Cort Wrotnowski lives and works in a hub of hedgefund headquarters. He is worried that the United States has not yet seen the worst of the economic downturn.He is interested in medical progress and owns a health food store.

• 12/22/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Gated communities are popular in Brazil, as well. Brazilians who can afford it fence themselves off. Housing for the poor is in short supply. Public investment in infrastructure and social housing is meager. Most land in Brazil is in private hands.Brazil is a vast country, but the land is unequally distributed. Millions of people who have none squat on private property and live in constant fear of eviction. Andre Albuquerque in the state of Paraná has dedicated himself to solving this mammoth problem. His organization Terra Nova mediates between owners, squatters, and communities. Albuquerque turns illegal occupants into legal owners. The Schwab Foundation has recognized him as a Social Entrepreneur.

• 12/22/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

The biggest sporting and media spectacle of 2010 will be the soccer World Cup in South Africa. However, many broadcast companies in developing countries will not be able to afford to send their own correspondents to cover the event. In a bid to help those companies, the DW Academy invited 14 journalists from around the world to take part in a World Cup preparation course in South Africa.

• 12/15/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

This week's Global Living Room is in Singapore where Dominique, Mark and their children live. Their living room walls display historic pictures of the city that show just how much Singapore has changed over the decades.

• 12/15/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Jane, Dalia and Carlos made a report during the course about South Africa's most popular football fan accessory: the Makarapa. Alfred Baloyi had the idea 20 years ago of turning a simple miner's helmet into a decorated hard hat that now belongs in every South African fan kit.

• 12/15/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Do labels and advertising really tell us how good a food product is? The 62-year-old sociologist and economist Thilo Bode thinks consumers' rights and health have been put at risk by uncontrolled and powerful food companies. Bode's organization Foodwatch is trying to achieve more transparency in the food industry.

• 12/15/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Increased consumerism and energy usage coupled with globalization are just three factors that have led to a huge rise in the amount of trash produced every year. The waste is produced by households, businesses and offices but now there is even electronic rubbish in the form of spam mail.

• 12/15/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

The IAEA seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the world while guarding against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It's an autonomous organization with close links to the UN. Its mission is a complex one, with a budget running into millions of euros.

• 12/15/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

In the north of the British Isles, in Scotland, there's almost always a stiff breeze blowing.The Scottish government's ambitious plans call for about 50 percent of the country's electricity demand to come from renewable sources by 2020. Billions are being invested in an industry that promises lucrative returns. But not everyone is delighted.

• 12/8/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Some 100,000 people still live on the 32 islands of Kiribati. But global warming is making water levels rise.The Pacific island group has an elevation of only two meters and is considered especially endangered. The president faces a dilemma: Should he have his people evacuated? If so, where to?

• 12/8/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Vimi Devan, 40, lives in Mumbai - when she isn't in the sky. Vimi is a flight attendant and away from home about 30 percent of the time.In her spare time she works to protect the environment in her country by raising awareness of India's mangrove swamps. For her, globalization means that all people should treat each other respectfully.

• 12/8/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Japan is considered one of the world's most energy-efficient countries, and its industry - carmakers first and foremost - sets standards. Only in home construction is Japan an energy guzzler.Now the first ultra-low-energy house has been built in the country, and it shows cost-efficient and environmentally concious planning and building can save surprising amounts of energy.

• 12/8/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

100,000 people still live on the 32 atolls that make up the south Pacific island nation of Kiribati, but global warming is causing sea levels to rise. The archipelago, which lies halfway between Australia and Hawaii, lies just two meters above sea level and is considered especially endangered.The first two atolls have already been submerged. Kiribati's president is faced with a dilemma: does he have to evacuate all the country's residents?

• 12/1/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

The Tsissina family's living room is a huge open tent.It's where the older members sit by the fire and tell stories of the past.

• 12/1/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

The HIV infection rate in Russia is one of the highest in the world, but the authorities suppress the problem. One reason is that three quarters of those infected are drug addicts and they are ostracized by society.The Global AIDS Fund and other foreign organizations are already considering leaving the country.

• 12/1/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

South Africa still has one of the world's highest HIV infection rates. More than five and a half million people live with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.Poor families in particular are affected and have to cope largely without government support. Self-styled healers and profit-hungry businesses take advantage of their helplessness.

• 12/1/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Elzbieta Zieciak is a confectioner and loves her work.She says she could live without bread, but not without cakes. She dreams of travelling to the Caribbean.

• 11/24/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Staff Benda Bilili's music style is Congolese rumba with a hint of funk and soul.Their songs tell stories of everyday life in a city that has an estimated 40,000 street children, many of whom are former child soldiers. The band's name Staff Benda Bilili roughly translates as "bring forth the invisible".

• 11/24/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

We take water for granted in our everyday lives - using it to shower, do the laundry, cook and clean.We also use in less obvious ways: Every piece of paper we write on, every steak we eat and even the clothes we wear also add to our daily water usage.

• 11/17/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Alexander from Kenya is 21 years old.He deals in scrap computers and thinks that humanity is globalization's worst enemy.

• 11/17/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Promises of education and enough to eat are enough to persuade impoverished rural families in Haiti to hand over their children - usually their daughters - to strangers who live in the cities. They believe their children will fare better there than in rural areas. But the reality usually fails to live up to their expectations:Often, the children end up working more or less as slaves in their new homes. They're known as "restaveks" - from the French for "rester avec" - or to stay with. Alinx Jean-Baptiste coordinates a children's assistance project in Haiti. He tries to convince the 'foster parents' to send their 'restaveks' to school at least for three hours a day.

• 11/17/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Sugata Mitra works for NIIT, an Indian company which develops educational software. The Delhi headquarters border on the Kalkaji slum. The two worlds are separated by a wall. Mitra came up with the idea of knocking out a hole in this wall, which marked the start of the project to provide children access to the digital world.In this hole they installed a computer terminal with an internet connection. It quickly became apparent that children with no computer experience and despite the absence of instruction learned very quickly to surf the internet. Hole in the Wall is now a global initiative.

• 11/13/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Samuel Lima Santana is 19 years old and drives a motorbike taxi in the federal state of Bahia.He loves pizza and would like to get to know France.

• 11/13/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Just how happy are the citizens of any given nation. That's exactly what the Happy Planet Index sets out to discover.Normal economic indices measure GDP. But the HPI measures how content the population is, their life expectancy and the ecological footprint they make. Global 3000 compares 3 countries.

• 11/13/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Alida Vracic is 31. She lives in Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina where she manages a think tank.She says the tiny research institute is tasked with analyzing the social, economic and political situation of the country - 16 years after the Yugoslavian conflict.

• 11/13/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

In the United States, the battle over genetically modified crops is over. Much of America's corn, soybean and cotton production is genetically modified. Farmers across the country's corn belt in the midwest benefit from good harvests. But, they are also making themselves increasingly dependent on the seed producers. One name is sticking out: Monsanto.The agriculture corporation Monsanto is dominating the market, it controls 87 percent of the market. The contracts that Monsanto forces its customers to accept in the US serve as a warning for countries in which Monsanto is now building up a market share.

• 10/29/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

Eradicating world hunger has been declared one of the priorities for the 21st century. According to the UN, 1.2 billion people will not get enough to eat this year -- the highest number since 1970. While the global economic crisis has made the problem worse, inaction by political leaders is also very much to blame. That's not the case in Belo Horizonte, however.The Brazilian city's Zero-Hunger program has demonstrated how hunger can effectively be ended.

• 10/29/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0

This time we visit the home of Alastair Yates and his family. They live in Teddington, a London suburb. Their living room contains souvenirs from their holidays abroad as well as their son's wooden railway set.Alastair is especially thrilled by the 52-inch television which is mounted on an articulated arm and can be turned in every direction.

• 10/29/09
• Comments: 0
• Votes: 0