On Wednesday, Finland’s leaders announced their support for joining NATO, a reversal from their decadeslong stance of neutrality in relation to Europe's NATO-Russia divide. And the Taliban in Afghanistan have announced new rules requiring women to cover their faces in public and to leave home only when necessary. This is the latest in a series of restrictions imposed on women since the Taliban came to power last summer. And Brazil’s former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is aiming for a comeback. Lula is a frontrunner for the 2022 election, but incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro could still pull off a victory in the deeply divided country. 

Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed in the occupied West Bank while covering an Israeli army raid in the Jenin refugee camp. Palestinians are blaming the Israeli military, while Israel is neither confirming nor denying responsibility. Also, as the US Supreme Court weighs in on Roe v. Wade, we hear about abortion rights in India, where the procedure has been legal, within certain confines, for more than 50 years. Plus, dengue cases are on the rise across Brazil, leaving public health experts rushing to tackle the mosquito-borne disease.

Russian troops in Ukraine are reportedly retreating from the region around Kharkiv, blowing up bridges as they pull back. But elsewhere along the eastern front line, Russian troops seem to be advancing. And US military aid to Ukraine has overwhelming support in Congress. But as American-made weapons go into battle, they deplete US stockpiles, potentially impacting US preparedness for other wars. Plus, we hear the story about a restaurant in small-town Vermont that’s receiving a lot of attention for its excellent regional Thai cuisine.

On May 9, Russia celebrates Victory Day, the Soviet Union’s historical triumph over Nazi Germany during World War II. President Vladimir Putin gave a speech in Moscow amid patriotic scenes, military muscle flexes and saber-rattling. And a drug cartel in Colombia's north has blocked roads and held residents hostage following the extradition of its leader, known as “Otoniel,” to the United States. Plus, the European Union has a new law regulating tech platforms called the Digital Services Act. So far, Europe has led the world with the most aggressive regulation of so-called “Big Tech.”

On Friday, the Women’s National Basketball Association’s season opens but star player Brittney Griner can’t compete. That’s because Griner was “wrongfully detained,” in Russia 78 days ago, according to the US State Department. And Spain has one of the most liberal abortion laws in Europe. But abortion rights activists say there are still setbacks, including the increased presence of outlier anti-abortion groups, many with ties to the US. Plus, a major sandstorm in northern and western Iraq this week has sent hundreds of people to the hospital with respiratory issues. We hear from an Iraqi environmentalist about what's causing the powerful sandstorms. 

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, 12 Russian generals have been killed. Ukraine's successful targeting of Russian generals has been helped by a classified intelligence gathering effort by the US. And police around the world use Pegasus spyware to track criminals and terrorists. But it’s also been used to hack the electronic devices of others, including the Spanish prime minister. Plus, “beachcombing scholarship” is the latest in a line of indirect methods used to study North Korea. Picking up trash washed ashore on South Korea’s beaches helps researchers get a handle on what’s happening inside the insular country.

The European Union is looking at a proposal to cut itself off of Russian energy as part of a new package of sanctions. Putting the embargo in place would take some time to implement, and it would require all 27 member states to agree. And polls indicate that voters on Thursday are going to make Sinn Fein the largest electoral force in Northern Ireland. It would be a first for the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army. Plus, what’s in a name? Italy’s top court has declared that the automatic practice of only giving children their father’s last name is discriminatory.

Russian troops resumed bombing a steel plant in the port city of Mariupol today, even though many civilians are apparently still trapped inside the factory. More than 100 Ukrainians who had escaped from bunkers below the steelworks have arrived in Kyiv-controlled Zaporizhzhia. And, a leaked draft opinion suggesting that the Supreme Court has a majority to overturn Roe v. Wade has implications both domestically and globally. Globally, if overturned, it could affect US funding for reproductive health around the world. Plus, Ukrainian poet Iya Kiva is no stranger to war. In 2014, she had to flee her hometown of Donetsk. Now a refugee once more, she turns again to poetry.

At least 100 people have been evacuated from hiding in bunkers in Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant, in southern Ukraine. As Russia enters the second phase of war with Ukraine, most of its ground troops are now concentrated in the eastern Donbas region. And, at the Venice Biennale, the world's largest art show in Italy, the Nordic pavilion is featuring art made by the Indigenous Saami people of Arctic Europe. Plus, the metaverse is upon us. South Korea’s tech hub is spending nearly $200 million to create the future’s virtual worlds — and 1.5 million new jobs.

The effort to document war crimes in Ukraine has gotten strong international support and the International Criminal Court is currently on the ground investigating. But what does it actually take to put a former leader on trial at The Hague? Before the International Criminal Court existed, there was the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The marquee case was the trial of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, the so-called “Butcher of the Balkans.” The World’s Chris Harland-Dunaway tells the story of two men from the court: a prosecutor and an insider who flipped on Milosevic.