The World

US President Donald Trump addressed the nation today and said the US will continue to "evaluate options in response to Iranian aggression," but backed away from military confrontation. And, a Ukraine International Airlines flight leaving from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after takeoff Wednesday morning. We get the latest from Kyiv. Also, Italian Vogue reimagines the cover photoshoot for its January issue to promote sustainability.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked Tuesday about claims that Iran was planning imminent attacks against Americans ahead of Qasem Soleimani's killing. American allies in Europe are watching carefully and also criticizing the US airstrike. And, should we prepare for cyberattacks from Iran? That's the message coming from the US government, which expects retaliation from Iran. Also, a knitted green sweater has become deeply symbolic to people working to remember the lessons of the Holocaust...

Iran said it launched a missile attack on US-led forces in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday in retaliation for the US drone strike on an Iranian commander whose killing has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked Tuesday about claims that Iran was planning imminent attacks against Americans ahead of Qasem Soleimani's killing. American allies in Europe are watching carefully and also criticizing the US airstrike...

We know that Russia has been honing its tools of disinformation since the Cold War, but how did Soviet-era sabotage make the jump into the digital age? How have imposters on social media caused real-world tumult? In Part II of a miniseries on Russian interference from The World's partners at the podcast "Raw Data," we get into the mechanics of it all by taking a look at two specific instances when Russia tested out its disinformation strategy inside the United States...

What was the Trump administration's rationale for the targeted killing of Qasem Soleimani, the second most powerful figure in Iran? And, what's left of the international agreement that controlled Iran's nuclear program? The World's Shirin Jaafari has the latest. Also, an update on the Australian wildfires and the devastating impacts they're having on wildlife there...

A drone strike authorized by US President Donald Trump killed Iran's top security and intelligence commander, Maj. Gen. Qasim Suleimani. Who was Suleimani, and why is this such a momentous, and controversial, move? Also, Iranians are in a state of shock, wondering how their country might respond and fearing where this might lead. And, we'll bring you the view from Iraq. Iraqis have been incensed recently about being caught in the middle of a proxy battle between the US and Iran...

The Iran-backed militia members that stormed the US Embassy in Iraq are known as Kataib Hezbollah, a group many of us had not heard of before this week. So, just who are they? Plus, long-time commissioner of the NBA, David Stern died on Wednesday. Stern is credited with transforming the league into a global brand. Part of his legacy: European superstars on American courts. We look at the hottest European star in the NBA right now, 20-year-old Slovenian Luka Dončić...

The attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad is testing the diplomatic relationship between the United States and Iraq. Also on this special New Year's Day edition, we take a deep dive into the Arabic typewriter. It's a tale of two inventors: His whole life, Walid Waked had been told that his great-grandfather invented the Arabic typewriter. And then, one day, he learned that another family — the Haddads — believed they invented it. We unravel the mystery...

Protesters attacked the US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday in reaction to US airstrikes there. What is the symbolism of protesters breaching the compound, the largest and most expensive embassy ever built? Also, LGBTQ rights have seen both progress and setbacks over the last 10 years. Some countries have surprised activists by writing protections into law, while other countries have enforced regulations and further restrict their LGBTQ citizens...

Russians posing as Americans, wild conspiracy theories about political figures, outright fabrications — these were all part of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 US presidential elections. But it turns out this kind of disinformation has been around for decades, since the early days of the Soviet Union. It’s just gotten a lot more powerful, thanks to tech and social media...