The World

Five months into Russia’s invasion, Ukraine's military goes on the counteroffensive, including efforts to reclaim Kherson. And Russia has launched airstrikes on Ukraine's remaining Black Sea coast. And, ahead of Kenya's upcoming presidential election, Facebook is failing to detect hate speech that could fuel political violence in the country, according to a recent study by two nonprofits. A government agency is now warning that the platform could be suspended if they don't do better. Also, Zimbabwe's central bank this week launched gold coins as a way for people to park their cash and slow the demand for US dollars. But at $1,800 each, many are dubious about the plan and who can actually afford the coin. Plus, we hear the story of one woman who reclaimed her native language through immersion trips back to her birthplace, the Czech Republic.

Iraqi protesters aligned with Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's political movement stormed the heavily militarized Green Zone and Iraqi Parliament building on Wednesday. The protesters eventually cleared out of the building, but political gridlock continues to plague Iraq. And, while Sweden and Finland's membership to NATO is still pending, the large Kurdish community in Sweden is worried that striking any deal with Turkey could put members of their community at risk. Also, gun battles between rival Haitian gangs continue to wreak havoc in and around Port-au-Prince. There’s growing anger that weapons trafficking from the US is fueling the violence. Plus, we remember James Lovelock, creator of the "Gaia hypothesis," who has died at the age of 103.

A Chinese official is warning of "serious consequences" if United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits the island nation of Taiwan, a place Beijing considers a part of China. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to talk about this in a phone call scheduled for Thursday. And The Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission held hearings that documented scores of human rights abuses and murder at the hands of dictator Yahya Jammeh. Acts of contrition and forgiveness are hard won, but they can have a powerful impact on the nation's ability to heal. Also, Europe’s far-right is getting more vocal. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban gave a speech a few days ago saying he wanted to stop his country from becoming “mixed race." Plus, interest in Ultimate Frisbee — a quintessential American sport — is soaring in China this summer.

On Tuesday, Russia announced that it plans to end its collaboration on the International Space Station by 2024. It’s just the latest move away from international collaboration in space among major powers, including the US, Russia and China. And, more than 100,000 Uyghur Muslims are working against their will in factories that are major producers for key industries such as apparel and solar. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act now prohibits the import of any goods made in Xinjiang, China, unless companies can prove they are not using forced labor. Also, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov is visiting a slew of different African countries this week with the alleged objective of maintaining and strengthening ties there. Plus, we hear the sounds of Wax Machine, a British band fronted by Brazilian-born Lau Ro.

Pope Francis is in Canada today, visiting the sites of former residential schools where Indigenous children were sent, frequently by force. They were funded by the Canadian government and administered in large part by the Catholic Church. And the World Health Organization declared the spread of monkeypox a global health emergency over the weekend. The disease has spread rapidly across Africa, Europe and, most recently, in the US. Also, many children who migrated to the United States legally on their parents’ work visas have no legal protections to stay when they turn 21. We hear from twin sisters who are fighting to change the law.

Less than a day after Sri Lanka’s new president was sworn in, security forces have cleared out a protest camp outside of the presidential office in Colombo, the capital. Demonstrators have been camped out there for three months, demanding new leadership and relief from crippling inflation and shortages of basic necessities. Also, developers are unable to find the cash to finish real estate projects and it’s led Chinese home buyers to stop paying their mortgages. And, hundreds in Baghdad protested outside the Turkish Embassy on Thursday, angered by an artillery strike on a resort town in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region on Wednesday. The attack killed as many as eight Iraqis, wounded over a dozen more and sparked outrage. Plus, we hear why evangelicals in Brazil want to make contact with Indigenous groups.

Sri Lanka’s new president, 73-year-old Ranil Wickremesinghe, was sworn in today. He has decades of experience in government, but he doesn’t have a lot of support among protesters, who have vowed to oust him. And after 16 months of relative stability in Italian politics, Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi has resigned. Also, butterflies may seem abundant, but North American migratory monarchs have been officially added to the endangered list. Plus, Nigerians in the UK have some fun with heat wave humor.

Lawmakers in Sri Lanka have elected Ranil Wickremesinghe, a former prime minister and veteran politician, as their new president. The choice comes with the risk of restarting unrest in the South Asian nation as it faces economic collapse. And this week, Russia’s TV Rain relaunched operations from its new headquarters in Latvia. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and tightening restrictions on the country's press, the independent Russian-language TV station ended operations in Russia with an on-air walkout by its staff in Moscow. Also, France’s national condiment — Dijon mustard — is in short supply. The beloved mustard has nearly disappeared from French supermarkets, and experts say it has a lot to do with climate change. Plus, we hear about how evangelicals in Brazil and the US are working together on a political mission.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Tehran on Tuesday. The trio is set to discuss the war in Syria and the so-called Astana peace process. And extreme temperatures are stressing infrastructure all over the world, impacting the future of bridges, roads and electrical grids. Also, Peruvian musician Renata Flores first went viral with a YouTube hit when she was 13. Since then, she has become one of the few rap artists spitting rhymes in Quechua, and uses her music to fight discrimination against Indigenous people. Plus, we hear from professor Nina Khrushcheva, the great-granddaughter of Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev, about when and how propaganda works.

Much of Europe is withering under a brutal, record-breaking heat wave. Wildfires across Spain, Greece and Portugal have forced thousands of people to flee their homes. Also, data shows that the number of public protests around the world has increased over the last decade, with the exception of the time period during the pandemic. And leaders in Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community have insisted that men and women must be separated from one another, even in some public spaces. But some say it's a slippery slope that will lead to increasingly harsh rules that ultimately amount to discrimination against women. Plus, a new study says baby talk is universal.