In an interview with Matthew McConaughey ahead of the Oscars he said… “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive even though it’s like, no one cares about this anymore.’” And, well, it turns out he was wrong, because lots and lots of people have been defending the industries with tons of pas...

Last week, during their opening match of the AFC Asia Cup football tournament, Iran’s women’s football team refused to sing the national anthem. The move was seen as an act of defiance, as it came shortly after American and Israeli strikes had killed Iran’s supreme leader. The players were subsequently called “wartime traitors” on Iranian state television. After being knocked out of the tournament...

Military-style weight loss camps in China are getting popular. You sign up voluntarily for a month and follow a strict daily routine, with intense exercises, mandatory trips to the scales and rules on snacking. Some people have called them “fat prisons”. So what’s it like to go to one? TL Huang from Australia tells us about her experience. We hear about the downsides of these kinds of “fat camps”...

Iran’s state media has announced that Mojtaba Khamenei will be the country’s new supreme leader. He’ll replace his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint American and Israeli strike last week. The 56-year-old has largely kept a low profile. He has never held government office and only a limited number of photos and videos of him have ever been published. In this episode, you’ll h...

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow gap of water in the Middle East between Iran and the Arabian peninsula. About 3,000 or so ships sail through the Strait each month - that’s about 80 ships a day. About 20% of the world’s oil and gas passes through it. But now, it’s an active war zone. As the US and Israel continue strikes on Iran, and Iran launches missiles at Israel and nearby Gulf states in retal...

Wild bee species at risk of extinction in Europe have more than doubled in the last decade. And that matters more than you might think. Bees pollinate 75% of the crops we eat, from apples and tomatoes to carrots and raspberries. So if bee populations decline, our food system feels it too. So what’s actually driving the drop in wild bees? BBC climate & science correspondent Georgina Rannard bre...

The conflict between Israel and the US against Iran continues to escalate. At least one thousand civilians have been killed in Iran since the US-Israeli attacks began on Saturday, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. There is uncertainty about what happens next. As Iran enters its fifth day into the conflict, how do Iranians feel about it? Ghoncheh Habibiazad, who is a jou...

For centuries, people have lived side by side with animals in harmony. But with habitats shrinking, animals such as lions and elephants are having to travel further to find food, sometimes stumbling into human territory. Crops and property are destroyed as farmers lose their livelihoods. And when their path crosses with humans it can get violent - even leading to death. As humans are killed by the...

The US and Israel have launched a massive military operation in Iran, carrying out a series of strikes that have killed the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as hundreds of Iranians. Iran has also launched strikes in response, targeting Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and other countries and killing several civilians - and American military personnel - in the proc...

Emperor penguins are icons of the penguin world. They are only found in the wild in Antarctica and breed and raise their babies on the ice. Because the Antarctic is so massive and difficult to explore, scientists rely on satellite images to detect colonies and the penguins’ activities. Once a year penguins shed all their feathers on the ice and replace them with new ones. The feathers they leave b...

Vogue and Business Insider have declared 2026 the ‘year of the cabbage’. The vegetable has gone viral amid the rise of ‘fibremaxxing’ - with young people posting reels praising it for its versatility and trying to glamourise it with healthy gourmet-style meals. So, why has the humble vegetable had a rebrand? And what does it tell us about Gen Z finances? BBC reporter Basma El-Atti explains the tre...

On Sunday Mexican security forces killed El Mencho, one of the country’s most wanted drug lords and the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). In response, members of the feared cartel have unleashed a wave of violence across 20 Mexican states. Jack Burgess, a BBC reporter who covers international affairs, explains what’s been happening. And Laura Garcia, a BBC reporter from Mexico, e...

The gig economy is booming. This is where people get paid per job - and use an app to get their work. Most commonly it’s used for food delivery and taxis. India's gig workforce is 12 million strong and expected to double to 24 million by 2030. But recently thousands of gig workers in Delhi led massive protests over their pay and working conditions. They were also upset about the pressures of havin...

The Winter Olympics are over and aren’t back until 2030. Some of the athletic highlights include the first Winter Olympic gold medal won by a South American nation, thanks to Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, and also American figure skater Alysa Liu’s comeback. But then there’s some more dramatic moments like the public confessions of cheating and a condom shortage… William and Chelsea from the W...