State of the World from NPR

Three years after the October 7th attacks, Israel’s southern border with Gaza is undergoing a dramatic rebound. That region was nearly abandoned after thousands of Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities. That attack killed nearly 12-hundred people, and 250 more were taken hostage.

Now, residents are back.  Some are driven by solidarity with the victims of October 7th.   Others say they feel safer with the heavy Israeli military buildup along the border as Israel continues to occupy most of Gaza. 

We go to southern Israel.

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This week marks twenty five years since the United States invaded Afghanistan, on October 7th, 2001.  It was less than a month after the September 11th attacks and President George W. Bush vowed swift revenge.  And the U.S. did quickly oust the Taliban– the Islamist group controlling the country– over its support for and harboring of Osama bin Laden and his militant group al Qaeda, blamed for the deadly attacks on U.S. soil.

But the war itself was far from quick, lasting 20 years.  U.S. troops remained on Afghan soil until August, 2021 when the Taliban again retook Kabul amid a somewhat chaotic U.S. exit.

On today’s episode we hear what life in Afghanistan is like now and try to understand how its people are dealing with the legacy of the conflict that began a quarter century ago.

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Russia's jet-powered drones are targeting bridges in the Ukrainian capital, an escalation after more than a month of day-and-night strikes that have left Kyiv feeling almost like a frontline city.

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Crime is at the top of voters’ concerns in Brazil heading into Sunday’s national elections. Many are calling for tougher measures — part of a broader rightward shift across Latin America, where security has become a defining political issue.
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In mother-of-pearl suits, the Pearly Kings used to canvass East London for charity. The tradition of the Pearly Kings stretches back to the 1800s, when this area of the city was gritty and poor, and dressing up gave working-class people dignity. The most famous of the Pearly Kings, George Major, died in August at age 88. Major’s portrait still greets arrivals at Heathrow Airport, and he’s said to be the inspiration for an iconic character in a British sit-com.
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