The Iran war is affecting global food security

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available in all states or situations. It's not just the supply lines for oil in

crisis because of the war in the Middle East. Globally, it's sort of a slow

moving food crisis in the making. Fertilizer shipping and production is also

disrupted. I'm Carolyn Beeler. In India, the patent on the active ingredient in

Wagovi and Ozembic expires today, doctors there are especially excited. That

drug going off patent and becoming available to a huge population at a

fraction of a cost is really big news. And housing prices are climbing ever

upward. We look at why that is true in so many places. People are seeing this as

a way of wealth accumulation. Housing has now become as an asset. It's not just

a place to live. And will crash a glorious, no-roose party in Istanbul. That and much more is

all ahead on the world. This is the world I'm Carolyn Beeler. Thank you for

joining us today. We all know that the price of gasoline has gone through the roof.

In response to U.S. and Israeli attacks, Iran has effectively closed off the

street of Hormuz, sending shockwaves through energy markets.

Iran has maintained its blockade by mining the waters of the Persian Gulf and

threatening to target any ships that pass through. Those ships are not only carrying oil,

some carry fertilizer used by farms around the world. And that has implications for the global

food system. David Ortega is a professor of food economics at Michigan State University.

He told me today that one third of the world's traded fertilizer passes through that street.

And one critical point here that is worth emphasizing is that it's not just

fertilizer that's produced in the Gulf state, but also natural gas.

Right. And that is because natural gas is a key input in making fertilizer. The famous

Hayberbosh process that converts natural gas to ammonia to urea. And so we've seen a lot of the

natural gas facilities hit. And we've seen a lot of it, you know, sort of not able to cross the

street. And there are countries in the global south that depend on that natural gas to be able to

make fertilizer within their borders. Right. So we have two problems at the same time.

Fertilizer has already been made sitting on ships and not able to get to these dreaded

promos. And also natural gas, many facilities have been struck that produce natural gas.

And that is going to hurt future production of fertilizer. So how much is this already

affecting fertilizer access, I guess, around the world? Well, I mean, we're seeing fertilizer

prices jump, especially nitrogen fertilizer. And it's important to keep in mind that we are

in the northern hemisphere. And in many parts of the world going into the spring planting season.

And so if we're starting to see these fertilizer prices rise, there's going to be less fertilizer

application, which can then lead to lower yields, which would mean that there would be less

commodities and food available, you know, later in the year. And that would put upward pressure

on prices, on food prices in particular. You said this is already sending prices

going up. How much and how big of an impact might that have? I think it really depends on where

you are. But we are seeing, you know, price impacts to Urea, to ammonia. And a lot of these get

exported from the Gulf States to Asia, to Sub-Saharan Africa. And so, you know, prices are up.

When we look at late last year, you know, more than 50% for Urea in particular.

I'm wondering what this might lead to down the road in terms of food prices and even food production.

Are there examples in history that give us some sort of sense of what might be to come?

Well, so, you know, there's been multiple shocks, even very recent shocks. When we look at 2022,

we had a righteous invasion of Ukraine. That was a different type of shock because it not only

impacted energy prices, but it actually impacted the actual production of many of these agricultural

commodities. A lot of the grain that's produced in that part of the world. But when we are looking at

the current geopolitical shock, so it's impacting oil prices that leads to higher diesel prices.

And it's important to keep in mind that food moves on diesel. It moves on energy, on oil.

Globally, a lot of the food miles are transported via cargo vessels, but domestically here in the US

and in other countries, a lot of that takes place in trucking. So, diesel prices, you know,

have a pretty significant impact on the transportation of food. And then you have, you know,

food is energy intensive to produce, even beyond the farm gate, a lot of the processing, even

packaging can be impacted by rising oil prices. And so, you have, you know, hits to production,

increases in price. And when we're talking about globally, it's sort of a slow-moving food crisis

in the making. Slow-moving food crisis in the making, that sounds dire. I understand this is

already causing fertilizer plants to shut down in India and parts of Southeast Asia, is that right?

That's right. Yes, we've seen fertilizer plants shutting down in India and Bangladesh. And again,

it's because of lack of access to that natural gas that comes out of the Persian Gulf in those states.

And so, what kind of decisions are farmers facing now already, or will they likely

face in the next few months as they plan to need to fertilize? What are their options?

Yeah, I mean, some of their options, you know, it depends on where you are. You may be able to

switch crops that, you know, that rely more heavily on nitrogen fertilizer. So, here in the US,

you may be switching from corn, which is very nitrogen-dependent to crops like soybeans,

but in many parts of the world, farmers don't have that luxury. And so, they may be making the

decision to use less fertilizer because it's not available or because prices are prohibitive.

And unfortunately, that's going to turn into potentially lower yields in a few months.

There are negotiations to let some ships get through this all-important

state of her moves. Are there any indications that this will get fertilizer moving again?

I mean, it's really tough to say. The cost of insurance for a lot of these vessels is a major

factor. There's a lot of risks involved. And, you know, I've seen, you know, the forecast is that

the price of oil is going to remain elevated, you know, for the next few months, just given

the amount of uncertainty with this current situation. And the uncertainty in and of itself

can be inflationary. We're seeing sort of shipments that are being rerouted through the

Cape of Good Hope. And so, the other waterways, but all of that leads to higher costs. And so,

it's a pretty dire situation when it comes to what's happening with some of these key

agricultural inputs that are needed for food production.

Where is the concern highest for food access itself, either because prices are going up

or because there's just less food? I mean, where should we be worried about this slow-moving food

crisis, as you've said? Yes. So, I think when we're talking about food security, you know, we produce

a lot of generally speaking a lot of food in the world. So, a lot of the food security issues are

really because of access and affordability. So, trying to make sure that the food is where the

people need it and at prices that they're able to afford. So, this is where, you know, the cost of

transportation plays a big role. You know, that's not to minimize the impacts on food production.

Those are very critical, especially for developing and emerging countries. But, you know, transportation

costs are going to play a big factor because energy costs and, you know, fuel costs are particularly

important and significant when it comes to issues of access.

You've mentioned the choices that farmers are going to be facing here in the short term.

I'm wondering if there's any longer-term choices or solutions to these problems of fertilizer

access, high transportation costs, etc. I mean, so I think in the long run, you know, we have to think

about how to make these supply chains much more resilient to these types of, you know, geopolitical

shocks, you know, investments in agricultural research and development can help with, you know,

improving productivity. But these are longer-term solutions. And when we're talking about the current

situation, the critical issue here is what's happening to the price of oil and the supply of

fertilizer and natural gas that goes into food production. David Ortega is a professor of food

economics at Michigan State University.

This week, we've been hearing stories about how people are coping with the housing affordability

crisis with reporting from four different continents. Today, we are stepping back to ask why

putting a roof over your head is so expensive right now in so many places.

Penny Gerstein founded the Housing Research Collaborative at the University of British Columbia

in Vancouver. When we spoke, I asked her how she would describe this global problem.

We're now seeing sort of an unprecedented number of people who aren't inadequately housed,

who are paying far exceeding what they are capable of in terms of rent. So that's affecting

other things that they need to live on like food and transportation and other things.

So every housing market, you know, is different. But are there common reasons why lots of cities

across the globe are having trouble bringing down the cost of housing?

Well, I mean, I think the major thing is housing has now become seen as an asset. It's not just

a place to live. And so people are seeing this as a way of wealth accumulation, saving for their

retirement, being able to pass along to their children. So those who can get into the market

are accumulating and those who can't are really falling behind. So you're in Vancouver,

British Columbia, which has a reputation for expensive rents and housing costs. What is going

on specifically there? We've had a sharp increase in our housing costs. And that's, you know,

really affected the ability of people to buy into the market. But it's also really attracted

global capital, who sees this as a really good place to park their money because it's growing.

You know, they know that housing prices will increase. Now, just recently, we've had a downturn.

So prices are falling. They're not falling that much, but they are falling. And that's, you know,

because of some policies that the federal and provincial government have introduced.

One, you know, very standard response to high housing cost is to build more housing stock.

But you recently signed on to a letter to the government of British Columbia,

urging leaders to think beyond that solution. Why is that? What we're saying is you need the

right supply, which is the supply that actually is going to meet the needs of people living and

working in communities. And that's not happening right now. And I alluded to that before. But it goes

sort of further than that. I mean, in Canada, not so much in Europe, but definitely in North America

and the US and Canada, there's real lack of tenure neutrality, which means that there's real inequities

between homeowners and renters in terms of policies. So the policies really emphasize

tax breaks and other things for homeowners. They don't get the same for renters. And so what you're

doing is forcing people who may not, you know, who may not be able to have the assets to buy,

but are trying to buy because they feel this is the only way that they can live what is, you know,

considered a good life. Yeah. So I'm curious. Are you're a correspondent Orla Berry reported from

Vienna recently that there it is quite common for people to be lifelong renters? Do you think that

is a better system to house everybody who needs housing? Yes, it is. I mean, I think it's good as long

as there is a really strong social safety net that will support people. So they don't have to

worry in their retirement about being able to take care of themselves. So that's what I, you know,

I see in European countries and I recognize that that's being weakened for various reasons again,

but but that seems to have been since the Second World War that this has been a real emphasis

on building that social safety net for people. And so they didn't feel a need to buy.

Is there a city that is doing a good job at this at putting in solutions to bring down the cost of

housing? One of the places that I look at is actually in Asia in both looking at sort of Hong Kong

and Singapore. You know, ever since Singapore was formed as a city state, they had a housing and

development ministry that was very, very strong because they recognized that you needed to treat

housing as infrastructure. And that's exactly what they did in Singapore and also in Hong Kong. So

right now, two-thirds of the housing in Hong Kong is in some way publicly owned. And in Singapore,

that's even more. 80%. It's allowed for these places to be to really flourish.

Housing is really fundamental to how people, you know, need to live their lives. If they

had safe, secure, affordable housing, they'd be able to take risks in starting businesses and doing

all of these other things that you need to have a strong economy. That's interesting. Thinking of

it more as a public good and an infrastructure need like roads instead of a private asset.

Yes. And when you think about it, I mean, because Hong Kong and Singapore were both known as

sort of little capitalist engines, and, you know, here, that was what helped them grow was the,

you know, government subsidies, subsidizing housing.

Penny Gerstein is director and meritist of the Housing Research Collaborative at UBC in Vancouver.

Check out our whole series on housing affordability. We have stories from Seoul, Vienna,

Johannesburg, and Caracas at theworld.org.

You're listening to the world.

This is the world. I'm Carolyn Beeler. As France heads into the second round of municipal elections this

Sunday, thousands of small rural towns are scrambling to solve a big problem. No one wants to run for

office in villages like Via Serf. Long hours, low pay and a rise in belligerence toward public

officials have made public service pretty hard to sell. Reporter Lisa Bryant paid the village

a visit for a closer look at what is going on. Even before election results were announced,

these self's next municipal council was at work. Local lawmakers lined up chairs at a community

center for their first budget meeting and laid out cheese and red wine for after.

In this village of old stone houses, about 100 kilometers south of Paris, there are no surprises.

Like many small municipalities in France, only one slate of candidates with no party affiliation

is running for office. The biggest change for Ville Serf's 700 residents, 69-year-old Mayor François Descent

is stepping down after 14 years on the job. I think in villages where the teams have worked a lot

in the field and brought a lot of projects and solutions, residents are confident in them and

want them to continue. I could have run again, but for what purpose? Village mayors like Descent

have plenty to do. Among other things, they oversee public work, synergy and environmental

projects, manage schools, captains and garbage collection. On weekends, they're out attending sports

and cultural events and talking to their constituency and not getting much time off.

All that for very modest wages considered a stipend, not a salary, and violence against public

officials is growing. Out of about 2,500 attacks registered in France in 2024, two-thirds

targeted mayors. More than 2,000 French mayors have quit since the last municipal elections,

others stayed on for lack of candidates. But there is some good news. Out of France's nearly

35,000 municipalities, only 68 have no mayors. That's down from more than 100, a few years ago.

Bulsering those better numbers, political scientists, Nassien Foucault told French Radio,

is that voters trust their local mayor, even as many distrust national politicians.

At the same time, he says mayors face jobs that are increasingly demanding. Requiring skills,

they don't necessarily have. Here in Viseff, Mayor Descent doesn't think there's a problem

in finding candidates for mayor. He knows he'll have a replacement. His 48-year-old deputy,

Melanina Mott, who he's been training for the job.

Mayors don't have hours. I've worked a lot. Everybody in Vilserf has my mobile number,

and everyone will have melodies. But nobody abuse that.

I've never been beaten, except that you have a real need.

Viseff residents like Emile Shossi, fetching her child from primary school, seem happy with

the status quo. There's only one mayor who answers to the village's needs, and that's fine.

She responds to what villagers want, security, good relations.

Same reaction from electrician Antony Foucault, no.

We don't have the choice of other candidates, but Melanina Mott is just fine for me.

A former industrial engineer and mother of two, Le Mott will be earning a fraction of what she

could earn in the private sector.

From the start, I invested 100% in this municipal council,

and through my professional experience, I had certain skills that were adaptable,

working in teams, holding meetings, leading projects, resulting problems.

My husband works so I can afford it, but it's not like I will be earning for my retirement.

Some believe it's time for change.

Eucré Boe spent nearly two decades as mayor of André-Z,

a town of about 15,000 outside Paris. For a while, he juggled a private sector job

and his civic duties, the work was 24-7.

The role of a mayor is like heading a business. Whether the commune is small,

medium, or large, mayors should have a salary, and I'm tired that in France,

mayors are relied on as volunteers.

We feel on the ground because we are very young.

I'm proud to be able to have been pilots in these self-states sold out,

mayors will see improvements at a time of fiscal belt tightening.

Despite the challenges, he's proud of his accomplishments, restoring buildings and roads,

putting in cleaner energy, preserving the local environment, and building the community center,

and former industrial wasteland.

It's very addictive being a mayor. It gives us a lot of pleasure.

We don't just officiate weddings, we solve problems.

I honestly think I did a good job in office.

I did a good job, clearly.

Now it's up to incoming mayor La Motte to take over.

Lisa Bryant, VICEF, France.

Lisa reported that story for DWs inside Europe.

If you stood in Guanghuamun Square in Seoul today,

you would be forgiven for not knowing anything is going on other than tomorrow night's concert

by K-POP Megastars BTS. The city's skyscrapers are glowing with BTS advertisements as the city washes

itself in purple, the official color of BTS fans.

You can see band members peering down at you from the skyline from huge electronic billboards,

but that is not all. Drones lit up the night sky this evening to write out three letters.

You guessed it, BTS.

This is Swim from the group's new album, Oury Wrong, released today.

It is the first album they've put out in a long time after a hiatus, while the performers did

their mandatory military service. That took four years. Fans were clearly waiting.

The Swim video has already been viewed some 25 million times.

J-cune is a South Korean cultural critic. He says BTS is South Korea and South Korea loves them.

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min Suk posted a video on X welcoming the group and the BTS army

has fans are known.

The open air show is free and 250,000 people are expected to show up. If you are not in Seoul,

fear not, you can watch it live on Netflix tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. Eastern.

Music for your weekend, no matter where you live.

More stories are coming your way, you're with The World.

This is The World, I'm Carolyn Beeler.

Big news in India, the patent on semi-glutite expires there today.

That is the active ingredient in the diabetes and weight loss drugs,

osempic and wagovi. Much less expensive generic versions of those drugs are expected to flow

into the market, which could be a game changer in a country with the third highest number of

obese people in the world. I spoke earlier today to Dr. Rahul Bakshi, a physician who treats

diabetes in Mumbai. That drug going off patent and becoming available to a huge population

at a fraction of a cost is really big news. How often are you prescribing some

aglutide medications now? Very regularly. As of today, I've been prescribing only osempic

because that is the only one officially available. But when these generics are available in the market,

I believe a new batch of patients, a new subset of patients, open up to be prescribed these drugs.

In fact, I mentioned here last six to eight months when I feel a patient sitting in front of me

needs a drug like semi-glutite. I offered osempic, but there's a cost barrier. They say,

sir, we can't afford this drug with the present cost for long term. Those drugs in the past six

months, I've been writing on the prescriptions that, okay, you come to me after 20th of March,

and we'll have something more to offer to you so that data has come absolutely.

Oh, really? And how frequently would you have patients say, oh, we can't afford this?

Like, how much do you think sales are going to go up or use is going to go up after the

medications go off patent? Yes, the cost is going down by say 62-70% of what they know

it a brand is costing as in India as of now, which is already, say, around less than half of what

it costs in the US. In India, it's already very cheap, even the original no-no-disc osempic.

So now the cost going down even further below that by 50-60%. A lot of our patients will be

able to afford this drug, and it's important because these are all long term therapies as we all

know. These are not short term fixes for obesity. These are medications for diabetes. These are

powerful metabolic drugs. So with that explanation, with correct lifestyle changes offered, I think

these drugs can go a long way, improving the metabolic health of our country.

Yeah, tell me how much of a need there is for this in India. Give me a picture of health there

when it comes to obesity and diabetes. That's a huge problem. India is probably the diabetes

capital of the world. Obesity also is a major problem and it's a bigger problem here because,

you know, Indians, if you go by BMI, Indians have more metabolic disease at lower BMI's compared

to the West. So people whose height to weight ratio is lower? Exactly, that BMI. So if I take two

people with the BMI of 28, for example, an American would be much healthier metabolically compared

to an Indian who has the same BMI. You know, the Indian would be at higher risk for heart diseases,

higher risk for diabetes. So that is why we are at high risk for metabolic liver diseases,

what we call nowadays. So I think weight loss will play an important role. But a small word of

caution here, we need to be careful with the side effects and not get carried away just because

these drugs are cheaper. They are prescription drugs and advised with the correct lifestyle

advice, they can go a long way improving patient's lives. I understand there are a lot of clinics

kind of gearing up to provide more weight loss and diabetes treatment because of the profits that

might come from these more excessively priced drugs. Is that something that you're seeing?

Not in a way. Just like Mumbai, but I'm sure this is happening all around. And I also,

the government has stepped in actually. You know, last few days, government has put out some regulations

and ultimately these are prescription drugs, which should not be prescribed without doctor's

prescription. They need regular monitoring side effects are there apart from the well-known

gastric side effects, which include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation, which are well-known

of. There are some other not so common, but significant side effects, which include pancreatitis for which

patient can require a hospital admission. They also include long-term can lead to sarcopenia,

which can lead to some muscle loss and thinning of your arms and legs and feeling weak. So I think

these side effects cannot be ignored. So I think prescription is very important. Regular follow-up

is very important and government regulation and pharmacovigilance is very important.

What is your hope for the change that these drugs being more excessively priced might bring

for the health of the Indian population? When used correctly in the right patients,

this can go a long way in changing our prescription patterns earlier with the higher cost. These

you know, we used to offer to a lot of patients, but not all of them could agree to it because of

the long-term cost. So now that cost barrier would be taken off and we'll be able to offer this to

a lot of our patients who should be able to offer that the current reduced prices. And with that,

when people lose weight, the benefits are immense. These drugs coming down in price significantly,

of course, does not mean they will be accessible to everyone who will be able to afford these.

Well, we're working class folks be able to afford them in India? I think so. See what I've heard

as of today is around more than 50 Indian companies are going to produce these genics,

which would be available in the next one to two weeks, some of them as soon as tomorrow or day

after. Some of the drugs are going to go down almost say 2000 rupees per month, which is in terms

of dollars say around 20 dollars per month for a drug like semi-glutite. Now you can compare with

the prices in US. I think it goes up to almost $1,000 per month if I'm not wrong. So now that money,

a lot of our patients are able to spend because when you have diabetes, when you have blood pressure,

when you have cholesterol issues, some of the times you're already on 8 to 10 drugs. Your prescription

is very long. That's where if I offer this drug, which can help them get the diabetes under control,

which can help them get their weight under control, I might end up cutting down some of the other

medicines. I have to tell them, okay, you spend this much money here. And maybe I cut down this one

medicine now. You come to me after a month. If you lose 3 kg, maybe I might think of cutting down

one more medicine, which is very, very possible, very practical. We are doing that. So there's

a lot of savings, indirect savings involved. Rahul Bakshi is a doctor who treats diabetes in Mumbai.

Cuba is an economic freefall driven by a de facto oil blockade instituted by the US.

President Trump has been clear that he hopes this will lead to the collapse of Cuba's Communist

government. He said, on Monday, he believed he would, quote, have the honor of taking Cuba in

some form. This is all happening just 10 years after President Barack Obama paid a historic

visit to the island. So today, we look back at the history of US Cuba relations. My colleague,

Marco Orman spoke with Lillian Guerra, a professor of Caribbean history at the University of Florida.

He started by asking her about former Cuban President Philhencio Batista.

In 1933, there was a revolution in Cuba that was extremely popular and we found our man in Philhencio

Batista, who staged a coup January 1934. We immediately recognized his government and then he

proceeded to really be our quote, strong man in Havana and rule the place from 1934 to 1944.

So in the 50s, when he stages another coup, March 10th, 1952, he's once again a known

quantity. He's a very good friend of US diplomats who are looking for stability and looking to see

that the Cuban government represented US investors interests at the cost, in fact, of Cuban sovereignty

and often for at the cost of of citizens demands for a constitutional democratic and accountable regime.

Well, anyone who's seen Godfather Part II will recall the scene in Havana on the eve of the

revolution and the big CEOs from across the Western Hemisphere hoping to get rich with Batista's help.

By 1959, in real life, Batista flees Cuba and the revolution is led by Fidel Castro

begin to establish a new government. Did the US recognize a new government?

Well, yes, they did. In fact, there was a kind of like reality check in the State Department.

They realized that they had no real contacts or reach into the opposition because their

ambassadors in Havana had been so close and in bed with Batista since 52. There was a recognition

of a need to create a better relationship and 59 was going to do it. That was the goal.

Yes, so was it ideology like capitalism versus communism that ultimately drove a wedge between

the US and Cuba? Or was there a specific moment that caused relations to sour?

There was a specific moment. The Cuban people since the 1940 constitution had been wanting a

grand reform, which was effectively a law that would take away or rather set limits on how much any

individual or corporation could own. And so May 59, that land reform is passed. It is extraordinarily

well received by the majority of Cubans. And of course, sugar investors from the United States

had been lobbying the US government to prevent that from happening. And then they wanted the United

States, frankly, to invade Cuba as it had done in previous moments of Cuban history in order to

prevent this reform from taking hold. Yes, so you said that was May of 1959. So not long after

the revolution took hold, how did the US react? There was a fight between the US State Department

under Eisenhower and his intelligence community over whether or not they should try to create

a subversion. And the intelligence community, the US that wants to invade, they win that argument.

This is really the inflection point where you left off there between the US and Cuba.

What were the effects of the embargo in Cuba and what impact did that have on Cuban perceptions of

the US? Yeah, so I would say that a lot of Cubans, incredibly, because they saw this standoff between

Castro and Washington as an unfair kind of a game. They saw themselves as sort of David and the

United States as Goliath. By the time everything is nationalized and the government has 80% of the

economy in its hands, December of 1960. The United States is going to pull back its diplomatic

representation and it looks like both countries on our war footing. So between January of 61

and April of 61, you get a mass mobilization on the island of hundreds of thousands of militia

to defend against possible invasion. And the Cubans or rather the United States is recruiting Cuban

exiles to create a kind of surrogate army that is to invade that failed miserably at the Bay of Pigs.

So it's after that that the embargo becomes permanent. So for many Cubans dealing with the

economic blowback from the embargo, leaving the island was a big option. We've seen waves of

migration from Cuba to the US throughout the decades with a notable example in 1980, the Mariel

Boatlift. What was happening in 1980 and how does migration connect to the relationship between

the two governments? Yeah, no doubt. It was a safety valve for Fidel Castro to rely on. Anytime

there was mass discontent or increasing opposition to this unanimous kind of mandate of loyalty to

his regime and his leadership. And so you get the Mariel Boatlift so that people who want to go pick

up their relatives who are discontented on the island can do so. And you have 125,000 Cubans,

if not more, lined up to leave the island. And over the course of the next five months, they do leave.

He demonizes those folks because more than 70 percent of them are under the age of 30.

And so it was really really showed how what would look to be from a lot of people's perspective

on the outside, you know, a very still very popular regime that it wasn't. And then it was not

legitimate in the eyes of its youth. So this is the Exodus has been a means by which the state

stabilizes itself. And no doubt the last few years where we've seen about 2.8 million people

leave the island more than ever before in the history of Cuba. That has been, you know, a huge

boon to the government in terms of stability. But you know, at this point, it's got no legs left

to stand on. So let's fast forward to the 2010s. As we mentioned today, Marx the 10th anniversary

of President Obama's visit to Cuba, really the high water mark of the attempts to normalize

relations with the island. How did he do that? And why then? Obama radically changed the policies

with regard to who could visit the island. It came, that category came to include, you know,

more than 100,000 Americans annually who were not just researchers or people with family.

But Americans who wanted honestly to go to Cuba and wanted to see it for themselves

on cultural exchanges, but just as individuals. He also made it, they put no limits on how

much money Cubans could send their family members on the island. And that really, really began

to move things on the, in so many visible ways. There was a dramatic change. And Obama's visit

itself was stunning. It was stunning. Nobody expected that a U.S. President would ever visit.

Let alone that he would be a black president. And let alone that he would be allowed to freely

speak to the Cuban people in ways that were utterly inspiring and that were about not just how both

in the United States and Cuba societies and nations were built by slaves. But that both of our

societies were committed to democracy and that they could work together citizen to citizen.

So this kind of speech in particular that he gave when he was there, really for the first time,

silenced and sidelined the dictators. So can you draw a line between that ultimately

unfulfilled moment and today? Yes, I want to say that I think on the island there has been so much

despair that has been a product of the economic policies that the state implemented during and

after the pandemic that just the Cuban state is the Cuban state. Yes, the Cuban state coupled with

really devastating collapse of infrastructure. I mean, Cuba had five blackouts, nation-wide blackouts

in 2025. Nobody had ever experienced that. I mean, they had had timed blackouts, blackouts,

ever caused by hurricanes, but never had the entire island gone black. So all of this had

generated so much outrage. And frankly, on the social media that I've been looking at for the

last couple of weeks, one of the things that Cubans rely on is their dark humor to get through

tough times. And it was really kind of disturbing that many people, when we started bombing Iran,

they reacted to that by saying, hey, we were supposed to be the next in line after Venezuela.

Where are you guys? Yeah. And what does that tell you that they're waiting for help from the United

States? It speaks to just how desperate a lot of islanders are. Maybe the majority of islanders

are for any kind of change because they have spent really literally decades in scarcity and

austerity. I mean, I have to recognize that one of the results of the opening, the expansion of

entrepreneurialism in Cuba, that Obama created, was it really for the first time young people saw

future on the island. And their goal was not simply to leave. And then that all went away.

Well, since Trump's return to office, I mean, he has, as you know, been steadily ratcheting up

the pressure on Cuba, shutting off the flow of oil to Cuba from Venezuela, even floating the idea

of a coup in his words, a, quote, friendly takeover. How do you see the path forward for the U.S. and Cuba,

Lillian? So we heard from President Miguel de Escanel on the island that for a month, the Cuban

government has been negotiating with the American regime, the American government. Now what we're

hoping for, I think, those of us on the island, those of us who are abroad, like myself, is that

there would be a release of political prisoners because there are more than a thousand who are being

held, most of whom were arrested in 2021 for protesting on the streets when there were millions

of people protesting on July 11th. We're hoping that there will be a legalization of multiple

political parties and that there will be some transitional council of state that hopefully will

include things like the civil society that has, you know, against every possible odd managed to rise

from the ashes of its own criminalization under communism. So there, there's a possibility of seeing

a kind of international intervention towards democratization that would entail excluding the communist

regime, but especially, you know, the armed forces who are not neutral in this. And my fear is that

that Trump and his folks are interested in working with the armed forces in Cuba because they,

precisely because they control the keys to the economy. So to see them remain in power with no

movement towards a real control and consolidation of accountability from their state and participation

representation of the people, that is really, that would be extraordinarily, not just disheartening,

it would be devastating to the hopes and dreams and destiny of Cuba.

Lillan Guerra is a professor of Caribbean history at the University of Florida. Thank you so much

for joining us to go over this really fraught history. Thank you so much for doing this.

This is the world I'm Carolyn Beeler. Today is the holiday of no ruse celebrated on the first

day of spring in communities across Central Asia and the Middle East. In Farsi, no ruse translates to

a new day. The holiday traces back about 4,000 years to Zoroastrian traditions. Each country and

community that celebrates has its own customs. Reporter Fereva Nawa is an Afghan-American living in Turkey.

She hosts an annual no ruse party in Istanbul and most of her guests are friends who don't normally

celebrate the holiday. Before we sign off for the weekend, we have this one last stop tagging along

with Fereva as she prepares for this year's party. The first day of the spring season is sacred for me.

The rebirth of nature after the hibernation of winter brings a hopeful energy to my home wherever

I've lived. My family is celebrated now ruse with fanfare since I was born in Afghanistan.

With my two dozen closest cousins, we had family picnics, painted boiled eggs, ate a sweet dried fruit

compote, especially made for now ruse, and worn you clothes all while Soviet bombs dropped on my

city hit off. Now ruse was one day when we tuned out the war and set aside politics.

When my family fled the Soviet invasion to the US in 1983, we continued the festivities with our

diaspora community. But once I moved my kids to Istanbul 10 years ago for work, I had no extended

family and no community, and no ruse could hit a political nerve in Turkey. That took me a little

while to understand. At first we talked casually about the holiday and get stares.

Turkey's ruling elite had banned displays of Kurdish language and culture until the 1990s.

The marginalized Kurdish community responded by celebrating the holidays of form of resistance.

They jumped over fire, danced holding hands, and made political speeches. The fire is meant

to burn away bad luck from the previous year. These celebrations are legal now, but Nauros came with

a complex history in our new country. In this environment, how could I pass on our traditions to

my kids in Turkey, by throwing a party at home? After a new year, it's very sincere. We dance with

drawing, flying high, high, high. Where we have so much fun, better, and then we have fun.

That's my oldest daughter, Bonu, reading a poem she wrote at our first Nauros party here in 2016.

We only had 10 guests, her classmates and their parents. In this video I saved on my phone,

she's 8 years old, and excited to share a holiday she loves with her new friends. Her younger sister

Andisha jumps up and down, waiting to open her gifts, place next to our sofa or tablecloth.

Our guests enjoyed learning about our culture, so I decided to make the party a yearly thing,

with food, poetry, and dancing with friends, and maybe forge a community. A decade has passed and

our Nauros party has grown to 40 guests, an event for friends from every background who display

whatever talent they have. Some sing. Now or never is the song. The singers are Almas Kuzulkaya

and Isabel Ehrhardt. They're professionals, but they put on an impromptu show at our Nauros party

two years ago. Others play instruments. And I'm going to play a song took a song named

His Happiness by Zulfiliwana Dip. It doesn't sound so happy though.

Okan Chakmak is from Istanbul. He played the clarinet for Nauros three years ago.

Chakmak's baby threw up his arms and quietly listened to his dad. Most of the guests recite

poetry in their own language, like Chakmak's wife Anastasia Lokenin.

She's from Russia and preferred to recite a poem by Russian poet. It's a lyrical

ballad about hope after loss or separation. We got the gist from her tone.

The quieter guests end up dancing in a group. This was last year's Nauros. Friends

boogie to Afghan pop music as others clap. Nauros requires thoughtful preparation. I start

shopping a couple of weeks before the day. Bono is 18 years old now. She comes Nauros

shopping with me in our neighborhood for this year's party. Ok, I'm going to maybe sing a song

this year, Bono. What do you think you're going to do for the Nauros party? Me? I think I'm going to

write a poem and I think a lot of people are going to show up probably more than we expected.

She's right about that by the way. I don't even know where all the guests will sit.

I'm not very excited for the decorating because it's a lot of blowing up balloons and I don't like that.

First stop is the flower shop. To buy the Nauros flower, Hyacinth. We placed the sweet

scented hyacinth on our table as one of the seven symbols of spring. Many Iranian and Afghan households

painstakingly decorate their so-for-out with family heirlooms like candles, a mirror and small

painted bowls. We fill the bowls with things like garlic as a representation of health. Coins for

wealth and apple for vitality. We grow grass from lentils and tie a ribbon around the greenery.

I feel a mix of nostalgia and sadness as we shop. I'm hosting our last Nauros party in Istanbul.

We're moving back to the US so Bono can start college and then Disha a performing arts high school.

Friends are coming from Paris and Prague to join. It's going to be a full house made up of the

community that it took me years to build. I love those. It tastes so good with tea.

Pistachio's dried figs and sugar-covered chickpeas are snacks to munch on before the main meal.

I plan on cooking a rice dish mixed with mung beans topped with a beef sauce and minty yogurt.

Bono and I finish our shopping and return home. I find Disha making posters for the party.

Disha's 14 and the resident artist and the family. What are you gonna write?

Nauros Mobarak. What do you like about Nauros? It has like sentimental value to me and it's been

in our family for as long as I remember. And it will remain in our family wherever we live.

Our guests from Iran and Afghanistan are anxious about the ongoing wars in our homelands.

I hope it's a day to escape the news of war and embrace the life that spring brings.

For my daughters and I, it's both a beginning and an end to another chapter.

For the world, for Ibanewa, it's tumble.

The world is produced by GBHNPRX, Broadcasting Weekdays from the Nan and Bill Harris Studio in Boston.

Find us online anytime at theworld.org and check out more of our reporting on YouTube.

We are at the world news, GBH. I'm Carolyn Villa. Have a great weekend, everyone.

The world is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York,

working to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for education,

democracy and peace. More information at carnagy.org.

By the Lumina Foundation, committed to a fair universal system for learning beyond high school

that offers every American the chance for a better life. LuminaFoundation.org.

By the PRX Ambassador Council, whose members include Judy Piggitt,

the Gruber Family Foundation, the Schmidt Family Foundation,

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