What in the World

Across the world, footballers are hoping to be picked for their national team to play at FIFA World Cup 2026, but in Europe's top leagues, teams are picking younger players. In the Premier League this season, just over half of players are 25 and under. The average age of footballers starting matches is now 26 years and 217 days, the youngest in Premier League history.Being a young footballer is nothing new. But the amount of young footballers is rising. For some, like Arsenal’s Max Dowman, they are setting records. He’s the youngest Champions League player ever, debuting this season at 15-years-old. So why is football getting younger? BBC Sport reporter Jonty Colman gets into the game, the pressures, and why clubs are chasing down young talent. We also hear from Chifundo Mbofana, a young semi-professional footballer in Malawi, who explains how young players can inspire others.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Imogen James, Mora Morrison and Julia Ross-Roy Editor: Verity Wilde

You’ve probably had a call from someone pretending to be your bank - or even a family member - all to find out that it’s a scam. It’s part of a global, lucrative industry: the UN estimates that countries in east and southeast Asia lost an estimated $37 billion to cyber fraud in 2023, while the United States reported losses of more than $5.6 billion. But have you ever considered that the people behind these scams are sometimes victims themselves?Across South East Asia, in countries like Myanmar and Cambodia, thousands of people from all over the world work in ‘scam centres’. Some are forced to be there - and say they faced torture and beatings. The BBC’s South East Asia Correspondent, Jonathan Head, has been to Shwe Kokko in Myanmar, where several centres are located. He tells us what it was like, how the scam industry operates and how the authorities are trying to crack down on it. We also hear from Mwesezi, a 21 year old from Uganda, who was trafficked to Myanmar after arriving in Thailand, for what he thought was a job in the IT industry.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Video producer: Baldeep Chahal Producers: Imogen James, Chelsea Coates, Rio Rennalls and Benita Barden Editor: Verity Wilde

Kerala claims to be the first state in India to have ended extreme poverty. Over the past four years, various government departments have worked together to provide around 64,000 families living in extreme poverty with food, shelter, medical care and scholarships for their children. But what is extreme poverty and why are some people questioning this claim? The BBC’s Shruti Menon, who is from Kerala, explains all. She also chats us through how extreme poverty rates across India have plummeted in the past decade. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbert Producers: Mora Morrison and Natalia Makohon Editor: Verity Wilde

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Thousands of schools have been damaged in the war. According to the UN children agency Unicef, only a third of Ukraine's schoolchildren currently study in-person, due to the threat of missile and drone attacks as well as shelling. Russia has attacked energy infrastructure so there are also frequent power cuts across the country. In this episode we hear what life is like for students in Ukraine right now.Initially Russian forces captured large parts of Ukraine and nearly made it to the capital, Kyiv, but Ukraine pushed the Russian forces back. Now the fighting is mostly in the south and east of the country, but the whole country is affected. Ukraine has started to build schools underground to allow children to carry on studying during rocket attacks, both purpose-built and by converting existing underground spaces. We speak to BBC reporter Olga Malchevska who has been to see what one of these schools is like. Another area where education has changed is in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. The BBC is not able to travel to these areas but we discuss allegations of “re-education” there. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Video Journalist: Baldeep Chahal Producers: Natalia Makohon and Julia Ross-Roy Editor: Verity Wilde

Sugar taxes are in place in several countries including Mexico and the UK. And they’re evolving. Maybe you’ve noticed that some sweet fizzy drinks are getting more expensive? Buying drinks with added sugar has an extra cost, which is commonly known as sugar tax. It’s a way to discourage people from consuming too much sugar - something which can lead to poor health if consumed in excess. But do these sugar taxes work? Our BBC colleague Maria Clara Montoya has been looking into this with the help of Elisa Pineda, a public health expert from The George Institute for Global Health at Imperial College London.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Iqra Farooq Producers: Mora Morrison and Maria Clara Montoya Editor: Verity Wilde

Colombian archaeologists have retrieved the first items from what’s thought to be the most valuable shipwreck in the world. A Spanish naval ship, the San José, was sunk by a British fleet off the coast of Colombia more than 300 years ago. It had a cargo of gold, silver and emeralds worth billions of dollars in today’s money. Treasure hunters had tried to locate the shipwreck for many years, before Colombia announced that it had discovered it back in 2015.But how can we be sure this is the actual San Jose - and if it is, who has the rightful claim to the precious cargo onboard?Helen Farr, a marine archaeologist from the University of Southampton in the UK, takes us through the legal dispute over who owns the ship, and recounts how it ended up on the ocean floor. And we hear from Mariana Carulla, a conservationist in the Colombian ministry of culture, who has been working with the team that’s retrieving objects from the shipwreck. She tells us what they have found so far - and explains how authorities are searching for clues about the shipwreck’s true identity.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler, Maria Clara Montoya and Chelsea Coates Editor: Verity Wilde

Elon Musk could be about to become the world’s first trillionaire. That’s after a record-breaking pay package - that could be worth nearly $1tn (£760bn) - was approved by Tesla shareholders. The electric car boss is already the world's richest man, but this would take his wealth to a whole new level. But who is Elon Musk and how did he make all this money? We explain all, as well as breaking down what a trillion dollars actually is. Plus, we hear from two special guests about what they would do with a trillion dollars.But not everyone thinks trillionaires are a good thing. Billie Eilish has been vocal about this. She recently called for billionaires to give their money away. And then there’s charities, like Oxfam, who point to rising global inequality. BBC reporter Nathalie Jimenez joins us to crunch the numbers, and explain all sides of the arguments for, and against, trillionaires. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison, Chelsea Coates and Emily Horler Video producer: Baldeep Chahal Editor: Verity Wilde

Children learn best when they’re taught in the language they use at home, research suggests. But there's the question about the power of world languages like English, Spanish, French or Arabic and how they could provide more opportunities to those who learn it, be it in education or a career. You’ve been messaging us about what languages you learned in at school. Say hello to Brian in Kenya and Christian in the Philippines!We then skip over to Nigeria, where our reporter Makuochi Okafor breaks down for us why the government is reversing its policy of teaching in other languages that aren't English. And our colleague Santiago tells us what went wrong when he was learning in English in his Colombian school. Plus, we get the research from Justine Sass, from UNESCO - the UN agency for education, science and culture.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Chelsea Coates, Maria Clara Montoya and Emily Horler Editor: Verity Wilde

GPS interference or GPS ‘jamming’ is getting more common. It’s when radio signals on the same frequencies as GPS satellites are used to overwhelm and block legitimate navigation signals. It’s led to pilots having to make emergency landings or switch to older non-GPS systems. The issue has become so prevalent that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) held a conference on it last year. Several European governments also believe it is intentional interference by Russia. BBC journalist Emilia Jansson explains GPS jamming in detail and how it is affecting the aviation industry.Plus we hear from Ian Petchenik, director of communications at flight-tracking website Flightradar24 about what GPS interference looks like in real-time.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producer: Emilia Jansson and Benita Barden Editor: Verity Wilde

COP30, the big meeting where countries discuss climate change annually, has finished. This year it was hosted in the city of Belem in Brazil, in the Amazon forest, which is directly affected by it. The role of the two biggest emitters has also made headlines. The United States hasn’t taken part in the talks and China has kept a very low profile. This summit has ended without a clear commitment to phase out fossil fuels and that has angered protesters and activists, who participated in demonstrations showing their opposition to this plan. We wrap up the highlights of COP30 with our resident climate expert, Georgina Rannard and also hear from Natalia Tsuyama, a Brazilian climate activists who shares with us how her first COP has been. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler and Maria Clara Montoya Editor: Verity Wilde

Scientists at Oxford University in the UK now think that kissing evolved more than 21 million years ago, and it wasn’t humans that started it.As a behaviour, it has no obvious survival or reproductive benefits but it’s seen across the world, in humans and animals alike.Victoria Gill, our Science Correspondent, tells us all about the research and what we know about if animals can be romantic like humans can.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler and Benita Barden Editor: Verity Wilde

Miss Mexico Fatima Bosch has been crowned Miss Universe at a ceremony in Bangkok, marking the end of an exceptionally scandal-filled pageant season. It's the 74th Miss Universe pageant and there was a lot of drama before a single contestant took to the stage.Early in November, Miss Mexico walked out of an event after she was told off by a Thai official and those who supported her were threatened with disqualification. Then in the days before the final, some judges resigned, one over claims the competition is rigged - which is of course denied by the Miss Universe Organisation.Social media has shown some of the drama behind the scenes… and at the centre of it is two of the men running the pageant. Nawat Itsaragrisil and Raúl Rocha Cantú have very different visions for the future of the pageant, which has been dealing with declining ratings and financial issues.William Lee Adams, host of Marketplace Morning Report, takes us through what’s been going on behind the scenes, everything from finances to clashes over how it should be run.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Benita Barden, Chelsea Coates and Emily Horler Video producer: Baldeep Chahal Editor: Verity Wilde

After months of mounting pressure, US lawmakers have just voted to release all of the so-called Epstein files. So documents from criminal investigations into the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before his death could soon be made public. The vote was passed in the House of Representatives 427-1 and the Senate unanimously fast-tracked it without a formal vote. Now it’s down to US President Donald Trump, who’s already said he’ll release them.This story has been around for a while, and it’s become a bit of a thorny issue for the US president. Trump used to socialise with Epstein, although there are no allegations of wrongdoing against him. During his re-election campaign, Trump called for the Epstein files to be released. Then, once in power, he changed his mind. But, after a rebellion from some in his own party, he switched sides again, calling for their release.Following this vote, lots of people have questions: When will the Epstein files be released? What are the Epstein files? And who’s in them? In this episode we explain everything we know so far. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison and Imogen James Editor: Verity Wilde

In Sudan, where a civil war has been raging for over two years, millions of students have had their education disrupted. Over half of all schools are in conflict zones. Many schools are being used as shelters and many students have missed their exams. In some parts of the country there is no education at all.Sudan is one of the biggest countries in Africa. It’s mostly Muslim and is also one of the poorest countries in the world. More than 150,000 people have been killed in the conflict, and around 12 million have had to flee their homes. The UN has called it the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis.In this episode school and university students in Sudan tells us how their education has been affected by the war. And BBC journalist Maha El Gaml explains how some schools are now re-opening. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Video producer: Baldeep Chahal Producers: Julia Ross-Roy and Chelsea Coates Editor: Verity Wilde

Both Jamaica and the Philippines have been battered by tropical storms in the past month. Hurricane Melissa, a category five storm, was the worst storm to ever hit Jamaica and one of the strongest so far to affect the Caribbean, leaving at least 30 people dead. And super-typhoon Fungwong displaced more than a million people in the Philippines, only days after an earlier storm claimed hundreds of lives. Neither region is a stranger to storms - the Philippines is hit with an average of 20 typhoons each year - but scientists say that climate change is making these storms more severe. So, how can island nations better protect themselves in the face of natural disasters?Environment and climate journalist Jhesset Enano, who’s from the Philippines, tells us what it’s like to live in a region where tropical storms are common - and what’s being done to protect people. And Rosanne Martyr, a senior scientist from Climate Analytics, tells us about the natural defences small islands around the world are using to minimise the damage caused by storms.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Iqra Farooq Producers: Chelsea Coates and Mora Morrison Editor: Verity Wilde

These days, buying concert tickets is a huge expense. If fans miss out, they can often find tickets on resale sites at hugely inflated prices. Sometimes people resell their tickets because they can’t go but there are also lots of “professional resellers” or ticket touts playing the system and making loads of profit. They buy tickets in bulk from the original seller platform, then mark them up to fans. We hear from a Taylor Swift super fan, who has spent hundreds on resale tickets.Now, a group of musicians including Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Sam Fender and Radiohead have sent a letter to the UK government, asking politicians to introduce a price cap on resale tickets to "stop touts from fleecing fans”. Ireland has already introduced a law to stop people selling tickets for more than their original price. Gary Devitt, who co-founded a platform in Ireland for fan-to-fan ticket resales called Toutless, gives us his view on what effect the law has had. In this episode we hear some stories about buying resale tickets, and ask whether price caps can actually stop the touts. The BBC’s music correspondent Mark Savage also explains how ticket touts operate, and what artists could do themselves to reduce dodgy reselling. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Imogen James and Maria Clara Montoya Editor: Verity Wilde

Prepping is a big deal in the US. There’s even a reality TV show called “Doomsday Preppers”. Prepping is when you stockpile loads of stuff - food, water, medicine - in case of a disaster, nuclear war or an unstoppable virus. Now billionaires are taking it to the next level, building underground mansions and self-sustaining bunkers that look like something out of a zombie apocalypse movie. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is building a $100 million compound in Hawaii—complete with plans for a huge underground bunker, although he’s described it as a “little shelter, like a basement”. Peter Thiel, the CEO of Paypal tried to build one in New Zealand and Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, is rumoured to have underground security areas under every one of his homes.In this episode BBC reporter Nathalia Jimenez joins us again to chat about what exactly these billionaires are building and what they’re so worried about. And we hear from Lauren, a prepper in the US, about why she thinks it’s important to get organised. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Julia Ross-Roy and Benita Barden Video producer: Baldeep Chahal Editor: Verity Wilde

Are Christians being targeted and killed in their thousands in Nigeria? That’s the claim made by US President Donald Trump in several social media posts. He’s blamed the Nigerian Government for allowing the killing of Christians, and has threatened to stop aid and send troops into the African country. It not only caught the attention of Nigerians, but also rapper Nicki Minaj. In a post on X that’s been seen more than 50 million times, she said she’s grateful to Trump, writing that no group should be persecuted for their religion. But is there truth to what Trump says? We speak to BBC reporter Ijeoma Ndukwe to learn more about the religious tensions in Nigeria and what’s really happening. We also hear from two young Nigerians, who offer up their thoughts on the situation. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Imogen James and Mora Morrison Editor: Verity Wilde

Do aliens exist? What’s out there in the universe beyond Earth? These are some of the questions which have plagued astronomers and film producers for years. Well, now astronomers are revisiting these questions following the discovery of a possible atmosphere around an Earth-sized planet about 40 light years away. The exoplanet is called Trappist-1e and may be able to host life. BBC science presenter Caroline Steel joins us to explain what we need to know about this discovery. Plus, we speak to Ximena from Venezuela and Vanessa from Finland - who are both members of the Cosmic Girls Foundation - about what they make of Trappist-1e. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison and Chelsea Coates Video Journalist: Baldeep Chahal Editor: Verity Wilde

The COP30 climate summit is taking place in the Brazilian city of Belém for the next two weeks. It's run by the United Nations (UN) and every year is one of the biggest events in the calendar, especially for world leaders and environmental campaigners. This COP is in the Amazon rainforest. The country's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, says it will be an historic summit because it is "a COP in the Amazon, not a COP about the Amazon". All world leaders are invited, but not all attend. US President Donald Trump, for example, won’t be there. Every year at COP countries make commitments about what they will do over the next year with the aim of reducing climate change. But this year's summit is particularly important as it marks ten years since the Paris Agreement and people will be tracking our progress. The BBC’s Georgina Rannard breaks down everything we need to know about this year’s COP. Plus Natalia Tsuyama, who’s a climate activist based in Brazil, shares why she’s feeling hopeful. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison, Maria Clara Montoya and Rio Rennalls Editor: Verity Wilde