State of the World from NPR

Over a year ago, President Trump started imposing tariffs on China as part of “Liberation Day”. There was a back-and-forth escalation and at one point the tariffs on China peaked at 145%. A truce was eventually declared and the temperature on the tariff war cooled, but there were lasting effects for manufacturers in both countries. Trump is in China this week and trade is on the agenda. We look at the long-term impact of the tariff war on a factory in the U.S. and one in China.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

President Trump has been using a wide range of tactics in the war with Iran in an effort to force the country to bend to U.S. demands. But experts say the seesaw may be hampering efforts to reach a deal.And nearly all of Iran’s population has been cut off from the internet since the war began. But certain people have stayed connected this entire time. We look at Iran’s internet haves and have nots.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

President Trump heads to China this week in an effort to stabilize the relationship between the two great powers. But the war in Iran hangs over the visit.And as part of the struggle with the U.S. for global dominance, China has been expanding it’s nuclear arsenal, doubling its size in the last decade. We look at the history of their program and why it is growing now.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Russia’s annual celebration of Victory Day, commemorating the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, is traditionally a huge celebration in Moscow’s Red Square featuring a parade with missiles, tanks and other military hardware. But this year the holiday has been scaled back considerably due to fears of Ukrainian drone attacks. Our correspondent in Moscow says the move is a symbol of Russians’ growing frustrations with the war.And on the occasion of his 100th birthday we have an appreciation of iconic nature documentarian David Attenborough.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

In Nairobi, Kenya, tricked-out buses known as, “matatus,” roll through the streets, entertaining both passengers and passers-by. Matatu buses bump with heavy bass over their sound systems, and are painted up with mural montages. It’s a rolling dance club and mobile art gallery in one. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Although there is officially a ceasefire, fighting in south Lebanon between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah has escalated recently. According to the U.N. attacks this week have been the most intense since the truce started.And a family mourns the loss of their ancestral home in southern Lebanon, when their whole village was levelled by Israel during the conflict.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Senior career diplomats at the U.S. State Department are effectively being forced into retirement. It’s a loss of talent that one former diplomat calls a “unilateral disarmament”.  And we visit the new Grand Egyptian Museum outside Cairo, which was more than 30 years in the making.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The U.S military has begun an operation to end Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in an effort and re-open the waterway to global shipping traffic. The U.S. Navy says it came under fire Monday, but helped two commercial ships safely through the strait. Iran meanwhile, reaffirmed that it will attack any ships that try to go through the strait of Hormuz without its permission. We hear from two NPR reporters about what this development means for global trade and the ceasefire.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

From fuel to food, fertilizer and flights, the fallout from the Iran war is reshaping the global economy. We hear from reporters in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America on the ways it’s affecting their regions and how they’re coping.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

After more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the destruction there is overwhelming. According to the United Nations, most buildings there have been damaged or destroyed, and many bodies remain buried under rubble. Crews have begun efforts to recover those remains, including victims from one of the war's deadliest Israeli attacks, which occurred in late 2024. NPR investigated that attack, on an apartment building in Gaza, and mapped a family tree of 132 relatives killed there. The Israeli military said, after the strike, it had been targeting “an enemy spotter,” but it did not provide any evidence. Survivors waited more than a year before being able to recover some of the bodies of their loved ones. NPR’s reporter in Gaza, Anas Baba, witnessed the recovery efforts.Warning: This story includes graphic descriptions of military strikes and their aftermath.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

In today’s episode, a rare interview with the leader of a Hindu nationalist group in India known by the acronym RSS. They are the largest far right group in the world and the basis for the party that rules India.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The relationship between the United States and Cuba hasn’t been this tense for decades. Even as the the U.S. is engaged in high-level negotiations in Havana, it is threatening Cuba with military action. It is a threat that is backed up by the recent action the U.S. took in nearby Venezuela, removing that country’s leader. We hear from a top Cuban diplomat about how Cuba sees its relationship with the U.S. now. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Forty years ago, in April 1986, there was an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was the worst nuclear accident in history. Then the plant was in the USSR, it is part of northern Ukraine now. The accident was a shared trauma for Ukrainians and Russians, but Russia’s war on Ukraine has torn them apart. We meet some families who endured the accident and nuclear fallout four decades ago, and are now enduring years of war.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

India has seen a rise in Hindu nationalism in recent years, in it’s politics but also in the culture. And India’s famed Bollywood film industry has been churning out movies echoing that with movies often featuring macho Hindu men fighting Muslims. We hear about a movie with a very different sensibility which has had a remarkable rise— all the way to the Oscars.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Since the war with Iran began Ukraine has found itself in an unexpected position. In addition to receiving military aid, it is also a provider. Iran has been attacking it’s neighbors with the same type of drones Russia uses against Ukraine. And Ukraine has developed defense technology it can now export to the Middle East. We go to Ukraine to learn more.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Just before a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was set to expire, President Trump announced on social media that he was extending it. Iran says that a ceasefire is meaningless unless the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is lifted, it sees that blockade as an act of war. And then in the hours after Trump’s announcement, Iran attacked at least three ships in the Strait of Hormuz. To understand where the peace process stands we hear from a former top U.S. diplomat in the Middle East.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

We mark this moment in both Gaza and Israel. In Gaza, it has been six months since major hostilities with Israel ended. Aid for the territory’s two million residents has resumed but it isn’t sufficient and reconstruction has yet to begin. We hear from some residents about their lives today.And Israel celebrates its Independence Day during a rare pause in three conflicts: Gaza, Iran and Lebanon. It is the Gaza war that is the major theme for the country’s official celebration.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

As the end of a two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran approaches, a separate but intertwined conflict may have an improved chance at peace. Israel and Lebanon have had a fraught relationship for decades. The most recent fighting flared up not long after the war in Iran began. It involves the Iran-backed militant group, Hezbollah. Now there is a temporary ceasefire and the two nations are engaging in direct negotiations. There is hope for a peaceful resolution, but they have been here before. In this episode we learn about the history behind this moment with a journalist and author how has covered the Middle East for over 20 years.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The war in Gaza has hardened positions across the Middle East. But two men say it brought them closer together and convinced them that the "future is peace." That’s the title of their new book. NPR’s Michele Kelemen speaks to authors Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

For 25 years, ethnic Koreans who called Japan home were lured by propaganda to North Korea. Over 90,000 people heeded the call. They were promised all basic needs, but ended up trapped in North Korea’s poverty and starvation. Now, survivors are fighting for justice in court.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

What began as a power struggle between the army and the powerful paramilitary force — former allies in a coup that removed a civilian government — has spiraled into a devastating war. Now entering its fourth year, it has become the world's largest humanitarian catastrophe.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

After U.S.-backed Iraqi and Syrian forces defeated ISIS, its surviving fighters went to prison. Their wives and children were sent to detention camps, where many remain to this day.  NPR visits the last detention camp for ISIS wives and children in an increasingly precarious northeastern Syria.   See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

In 2024, Israel killed Hezbollah's top leaders and is thought to have decimated its arsenal. So how is the Iran-backed group still firing rockets into Israel? NPR’s Lauren Frayer looks as how Hezbollah has re-armed and changed tactics.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Ukraine has been a country living through war for more than four years, since Russia’s full-scale invasion. But the experience of that war varies widely. Cities on the front line often bear the brunt of attacks, and yet residents a forced to persevere. In our second story from the southern Ukraine city of Kherson, we hear about a former mayor, taken captive, who returns to a city where life has been altered in horrifying ways by the technology of war.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Weapons evolve over the course of a war, and for the war in Ukraine the use of drones has radically altered the battlefield. But those same weapons have an impact on civilian populations in frontline cities as well. We go to the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson where four years of war has forced residents to constantly adapt.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, just ahead of a deadline he imposed for the country to open the Strait of Hormuz or face catastrophic attacks on infrastructure. In the Middle East there are feelings of relief, anger and uncertainty, after the ceasefire was announced. We hear from NPR reporters in Israel and Lebanon to hear how people are reacting.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

One Moscow poet is making rare criticism of the Russian war on Ukraine. The Russian assault on Ukraine is now in its fifth year. For ordinary Russians, dissent against the war is dangerous. Poet Vadim Dzyuba is speaking out anyway. It’s cost him his job, and he faces an ongoing threat of jail.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

When a 9,000 year-old grave of a shaman was discovered in 1930s Germany, the discovery was quickly politicized to support Nazi propaganda. But new analysis shows those assumptions were all wrong. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

It’s been three months since the capture of President Nicolás Maduro. Ordinary Venezuelans reflect on what that night of the Maduro capture was like, and on what may be ahead for their country. They say they’re now able to openly talk politics and demonstrate in the streets. Still, the most difficult part of transforming their country may lie ahead.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Israel has invaded Lebanon as the war in Iran expands in the region. Israel says the move is in pursuit of Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters— Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel last month in support of Iran. Israel’s invasion has caused a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon with over a million civilians displaced and more than 1,300 killed in Israeli attacks, according to Lebanon’s government. And among the dead are at least 53 paramedics. Human rights groups say some of those first responders were targeted. We go to Beirut to examine that claim.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

On Monday, President Trump threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure across Iran, including the country’s desalination plants, vital for drinking water in the arid Gulf. Kuwait authorities said Iran had attacked one of their desalination plants earlier that day. Deliberately attacking essential civilian infrastructure is a war crime under international law. Yet both sides have hit civilian infrastructure in this conflict. We ask a legal expert about accountability in war.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

A conversation with an advocate for the regulation of Artificial Intelligence. He has thought a lot about what it could mean for the future of the the global economy, the working lives of people and how it’s use or misuse on the battlefield could change war in frightening ways.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

For almost a month now, a twenty-eight-year old Iranian writer in Tehran has been sharing her diary entries with NPR. The entries give us a view of the war from inside Iran as it is being lived. This is her second dispatch and she expresses the complicated emotions some Iranians have about this war.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

It’s been a month since the U.S. and Israel began the war on Iran. President Trump pointed to what he said has been progress in talks when he extended his deadline for Iran to open up the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping channel. He has threated to destroy Iran’s energy facilities if ships aren’t allowed to pass.Meanwhile attacks continue in Iran, Israel, Gulf States and Lebanon. Israel’s Defense Minister vowed to intensify strikes against Iran… while Iran’s Ambassador to the UN accused the U.S. and Israel of deliberately targeting civilians. In today’s episode, we look at a month of this war, by hearing from the people experiencing it. We meet weary Iranians, fearful Israelis, shaken residents of what was a safe haven in the Gulf, and Lebanese citizens enduring massive displacement. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Southeast Asia is among the areas hardest hit by Iran’s cutoff of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz, with many nations there almost entirely dependent on foreign energy — and quickly running out. We hear how the effects are being felt.And Iran has been not only launching missiles around the region but also firing off memes around the internet. We hear that although war propaganda has a long history, it now travels faster and to a wider audience than ever before. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Britain’s upper house of parliament is known as the House of Lords and it’s has a lot of old traditions: powdered wigs, a gold throne, lawmakers addressing each other as “noble lord” or “baroness”. But one tradition has recently received scrutiny— dozens of the legislators inherit their seats. We go to London to learn about the practice that has been in place for nearly a thousand years.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

After weeks of war with Iran, Israeli support for the conflict is high but waning. Israel has endured frequent airstrikes from Iran disrupting lives and killing at least fifteen so far. We hear from some Israelis about how they’re feeling.And while more than one thousand ships are idle, unable to go through the Strait of Hormuz due to Iranian attacks on vessels, a few are getting through the economically vital waterway. We hear about which ships are getting through and why.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

After days of brinkmanship, President Trump announces a sudden delay in threatened strikes on Iran’s power grid, citing “very good and productive” talks aimed at de-escalating the war. Our reporter tells us what we know about those talks.And at one underground disco along Turkey's border with Iran, Iranians ponder death and the destruction of their country while celebrating the traditional new year holiday of Nowruz. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Entering the Ukrainian town of Izium brings the odd sight of roads and sidewalks completely covered in wide stretches of overhead netting. It’s a low-tech defense against the latest deadly Russian drones known as, FPV, or first-person view drones. FPV’s can fly up to 15 miles and are piloted by unjammable fiber optic cables. Cities in eastern Ukraine are preparing for an advancing front line as Russia’s full-scale war enters its fifth year.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

NPR has learned that mediators have quietly given Hamas a proposal to hand over all its weapons to ensure Gaza’s reconstruction. And Iran has imposed a near-total internet blackout as the war with the U.S. and Israel rages on. Some Iranians are sending voice memos to share a glimpse of what life is like inside the country.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Unmanned drones are cheaper than missiles, easy to mass-produce, can travel long distances, and strike with precision. For all these reasons they are reshaping conflicts around the globe. We hear from NPR correspondents about how drones are changing the nature of war and the balance of power in Ukraine, Sudan and Mexico.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Israel says it has killed two top Iranian leaders in airstrikes, dealing another blow to Iran’s remaining leadership. One of the men was believed to be directing the current war effort, and these deaths come after Israel killed Iran’s supreme leader on the first day of the war. We hear more about who was killed and what this might mean for Iran.And over a million Lebanese have been displaced since Israel intensified its campaign against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. We meet some of the displaced.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Ever since the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran, oil prices have been on a rollercoaster but overall have been trending higher. An increase in the price of oil has world-wide consequences with winners and losers. To get a snapshot of where things stand, we hear from three reporters around the world— in Russia, Germany and Taiwan.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Understanding exactly what is happening inside Iran is difficult. The government rarely gives visas to western journalists and closely monitors those that do enter the country. The internet is closely controlled by the regime. For the past two weeks, since the U.S. and Israel began their war in Iran, a writer in Tehran has been sharing entries from her diary with NPR about this war. We hear some of her writings which offer an intimate look at her life under bombardment.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Five months ago, President Trump declared ceasefire in Gaza, having negotiated a deal that includes phased Israeli withdrawal from the territory and Hamas disarmament. But that was before the U.S. and Israel launched a war in Iran taking the Trump administration’s attention away from the Palestinian territory. We go to Gaza and find it’s still cutoff from the outside world and gains towards a durable peace have been paused or reversed.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

In southern Lebanon, Hezbollah militants backed by Iran have been firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s war in Iran. And Israel has been firing back hard. Almost 700 thousand Lebanese have been displaced, mostly fleeing Israel’s strikes.We go to both sides of this renewed conflict. In northern Israel daily rockets are keeping people on edge but also defiant. In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s wide popularity has been eroded by the fighting.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Russia’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine recently passed the four year mark. And over that time it has become the deadliest conflict on the European continent since World War II. Over 1.5 million people are dead, injured or missing, according to western governments and think tanks. Our correspondent in Moscow tries to answer one of the most persistent and difficult questions of this war: do Russians support it?See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

As we enter the second week of U.S. combat operations in Iran, NPR’s Leila Fadel considers the similarities and differences with the last time the United States waded into war in the region, in Iraq in 2003. Leila covered that war as well and talks to some experts about what lessons can be drawn.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

A week ago, the U.S. and Israel began airstrikes on Iran, killing the regime’s leader and starting a war that has now threatens to to expand throughout the Middle East. Iran struck back, firing missiles and drones at Israel, but also at U.S. allies including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.Meanwhile, Hezbollah militants in Lebanon fired rockets at Israel, and Israel has now conducted attacks in a Beirut suburb believed to be a militant stronghold. Thousands have been displaced. And the U.S. and Israel have continued and intensified their bombing campaign in Iran. We get an update from four NPR correspondents in the region in Beirut, Dubai, Tel Aviv and Eastern Turkey.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

A panel of clerics in Iran are meeting to decide on the next leader of the fundamentalist regime after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in recent airstrikes. After nearly 40 years of his rule, the choice could either cement hardline continuity under his son or usher in a fundamentally transformed regime. We hear about likely candidates.And as Iranians are attacking American bases in the Middle East with drones, the government of Ukraine is offering its expertise. They say more than 57 thousand of the same type of drones have been used against them in the last four years.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy