Economics
The push to end harmful cooking methods worldwide
A third of the world’s population cooks with fuels that produce harmful fumes when burned. Breathing in the fine particles produced by cooking with wood, charcoal, coal, animal dung and agricultural waste can penetrate the lungs and cause multiple respiratory and cardiovascular problems, including cancer and strokes. Women and children are most at risk. Fifty countries gathered in Paris on Tuesday to raise funds to replace dangerous cooking with clean ones. Marco Werman speaks with Dymphna van der Lans, CEO of the Clean Cooking Alliance.
‘We are helpless’: Protesting farmers in India pose challenges — and demands — to Modi
With polls opening this month in India, farmers are angry with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2021, Modi made a rare concession by repealing farm laws after they were met with massive months-long protests in Delhi. Now, farmers are returning to the streets. Sushmita Pathak reports from Delhi that the main demand now is guaranteed crop prices.
Oil refineries in northeastern Syria are sickening people and polluting the environment
Across northeastern Syria, makeshift refineries pump out fuel for cars, heating and electricity. They are also a major source of income for local residents who have endured more than a decade of conflict. But this critical resource is also harmful.
The shadow of the United Fruit Company still reaches across the globe today
About a hundred years ago, the Boston-based banana company, United Fruit, reigned supreme in Central America. It didn’t just own banana plantations, but also railroads and telephone lines. The company even dictated national policies and overthrew governments. For his podcast “Under the Shadow,” about US involvement in Central America, Michael Fox traveled to Guatemala, where he looked at the legacy of United Fruit and its impact on the global fruit industry today.
10 years ago, the Sunflower Movement pushed Taiwan away from China
March 18 marks the 10-year anniversary of a movement that changed Taiwanese politics for a generation. The Sunflower Movement saw hundreds of students occupy Taiwan’s Legislature — demanding that lawmakers reconsider a trade deal they were about to ratify with China.
‘No one is helping us’: Palestinians in West Bank barred from Israel face unemployment, financial insecurity
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank have been barred from working in Israel. Tens of thousands in the West Bank who were doing building or agricultural jobs are out of work, and it’s drastically impacting their daily lives and the lives of many shopkeepers as people tighten their belts.