Dates and olives are important crops in the Middle East and growing them is essential to the livelihood of many Palestinians in the West Bank. But increasingly Israeli settlers have been attacking and intimidating Palestinian olive farmers there. We go to the West Bank to see how this year’s harvest is going.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

After two years of war, Gaza is littered with unexploded bombs often hiding in the rubble of destroyed buildings. And they can be deadly even decades later. We go to Gaza to hear about one family’s encounter with an unexploded bomb and learn how long it might take make the territory safe.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

President Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea amid a tense tariff war between the two countries. Trump was upbeat after the meeting in which both sides agreed to trade concessions. We take a look at the state of U.S.-China relations with a former U.S. ambassador to China.

And ahead of that meeting, President Trump signed several rare earth agreements with Asian countries to reduce America's reliance on China. We hear why the U.S. is anxious to find other sources for these minerals and ask if it’s too little too late.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

The Darfur region of Sudan because known to the world as the site of a genocide twenty years ago. The U.S. and U.N. say there is a genocide happening in Darfur again and now the violence there has reached a new level of horror. A paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces took control of the city of El Fasher, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents trapped under RSF control and there is evidence of atrocities being committed. We hear about what is happening in the city and a Sudanese-American poet who grew up in El Fasher and is watching from afar.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Isolated indigenous tribes deep in the Amazon rainforests of Peru are seeing the crop used to make cocaine spread into their lands from drug traffickers seeking more territory for cultivation. With the incursion comes deforestation and violence. We go to the rainforest and meet the self-defense force patrolling the jungle to stop the destruction. 

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

The small island country of Trinidad and Tobago is in the middle of an American military buildup. The U.S. has deployed warships and attacked alleged drug boats nearby, leaving residents on edge. We hear from fishermen who see drones in the sky and go to the funeral of someone presumed to have been killed by a U.S. strike.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

China’s fast fashion mega-seller Shein is opening its first permanent Paris boutique in the iconic Bazar de l’Hotel de Ville department store. Parisian purists say the move betrays the artistry and craftsmanship of France’s tradition of couture. Some are boycotting the store and others have even started a petition in opposition of Shein’s Paris arrival.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

The automotive industry in Germany, once the backbone of Europe’s biggest economy, is in a rapid decline. In the past year, the German car industry shed more than 51,000 jobs – about 7% of its total workforce. We go to some companies that are now turning to manufacturing weapons as part of the country’s boost in military spending to keep their factories running.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, the country has been hit with more than 50,000 drone strikes. The constant threats of war have changed many things about life in Ukraine, including the way the night time sounds. We meet members of a youth orchestra outside Kyiv who are marking the new sounds of their country with a sonic poem.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

In just seven minutes, in broad daylight, millions of dollars worth of jewels that once belonged to French royalty were stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. We hear about what was stolen, how the French people are reacting and what it might take to catch the thieves who did it.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy