First Nations Chiefs criticized the Canadian government’s initial response to the wildfires, which have forced thousands of people to evacuate in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Since the end of World War II, the Fulbright Program has been one of America’s most prestigious tools of diplomacy — sending scholars abroad, welcoming researchers in and building soft power through education. But today, this flagship exchange program is under existential threat — from the State Department that runs it. As the World’s Joshua Coe learned, it could take decades to see the repercussions.

A constant fixture of National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek’s journey through rural Japan was the whirligig, or as he called them, “seismic scarecrows.” Gardeners he spoke to use these contraptions to scare away crop pests like mice and foxes. Host Carolyn Beeler spoke with Salopek about the whirligigs, rural Japanese architectural aesthetics and how he got aboard a cargo ship to cross to North America.

The World’s Host Carolyn Beeler discusses the implications of the 90-minute call this week between the leaders of the US and China with Nicholas Burns, a former US Ambassador to China under the Biden administration.

Comedians in Syria see a new moment for their art form. With the regime that stifled dissent under former President Bashar al-Assad gone, they have been putting together performances at cafes and clubs across Damascus and telling jokes that were previously unthinkable.