In Moscow on Thursday, WNBA star Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges. Griner was detained at the airport back in February, after security found vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage. Last month, Griner pleaded guilty but said she packed the vape cartridges by mistake. And Kenya's presidential election is one week away, and polls show that the biggest issue for Kenyans is the high cost of living — especially when it comes to food. The prices of staple foods have risen more than 100% in some cases. Also, an empowered economy minister just took office in Argentina, with the mission to fix complex political and economic problems. Plus, the cheetah reappears in India after its local extinction 70 years ago. 

On Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it might “make sense” to extend the lives of Germany’s last nuclear power plants. The war in Ukraine, and Russia’s slowdown of gas deliveries to Germany have put Europe’s largest economy in a bind. And, amid Sri Lanka’s financial crisis and fuel shortage, people can’t afford enough fuel for cars and motorbikes. Many commuters in Colombo, the country’s largest city, are turning to bicycles. Also, the UN's nuclear chief Rafael Grossi has said that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine "is completely out of control" and issued a plea to Russia and Ukraine to allow international experts to visit the plant. Plus, 19-year-old Letsile Tebogo from Botswana broke the 100-meter U20 world record in Colombia on Tuesday, crossing the line in 9.91 seconds.

US President Joe Biden has announced that the US has killed al-Qaeda’s top leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan. Zawahiri was on the US' most-wanted list for about two decades and he had a $25 million bounty on his head. And, the pandemic took a huge toll on schools in India, particularly in rural areas. But a growing number of young people from big cities who are in the tech industry are volunteering in small-town schools. Also, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned at a nuclear treaty conference in New York that  "luck is not a strategy” and urged treaties to prevent nuclear annihilation. Plus, surfing scientists in Spain are hunting down microplastics.

The port of Odesa is now open and shipping Ukrainian food to other parts of the world. But getting the first shipment of thousands of tons of corn to reach Lebanon on Monday is a perilous journey that must pass several inspections in the Bosphorus Strait. And people in an Italian seaside town stood by and did nothing as a Nigerian man was killed in broad daylight on a busy street last week. This isn't the first such attack in a country where anti-immigrant sentiments are growing. Also, on Sunday, the women's Tour de France concluded in the Vosges mountains, marking the end of the race's triumphant return after 33 years. 

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.