Last month was the hottest June on record for North America. That's according to scientists at the EU's Earth observation programme, Copernicus. Both the US and Canada are still sweltering under scorching temperatures as an intense heatwave grips most of the continent. Scientists say Canada's British Columbia, and the southern and the northwestern United States are the hardest-hit regions. Temperatures there have risen to more than five degrees Celsius above seasonal highs. Sharon George is a senior lecturer at Keele University in the UK. She says these unusual heatwaves will become more frequent if governments don't step up the fight against the climate crisis.

#ClimateCrisis #HeatWave #CarbonEmissions

Frontline workers all over the world are risking their lives to help others during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Yemen, doctors are struggling with the additional burden of a healthcare sector that's collapsed during years of civil war. With a shortage of basic hospital supplies, many medical staff have lost their lives trying to care for others. Obaida Hitto has more.

#Yemen #Healthcare #Pandemic

We start the show with Haiti, which is reeling from the assassination of its president Jovenel Moise. It's already one of the most impoverished nations on Earth due to decades of dysfunction. And as Paolo Montecillo reports, the bloody episode threatens to make matters worse for its 11 million people. For more, we spoke to Remi Piet in Miami. He's a co-founder and senior partner at Embellie Advisory, which specialises in emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia.

#Haiti #PresidentAssasination #JovenelMoise

The huge container ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal in March was finally released by Egyptian authorities on Wednesday. The Ever Given and its cargo of 18,000 containers had been impounded as Egypt sought financial compensation from the vessel's Japanese owner and its insurance company. The terms of the final deal remain secret. The Ever Given was stuck in the canal for six days, completely blocking the waterway and causing serious delays to global supply chains. Simon McGregor-Wood has more.

#ContainerShip #SuezCanal #EverGiven

During lockdown, it hasn't been uncommon to splurge on some online shopping - only to discover when the goods arrive that they're not quite what you expected. Russia's biggest e-commerce company has built an empire around solving this problem. And now it's looking to set up shop beyond its borders. Miranda Lin explains.

#Russia #OnlineRetailer #Ecommerce

The US has condemned Iran's decision to increase uranium enrichment to 20 percent purity. But Washington says the door is still open for diplomacy and a return to full compliance of the 2015 nuclear deal. Although, as Natasha Hussain reports, Tehran's latest move complicates negotiations.

#Iran #UrianiumEnrichment #NuclearDeal

The OECD says global employment levels won't bounce back from COVID-19 until at least 2023. The organisation's latest employment outlook shows millions of people have been pushed out of the job market during the pandemic. And with many of them unlikely to return to work soon, global income inequality is expected to deteriorate. The OECD says about 114 million people worldwide have lost their jobs since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Just 22 million of those positions were in the mostly wealthy OECD group of countries. That means the vast majority of employees affected were in medium- to low-income nations. People in poorly paid roles also lost more hours than those in more senior positions. The Paris-based institution says labour markets in developed nations have managed to recover only half of their job losses, with a full global recovery expected in 2023. Stefano Scarpetta joined us from Paris. He's Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at the OECD.

#OECD #JobsCrisis #CoronavirusPandemic

We start in the U-S, where New York is honouring the one million essential workers who were vital to the city's survival during the pandemic. They treated the sick, cleaned hospitals, stocked grocery store shelves and delivered meals to millions of residents during months of lockdown. But while they're being hailed as heroes, their salaries don't reflect their worth. Paolo Montecillo has more. TRT World Correspondent Frank Ucciardo joined us now from New York.

#FrontlineWorkers #Pandemic #DeltaVariant

South Africa's e-commerce industry is booming as a result of the explosion in demand for home deliveries during the pandemic. A recent report found the value of online retail has more than doubled in two years, despite overall national economic decline. Ntshepeng Motema reports from Johannesburg on some of the players fuelling the growth in this market.

#SouthAfrica #Ecommerce #TechBusinesses

Colourful leather goods are staple Moroccan souvenirs. So much so that they account for 15 percent of the country's exports, worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The process of preparing the leather is time-consuming - a specialised technique dating back thousands of years. And while the pandemic has diminished profits for many tanneries, one ancient business hopes that by keeping its traditional methods alive, it can revive the economy too. Tayyibe Aydin reports.

#AncientTannery #Morocco #Leather