Jews around the world just celebrated the holiday of Purim, which is said to mark the survival of Jews in ancient Persia. In Israel, it is known for being a raucous holiday with parties, costumes, sweets and drinking. But for many Israelis, the war meant this year’s holiday felt different.
Authorities managed to avoid a worst-case scenario at the holiest site in Jerusalem during the overlapping religious holidays of Easter, Passover and Ramadan that ended a few weeks ago. Now, things are returning to normal at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Her exquisite piano compositions drew fans to the Jerusalem monastery where she lived after fleeing Ethiopia, in a stunning fourth act to her life.
New cases of polio have emerged in the US and Israel, and the disease has been detected in wastewater in the UK. Oliver Rosenbauer, the spokesperson for polio eradication at the World Health Organization, explains how some of them could be linked to the oral vaccine that's long been used to prevent the disease.
During President Joe Biden's trip to the Middle East, he's signed a joint declaration with Israel to counter Iran's nuclear program. The World's host Marco Werman speaks with Sina Azodi, a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council in Washington, about what the move means.
The top agenda item for Biden is regional security. Scheduled meetings with Israeli officials focus on strengthening the regional relationships that Israel has forged with some of its Muslim neighbors.
Ireland is the first EU country to declare that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories amount to de facto annexation.
President Joe Biden will meet with Afghan counterpart, President Ashraf Ghani, at the White House, as the two countries prepare for US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. And, Australia's largest city goes into partial lockdown over a spike in the COVID-19 delta variant in Sydney. Also, Palestinians are protesting the death of popular activist Nizar Banat while in Palestinian Authority custody.
The Masjid Al-Aqsa of Jerusalem is linked in the Quran to the story of the night journey of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem and has deep religious meaning for Muslims across the world.
Top of The World: At least 24 Palestinians, including nine children, were killed overnight and 122 others were wounded in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in a new round of escalating tensions. And, the COVID-19 variant first identified in India has been designated a global concern by the World Health Organization. Also, the FDA has expanded the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 jab to children as young as 12.
Top of The World: Weeks of mounting tensions between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem’s Old City culminated in another violent clash on Monday. And, more than 1,000 migrants landed on Italy’s southern island of Lampedusa on Sunday in a span of a few hours. Also, a series of bombings at a girls’ school over the weekend in Afghanistan has left 85 people dead — many under the age of 15 — and more than 125 wounded.