PIX is a three-year-old system developed by the Brazilian Central Bank that has revolutionized how Brazilians pay for things. It’s like sending an instant wire transfer through the banking app on your phone with the click of a button, and no fees. Michael Fox reports from Florianópolis, Brazil, on how the banking app has changed Brazilian society in just three years.
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.
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.
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.
Companies around the world try to make up for their carbon emission by purchasing “offsets,” financing projects intended to preserve forests or otherwise compensate for their emissions. In Cambodia, Human Rights Watch recently issued a report about violations against Indigenous people in a carbon offset program in the Cardamom mountains.
To supplement their meager wages, many government workers in Venezuela are turning to side hustles that include driving taxis, baking cakes, selling clothes or taking care of pets. And that’s having an impact on the quality of public services.