The Nobel Prize is the most prestigious award in the world. Whether you win it for physics, chemistry, literature, medicine, economics - or, the most coveted of all, the peace prize, the process of choosing a winner is extremely secretive.

President Donald Trump has been pretty clear he thinks he deserves it. But this year the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Maria Corina Machado, the leader of the opposition in Venezuela.

The BBC’s Mark Lowen has been to Oslo in Norway, to get rare access to the room where the Nobel Peace Prize is decided. He explains the history of the awards, who makes the decisions and what you get if you win.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler, Chelsea Coates and Julia Ross-Roy Editor: Verity Wilde

Gen Z protests have been happening all around the world. And you might have seen photos of some of these protestors waving the same anime pirate flag in countries from Indonesia to Morocco. It’s from the hit Japanese manga show, One Piece that recently got a live action makeover on Netflix.

In this episode, LaNeysha Campbell, a podcast host and anime fan based in the US, explains why One Piece has become such a big deal and talks us through some of the political themes within it. Panisa Aemocha, a BBC journalist in Thailand, tells us why protest movements in South Asia and South East Asia have been using these symbols.

One of the other countries where people have been using the flag is Madagascar. Mika, from the campaign organisation Za Koa Hanorina, tells us what it means to him.

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

If you’ve checked out the label of your favourite leather accessories lately, you might see Made in China or Italy… but perhaps not Nigeria.

The country exports nearly 90% of its hides, as part of a historic leather industry that feeds luxury labels around the world. But because the products are finished off abroad, you wouldn't know their origins. Now, Nigerian designers are working to change this and reclaim ownership.

BBC reporter Elaine Chong explains how Nigerian tanneries make their leather - and why it’s so in demand. We hear from Nigerians working in the leather industry, who tell us how it’s changing. And Adedoyin Adeniji, a fashion writer who has worked with several Nigerian brands, tells us what challenges leather designers there are facing — and how they are working to overcome them.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Iqra Farooq Producers: Emily Horler and Chelsea Coates Editor: Verity Wilde

Taylor Swift has long dominated the world of music, but her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, had massive sales but mixed reviews. Could her reign ever come to an end or is she too big to fail?

Mark Savage, the BBC’s Music Correspondent, chats through the new album with us and explains how views on Taylor Swift have changed over the years.

Our BBC friend and Swiftie, Hayley Clarke, investigates some of the easter eggs on one of the album tracks (you’ll be into this if you’re a romantasy fan…)

And we hear from some Swifties - what do they think of TLOAS and is Taylor unstoppable?

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Iqra Farooq Producers: Emily Horler, Benita Barden and Maria Clara Montoya Video Journalist: Baldeep Chahal Editor: Verity Wilde

What’s small, sausage-shaped, wrinkly and pink? No… not that… Get your mind out of the gutter.

It’s a naked mole rat!!!

A new study of the odd-looking rodent shows that they’ve evolved a DNA repair mechanism that could explain why they live for so long. They have a max life span of nearly 40 years.

Victoria Gill, our Science Correspondent and strange animal expert, explains why they live so long and what human science can learn from these quite wonderful critters.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Iqra Farooq Producers: Emily Horler and Chelsea Coates Editor: Verity Wilde

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire, arranged by US President Trump. Under the agreement Hamas will release all Israeli hostages, alive and dead, and Israel will release Palestinian prisoners in exchange. Israeli forces are expected to partially withdraw from Gaza, and humanitarian aid is to be allowed into the territory. This is described as the first phase of Donald Trump’s 20-point “peace plan”. We hear how it’s being received by people in Gaza and Israel.

In this episode, with the help of the BBC journalists like Lyse Doucet and Anthony Zurcher, we answer some of the big questions people are asking, including how it all started, why has this deal been agreed now and what will happen to Gaza? We also explain what still needs to be negotiated.

This episode was recorded on Friday 10th October 2025 at 1430GMT. For further updates please check the BBC News Live page.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Benita Barden, Emily Horler and Maria Clara Montoya Editor: Verity Wilde and Harriet Oliver

The Golden Triangle, a border region of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos is the world’s most active production zone for synthetic drugs like methamphetamine. Synthetic drugs are made from chemicals, instead of plants. But yaba - which has been around for decades and is a mix of caffeine and meth - has swept across the region and hit Thailand particularly hard because it’s really cheap and easy to come by. According to UN Office of Drugs and Crime, in 2024 Thailand seized more than 1 billion yaba tablets.

We speak to BBC Thai reporter, Panisa Aemocha in Bangkok about who is making yaba, how authorities are trying to tackle it, and why people are detoxing from it in a Buddhist monastery.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Pria Rai Producers: Julia Ross-Roy and Benita Barden Video Journalist: Baldeep Chahal Editor: Verity Wilde

Renewables are now the world’s leading source of electricity and China has boosted its solar and wind capacity more than the rest of the world combined. But it’s also one of the world’s biggest polluters and is thought to be behind 30% of global emissions. So what's behind the country's boom in green energy - and are other countries set to follow suit?

Tony Han from the BBC’s Global China Unit explains why China is pushing ahead in renewable energy — and how we might power our homes, gadgets and daily lives in the future.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Chelsea Coates Producer: Mora Morrison Editor: Emily Horler