State of the World from NPR

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As Mexico hosts the World Cup, families of the disappeared keep searching Jun 08, 2026

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Guadalajara is preparing for the World Cup with fan zones and celebrations, but the city is also the capital of one of Mexico’s most violent states. Families of the more than 130,000 people reported missing in Mexico continue to search for their loved ones, putting up posters and digging for remains, even as the world watches soccer’s biggest spectacle. We go to Guadalajara to here from families balancing hope, grief, and visibility.
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How oil is finding its way around the Strait of Hormuz Jun 05, 2026

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With ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz at a virtual standstill due to the war in Iran, companies are scrambling to find new and alternative ways to move everything from oil to fertilizer to household goods. We look at how they’re doing it.
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Colombia’s soccer jersey controversy; Trump’s refugee policy Jun 04, 2026

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio answers questions from Congress about radical changes to the U.S. refugee program— a program that once had bipartisan support. We hear what was said about the revamped program
And as the start of The World Cup approaches, fans in Colombia are eager to see their national team return to the global tournament. But even as they are getting ready to put on their jersey to show support, the team’s colors are getting wrapped up in a political controversy. We go to Bogota, Colombia.
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Internet returns to Iran; a seaside town that witnessed the war Jun 03, 2026

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People in Iran are back online after a government-imposed digital blackout that lasted nearly three months. We hear from Iranians that reconnecting has been bittersweet.
And a deadly strike during the first days of the Iran war hit far away in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka, jolting a quiet seaside town and showing just how far the conflict’s reach extends.
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The Indonesian islands divided over nickel mining Jun 02, 2026

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Raja Ampat is a collection of some 600 islands in Indonesia’s West Papua province. It is a beautiful area with clear blue waters and coral reefs that is mostly untouched by development except for the recent growth of a nickel mining industry that has split locals. We go to Raja Ampat and her from people who want mining jobs and those that want to protect the fishing and tourism in the area.
You can see a stunning visual report about Indonesia’s nickel mining dilemma at NPR.org
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The future of land Israel has seized from neighbors Jun 01, 2026

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After the last few years of war, Israel controls adjacent territory in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. Israeli officials say these areas are security buffer zones. But some in Israel want to permanently extend their country's borders, using the Bible as a map.
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War Worsens Economic Pain in Sri Lanka May 29, 2026

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Sri Lanka was careening from crisis to crisis, then came the Mideast war. People say they've got no buffer left.
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The struggle to contain Ebola May 28, 2026

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Mongbwalu, a once-thriving gold-mining town in eastern DRC, is now emerging as the epicenter of the country’s latest Ebola outbreak.
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In the West Bank, Israeli settlers speed up land grab from Palestinians May 27, 2026

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In a West Bank spring where Palestinians used to rest and water their flocks, Israeli settlers now swim.
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Ecuadorian fishermen say they were attacked at sea by a U.S. vessel May 26, 2026

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In recent months, a number of fishermen in Ecuador say a U.S.-flagged vessel attacked them at sea and destroyed their boats. Their accounts come amid more than 50 U.S. maritime strikes across the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean that have killed nearly 200 people. The Trump administration says the operations are lawful and aimed at alleged narco-traffickers, but has not publicly provided evidence or identified victims. We meet fishing families trying to make sense of what they say happened, and the lives upended in its aftermath.
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