The World

Iraq is experiencing the biggest wave of anti-government demonstrations in decades and motorized rickshaws are becoming a symbol of the protests, as the tuk-tuks cart away the wounded. Also, it's been 30 years since the fall of the Berlin wall — we have a story about how West Germans once tried to tunnel underneath. Plus, how everybody's a loser when it comes to the US-China trade war.

At least nine members of a family of dual US-Mexican citizens were ambushed and killed in a northern Mexican state Monday night. The attack was grisly, even by the standards of organized crime in Mexico. And, in supplemental testimony released Tuesday, ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, presumed there was a quid pro quo in the Trump administration's withholding of US aid to Ukraine pending an anti-corruption investigation, according to an excerpt released by congressional impeachment investigators. Also, scientists in Poland recently published a paper detailing the peculiar case of a group of cannibal ants that escaped an abandoned nuclear bunker.

The House impeachment inquiry is entering a new and more public-facing phase. Monday, more than 400 pages of testimony were released from depositions given by former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch and Michael McKinley, former advisor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And, the air in New Delhi, India has reached poisonous extremes, creating a public health hazard, delayed flights and closed schools. Plus, Netflix has picked up a new animated series for preschoolers that portrays Hindu Gods as toddlers.

How secure are US elections after Russian operatives tried to hack voting systems in all 50 states? A new law goes into effect Friday imposing new controls on the internet in Russia. And, as clocks change for daylight savings Sunday, an economist explains why he thinks time zones should be abolished.

The US House of Representatives has voted to proceed with the formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Lawmakers approved rules for the next stage, including public hearings, in the investigation into Trump's attempt to have Ukraine investigate a domestic political rival. Also, President Barack Obama's former National Security Advisor, Susan Rice on impeachment, the US withdrawal from northern Syria and why she thinks the US is exporting what she calls, "instability around the world." Plus, Australia's controversial "backpacker tax," a 15% tax that has hit Americans who earn money while on long-term vacations in Australia, has been ruled illegal.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has won parliamentary approval for a new election that he hopes will break the deadlock over Brexit. Plus, WhatsApp is suing an Israeli company for hacking into mobile phones and allegedly installing malware on the devices. And researchers are counting the world's whale populations from outer space.

A White House national security official and decorated Iraq War veteran testified before House investigators Tuesday as part of the impeachment inquiry. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, director of European affairs on the National Security Council, personally heard President Donald Trump call with Ukraine's president. Plus, Turkey is struggling to get international support for a plan to resettle 2 million Syrian refugees in a strip of land along the Turkey-Syria border. And we've got a piece about Latin American witchcraft, known as brujería.

The leader of ISIS is dead. What could happen now to the terrorist organization, structurally and symbolically, without Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? Also, what data did the US acquire during the raid and how that could help find the far-reaching tentacles of ISIS and for the future fight against the world's most feared terrorist organization? Plus, global shipping firms are under pressure to cut carbon emissions, so some are experimenting with an age-old technology: sails.

The first clue something was wrong came in the form of an alert on Yegi Rezaian’s phone. Where I grew up,” she says, “these things don’t happen by accident.” Within hours, Yegi Rezaian and her husband, Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, found themselves in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison. Interrogations quickly turned surreal for Jason Rezaian; captors seemed convinced his Kickstarter campaign to bring avocados to Iran was some kind of spycraft. It took some time to realize that one of the reasons that Jason Rezaian would spend the next 544 days in prison was because of the Iran nuclear deal. On this final bonus episode from The World's partners at the Things That Go Boom podcast, host Laicie Heeley looks at the collateral damage resulting from President Donald Trump's pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.

Where are we in the impeachment process after a full week of dramatic moments? And, students preparing to join the Foreign Service have been watching testimony by diplomats who say they were cut out of the process by Trump operatives. They're trying to understand at what point they, too, would turn against their administrations. Plus, the logo for the 2024 Olympics in Paris has been released. Is it meant to be playful, sexist or just very French?