What in the World

Written 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
  • Is Korea’s Suneung the world’s most stressful exam?
    Nov 15 2024

    Can you imagine sitting all of the most important exams of your life on one day? That’s the reality for Korean students, whose university-entrance exam, the Suneung, sees students sit an eight-hour marathon of exams, all on one day. Juna Moon, our reporter in Seoul, tells us why a record number of students are resitting the brutal exam this year. Plus Koh Ewe, a BBC journalist in Singapore, tells us which K-pop earworm students are trying to avoid to stop it from distracting them.

    Julie Yoonnyung Lee, a BBC reporter from Seoul now in London, joins us in the studio, to give us her own experience of the exam, and the years of late nights and ‘cram schools’ preparing for it. We also discuss the mental health challenges that can come with such high academic pressure.

    Plus we hear from our China media analyst Kerry Allen, who explains the Gaokao, China’s university entrance exam, which might be even harder.

    Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler and Hayley Clarke Editor: Verity Wilde

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    16 mins
  • Why is CBD use on the rise – and are all the health claims true?
    Nov 14 2024

    CBD products are everywhere. You can get the cannabis extract in oils, vapes, skincare products, even gummy bears, coffee and fizzy drinks. Videos recommending it are all over TikTok, and it’s so popular Kim Kardashian even had a CBD-themed baby shower.

    Fans and influencers say it can help improve your mood, help you sleep, get rid of anxiety and chronic pain. But are these claims true?

    BBC reporter Annabel Rackham explains what CBD is, where it’s legal and whether it can be addictive or have side effects. We hear from two people who take CBD. And Harry Sumnall, Professor in substance use at the Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, explains what we know from scientific studies on the health effects of CBD.

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

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    12 mins
  • The South China Sea: What’s going on?
    Nov 13 2024

    Disputes over the South China Sea are back in the news, with China and the Philippines both marking out areas they say are theirs. China has previously been accused of hitting Philippine boats with water cannon and both sides say the other have rammed boats into each other.

    Benny Lu from the BBC’s Chinese service in Hong Kong takes us through the background of it all and explains how the US’s relationship with China fits into it, especially with Donald Trump’s re-election.

    It’s not just China and the Philippines arguing over this area. BBC Vietnamese reporter Thuong Le explains Vietnam’s involvement in the ongoing disputes, which even led to the Barbie movie being banned in Vietnam last summer.

    Plus, we hear from people we spoke to in Manila when What in the World visited the Philippines, on why they feel strongly about the issue.

    Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler, Hayley Clarke and William Lee Adams Editor: Verity Wilde

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    14 mins

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