The World

Two decades ago, France introduced a law banning the hijab and other religious symbols in public schools. Today, with French athletes prohibited from wearing any religious items while competing at the summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, the issue is more divisive than ever.

Many visitors in Israel, both local and international have traveled within Israel to the sites of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. Host Marco Werman was in Israel recently and asked some of these visitors why they decided to visit these sites of violence. Their answers are varied — and complex.

As talks around a possible ceasefire in Gaza continue, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the Israeli military is still planning to launch a ground offensive into Rafah. But there are signs that negotiators are getting closer to a ceasefire deal. 

Pro-Palestinian protests at universities in the US are showing no signs of slowing down. But they aren’t limited to the United States. At The University of Sydney, in Sydney, Australia, students have set up a temporary encampment modeled on US ones. And students at other universities around the world are following suit. 

Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from some of their positions in the Donetsk region as Russian troops have advanced. Military production has increased significantly in Russia as one of the anchors of its wartime economy, which is projected to grow over the next year, despite heavy international sanctions. 

When ISIS was in power, between 2014 and 2019, the terrorist group recruited and trained children to take part in its fight. Some were brought to Syria by their parents. Others were born there. These children became part of the global terrorist movement. And today, five years since the group was defeated, hundreds of these minors and adolescents remain detained in Syria.