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Makaa or charcoal is often used in cooking methods in Kenya and other countries in Africa.

The push to end harmful cooking methods worldwide

Energy

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.

‘Dönerflation’: Outcry in Germany over rising cost of döner kebab

Lifestyle

‘Life after cancer’: Nigerian survivors challenge taboos, push for better health care 

Health & Medicine
International students in the US face many challenges as they adjust to new cultural norms.

Chaplains open doors for international students on campus

Sacred Nation
Fuels are not just for transportation in Nigeria, many people also use fuel to power their generators in order to get electricity at home and also run their businesses.

Nigeria’s low-income communities bear the brunt of faltering economy

‘Second chance at life’: This rehabilitation center provides mental health care to orphaned children in Iraq

Decades of war and violence have left many children orphaned in Iraq. There have been different kinds of initiatives to help them, but efforts often focus on the basics. Now, one group is trying to fill an important void by providing mental health care for traumatized children.

Heavy flooding in Brazil’s south creates havoc for residents

Southern Brazil is facing the worst climate disaster in its history. Unprecedented floods have engulfed major Rio Grande do Sul cities, including the capital, Porto Alegre, where 135,000 people have been pushed from their homes, and there is still little end in sight.

Extortion and predatory lending have skyrocketed in Peru

Cases of extortion in Peru shot up 370% between 2021 and 2023. That represents close to a fivefold increase in just two years, with the trend continuing into 2024.

Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi has been sentenced to death in Iran.

Iranian rapper receives death sentence for his work and support of human rights 

Justice

The work of 33-year-old Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi is as poetic as it is technically challenging — covering topics ranging from government corruption to the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests, he channels the voice of Iran’s disillusioned youth. This week, a revolutionary court in Isfahan overruled a previous court decision granting leniency for Salehi, and sentenced him to death.

Wafaa Mustafa was married to American ISIS fighter Russell Dennison.

‘We have no future’: A Syrian woman speaks about her life with an American ISIS member

Shadow of ISIS

When the terrorist group ISIS emerged in Syria in the last decade, some 30,000 foreign fighters went to Syria to fight for the group. Most were from Europe and Asia. About 300 Americans joined or attempted to join ISIS, including one woman who was married to an American ISIS fighter.