Jobs

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.

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.

Many highly skilled doctors who have the necessary qualifications are struggling to find work in the United States, even though there is a real need for them in some places.

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.