In the last few years, Turkey has ramped up efforts to diversify its energy resources. As the country's energy needs grow, the government is increasing gas exploration in the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean. Ankara is also investing in alternative sources of energy, such as nuclear and renewables. We caught up with Bain & Company partner Volkan Kara at the Bosphorus Summit in Istanbul for his take on Turkey's energy policies.

#BosphorusSummit #RenewableEnergy #Turkey

Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai has signed a deal with Apple TV Plus to produce documentaries, dramas and other shows. The content for the streaming platform will focus on empowering women and children.

#MalalaYousafzai #AppleTV+ #Content

South Africa has reported its worst economic slump in more than a-hundred years. The country was already in recession when the pandemic hit.. and in that weakened state, it was unable to control an outbreak that quickly became the worst in the region. But the government is hopeful its vaccination rollout can turn the economy's prospects around. Paolo Montecillo reports.For more, we spoke to Gracelin Baskaran in Johannesburg. She's an economist and senior research fellow at the University of Cape Town.

#SouthAfrica #Vaccination #EconomicSlump

China has set a relatively strong growth target for economic expansion this year, as it continues to lead the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The country's annual parliamentary meetings kicked-off on Thursday, and Premier Li Keqiang delivered an economic forecast of more than 6-percent GDP growth for 2021. Joel Flynn has more from Hong Kong.

#China #GDP #EconomicGrowth #Pandemic

East Africa is fighting a fresh wave of locusts that are destroying entire harvests, leaving millions of people hungry. In Kenya, one start-up is going on the offensive with the help of local communities. Motheo Khoaripe reports.

#Kenya #AnimalFeed #LocustInfestation

When US President Joe Biden came into office, one of his first tasks was to re-enter the Paris Climate Agreement and set the US on a path towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Environmentalists cheered those moves, but those who work in the fossil fuel industry say the Biden administration's green energy policies could have a devastating impact on their only source of income - especially for those living in the state of Louisiana. Robert Ray reports.

#OilDrillingBan #JoeBiden #GreenEnergyPolicies

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged members of the Economic Cooperation Organization to revive efforts for a trade deal as soon as possible. At the fourteenth ECO leaders summit, held virtually, Erdogan called on the 11-member organisation to boost the bloc's trade volume to 100-billion dollars. The Economic Cooperation Organization Trade Agreement includes Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. President Erdogan also endorsed the revival of several trade routes essential to the region's economic development, including the historic Silk Road.

#EconomicCooperationOrganization #Turkey #Trade

One in 10 people are forced to skip meals because they don't have enough food. According to a new United Nations report, one reason is because those who can afford to eat buy more than they need, and throw the rest away - almost 1-billion tonnes of it each year. It's an issue that highlights the inequalities in the global economy and undermines efforts to tackle the climate crisis. We spoke to Richard Swannell. He's the director of WRAP, the organisation that helped the UN Environment Programme with this year's Food Waste Index Report. He joins the show from Oxford in the UK.

#FoodWaste #Restuarants #UnitedNations

SpaceX has successfully launched and landed its Starship rocket for the first time. It's a prototype for the spacecraft Elon Musk plans to use to send humans to the moon and eventually Mars and beyond. But celebrations were soon dashed after the spaceship exploded minutes after landing. Despite the setback, the billionaire entrepreneur is closer to his dream of launching manned missions to space.. and further commercialising the Final Frontier. Liz Maddock reports. For more on this, Christopher Conselice joined us from Manchester. He's professor of extragalactic astronomy at the University of Manchester.

#SPACEEXPLORATION #SPACEX #STARSHIPROCKET

Libya's Benghazi may be best known as the cradle of the country's 2011 revolution. But it's now home to the country's first-ever artificial salt caves, which are being used to treat illnesses. But the jury's still out as to how effective they really are. Adama Munu explains.

#Libya #AncientHealing #SaltCaves