• Climate change supercharging hurricanes
    Sep 25 2024

    Climate change appears to be supercharging hurricanes. Meanwhile, storm warning systems in Bangladesh are resulting in fewer casualties. Also, Nitazenes are synthetic opioids 500 times more potent than heroin, and they’re increasingly showing up on the streets of the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and the US. And, more than 100,000 Armenians displaced by an Azerbaijani military operation a year ago are trying to adjust to life away from home in Yerevan, Armenia. Plus, the Revere History Museum in Boston has expanded its collection to include things like Chinese scripts, Cambodian poems, Brazilian soccer memorabilia and Moroccan dolls.

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    50 mins
  • Israeli air strikes in Lebanon continue on Tuesday
    Sep 24 2024

    Israeli air strikes in Lebanon continued on Tuesday. And so did rocket attacks from Hezbollah, aimed at northern Israel. The situation is looking more and more like all-out war. The international community is calling for restraint, but events on the ground appear to be heading in a different direction. Also, President Joe Biden's speech at the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday morning was an attempt to cement his legacy on foreign policy. But what will history say about this president's role in global affairs? And, the Belarus Free Theater was banned by the government in Belarus. But the theater group refuses to quit — even in exile.

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    49 mins
  • Israeli airstrikes kill hundreds of people in Lebanon
    Sep 23 2024

    Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon today killed more than 356 people and injured at least 1,200 others, marking a major escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Also, two new studies this week add to existing research that has found microplastics in nearly every organ in the human body. And, Sri Lanka’s new leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, won the presidential election on a Marxist platform, riding a wave of anger against the former president's handling of the island nation's economy. Plus, Kenya’s government is taking steps to curb injuries and deaths from snakebites.

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    49 mins
  • More than 70,000 Russians estimated to have died in Ukraine
    Sep 20 2024

    A new report by Mediazona and the BBC finds that more than 70,000 Russian soldiers have died in the war in Ukraine. Also, Israel and Hezbollah continue to exchange fire as US President Joe Biden calls for comprehensive peace deal. And, a top official of the European Commission discusses regulating Big Tech. Plus, how the song, “We Are the World” changed the life of a musician from Uganda.

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    49 mins
  • Hezbollah leader addresses deadly attacks in Lebanon
    Sep 19 2024

    Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech in Lebanon acknowledging the deadly attacks this week that caused pagers and walkie-talkies to explode across the country. He called it a "severe blow,” but also promised that Hezbollah will continue attacking Israel until the war in Gaza ends. Also, the US and Chinese militaries are talking to each other again, but can more face time avert a dangerous conflict? And, Mexican drug cartels don’t actually rely on migrants crossing the border illegally to bring fentanyl into the US. Instead they’re recruiting a growing number of high school and college students. Plus, a man who's lived in Maine for over a decade is now hoping he can make a difference by becoming president of Jubaland state in Somalia.

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    49 mins
  • Lebanon reacts to electronic devices attack
    Sep 18 2024

    Recent attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon haven't come in the form of drones or missile strikes. The weapons were already in the targets' hands: their pagers and walkie-talkies. We'll hear how people in Lebanon are feeling and perhaps changing their habits in the aftermath of the coordinated explosion of communication devices. Also, the nations around the globe are nearly evenly split between democracies and autocracies. But the autocracies are home to about 70% of the world’s population. We examine democracy under strain, as dictators consolidate power — and hold onto it. And in Japan, tourists and weather have been blamed for a shortage of rice. But farmers and analysts think something else is going on.

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    48 mins
  • Pagers carried by Hezbollah operatives explode
    Sep 17 2024

    Across Lebanon and reportedly in Syria, Hezbollah operatives have been gravely injured and killed when their pagers exploded. It bears the hallmarks of a coordinated attack and is a major strike against Hezbollah. Also, deadly flooding is underway in more than one global region, with death tolls rising from catastrophic floods in central Europe, and millions displaced by rising waters in central and western Africa. Also, in Lebanon, hundreds of pagers used by members of Hezbollah exploded simultaneously, resulting in dozens of injuries. And a profile of a Japanese drummer with an unconventional performance style. His antics include playing a snare drum with his teeth.

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    49 mins
  • Questions over the motivation of alleged Trump assassin
    Sep 16 2024

    More details are emerging about the background of the man allegedly involved in the second attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump. One particular aspect of the would-be shooter's history that stands out: His obsession with Ukraine's fight against Russia. A retired FBI agent talks about that. When wildfires rage in remote places, the challenge isn't just to fight the fires; even finding and reaching the fires in order to put them out can be difficult. In a densely vegetated region of Brazil, drones have started helping out. Also, women, activists, and human rights advocates in Iraq say they are worried about a set of possible changes to family law. The new proposal would give religious authorities more power over marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody. And the Biden administration has waived human rights conditions on US military aid to Egypt. This comes after three years of partially withholding assistance from Egypt. We're looking into the calculations and reasoning behind that shift.

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    48 mins