lisa: tonight on pbs news weekend. fighting in the middle east cast a shadow over global new year's celebrations with new attacks in the red sea. the growing death toll in the israel-hamas more. then, we tell a story of 2023. highs and lows worth remembering. critics discuss the most engaging and enlightening podcasts of the year including one about what we wear. >> i am away surprised and

delighted and it is substantive without feeling like a bummer. >> future funding -- major funding has been provided by. >> consumer cellular, how >> may i help you? >>this is a pocket tile. you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is kind of our thing. >> have a nice day. >> and, with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and, friends of the newshour.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions made by viewers like you. thank you. lisa: good evening. john yang is away. there is rising concern that the israel h conflict could cascade into global shipping crisis. gunman attacked a ship in the southern red sea. today for the first time, the u.s. military returned fire. navy helicopter sank three boats. meanwhile, airstrikes intensified in central gaza

after benjamin netanyahu said the war would last for many more months. >> everyone around the world are celebrating the new year but for us, it is missiles. my wish is for the war to stop. lisa: more than 21,000 have been killed since the war broke out according to hamas. the democratic republic of the congo has elected the president to a five-year term. his supporters -- opponents say the election was a sham. paula abdul has accused a former american idol producer of sexual assault.

the suit filed friday comes before tonight's deadlin for sexual assault victims to file claims beyond the statue of limitations. the lawsuit says he stayed silent for years out of fear of retaliation. in a surprise, the longest-serving monarch in denmark announced she will abdicate the throne. still to come. 2023 was packed with news. we take a look back. critics look back on some podcasts in 2023. >> this is pbs news weekend from wbt studios in washington, home of the pbs newshour. lisa: there is no question we

live in historic times. see if you remember as tonight we take a look back at events that defined the year. >> conflict has dominated the headlines. less than the months ago, hamas attacked a bloody invasion of israel, nearly 1200 israelis were killed and 240 were taken hostage. >> almost 80 people are kidnapped. 24 of them are above the age of 75. 15 of them are kids. some are babies. lisa: retaliation was swift and relentless. an air assault and ground invasion.

>>very house is gutted. lisa: gaza's health ministry reports 20,000 have been killed. a humanitarian crisis igniting around the world. ukraine got a surprise. on the verge of its third year . russia focused attacks on eastern ukraine.

finland joined the nato alliance. other parts of the world saw instability. haiti remained in turmoil, with no elected officials, and gang warfare in the streets. a coalition of armed rebel groups. after three years of a global pandemic, and milestone. >> the pandemics and also meant some programs transitioned to private markets. this year's, supply chain issues disrupted distributions.

monkeypox came to an end. another virus gripped the world's attention as cases spread amongst children. rsv can be serious. respiratory problems impacted much of the u.s. and canada this year. smoke from wildfires. a fast-moving wildfire in greece led to a frantic evacuation of tauris. a weather train reaction. an offshore hurricane.

a historic town was destroyed. this year was the hottest on record. there were other natural disasters to cope with in 2023. in february, a massive earthquake hit turkey and syria toppling thousands of budings. >> there are thousands of rescue workers spread out across southern turkey, still digging through the rubble and determined to pull survivors from buildings. three whole days since it struck, the likelihood of finding anyone still alive diminishes every hour. >> in the end, nearly 60,000

people were killed. thousands more injured and hundreds of thousands of buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, prompting questions about building code standards. in morocco, a similar story on a smaller scale, where a giant quake in september killed nearly 3,000 people and brought down entire villages. libya was inundated by a rastorm, 4000 people died in much of the city was destroyed as a year of natural disasters hoses out after weeks of activity in iceland, a volcanic eruption arrived. everyone lives in a nearby town was evacuated weeks ago. from natural disasters to

man-made ones, in february, a norfolk southern train derailed and exploded in a towering ball of flames over the town of east palestinian ohio. many of the cars that exploded were carrying hazardous chemicals and the nearly 5000 people who call east palestine home felt the impacts immediately. >> residents here still have questions about whether the air and water are safe and about the company's commitment to address the long-term consequences of the derailment and spill. in june, the world attention turned to a saga. five men lost their lives when a vessel to the titanic imploded. in the united states, mass shootings continued to plague the country. a lockdown in the city of maine as authorities hunted the killer. the u.s. has seen more than 600 mass shootings where 400 or more

are killed in 2023 alone. in memphis, a reminder of a different problem. officer body-cam footage showed multiple officers beating 29-year-old tyre nichols to death. the justice department charged 5 office with federal crimes. and in the nation's capital, it was a year of turbulence and change. justice effectively brought an end to affirmative action at colleges and universities. in the u.s. house of representatives, there were three different speakers in the span of nine months. kevin mccarthy was elected to replace nancy pelosi but it took 15 ballots to win. by october, he was ousted. it republicans voted with democrs in a historic first. >> the office of speaker of the house of the united states house of representatives is hereby

declared vacant. lisa: the chair sat empty for 22 days amid gop disarray, and evtually republican mike johnson won the speakership. >> three weeks, it took and four nominees. lisa: in the midst of it all, the threat of government shutdowns loomed large, not once but twice. with government funding about to run out in both october and november, at the last minute, congress passed stopgap funding bills to keep the government operating. in december, another rarity, when the house voted to expel one of its own. republican congressman george santos of new york, under fire for a slew of alleged crimes and ethics violations. >> today, an indictment was unsealed charging donald j. trump with conspiring to defraud the united states, conspiring to disenfranchise voters and conspiring and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding. lisa: also on trial, former president trump who made multiple appearances in several

of the federal and state courtrooms in which he faces a combined 91 charges, both civil and criminal. >> this trial is rigged. lisa: even with the trials in tion, mr. trump's numbers soared in his bid for the republican presidential nomination. polling puts him far in the front of the pack of contenders followed by florida governor ron desantis and nikki haley. independent candidate robert kennedy junior threw his hat in the ring with a controversial run of his own. around the world, a wave of new populist, far-right leaders were elected to power. from argentina, where hobby or malay says he will rein in triple digit inflation to the netherlands where anti-islam and anti-european union populist what a surprise victory. but in britain, the ultimate status quo. throngs of people converged on

london for the coronation of king charles the third, and his queen consort, camilla. in the u.s., some good economic news. inflation eased more than expected, growth was healthy and unemployment stayed below 4 percent for the longest time since the still, americans 1960's. struggled with the cost of living and high mortgage rates made it more challenging for new home buyers to get a foothold on the property ladder. workers in several industries took to the picket line, calling for better wages, hours and working conditions. united auto workers walked off the job for an unprecedented 6 weeks in coordinated strikes this fall and gain record wage increases. president biden joined them in person. health care workers with kaiser permanente staged the largest health strike in u.s. history over understaffing issues. and in hollywood, both writers and actors went on strike, bringing the industry to a standstill for months over fair pay on streaming services and the threat of artificial intelligence in entertainment.

>> ai kept on growing and pushing into people's everyday lives, on the one hand making mundane tasks easier but on the other, sounding alarm bells. hey i even help generate new songs from the beatles mixing in john lennon vocals. other big-name musicians through big crowds on tours, including two record-breaking superstars. beyonce and taylor swift. her tour set the record for all artists. her tour and fillmore juggernauts.

it boosted economies. 2023 saw the continuing rise of female athletes, the women's world cup drew record crowds in the u.s. team made for new champions. so did the basketball finals. the game broke records for scoring, attendance and viewership. mikaela shiffrin became the winningest slalom skier of all time, male or female. 19-year-old coco gauff won the u.s. open her first grand slam , and was the highest paid female athlete this year. simone biles made her gymnastics comeback after a mental health break, adding more gold medals to her collection.

in the world of baseball -- a couple of firsts. the texas rangers won their first world series and a record payout for shohei othani, the japanese pitcher signed with the dodgers for $700 million over 10 years, the most lucrative contract in professional sports history. as the year comes to a close, some of the final farewells of 2023. rosalynn carter passed away. sandra day o'connor. the longest and pat robertson a final legend for some names in music. and a final exit for some legendary names in music tony bennett, harry belafonte, jimmy buffett, david crosby lisa marie

, presley and tina turner. the new year has already kicked off for many around the world. from auckland to athens, cities rang in 2024 with countdowns, fireworks and cheering crowds. they are wonderful in traffic jams and runs, but for anyone on a trip a podcast can be an excellent travel companion. we take a look at some of the most engaging and entertaining podcasts of the last year. you told women were not getting pain medication and it was being

stolen by a nurse. let's listen to a clip. >> the women are seeking fertility treatment. they had miscarriages and are pushing 40. they don't have fallopian tubes or need to spurn. they meet doctors, ge info, start giving themselves the shots. eventually they get to the big retrieval. >> what stood out about this? >> the choices that it made. susan berman many of the women who were affected, some of them

are academic. it's a complex story, a guess to some tricky territory. >> i want to ask about one of your favorites. this is a podcast that bills itself about being about what we wear but i want to play clip about a fabric pattern. >> the reason why it's called paisley. the reason why john lennon painted paisley all over his rolls-royce. everything i thought i knew and the role of the indian diaspora. >> i did not know that.

>> the thing i've always loved is the creator who does everything brings us into a world with topics that i can think of being interested in. while these rich stories, i am delighted and it is substantive without feeling like a farmer. >> a particular genre, true crime, murder one of your famous podcasts that's relatively new is one called ghost story that adds new layers. telus. >> i've taken to describing it

as a murder mystery that is stuffed into a family story and go story. stumbles. a little creepy things are happening and many years later he heard other stories and discovered his wife's great grandmother was killed in a house next to the building. it leads him to a discovery journey around his wife's family. it's a surprising piece that is as far away from true crime as you can get. >> we live in serious times.

it's not serious at all. help explain this phenomenon. actual gossip? >> it takes anonymous stories with identifying details and it's about making crazy decisions and doing interesting things. it's not salacious. observe and upon without feeling bad about yourself. >> last question before we go. can you name the podcast that one you over? >> think twice.

i was really apprehensive about a michael jackson podcast, it was beautifully done, that was not trying to prove him guilty, it was taking the story and it's wonderfully evoked and it turned out to be really enjoyable. >> there is a show i was not expecting to like. a couple of months ago she wanted to learn how to write a murder mystery and it follows a private eye who is conscripted to investigate a murder on a reality show while being on a reality show. >> thank you to both of you.

>> that is our program for tonight. for all of my colleagues, happy new year. we will see you in the new year. >> major funding has been provided by. the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions made by viewers like you. thank you.

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- [voice over] this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you, thank you. - this is now a standard on all the interviews the moving sideways camera. - yeah. - but i always find it odd to cut to someone who's not talking, who'd be talking into camera. - but you know, you've always struggled. remember when you struggd with the talkies, when the talkies given you were always, - i had to work on my voice (mumbles). - then don't keep looking at him remember we're being taped. - argh, just relax. - okay. (bright upbeat music)