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What in the World
What's really inside your phone?
What in the World
Sep 28, 2023

Our phones are powered by teeny tiny semi conductors. Taiwan produces over 60% of them. Huawei recently unveiled a phone with a chip made in mainland China. Chris Miller is an expert on this subject. He tells us why the United States is wary of this move.

We know our phones have a chip in them, but what’s it made of? And what else is in our phones? They’re built with metals and materials from some of the poorest countries in the world. They’re also designed to be difficult to recycle, leading to lots of technology waste. The BBC’s Science Correspondent, Victoria Gill, explains why our phones are made this way and what their life cycle is.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Alex Rhodes Producers: Emily Horler, Benita Barden and Julia Ross-Roy Editors: Verity Wilde and Simon Peeks

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Feb 5, 2025
USAID: Can the world live without it?

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is under fire. It is the world’s biggest donor and spends billions of dollars a year, funding programmes around the world, like fighting malaria in Bangladesh, clearing unexploded landmines in Cambodia and Laos and providing medical supplies in Sudan.

But President Trump says it is run by “radical lunatics” and he and billionaire Elon Musk, who’s got the job of trying to slash American government spending, want to shut it down. They have paused almost all international spending for 90 days and issued “stop work” orders to their staff. BBC journalist Nathalia Jimenez tells us what USAID does - and why the Trump administration wants to close it.

A large proportion of USAID funding goes towards healthcare and HIV medication in sub-Saharan Africa. Makuochi Okafor, the BBC’s Africa Health correspondent tells us what impact closing USAID could have in this region.

Anselm Gibbs, a BBC reporter based in Trinidad and Tobago, tells us about programmes USAID funds in the Caribbean. And Hilde Deman from Search for Common Ground, an international NGO that uses USAID funding in countries affected by violent conflict, talks about the impact to their work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Benita Barden and Julia Ross-Roy Editor: Rosanna La Falce


13min 08sec




What's really inside your phone?

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