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Last week, President Joe Biden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The virtual meeting came amid rising tension on the Russia-Ukraine border, where in recent months, Russia has been building up its troops in the tens of thousands. The harsh rhetoric continued over the weekend when Biden said that if Putin invades Ukraine, "the economic consequences for his economy are going to be devastatin...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK's first reported death from the omicron variant of the coronavirus and said restrictions were in place to help mitigate an upcoming tidal wave of cases. Leo Hornak reports on how those restrictions are being received in the UK with the upcoming holiday season.

Through sounds and voices, radio can transport listeners to a different country, a different time — and to different ways of seeing the world. Reporter Lucia Benavides was reminded of this recently, when she came across fake radio shows she recorded as a child — spanning the first 13 years of her life. On top of shedding new light on who she was back then, these recordings also captured her migrat...

The emergence of omicron — a new COVID-19 variant of concern — has been a stark reminder that this virus still has its grip on the world. Scientists are trying to better understand it — like just how severe it might be. The World’s Elana Gordon spoke with an epidemiologist about what is becoming clearer in this moment of uncertainty: the power of our current tools, from masks to vaccines.

New Zealand has made news with its plan to ban young people from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes in their lifetime. But the government will spend several months consulting with a Maori health task force before introducing the bill into parliament next June. That's because smoking rates are especially high among Maori adults. Marco Werman speaks with Selah Hart, a member of the Maori heal...

President Joe Biden's virtual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin came amid heightened tensions and a military buildup on the Russia-Ukraine border. But as The World's Daniel Ofman tells host Marco Werman, US-Russia relations were already tense, following years of tit-for-tat sanctions and diplomatic expulsions.

Masayuki Uemura, credited as one of the main creators of the Nintendo and Super Nintendo gaming systems, died this week at age 78.  Uemura leaves a lasting legacy on the video game industry. His creations also helped to connect Japanese art and culture to the rest of the world. To discuss, The World's Marco Werman speaks to Kelsey Lewin, co-director of the Video Game History Foundation.

Zhang Zheng, the citizen journalist who covered what was going on in Wuhan in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now close to death. She's on a hunger strike in a Shanghai prison.

Violins are traditionally made with spruce or maple wood from the Northern Hemisphere. But researchers at Stellenbosch University in South Africa have created what's believed to be the world's first violin made with Indigenous African wood — and it works. The World's Bianca Hillier has the story.

Host Marco Werman tells us that the Italian capital is facing a waste problem, which always increases in December with wrapping paper. So, the city has told residents to use much less of it this year. Marco has a few thoughts on alternatives.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Qatar this week came amid efforts to mend ties with Gulf states, and potentially get financial help in managing Turkey's lira crisis. But, as The World's Durrie Bouscaren reports, accepting Gulf help means Turkey may have to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses that have driven a wedge in past relationships.

Today, more people than ever live in a country other than the place they were born. And international migrants represent about 3.6% of the world's total population. That’s about 280 million people living outside their home countries, according to the latest numbers. And we’ve seen how difficult things can get for migrants fleeing poverty, violence — or both. The World’s Monica Campbell reports on...

Bassist Robbie Shakespeare has died at the age of 68. He and Sly Dunbar created some of the heaviest rhythms ever produced on the island. Host Marco Werman traces the rhythmic family tree, from Jamaica, to disco, to rap and back to Sly and Robbie's fundamental drum and bass.

If you’ve searched for a new TV series lately, perhaps you’ve stumbled on something produced in Turkey, one of the biggest global exporters of TV  productions. Some increasingly popular Turkish dramas are called dizis. Don’t call them telenovelas or soap operas, though. They are in a category of their own. KERA’s Stella Chavez looks at these shows and how they’re winning over a range of fans in th...

Researchers find widespread sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers in the eastern Congo. The UN has its second largest and longest mission in the DRC, where as many as 20,000 peacekeepers are stationed. Host Marco Werman speaks to Susan Bartels, doctor and co-author of the studies and a clinician scientist at Queens University in Ontario.

The US says China wants to build a navy base on the Western African coast — its first base on the Atlantic Ocean. Beijing denies the claim. But the Pentagon says this is inevitable. US military chiefs fear it could be the beginning of Chinese warships coming closer to America’s backyard than ever before. The World’s Patrick Winn reports.

A Hong Kong court charged three prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy figures, including media mogul Jimmy Lai with unauthorized assembly for taking part in a vigil to mark the Tiananmen Square massacre. Tom Grundy the editor-in-chief of the Hong Kong Free Press talks with The World’s Marco Werman about the impact on press freedom on the island.

The majority of undocumented immigrants can’t legally work in the US. But some — like those with DACA status — have work permits. Despite the uncertainty around their future as workers in the US, many of them are leading the fight to unionize and get better working conditions for future workers. The World's Daisy Contreras has the story. 

A little-known UN agency, the International Seabed Authority, is meeting this week to discuss regulations for deep-sea mineral mining. The agency could open up the deep sea to mining within the next year and a half as demand for metals used to make electric vehicles and batteries is expected to skyrocket over the next two decades. But some countries worry about devising rules that adequately prote...

There was bipartisan criticism of the Biden administration at a Senate hearing this week over the fate of the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The camp has been open for nearly two decades and several US presidents have vowed to close it, but it still remains open with some 39 prisoners still behind bars. Marco Werman speaks with Carol Rosenberg, a journalist with The New York Times who has been c...

The Mexican government is threatening legal action over President Joe Biden’s proposal to give tax subsidies for union-made, US-made electric vehicles. The World’s Latin America correspondent Jorge Valencia reports from Ford’s electric-vehicle assembly plant just north of Mexico City.

New Zealand has just passed the most ambitious anti-smoke law on the planet. The law aims to ban smoking completely as teenagers age. Critics say because it does not include e-cigarettes, it opens the door for greater nicotine dependence among teens and children. Host Marco Werman speaks to Chris Bullen, professor of public health at the University of Auckland.

Host Marco Werman lets us down softly at the end of this Wednesday edition of the show with new music from an ensemble of musician friends from Iran, India and the US. "This Pale" is the title of the project in which the artists provide an open interpretation of the love poetry of 13th-century mystic and writer Rumi.

Turkey has ramped up operations against foreign countries that Ankara alleges send spies to kidnap or kill their dissidents on its land. In the last few months, Turkey has captured alleged spies working for Israel, Russia and Iran. Reporter Fariba Nawa tells how Turkish authorities foiled a plot by Tehran to kidnap a military pilot who fled Iran.

In the US, the YMCA is known for providing swim lessons, gyms and child care. But in Pakistan, the Christian organization has long provided vocational training. Betsy Joles reports from Lahore that present-day Pakistani Christians, who often face discrimination and stigma, are among the many young people who seek out classes ranging from beautician skills to cellphone repair.