Money Talks

Jeff Bezos's space travels aren't the only thing making headlines. The billionaire recently bought a half-a-billion dollar, 127-metre superyacht, built by Dutch company Oceanea. He's one of many splashing out and hitting the high seas in style. Kyoko Gasha has more on the superyacht buying boom and what's driving it.

#LuxuryYachts #Wealth #Pandemic

In Iraq, efforts to control a rise in COVID-19 cases are being stymied by the country's poor medical infrastructure. Years of conflict and government corruption have crippled facilities. There are just 250 hospitals in the entire country, and relief organisations say that's just a fraction of what Iraqis needed. Shoaib Hasan explains.

#Iraq #Pandemic #HealthcareSector

Ice cream maker Ben and Jerry's is stopping the sale of its products in the occupied Palestinian territories. The company had hoped to use its presence in the region to drive positive change. But now it says continuing operations in the region is inconsistent with its values. While the decision has been welcomed by pro-Palestinian activists, it's drawn an angry response from Israel, which is warning parent company, Unilever, of 'severe consequences. Mobin Nasir reports. Let's get more on this from Ali Abunimah in Chicago. He's the Director of The Electronic Intifada, an independent publication about Palestine, and the author of "The Battle for Justice in Palestine".

#BenandJerrys #Unilever #OccupiedPalestine #Israel

Baklava is a staple on Turkish tables. More than 1,200 tons of it is produced every day, and Turks eat an average of almost four and a half kilograms of the sweet a year. It's the most popular treat to serve during the Eid holidays. Tayyibe Aydin went to one of Istanbul's oldest confectioneries to see how it's preparing for the festive season.

#Turkey #Eid #Confectionery

As flood waters recede, the full extent of heavy rains across western Europe is being revealed. More than 180 people have died in the region, and dozens more remain missing. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel visited one of her country's worst-affected areas on Sunday. She said the damage to local communities was 'surreal'. TRT World's Sibel Karkus was in Schuld and sent us this report. Let's get more from Sibel Karkus who's in Schuld, Germany - one of the areas hardest hit by the flooding.

#Germany #Floods #AngelaMerkel

Labour rights groups say workers in Asia's garment manufacturing sector have lost close to 12-billion dollars in income due to the pandemic. That's because big retailers canceled orders and asked for discounts as they were forced to close their stores. As Paolo Montecillo reports, it's a big blow to millions who were already working on poverty wages. We spoke to Anne Bienias in Amsterdam. She's the living wage coordinator at the Clean Clothes Campaign.

#GarmentWorkers #WorkerRights #SweatShops

Oil prices have plunged by around 6-percent after the world's major exporters agreed to phase out production cuts implemented when the pandemic disrupted global fuel demand. Earlier, OPEC and its allies failed to reach a deal as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates disagreed on how much more oil each would be allowed to sell overseas. But as Mobin Nasir reports, demand for crude could take a hit just as its supplies are finally ramping up. For more on this, Ellen Wald joined us from Jacksonville, Florida. She's President of Transversal Consulting and is the author of Saudi Inc.

#OPEC #Barrels #OilPrices

We know livestock are contributing to the climate crisis by belching-out the greenhouse gas methane. But in a game-changing breakthrough a new supplement being fed to dairy cattle in the UK has cut the methane output of a herd by a third. And that reduction is now being converted into carbon credits. Sarah Morice has been to visit the farm where the programme is under way.

#CattleBreeding #Methane #ClimateCrisis

The European Union has proposed the world's first carbon border tax on some imported goods, as part of its most ambitious plan yet to tackle the climate crisis. The proposal details the bloc's goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55-percent by 2030.. and eventually becoming carbon neutral by 2050. As Sara Firth reports, one way of doing that is by building-up forests and grasslands. We spoke to Ben McWilliams who's a research analyst at Bruegel - a European think tank that specialises in economics. He joins us now from Liverpool.

#EU #CarbonEmissions #CarbonBorderTax

As Uganda enters its third week of lockdown, market vendors in the capital, Kampala, are struggling to make enough sales to make ends meet. And the government's travel ban is making things even more difficult by preventing vendors from going home. Irem Koca reports.

#Uganda #PandemicLockdown #MarketVendors