Global Journalist: Japan, South Korea face graying future
Japan and South Korea face stark demographic change. Longer life spans and low birth rates in both countries have led to rapidly aging populations. At 126 million, Japan's population is already declining and is forecast to shrink below 100 million in 30 years. South Korea's will begin shrinking in the next decade, but is expected to decline even faster. On this edition of Global Journalist, a look at the challenges for both countries as they face a future with a shrinking workforce trying to
Global Journalist: Japan, South Korea face graying future
It's sometimes called "brown envelope" journalism. This is the practice of journalists taking money or gifts from companies, politicians, or even international charities to give them favorable coverage. Payola has long been a problem in journalism in countries all around the world. Today it's particularly a problem in developing nations, where journalists are sometimes paid just a few dollars a day with the understanding that they can supplement their income by taking money from those they write
Africa is home to the 10 fastest growing cities in the world. Over the next 25 years, the World Bank projects that the continent's urban population will double to 1 billion. Yet along with gleaming skyscrapers and shopping malls, African cities are feeling growing pains. More than half of the 4 million people in the Kenyan capital Nairobi live in slums, often without access to running water, electricity or sewage systems. Traffic in Nairobi and other booming cities has become nightmarish. On
By now, you've probably heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – a giant accumulation of trash in the Pacific Ocean that's about twice the size of Texas. According to a study published in the journal Nature last year, most all this oceanic garbage is plastic - about 1.6 trillion pieces of it. But the Great Pacific Garbage Patch isn't unique. It's just one of five major garbage patches in the world's oceans. And these garbage patches are just a fraction of the plastic that's been dumped in our
Chinese workers have built bridges in Serbia, a huge railroad tunnel in Uzbekistan and a gas and oil pipeline across Myanmar. These are just a few of the dozens of massive foreign infrastructure projects China has financed across the world as part of President Xi Jinping's 'Belt and Road Initiative.' In the six years since President Xi first floated the project, at least 124 countries have signed on to what is one of the largest international construction projects in history. Over the next
Global Journalist: Cuba Eyes Information Revolution
Cuba has long been one of the world's least connected countries. Cubans weren't allowed to buy personal computers until about a decade ago, and didn't have access to the Internet until 2013. But things are slowly changing in the Communist country. In December, the state telecom company launched the country's first mobile internet network. At the end of March, the country's government signed a deal with Google that could significantly boost speeds on the country's painfully slow network.
Global Journalist: Cuba Eyes Information Revolution
At this year's Academy Awards a film called "Period. End of Sentence" won the Oscar for best short documentary. The movie focused on the subject of menstruation taboos in India and the story of a group of poor women who banded together to manufacture inexpensive menstrual pads. The success of the film gave new visibility to what's often referred to as "period poverty." On this edition of Global Journalist: a discussion about period poverty and some of the ways that stigma about the issue affects
Global Journalist: 'Midnight Traveler' Spotlights Odyssey for Asylum Seekers
After being threatened by the Taliban, filmmaker Hassan Fazili was forced to flee Afghanistan. Like thousands of others, he and his family set out for Europe seeking safety and a stable life. What follows is a two-year odyssey that Fazili, wife Fatima Hussaini, and their two daughters carefully documented on video with their phones. From negotiating with people smugglers to hiding in abandoned buildings and being beaten by Bulgarian nationalists, the new documentary "Midnight Traveler"
Global Journalist: 'Midnight Traveler' Spotlights Odyssey for Asylum Seekers
Global Journalist: Australia's Refugee "Islands of Despair"
Australia's continued detention of about 1,000 refugees and asylum-seekers on two remote Pacific islands has garnered international criticism as details emerge of alarming rates of attempted suicide and poor medical care. Yet many Australians see the island detention centers as a necessary deterrent to keep the country from being overrun by a tide of migrant boats from Indonesia. On this edition of Global Journalist, a look at the conditions for the hundreds of migrants who have spent years in
Global Journalist: Australia's Refugee "Islands of Despair"
Global Journalist: In Israel, Netanyahu's Last Stand
Later this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to become Israel's longest-serving prime minister in its 71-year existence. To reach that mark, both he and his right-wing Likud party will need a strong showing in elections April 9. Polls show that Netanyahu, who was prime minister for three years in the 1990s and has held the office since 2009, is locked in a close race with former general Benny Gantz and the opposition Blue and White alliance. But Netanyahu isn't just fighting
Global Journalist: In Israel, Netanyahu's Last Stand
