This story appeared in NBC News. As the death toll from the coronavirus climbs, Karen Hilton, of Dalkeith, Scotland, sees herself and others fighting cancer as “collateral damage.” Hilton, 48, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer four years ago. After a double mastectomy, surgeries to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes that…
Author: Linda Givetash
Linda Givetash is a Canadian-South African freelance journalist based in Vancouver, B.C. Her work has appeared in print, digital and broadcast media outlets around the globe.
A plague amid a pandemic: East Africa, West Asia combat surging locust outbreak
This story was featured by NBC News. When the skies darkened suddenly over Michael Gatiba’s 10-acre farm in Nakuru County, Kenya, what came pouring down stunned him: millions of desert locusts. “It was like a storm,” Gatiba, 45, said by telephone. “It was like hail. They covered everywhere. Even there was no sun.” That was three months…
Thousands take to London streets to protest racism, George Floyd death
LONDON — After almost a week of violence in cities across the United States following the death in police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis, thousands took to the streets of central London on Wednesday to protest racism and show solidarity with their American counterparts. On a gray and dreary day in Britain’s capital, the crowd met…
Health workers fighting coronavirus around the world threatened by violence
As Dr. Trupti Katdare and her colleague, Dr, Zakia Sayyed, traced the contacts of a patient who had tested positive for the coronavirus, a mob set upon them, yelling and throwing stones. “It was very scary,” Katdare said of the incident, which took place April 1 in the Indian city of Indore. “We didn’t understand…
African countries that faced Ebola outbreaks use lessons to fight COVID-19, experts say
African countries previously hit by deadly Ebola outbreaks are using the lessons they learned to fight the coronavirus pandemic, experts say, because they know how to rapidly track down, screen and quarantine potential patients. “When a certain outbreak is over, you have a capacity left behind that you can build on or adapt. It could be…
Young female climate activists face hateful abuse online. This is how they cope.
The consequences of rising temperatures for the planet and ecosystems are becoming increasingly apparent, yet less noticed is the vile backlash and abuse being thrown at the young green activists who have successfully pushed the climate agenda into the mainstream. NBC News has spoken to three young climate activists, all female, and their families who now find…
The Women Behind Two Genius Green Energy Solutions
Inna Braverman understands the consequences of polluting energy sources. Born in Ukraine in 1986, she stopped breathing and nearly died when the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded two weeks after she was born. “I grew up with a feeling I got a second chance at life, so I should do something good with it,” says Braverman,…
Teen girls strike for global action on climate change
This story was featured by NBC News. LAUSANNE, Switzerland — It was the floodwaters brushing her jawline that convinced Theresa Sebastian it was time to get serious about climate change. The teen from Ireland was in Kerala, India, for a family wedding last summer when the region experienced 40 percent higher-than-average rainfall. More than 480 people died…
How teen Greta Thunberg shifted world’s gaze to climate change
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Staring through a swarm of photographers and television crews, self-described introvert Greta Thunberg took the stage at a Swiss university last week to pointedly reiterate a message that has captured the attention of leaders and like-minded young women around the globe: The world must take drastic action now to avert ecological and…
Up to 114 degrees in France: Record-breaking heat in Europe forces tourists to adapt
PARIS — Europeans aren’t breathing a sigh of relief just yet following a day of record-breaking heat, with temperatures soaring once again on Saturday. The unusual heat has left many struggling to cope in the French capital where homes and buildings are not designed for steamy conditions or equipped with air conditioning. “We were not expecting…
Workers, seniors face health risks amid extreme heat wave in Europe
PARIS — In clear view of the Eiffel Tower, Chaima Boutouil and her colleagues have no way of keeping cool while hovering over hot plates making crepes in the midst of a heat wave spreading across Europe on Thursday. “In the morning, I drank six or seven bottles of water,” Boutouil, 25, told NBC News while working…
Jordan to drill ‘fossil water’ wells a half-mile underground
AMMAN, Jordan — For the past decade, Khawla Qisi has trapped herself at home on Fridays. It’s the only day of the week her apartment building receives water, and she has to make the most of it. “I can’t do anything else but focus on the water,” she said. Jordan has struggled with its water…
The Dead Sea is dying. A $1.5 billion plan aims to resurrect it.
AMMAN, Jordan — At the southern tip of the Dead Sea, Sameer Mahadin recalls when the shoreline was visible from the shaded veranda of his farmhouse. The once 10-minute walk to the water’s edge now takes an hour trekking over cracked, salt-encrusted soil. The Dead Sea is dying rapidly. The biblical body of water lying…
Water scarcity fuels tensions across the Middle East
NORTH SHUNA, Jordan — A lush tract of land known as the Island of Peace has thrived in a sea of strife for the past quarter-century, its palm fields and date plantations a stark contrast to the Middle East’s arid conditions and tumultuous politics. But now the symbol of coexistence shared by Israel and Jordan…
Ireland takes aim at prenatal alcohol exposure
DUBLIN — Doctors in Ireland were once known to recommend a pint of Guinness as a source of iron for pregnant or nursing women. While that advice has been discredited, drinking remains so ingrained in Irish culture that many women still feel that swapping a beer or cocktail for something nonalcoholic at a social gathering isn’t an…
Bees are dying at an alarming rate. Amsterdam may have the answer.
This story was featured by NBC News. AMSTERDAM — An unkempt stretch of tall grass, wildflowers and weeds in front of a train station doesn’t look like much — but it may be crucial to solving one of the world’s biggest environmental puzzles. While scientists around the globe have been sounding alarm bells over the…
Slaughter of starving wild horses divides the Netherlands
The future of a man-made wildlife reserve where nature was left to run its course is at the center of a legal battle.
Cyprus turns off taps to farmers as water levels drop
MARONI, Cyprus — The salty water of the Mediterranean in plain view from Charis Christoforou’s olive farm is no help to the cracked, white earth suffering from a third year of drought. A shortage of rain combined with clouds of dust carried over from the water-starved Middle East has slashed Christoforou’s olive production to a…
‘Learning how to be good allies’: Restoring relationships with Indigenous peoples for reconciliation
VANCOUVER — As Canada grapples with how to achieve reconciliation with Indigenous people, a group in British Columbia has come together to figure out how to restore relations person-to-person. About a dozen people meet once every three weeks at Kristi Lind’s house in the small community of Naramata south of Kelowna to discuss how to…
B.C. communities await marine spill compensation years after incidents
VANCOUVER — Despite “polluter pay” laws in Canada, local governments and agencies are still waiting to recover costs incurred during two significant fuel spills off British Columbia’s coast. The City of Vancouver and Vancouver Aquarium are collectively waiting on nearly $700,000 in losses related to a 2015 leak of bunker fuel, while the Heiltsuk Nation in Bella Bellla continues negotiating over $200,000…