Conflict

Extortion and predatory lending have skyrocketed in Peru

Cases of extortion in Peru shot up 370% between 2021 and 2023. That represents close to a fivefold increase in just two years, with the trend continuing into 2024.

Wafaa Mustafa was married to American ISIS fighter Russell Dennison.

‘We have no future’: A Syrian woman speaks about her life with an American ISIS member

Shadow of ISIS

‘Patriots’: A play about 1990s Russia debuts on Broadway

Conflict

US urges restraint and deescalation as Israel and Iran trade attacks

Israel-Hamas war

US National Security Council spokesman on heightened tensions between Iran and Israel: ‘We don’t want to see this conflict widen and deepen’

Israel-Hamas war

‘Sacred refuge:’ This cultural center provides a safe space for Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem

Israel-Hamas war

FeelBeit is an event space and bar in Jerusalem that brings together Palestinian and Israeli artists to share the stage. Before Oct. 7, 2023, this was already a difficult thing to do. But after, it’s been almost impossible. FeelBeit closed for a while but realized that it was important to reopen their doors. The World’s Marco Werman went there to see what it’s all about.

‘I have to work to help my family’: Child laborers in Raqqa face dangerous conditions

Shadow of ISIS

The campaign to liberate Raqqa in northeastern Syria from ISIS in 2017 left the city in ruins. Today, children make up a significant portion of the workforce that is rebuilding the city. One family knows the dangers of this work firsthand.

Rows of people kneeling in prayer

Tens of thousands attend Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem

Israel-Hamas war

On April 5, the final Friday in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan this year — a special time for Muslims worldwide — more than 3,500 Israeli police were deployed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Here, an estimated 57,000 Muslims attended Friday prayers. 

man in front of bookcase

Sharing the national burden in Israel

Israel-Hamas war

In Israel, most Jewish men are drafted into three years of military service soon after they graduate from high school. Jewish women serve two-year stints. The ultra-Orthodox community has been exempt. But this is beginning to change. Israel’s Supreme Court just ruled that religious seminaries called yeshivas are being cut off from government funding because they don’t send students into the military.

Riot police check spectators' bags as they guard an area at the Oktyabrsky Concert Hall prior to the concert of the rock group Picnic and the symphony orchestra Tavrichesky, in St. Petersburg, Russia, March 27, 2024.

Central Asians in Russia face increased scrutiny, discrimination after mass shooting 

Race

Russia has detained four suspected shooters in the Crocus City Hall mass shooting. The suspects are all from Tajikistan. Now, there are reports in cities across Russia that people from Central Asia are experiencing a rise in harassment, mistreatment and xenophobic behavior.