President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to end the war in Iraq and win the one in Afghanistan. In our New Year's Day special, The World's Jeb Sharp looks at how wars end and what lessons can be drawn.

How wars end series page

Today on The World: Gaza's economic troubles are intensified by the latest round of violence; attacks against Roma minorities are on the rise in Europe; and the heavy impact of Colombian coal on miners and the country's environment

Bedouins inside Israel feel they're not treated fairly by the government and that has some of them identifying with Palestinians in Gaza. Some Israelis worry the Bedouins' could become radicalized. The World's Quil Lawrence reports.

Before the current Israeli air strike on Gaza, the Palestinian territory was already plagued by economic woes. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Sami Abdel-Shafi, a Palestinian-American businessman living in Gaza, who says much of Gaza's economy is dead.

Gaza conflict

Anchor Marco Werman speaks with BBC Moscow correspondent Rupert Winfield Hayes about the dispute over natural gas between Russia and Ukraine.

2008 was a bad year for Europe's largest minority group, the Roma. Attacks against Roma minorities are on the rise in many countries, including the Czech Republic -- as The World's Gerry Hadden reports.

A family in Newcastle, England, found an unusual inheritance in a late relative's garage: a rare 1937 Bugatti automobile that could fetch millions at auction. Anchor Marco Werman has details.

Anchor Marco Werman speaks with The World's Mary Kay Magistad about the latest in the China tainted milk scandal. Authorities arrested parents of children who became ill from drinking the tainted milk, ahead of a planned press conference.

50 years after helping to lead Cuba's revolution, Che Guevara is still everywhere in Latin America. Well, at least his image is. The BBC's Daniel Schweimler reports from Buenos Aires.

President-elect Barack Obama has said he could talk directly with Cuba's leaders. And as Cuba-scholar Peter Kornbluh tell us, this is not a new idea. Just about every U.S. president for the last 50 years has attempted some sort of quiet talks with the Cubans. President George W. Bush was not one of them, though.