World in Progress

Imagine you are being thrown into prison even though you have done absolutely nothing. All in the name of a so-called war on gangs. That's what's happening in El Salvador right now. And protests against the regime in Iran some five months after the death of Mahsa Amini continue as the country's rulers try to silence dissent and arrest those who speak up.

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If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us one thing, it's how quickly new diseases can spring up on us. Is the next zoonotic disease brewing in Kenya? And could a robot in India finally bring an end to the unhealthy and banned practice of cleaning blocked sewage pipes by hand? We also hear how how health workers from the Philippines are carving out a new life for themselves abroad.

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Topics: Dangerous reporting: covering indigenous issues in Guatemala is difficult and comes with a high price -- Why care about neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)

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This week on World in Progress: A Moroccan woman changing the game in the male-dominated world of fishing, a gym that uses energy from working out to power corn mills and oil presses, and how Russian video gaming professionals who have fled to Serbia are shaking things up.

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The Canary Islands, located roughly 100 kilometers off the coast of Africa, have seen a large influx of refugees arriving by boat in recent years. On this week’s show, we hear from people who’ve made the harrowing journey, and those who are trying to help them start a new life.

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This week on World in Progress: Affordable housing is hard to come by. The situation is particularly dire in some cities in Turkey where inflation is high, and apartments are few and far between. And some people in the Netherlands are building their own town from the ground up.

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With energy prices skyrocketing in Europe, the demand for wood pellets is increasing. While many homeowners want an alternative to costly oil and gas heating, coal plants switching to burning wood chips make huge profits thanks to EU subsidies. But protected forest areas are destroyed at alarming rates, and critics demand a policy change and better forests protection.

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Roughly half of all the people trafficked from Africa to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries ended up the Portuguese colonial empire of Brazil. This week we're revisiting the shocking history Rio de Janeiro's role as Brazil's gateway for slaves.

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On this week’s show, we’re taking a look at some niche cultural trends in Asia, from a massive New Silk Road project in Uzbekistan, to an unusual Indian band called Womeniya, to a Cambodian circus helping people deal with trauma.

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Extreme weather fueled by climate change such as droughts and floods displace some 20 million people every year. By some estimates, by 2050, there could be over one billion people who have to flee their homes due to the effects of climate change. DW checks in with people in Kenya, India and Australia who are already feeling the effects of climate change on their homes.

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