State of the World from NPR

State of the World from NPR

Immerse yourself in the most compelling and consequential stories from around the globe. The world is changing in big ways every day. State of the World from NPR takes you where the news is happening — and explains why it matters. With bureaus spanning the globe, NPR reporters bring you facts and context from the ground so you can cut through the noise of disinformation. NPR's State of the World, a human perspective on global stories in just a few minutes, every weekday. State of the World was previously State of Ukraine. You'll continue to hear Ukraine coverage here, along with other international stories. Support NPR's reporting by subscribing to State of the World+ and unlock sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org/stateoftheworld

Episodes

A fraying ceasefire in southern Lebanon with villages destroyed

May 6, 2026 • 6 mins
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.

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U.S. diplomats depart; the new Grand Egyptian Museum

May 5, 2026 • 9 mins
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.

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The standoff in the Strait of Hormuz

May 4, 2026 • 7 mins
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 de...
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Economic effects of the war in Iran ripple around the globe

May 1, 2026 • 9 mins
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.

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The search for loved ones in Gaza

April 30, 2026 • 11 mins
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 buildi...
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An interview with a powerful Hindu nationalist

April 29, 2026 • 10 mins
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.

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How is Cuba feeling about the United States?

April 28, 2026 • 9 mins
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. 

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40 years after families survived the Chernobyl accident, they face war

April 27, 2026 • 7 mins
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...
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An unlikely Indian movie makes it all the way to the Oscars

April 24, 2026 • 5 mins
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.

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Ukraine becomes an international arms dealer

April 23, 2026 • 5 mins
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.

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President Trump extends the ceasefire with Iran, what happens now?

April 22, 2026 • 6 mins
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 ...
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How Gaza feels after six months of ceasefire

April 21, 2026 • 8 mins
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 th...
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What are the chances for peace between Israel and Lebanon?

April 20, 2026 • 7 mins
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. ...
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An Israeli and Palestinian who bonded during war share vision for peace in a new book

April 17, 2026 • 4 mins
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.

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They were promised paradise — in North Korea

April 16, 2026 • 7 mins
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.

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Sudan’s war enters a fourth year

April 15, 2026 • 5 mins
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.

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The last detention camp for ISIS wives and kids

April 14, 2026 • 7 mins
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.   

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Hezbollah re-arms… but how?

April 13, 2026 • 6 mins
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.

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A Ukrainian mayor, released from captivity, returns to a radically different city

April 10, 2026 • 9 mins
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...
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Life in a Ukrainian city dramatically changed by war

April 9, 2026 • 11 mins
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.

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