A growing number of countries repressing dissidents beyond their own borders includes a NATO ally of the US: Turkey. A Washington Post report finds that the tactics and language justifying these actions are pulled from the post-9/11 counterterrorism playbook. Host Marco Werman speaks with Fionnuala Ni Aolain, a former UN special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism.

North Korea’s decision to deploy troops to the Kursk region of Russia was seen as an escalation of the conflict. It was said that the North Korean leader hoped his forces would return home battle-tested and ready to fight for the homeland. US officials say Russia has deployed some 8,000 North Koreans in the region, the border area where Ukrainian forces seized Russian territory in a surprise attack over the summer. But as The World’s Daniel Ofman tells us, far fewer troops may return home than Pyongyang expected.

Back in February, Dylan went to the Philippines for what he thought would be a great Chinese Lunar New Year vacation. Then he found himself held hostage in a gang-run scamming compound. Here’s one man’s story about getting out and what the Philippines is doing to shut these operations down.

Canada has long been an attractive option for international students. It’s seen as a safe and generally non-discriminatory place to study, with impressive schools and post-graduation work rights. But 2024 brought a year of significant changes to the sector. Prospective international students fear an unknown future. The World’s Bianca Hillier reports from Toronto.

Ten years after two US officials brokered a secret deal with Cuba, relations between Havana and Washington remain strained, marked by lingering tensions and limited progress toward normalization. The World’s Host Marco Werman speaks with former top national security officials Ben Rhodes and Ricardo Zúñiga about how the Cuba deal came about and why it ultimately collapsed.