A drought has upended life in several South American cities, leading to water rationing and power cuts as well as forest fires.

(Image credit: Raul Arboleda)

This week on the podcast, we're revisiting a conversation we had with Chin about her book, Mott Street. Through decades of painstaking research, the fifth-generation New Yorker discovered the stories of how her ancestors bore and resisted the weight of the Chinese Exclusion laws in the U.S. – and how the legacy of that history still affects her family today.

A surprise announcement that revealed Haiti's new prime minister is threatening to fracture a recently installed transitional council tasked with choosing new leaders for the gang-riddled country.

(Image credit: Odelyn Joseph)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the vow Tuesday amid the negotiations mediated by Egypt that seek to reach a cease-fire deal that could see the release of some or all of the remaining hostages.

(Image credit: Leo Correa)

The UN's highest court has declined to order Germany to end its military aid to Israel, finding there was as yet not enough evidence for the court to compel Germany to chance its policies.

A controversial draft bill in the small former Soviet republic of Georgia's parliament targets the country's civil society. Critics say the bill shows Kremlin influence.

In Iran, popular rapper Toomaj Salehi, whose fiery lyrics helped galvanize an anti-government movement among young people, has been sentenced to death. He was charged with "corruption on earth."

Two men were in business together until Oct. 7. The Israeli looks forward to a day when that trade will resume, while the Palestinian hopes he'll survive a war in which he has lost everything.

Aviva Siegel, 63, was taken hostage by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, along with her husband Keith. She was released after 51 days, but he was not. On Saturday, Hamas released a video showing Keith alive.

A United Nations official said negotiators have a "clear path to landing an ambitious deal" on plastic pollution. But environmentalists say the plastic industry is undermining an effective agreement.

(Image credit: ERNESTO BENAVIDES)

As college administrators face growing unrest on campuses, a growing number are grappling with whether to bring in law enforcement to quell the demonstrations.

As protests against the U.S. policy in Gaza unfold on college campuses across the country, the State Department is facing its own protests too.

Mexico is taking Ecuador to the top U.N. court Tuesday, accusing the nation of violating international law by storming the Mexican Embassy in Quito.

(Image credit: Dolores Ochoa)

French actor Gérard Depardieu will face a criminal trial in October over the alleged sexual assaults in 2021 of two women on the set of a film, prosecutors announced Monday.

(Image credit: Axel Schmidt)

Lebanon offers a glimpse into history, with a treasure trove of specimens that have been sealed away for millennia in ancient amber.

Scotland's first minister Humza Yousef has stepped down after a series of political missteps, dealing the latest blow to his party's independence ambitions.

Two electric vehicle shoppers feel conflicted about how China's more affordable EVs would affect drivers, jobs and the climate if they were sold in the U.S.

The latest developments on the protracted truce talks between Israel and Hamas, with all eyes in Israel on the status of hostages held in Gaza.

Protests against Israel's war in Gaza on college campuses have expanded across the country. They're the biggest student protests, since college students demonstrated against the Vietnam war in the late sixties and early seventies.

What do the campus protests of today have in common with those of the sixties? How might they affect the policies of their universities and the US government?

Thirty years ago, South Africa became an emblem of a multiracial democracy. Decades on, how is that legacy holding up?

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

(Image credit: LEONARDO MUNOZ)

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Luis Miguel Echegaray, ESPN soccer analyst, about the two teams in the race for the English Premier League soccer title with only three weeks left in the season.