What in the World

By: BBC World Service
  • Summary

  • Helping you make sense of what’s happening in your world. Big stories, small stories and everything in between. Understand more, feel better. Five days a week, Monday to Friday.

    (C) BBC 2024
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Episodes
  • COP29 was all about the money
    Nov 25 2024

    The annual United Nations climate change conference ended on Sunday but not everybody was happy. This year, the main focus was on getting richer countries, who have contributed more to climate change, to pay poorer, developing countries so that they can better deal with the impacts of climate change.

    COP29 was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, and the talks were meant to end on Friday. The negotiations ran over into the weekend and a deal for $300 billion was finally agreed on Sunday at 3am.

    However, the African Group of Negotiators described the final pledge as "too little, too late" and India said that “the amount that is proposed to be mobilised is abysmally poor. It's a paltry sum.”

    BBC climate reporter Georgina Rannard was in Baku and takes us through the final deal. Georgina also speaks with two climate activists who were campaigning at COP29.

    Plus, Jordan Dunbar from the BBC’s Climate Question podcast gives us three success stories of how climate change is being tackled around the world.

    Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler and Adam Chowdhury Editor: Rosanna La-Falce

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    16 mins
  • Flex culture: Is shopping addiction driving Malaysia’s youth debt crisis?
    Nov 22 2024

    According to a major government survey, more than 70% of young people in Malaysia are in debt. Officials say shopping addiction is the number one reason why.

    Social media feeds that addiction by promoting “flex culture” — the desire to flash your wealth in person and online. Leeloo Larcombe, a fashion and lifestyle influencer, tells us about Malaysia’s shopping culture and her complicated relationship with it. Bryan Chen, the co-founder of Malaysia's biggest streetwear convention, Sneaker-LAH, explains how his shoe addiction has at times left him in debt.

    The rise of buy now, pay later (BNPL) schemes also encourages people to live beyond their means. Doris Lieu, an economist at the IDEAS Malaysia think tank, explains how these schemes grew in popularity during the pandemic and why young people are attracted to them.

    Finally, Pete Yong, the financial literacy expert behind the popular Mr Money TV YouTube channel, offers some practical tips to help people pull themselves out of debt.

    Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: William Lee Adams and Benita Barden Editor: Julia Ross-Roy

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    14 mins
  • How Thailand’s same-sex marriage law could impact South East Asia
    Nov 21 2024

    Thailand has become the first country in South East Asia to legalise same-sex marriage. The new law means that LGBTQ+ couples will have the same legal rights as other couples when it comes to adoption, inheritance and medical decisions. It’s taken activists years of campaigning to get to this point, and in September 2024 Thailand's king signed it into law. It will come into force in January 2025.

    BBC Thai journalist Panisa Aemocha, in Bangkok, explains the same-sex marriage legalisation in Thailand and attitudes towards LGBTQ+ in the country. This includes how Thailand has embraced boy love (BL) and girl love (GL) TV series - which show same-sex couples.

    We also hear from Best Chitsanupong Nithiwana, an activist who co-founded the Young Pride Club in Chiang Mai, who tells us what this new law means for same-sex couples in Thailand. And we ask, could other nearby countries do the same?

    Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Mora Morrison, Benita Barden and Julia Ross-Roy Video producer: Baldeep Chahal Editor: Verity Wilde

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    12 mins

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