PRI's The World

Ice is us: Alaska Natives face the demise of the Arctic ice pack

Sea ice grows in the winter, when the Arctic is very cold and dark, and then dies back every summer, when the region gets pounded by nonstop sunlight. For all of human history, there's always been some Arctic sea ice that doesn’t melt in the summer. But there's much less of it now.

Why one veteran sees his political activism as an extension of his service

Nate Terani has committed to raising awareness about Muslims in the military: “It’s fundamentally important that either Muslims or immigrants from any other group don't feel that they are alienated or isolated right now because of the rhetoric that is coming from certain politicians."

A firefighter is shown in silhouette with a hose over their shoulder and bright flames in the background.

California wildfires, Iranian American veteran, wildfire science

The giant wildfires blazing in California are dominating headlines around the world. We’ll hear from a journalist based in South Africa who learned her dad's home was burning in California when she saw a picture of it in an Associated Press report. Also, a discussion on the science of wildfires, the connection to climate change and how nobody really knows how severe fires will be in the future. Plus, in honor of Veteran's Day, a profile of an Iranian American vet who says an experience he had as an 8-year-old in Iran helped inspire his service in the US military.

It may be getting harder for Puerto Rico’s national forest to recover from storms

Tropical forests like El Yunque have evolved to recover from hurricanes. But if those storms grow more intense or frequent, forests may be less able to bounce back. And that could hurt communities that depend on the forest for water.

The Dominican Republic took in Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany in exchange for a promise to develop the land. Franz Blumenstein rides a donkey in Sosúa, Dominican Republic, 1940.

The Dominican Republic took in Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler while 31 nations looked away

A New Hampshire man stumbled on an overlooked moment of history: The forgotten Evian conference where only one of 32 countries — the Dominican Republic — agreed to help settle German Jewish refugees. The doomed Evian Conference is viewed as a beginning act of the Holocaust.

US troops’ arrival prompts unease on both sides of the border in Arizona

The first wave of US troops arrived along the US-Mexico border recently, stringing razor wire atop existing border walls and fences. But people in Mexico and the US are worried about the message being sent.

Copper and blue colored pipes are shown stacked on their sides in Gascoyne, North Dakota.

A judge has halted construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline

A federal judge in Montana halted construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline on Thursday on the grounds that the US government did not complete a full analysis of the environmental impact of the TransCanada Corp. project.

The US border with Mexico in Nogales, Arizona

New asylum rules, US troops on the border and Jewish refugees in the Dominican Republic

The Trump administration announced changes to US rules on asylum. We hear about what the changes mean and the possible ramifications. Plus, US troops are now deployed along the Mexican border in Nogales, Arizona. And, the story of a New Hampshire man who stumbled onto a largely overlooked moment in history.

In Japan, sexual harassment isn’t a crime. Women who say #MeToo are targets.

Women who have told their stories publically in Japan have been shamed. The face of #MeToo in Japan is a journalist named Shiori Ito, who says she was raped by an older journalist, the biographer of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. She came forward publicly in May 2017.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions is shown with his hand to his face sitting next to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

What’s next for the Russia investigation, #MeToo becomes #WeToo in Japan, an AI news anchor in China

President Trump’s firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week raises concerns over the future of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Also, Florida's first Iranian American state lawmaker tells her story. Plus, French composer Francis Lai just passed away. His theme song for the film "Love Story" was a huge global hit in the 1970s and has been made and remade many times.

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