The Number in the News

Today marks the final episode of The World’s daily smart speaker show, The Number in the News. Each one of the 425 episodes gave listeners one number and one shareable story to start the day. Host Bianca Hillier has shared stories from around the globe, covering everything from music to the environment to art and social justice issues. Now, we’re inviting The Number in the News listeners to continue following our work on ‘The World’ with Marco Werman. To listen to ‘The World’ every weekday, tune into your local public radio station, find the show wherever you get your podcasts, or listen on your smart speaker. For Google devices, say “OK Google, listen to the latest episode of The World.” For Amazon devices, say “Alexa, play the podcast, “The World Latest Edition.” If you have any feedback or comments on the show, feel free to reach Bianca at bianca.hillier@theworld.org. Thank you for listening to The Number in the News!

A team of British and Colombian archaeologists have been working for the past few years to uncover an enormous stretch of paintings covering cliff faces in the Amazon in Colombia.

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy spent 196 days in space this year as the commander of Expedition 63 to the International Space Station. While there he contributed to hundreds of experiments, completed his tenth spacewalk, and somehow also found time to record videos of himself playing soccer in space.

Period products, free to anyone who needs them. That's the promise Scotland made in a new law that provides access tampons and pads free of charge. Scottish first Minister Nicola Sturgeon says Scotland is the first country in the world to do so.

This summer, to celebrate his 85th birthday, the Dalai Lama released an 11-track album called "Inner World." The album includes mantras and teachings of His Holiness, all set to a bed of music. This is the Dalai Lama's first album, as he has rarely ventured into the music world, but the piece of work has been a long time coming.

An exhibit at Spain's Cervantes Institute looks at some of the most important, but largely ignored, women writers of Spain's 16th and 17th centuries. Ana Rodriguez-Rodriguez, the curator of the "Both Wise And Valiant" exhibit at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid, shares more.

Two Canadians — both of them named Michael — have been in prison in China for two years. A Christmas card campaign is now taking place to pressure China to release them.

The pet food company Tails.com has released what they're billing as the first Christmas song ever produced specifically for dogs.

Human activity affects every corner of the world, from the deepest parts of the ocean to the tallest peaks. New research shows that Mount Everest is no exception. National Geographic Society climate scientist Aurora Elmore talks about how melting glaciers could affect the water source for billions of people.

Writer and journalist Kareem Shaheen talks about his beef with the many unconventional takes on hummus — the humble but beloved Middle Eastern mezze.

COVID-19 cases in Germany are rising. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that, starting last week, Germans were entering a strict lockdown. But while many of the country’s doors are closing, the country's mass vaccination centers are just opening up. Construction has been underway on about 400 centers across Germany. And the federal government there says they’re now ready to go.

When the stage lights at Barcelona's Gran Theater del Liceu were flipped back on, musicians looked out at an audience filled with potted plants -- 2,292 of them.

The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup has big shoes to fill. The 2019 edition drew a record setting 1.1 billion viewers around the world, and the players made major waves calling for pay equity in the sport. With the recent announcement that Australia and New Zealand will co-host the 2023 tournament, players are confident the next World Cup will be just as momentous.

At first glance, the photos in photographer Obinna Obioma's project "Anyi N'Aga" look like something out of a fashion magazine — glamorous models wearing beautiful clothes with towering fascinators on their heads. But look a little closer and you'll see these clothes are made of plastic bags: specifically, a plaid, woven iconic bag in West Africa called "Ghana Must Go."

Famed English novelist Jane Austen is known for her wit, self-awareness and realism. On this day, back in 1775, Austen was born in a rural village, south west of London. But 245 years later, her work remains well-regarded and highly relevant. She’s even garnered a bigger audience during the pandemic.

In the remote Russian village of Stankevichi, in Siberia, student Alexei Dudoladov has been forced to go to great lengths - or rather great heights - to attend classes online. To attend Zoom meetings for class, Dudoladov has had to climb a birch tree in his remote Siberian village. But now he's pushing back.

In Tokyo, English translations are everywhere. They’re just not always accurate. Now, a group of eight women have formed "The Association for the Betterment of Public English in Japan" to help foreigners looking for accurate information across the country.

A study from Oxford suggests that video gaming, contrary to popular belief, may actually have a positive impact on a person's wellbeing. But what's more interesting is the approach they took to get there — by studying video gaming in a more rigorous, data-driven way.

An American mom sparked a transatlantic war — over tea. Her TikTok video on how to make “British tea” got pushback from the UK’s ambassador to the US.

Coronavirus has changed the live music scene dramatically. In Stuttgart, a group of musicians has an alternative: they're offering free, private concerts for music lovers around the city. We hear from flute player and "1:1 Concerts" organizer Stephanie Winker.