Here are some of the best entries in NPR's 2025 College Podcast Challenge.

Middle East conflict enters Day 6, clerics convene to replace Iran's supreme leader, China to send special envoy to help mediate the US-Israel-Iran war.

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has been at the center of two major conflicts in recent months. Some parents of crew members and lawmakers worry about the impact of its lengthy deployment.

Mehdi Mahmoudian worries Iran could experience an endless cycle of violence unless — or until — it achieves democracy.

As Iran launches its Shahed drones at Gulf nations in retaliation for strikes by the U.S. and Israel, Ukraine offers its expertise at downing the drones Russia has lobbed at its cities for years.

China says it will send a special envoy to the Middle East to help mediate the US-Israel-Iran war, as Chinese political elites gather in Beijing for the annual "Two Sessions."

China has signaled continuity rather than change for its economy, setting a slightly lower target for growth this year in the midst of a property slump and other headwinds at home and growing uncertainty abroad.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says he supports the strikes on Iran "with some regret" as they represent an extreme example of a rupturing world order.

The U.S. and Israel's war with Iran has expanded to the Indian Ocean, as a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in international waters.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz is "about as wrong as things could go" for global oil markets. Iran achieved it not with a naval blockade, but with cheap drones.