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 were also at risk of cancer…
Category: Features
‘No new worlds’: New artwork highlights darker side of Mayflower’s impact
“No new worlds.” These words stand emblazoned 20 feet tall at the Plymouth harbor, on England’s southwestern coast, from where the Mayflower set sail to establish a new life for its passengers in America. The art installation is one of several commemorations erected to mark the 400th anniversary of the transatlantic voyage Wednesday. The anniversary comes as…
Atomic bomb dropped on Japan’s Hiroshima 75 years ago still reverberates
Regular nosebleeds, three bouts with cancer and blinding cataracts. It’s been 75 years since the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima — marking the end of World War II and the dawn of the nuclear age — but survivors like Masaaki Takano still live with the consequences. “I’m mentally trying hard to…
It’s not poachers killing elephants in Botswana. That worries conservationists.
Botswana’s elephants are literally dropping dead. Hundreds of elephant carcasses have been found scattered across a remote, narrow region of the north — and poaching isn’t to blame. The mystery has dragged on for months, and experts say the slow response to the deaths has shed light on deeper issues in the country’s relationship with the prized creatures….
A plague amid a pandemic: East Africa, West Asia combat locust outbreak
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 ago. Although Gatiba said he was lucky…
Critics question reparation offers from British corporations with slave trade ties
Too little, too late? As a number of British institutions and corporations respond to Black Lives Matter protests with pledges of reparations for their historic links to slavery and exploitative colonialism, some are asking whether their moves are no more than “empty gestures.” Calling it “an unacceptable part of English history,” the Bank of England…
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 Amazon is still on fire. Conservation groups blame illegal logging and criminal networks.
As the Amazon continues to burn in a record fire season, experts say the problem is rooted in illegal logging and criminal networks exploiting the forests for its natural resources and agricultural potential. “The government doesn’t have any governance over what is going on,” Ane Alencar, science director for the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM),…
Teen girls strike for global action on climate change
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 in the torrential rains that swept away…
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…
Trump’s foreign aid policies endanger women, experts say
LONDON — Caroline Nyandat will never forget the day she watched a 14-year-old girl die due to complications from an unsafe abortion. Nyandat, 36, was then completing her training as a nurse midwife in Kisumu, Kenya, when the teen was in need of surgery but suffered from sepsis before doctors in the hospital could react….
Mideast farmers who use pesticides often find no buyers abroad
AL-KARAMEH, Jordan — Farmers in the Middle East and North Africa are facing roadblocks exporting their crop to Western countries because of the pesticides they use. This is despite the fact many of these chemicals are manufactured by companies based in Europe and North America. Sameer Mahadin said he had to leave his tomatoes to…
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.
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 decline of bees and pollinators crucial to…
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.