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In hot water: What’s turning the world’s coral white?
What in the World
May 24, 2024

Coral around the world is turning white and even dying as recent record ocean heat takes a devastating toll. It has triggered the fourth “global mass coral bleaching event”. Hannah chats to What in the World producer Kevyah Cardoso about the magical life of coral.

BBC climate reporter Georgina Rannard explains what’s causing this bleaching and whether the coral can recover from it. And we hear from two parts of the world where people are trying to monitor and revive their coral reefs. The BBC’s Alfred Lasteck in Tanzania tells us about his visit to the Mnemba Island, Zanzibar where they are restoring the coral reefs. And 19 year old environmental activist and divemaster Emma Batty Sukerta, whose family are from Bali, Indonesia, talks about why she is recording the sounds of the coral reefs there.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Kevyah Cardoso & Julia Ross-Roy Editor: Verity Wilde

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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


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In hot water: What’s turning the world’s coral white?

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