The World

The family of an American arrested in Russia as an alleged spy claim he's innocent. Also, today Jamaica becomes the latest country to ban plastic bags. Plus, why calendars featuring Russian leader Vladimir Putin seem to be in hot demand, in and out of Russia.

Aid agencies in El Paso struggle to take care of more than 1,500 migrants released by the government and who are now stranded in the Texas city. Also, President Donald Trump and his plans for withdrawing US troops from Syria. Plus, hip-hop and Marvel comics helped shape this author when he first arrived in the US as a young boy.

Life in a refugee camp through the eyes and ears of a 12-year-old Somali boy. Plus, the shutdown in Washington is likely to continue through the new year. And, an appreciation of acclaimed Israeli writer Amos Oz.

An Iraqi writer based in Canada offers his thoughts about President Donald Trump's Christmas visit to Iraq. Also, we reached out to our network of American veterans about Trump's first overseas visit with US troops. Some vets were impressed. Others were more skeptical about the way the White House presented the trip. Plus, our favorite music from 2018.

Chaos in Washington. And uncertainty in the global economy. Are these two things linked? Plus, we look into something that President Donald Trump has talked about frequently — that the US economy has done so well since Trump's inauguration, that hundreds of companies are returning to America's shores. We dig into some of those numbers. And, reggae and dancehall star Buju Banton returns to Jamaica after serving seven years in a US prison on drug charges...

Artist Molly Crabapple spent time in a bus station and courthouses in southern Texas, where men, women and children make their way through the US immigration system. And Christmas is the time when long lines form at tamale markets in Los Angeles. Plus, when Owen Williams' neighbor Ken Watson passed away, he left behind 14 gifts for Williams' daughter. The story went viral on Twitter and Williams' phone has been ringing non-stop ever since.

The Department of Homeland Security has announced a major shift in the United States asylum policy — that people applying for asylum in the US at its southern border must remain in Mexico until their case is decided. And scientists are saying that undersea landslides from the Anak Krakatau volcano may have caused the tsunami that killed hundreds in Indonesia. Plus, the most important revelations from the Mueller investigation into President Trump's ties to Russia and what to expect in 2019.

Afghanistan is reacting to the news that the US plans to remove about 7,000 troops from the country. And, Santa Claus doesn’t live in the North Pole: He lives in Finland. In Roviniemi, to be exact. Plus, host Marco Werman visits a fourth grade classroom in East Boston, where students have been writing poems inspired by global news they heard on this very program.

Cubans won't have to defect to come play baseball in the US. That's the goal in a new agreement between the Cuban government and Major League Baseball. Also, what does a US withdrawal from Syria mean for American allies in the region, and for humanitarian groups still working on the ground in Syria? Plus, the daughter of French far-right politician Marine Le Pen has created a university that aims to educate the next generation of far-right leaders in France.

Syrians react to the news of a quick US pullout. The mother photographed fleeing tear gas with her children at the US-Mexico border is now in the country. And an American college professor finds his name was being used by an ISIS militant and ended up on a secret watch list.