The once seemingly insatiable demand for raw materials turned many unremarkable towns into flourishing industrial centers. The town of Kathu in South Africa is one example. During the 1970s, it rose to become one of the iron ore capitals of South Africa. But iron ore prices have dropped drastically in recent years.

In December, they reached their lowest level since the financial crisis. While the residents of Kathu once benefited from huge profits, today they are fearing for their jobs.

It's something Malaysia's industry has rarely experienced. Bauxite - the red aluminium ore - earned the country billions. Within one year Malaysia was exporting ten times as much bauxite as it had previously. But there was a dark side to the industry, both for the environment and the local population.

As companies rushed to mine whatever bauxite they could find in the state of Pahang, rivers became polluted and many people lost their livelihoods. In January the government imposed a temporary ban on the mining. We visit the area and talk to those affected - and ask what the future holds for Pahang.

The cloud forests of Costa Rica are home to some 400 rare bird species. Their natural habitat is threatened by climate change. The fabled quetzal, for example, which was revered by the Aztecs as a goddess, has been forced to nest in higher and cooler regions as the lower areas of the forest no longer offer sufficient food. The solution in Costa Rica: "Biological Corridors".

Serges Eclou is 15 years old and attends school in Benin's coastal town of Grand-Popo. After finishing school he wants to study at university. He worries about the pollution of the beaches in his country.

Dolphin stocks in the Mekong River are endangered. Toxic pollutants, fishing with gillnets and boat traffic have already reduced their numbers dramatically. In Cambodia, the WWF has collaborated with the government to institute protective measures. But now the dolphins face a new threat: the neighboring country of Laos is planning to build a mega-dam, with grave consequences for the environment.

In December 2012, six men attacked and viciously raped a 23-year-old female university student in New Delhi in a bus and then threw her from the vehicle. In 2015, six men raped a 70-year-old nun. An estimated almost 2 million women are murdered every year in India.

Violence against women is part of everyday life in India. In response the state is trying to do more to protect women. An organization in the city of Pune is taking a different approach. It’s targeting young men, educating them in workshops about misogynist attitudes and forms of behavior. Leaders of the initiative are trying to win over young men for gender equality. And it's working.

According to official figures, there are 10,000 rapes in Guatemala every year, but the true number is likely far higher. Many of the victims are girls between the ages of 10 and 18. Women were systematically raped during the country's 36 year civil war from 1960 to 1996. And women still suffer from men's attitude toward them.

Macho behavior is completely acceptable and it’s fine to discriminate and abuse women - that's the attitude fathers pass down to their sons. At the age of 16 Maria Elsa fell in love and moved in with her boyfriend. But he changed completely, keeping her locked up, beating her and raping her multiple times a day. He continued abusing her even after she became pregnant. It was only when her father found out that he came and rescued her. Now she lives with her parents. The father of her child doesn't even pay alimony.

MC Loy may only be 14 years old, but Uganda's youngest female rapper is a already a star on television. MC Loy, whose real name is Zoe Kabuye, raps the news on the broadcaster NTV.

Her musical messages are aimed above all at the Facebook generation and everyone who would rather listen to music than watch the news. Her lyrics deal with the main problems in Uganda, including poor education and corruption. Some day she wants to become Uganda's president, and she's shared that wish with the current office holder in a text message.

There’s a lot of pressure on today’s women to have super careers while at the same time being super sexy super moms. But how high is the price for those who attempt it? Maren Hartmann is a professor who's married with three children. She's got a great career and yet she's still harried by all the demands that are placed on modern women's time.

Maren Hartmann is married. Her husband, also a professor, works at the University of Copenhagen and has to spend three days a week away from home. So how does she see today's woman? And how does he? What role does feminism play today? Have "women's issues" been solved? She says not at all. German universities, they say, are not very friendly toward working mothers. And for that reason alone there's lots that needs to be discussed between the sexes in modern society.

We visit Nataša Topalovic from Serbia. She lives together with her husband and three kids in New Belgrade. She uses part of her living room as a craft space, where she paints and creates fondant figures.