The World

The Biden administration received bipartisan criticism in the Senate 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 remains open with some 39 prisoners still behind bars. And 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. Plus, if you’ve searched for a new TV series lately, perhaps you’ve stumbled upon Turkish dizis. Don’t call them telenovelas or soap operas, though — they’re in a category of their own.

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson denied that a Christmas party was held at 10 Downing street last December during a pandemic ban on indoor parties, despite new video evidence. It could undercut the impact of an announcement of new omicron-related restrictions in England. And US President Joe Biden is holding a virtual "Summit for Democracy" this week as part of a White House effort to advocate for democracy as a governance style recently on the decline. Plus, we hear new music from an ensemble of musicians from Iran, India and the US. Their project, “This Pale," features an open interpretation of the love poetry of Rumi, the 13th-century mystic and writer.

Every day, our incredible team brings you powerful human stories from diverse perspectives you can’t hear anywhere else. Without your support, none of it would be possible. Help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000 by giving $130, or $11 per month. Thank you for being a part of our fall drive, and making our work possible!

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Tuesday via video conference. At the top of their agenda: the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In recent months, Russia has been building up its military presence on Ukraine’s border. And on Wednesday, Germany gets a new chancellor and a new coalition government. After 16 years, Angela Merkel will be replaced by Olaf Scholz as the country’s new leader. Plus, billionaire Michael Steinhardt has surrendered 180 stolen objects worth $70 million and has been barred for life from buying antiquities. This comes after a four-year multinational investigation found that his illegal purchases had been smuggled from 11 countries via 12 illicit networks.

Every day, our incredible team brings you powerful human stories from diverse perspectives you can’t hear anywhere else. Without your support, none of it would be possible. Help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000 by being one of 515 supporters giving $130, or $11 per month. Thank you for being a part of our fall drive, and making our work possible!

The White House has announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, slated to begin on Feb. 4. The decision was due to China’s “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.” Also, the most prominent political leader in Myanmar, 76-year-old Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, was given a four-year prison sentence on Monday. Hours later, the head of the military junta lowered her prison term to two years. Plus, before the Beatles invaded the United States, their record label attempted to get them to sing two of their big hits in German. They did well — it turns out they could speak passable German and French — but grudgingly.

Every day, our incredible team brings you powerful human stories from diverse perspectives you can’t hear anywhere else. Without your support, none of it would be possible. Help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000 by being one of 515 supporters giving $130, or $11 per month. Thank you for being a part of our fall drive, and making our work possible!

Efforts to vaccinate people to stop the spread of the pandemic in conflict zones, including Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and Ethiopia — where even basic humanitarian aid is often hard to come by — continue to be hampered. The coronavirus pandemic has made the situation worse, with lockdowns and overstretched services affecting efforts to reach vulnerable populations. As part of The World's regular series of conversations on the pandemic with Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, reporter Elana Gordon moderated a discussion with a panel of experts about the difficulties of vaccinating populations in conflict areas.

See more discussions in our series here: https://www.theworld.org/categories/coronavirus-conversations.

A UNICEF analysis of various studies has revealed “higher levels of depression, fear, anxiety, anger, irritability, negativity, conduct disorder, alcohol and substance use and sedentary behaviors, compared with pre-pandemic rates” among children and adolescents from mostly high and upper middle-income countries from around the globe. As part of The World's regular series of conversations about the pandemic, reporter Elana Gordon moderated a discussion with Karestan Koenen, Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, to discuss the challenges surrounding the mental health impacts of the pandemic on children.

See more of the Coronavirus Conversations series here: https://www.theworld.org/categories/coronavirus-conversations.

The US Navy has become a steady presence in Vietnam. It's part of a strategy to help Vietnamese forces stand up to China, which is beefing up its military presence in the area. But just how far will the US go in its relationship with Vietnam’s military? Also, in the past few weeks, we've been hearing a lot about the migration crisis in Europe. At the center of the storm are Iraqi Kurds fleeing the semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq. Now, many are being flown back to northern Iraq and having to restart their lives with very little. Plus, the new director of Interpol is the former minister of the interior from the United Arab Emirates. Critics want him removed for his spotty record policing his own country with allegations of abuse, even torture.

Every day, our incredible team brings you powerful human stories from diverse perspectives you can’t hear anywhere else. Without your support, none of it would be possible. Help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000 by being one of 515 supporters giving $130, or $11 per month. Thank you for being a part of our fall drive, and making our work possible.

In Britain and other parts of Europe, at-home COVID-19 tests have long been available for free and have become a part of everyday life. Now, US President Joe Biden is trying to beef up access for at least 150 million Americans with private health insurance. And, Russia has been moving thousands of troops to its border with Ukraine in recent months. Tensions between the two countries are now at a high point. Also, fighting around Yemen’s oil-rich city of Marib has intensified. The last northern Yemeni city loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government is surrounded on three sides by Houthi forces, which may be a critical turn in the yearslong civil war. 

Every day, our incredible team brings you powerful human stories from diverse perspectives you can’t hear anywhere else. Without your support, none of it would be possible. Help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000 by being one of 515 supporters giving $130, or $11 per month. Thank you for being a part of our fall drive, and making our work possible.

The new omicron variant of COVID-19 is a reminder to the world that the pandemic is far from over. At the same time, nearly 200 countries reached a historic pandemic treaty agreement on Wednesday, focused on global preparedness and response. Also, Lebanon has 18 recognized religious sects and sectarianism is built into the Lebanese political system. We hear about how some Lebanese people involved in the protest movement are advocating for a different path. Plus, historians consider Riverside, California, as the birthplace of the Korean American community, known as Pachappa Camp. It’s a little-known story now getting attention in an exhibit at the University of California at Riverside.

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Germany has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe. The country is now edging closer to mandatory vaccines for the coronavirus with lawmakers set to vote on the issue before the end of the year. And, five years ago, Colombia’s government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace agreement. Since then, deforestation has been on the rise as cattle ranchers, loggers, miners, subsistence farmers and criminal groups move into areas formerly controlled by them. Plus, at midnight, Barbados removed Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state and installed Governor General Sandra Mason as its first president. We hear from Barbados’s poet laureate Esther Phillips about the Caribbean nation's efforts to grapple with its brutal colonial past.

Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work providing you with relevant, fact-based and human-centered news from across the globe. From the initial pitch, to the chase, to interviews, to writing, to production, to broadcast, every story from The World requires careful input and touches from many different members of our nonprofit newsroom. The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom.

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