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<ul class="summary-list"><li>A couple in North Carolina were caught in a landslide caused by heavy rain from Hurricane Helene.</li><li>Their house and livelihoods were destroyed, and Lindsay Thomas left unable to walk.</li></ul>On the morning of Friday, September 27, Andrew Marsh and Lindsay Thomas were at their home — one of a few lodges scattered along a winding mountain road in Marion, North Carolina — drinking coffee with two neighbors and waiting for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/before-after-satellite-photos-hurricane-helene-destruction-florida-2024-10">Hurricane Helene</a> to pass.They lived in the 500-mile stretch of the US that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-hits-asheville-beer-microbreweries-north-carolina-floods-2024-9">Helene would roll through,</a> including parts of Florida, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee. But the couple weren't worried; they knew a storm was coming, but hadn't been told to evacuate because their home was on high ground in the Blue Ridge Mountains.Still, they had <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-slams-florida-power-outages-flooding-2024-9">prepared for flooding</a> and had enough food, supplies, and a generator to survive for one or two weeks "if it got really bad," Marsh, a 34-year-old metalworker, told Business Insider.But they didn't know that several days of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quartz-mine-computer-chips-hurricane-helene-spruce-pine-semiconductor-2024-9">heavy rain from Hurricane Helene</a> had weakened the soil on the mountain, triggering a landslide that was headed straight down toward their home.Marsh and Thomas were thrown down the mountain by a wave of sliding earth, rocks, and trees that onlookers estimated was 40 to 60 feet high, destroying their home and livelihoods in a matter of seconds.The debris crushed Thomas, dislocating her legs and leaving her unable to walk. Marsh had "at least 50" flesh wounds and couldn't use his right hand because it was sliced open down to the muscle, he said.<h2 id="9ce482e9-d9f9-495f-9341-3326f5a4784f">Helene is estimated to have caused up to $34 billion worth of damage</h2>Since Helene made landfall, at least 215 people have been confirmed dead, making it the second deadliest hurricane in the US in recent years, after Katrina in 2005.On Monday, Moodys estimated the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/analysts-estimate-up-to-34-billion-damage-from-hurricane-helene-2024-10">hurricane caused between $20 billion and $34 billion</a> worth of damage, with between $15 billion to $26 billion affecting properties alone.As the Federal Emergency Management Agency <a target="_blank" href="https://www.floodsmart.gov/get-flood-insurance">estimates</a> that only 4% of homeowners in the US have flood insurance, and those who do <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-north-carolina-flood-insurance-2024-10">might not be covered</a> for flooding or landslides, this looks to be an expensive disaster for many.Marsh and Thomas, 40, a yoga teacher and masseuse, will be <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-flood-damage-rescue-helene-asheville-north-carolina-us-2024-10">dealing with the aftermath</a> long after Thomas is discharged from hospital. The couple told Business Insider they will have to rebuild their lives and careers from scratch, all while paying off medical bills, trying to claim home insurance, and dealing with the psychological fallout.<div type="image" title="The hands of Lindsay Thomas (top) and Andrew Marsh (bottom) holding hands with bandages and a cannula in." height="1188" width="1586" msid="113943321" hostid="261" sizebytes="97044"></div>Stories like Marsh and Thomas' are only going to become more common as the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/safe-places-for-climate-change-vermont-floods-2023-7">climate crisis brings more rain</a>, and with it landslides to vulnerable areas, researchers concluded in a 2016 paper published in Earth-Science Reviews.Natural disasters have already cost the US in a big way: between 1980 and 2021, the country spent $2 trillion on both immediate and longer-term restoration such as repairing infrastructure, a 2023 article published in The Journal of Climate Change and Health found.<h2 id="d4f10174-5a8d-4ae9-8084-14331ab8ba28">'Mud and water was being pressed into my nose, ears, and mouth'</h2>Just before 10 a.m., the couple heard a "deep rumbling" and "loud cracking thunder-like noises" a few hundred yards from their home, Thomas said, before the ground dropped out from beneath their feet."It happened so fast that there was no chance of reacting. The best way I've been able to describe it is as if somebody just threw the house into a blender and hit the puree button," Marsh said.Thomas added: "I just fell down and down. I remember my vision going from light to brown to black, and mud and water was being pressed into my nose, ears, and mouth."I remember a very specific moment where I kind of surrendered and recognized 'I am dying right now.' So I decided to just soften to the experience and moved into more of a place of acceptance and acknowledging all of my blessings."I let go of my phone, and it felt really good to let go of the struggle."It was then that she was "miraculously spit out" of the sliding earth and found herself about an eighth of a mile from where their home had been, straddling a tree trunk and covered head to toe in mud.<div type="image" title="A decimated bit of woodland in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene." height="878" width="1586" msid="113943323" hostid="261" sizebytes="198690"></div><h2 id="20463e93-243f-4cfd-abb9-92fb10f320c2">It took hours for rescue workers to find the couple</h2>Marsh managed to pull himself from the debris with some effort. He then helped Thomas, who had lost the use of her legs, down from the tree trunk, before digging their neighbor, John Norwood, out of neck-deep rubble. They didn't know where Norwood's fiancé, Julie le Roux, was, and he "wandered off" to try to find her, Marsh said. She was still missing as of October 3.Marsh found an empty Airbnb property about 250 yards away and helped Thomas limp into it. There, they were able to do some basic first aid about three hours after the landslide.Norwood showed up after two hours, "covered head to toe in wounds," he said.Then, at about 4 p.m., six hours after the landslide, they spotted a rescue worker across a 50-foot-wide flow of runoff. By midnight, the three were evacuated from the area by North Carolina State Fire Marshals and were treated for their injuries at nearby hospitals by what Thomas described as an "amazing" EMT care team.<h2 id="0bfde9e5-2693-4a75-ac8c-b13d7e8106c4">Covering medical costs 'somehow'</h2>"We're both still in a lot of pain. It's near constant, but there's definitely signs that we're making a recovery and that we are going to be OK," Marsh said.<div type="image" title="A selfie of Lindsay Thomas and Andrew Marsh, both in black." height="1284" width="1182" msid="113943326" hostid="261" sizebytes="39702"></div>As a veteran, Marsh has access to a medical benefits package, but Thomas is without active health insurance. They will have to cover her medical costs "somehow," Marsh said. But since he lost his workshop, van, and equipment in the disaster, and Thomas' job depends on the "strength and mobility" of her body, it's unclear how.The couple's insurer has refused to cover the loss of their home, but "even with the homeowners insurance policy, if it was to completely pay out, it wouldn't come close to being able to replace our lives," Marsh said.For now, Thomas is trying to remain in the present and not worry too much about the future, although it hasn't fully hit her that they "don't have a home to go back to," she said.Marsh's brother set up a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-andrew-and-lindsays-recovery-journey?qid=360add922ba022e599f5153952f0bebe">GoFundMe</a> for the couple, to cover their medical expenses, temporary housing, and living costs as they get situated. Marsh said that although he struggles with the idea of accepting help, he knows they need as much as they can get right now."When this whole situation has passed, I'm going to dedicate some part of my life to returning the favor to the world," he said.

A self-employed couple lost their home and livelihoods in Hurricane Helene. Their home insurance doesn't come close to enabling them to rebuild their lives.

Women shea butter-makers in Ghana are fighting for their livelihoods

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ukrainian farmers face a hard choice: another year without income or clearing land mines themselves.</li><li>CNN spoke to one farmer who has been removing unexploded munitions by hand.</li></ul>Farmers in Ukraine face a difficult choice: going another year without income, or take the matter of clearing land mines into their own hands — quite literally.Around a third of Ukraine is currently contaminated by unexploded munitions, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/27/europe/farmers-land-mines-clearance-ukraine-russia-invasion-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN reported</a>, including vast stretches of farmland.While operations to remove mines are underway, it's a challenging and lengthy process, leading to some desperate solutions.Oleksandr Havriluk, a 69-year-old farmer, returned to his farm in eastern Ukraine after it had been occupied and wrecked by Russian troops.Last year's wheat harvest was ruined by the war, denying him an income, and Havriluk faced another year without a livelihood because of the land mines contaminating his fields.As a result, Havriluk told CNN that he started digging up land mines by hand, so that he can prepare the fields for planting season, which starts in early April, in the hope that he can resume business."I was afraid, but I have to sow," he said.So far Havriluk has removed around 20 mines, using a metal detector he purchased, per CNN.The process involves taking a stick, tapping it in the ground to determine the size of the munition, and then gently digging it up and lifting it out.Havriluk knows the work is dangerous, but he's continuing regardless.He told CNN: "I don't have any other choice."The risk is very real. In recent months, several farm workers have been injured or killed working in their fields, with one 65-year-old man dying in southern Ukraine after stepping on a land mine, CNN reported, citing local officials.Mairi Cunningham, who runs the HALO Trust demining task force in Ukraine, told CNN that the organization — the world's largest in mine clearance operations — has employed 700 staff in the country and plans to double that number by the end of the year.But because one day of war generally equals several months of clearance work, it could take years to clear the country of unexploded munitions.The situation is further complicated by how spread out across Ukraine the land mines are, the wide variety of unexploded munitions, and the fact that clearance operations cannot take place on the front lines of the conflict, per CNN."The scale of the problem, it's not for one organization, it's a national effort," Cunningham said, per CNN.Even so, Cunningham said that non-professionals, such as farmers, removing anti-tank mines themselves is extremely dangerous."There's often anti-lift devices designed specifically to kill and injure people who try to do that," she said.

Farmers in Ukraine are forced to dig up land mines by hand to save their livelihoods: 'I don't have any other choice'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Enbridge, which owns the <keyword id="12453832" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pipeline" source="Orion">pipeline</keyword>, says tribal surveys confirmed it's pathway through treaty areas.</li><li>Indigenous activists say their choice was taken away and have protested it planned expansion.</li></ul>Fasting, prayer, and rallies at water crossings is how Dawn Goodwin, a matriarch and member of the White Earth Nation recalls weathering through the first few days of demonstrations against the <keyword id="12453833" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="line-3" source="Orion">Line 3</keyword> pipeline expansion in Minnesota last November. "One of our elders started a spiritual fire. Others went fasting so we knew we needed to be there," Goodwin told Insider. Goodwin says it was very difficult to stand out there daily watching the drilling and digging take place. "I never liked the word 'raping' mother earth but there is no other word for it after going through everything we've been through." It's no secret that tribal nations across the country have a long affinity for protecting the earth and living off the land without disturbing it, activists say. And that's where the growing conflict between <keyword id="12125934" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="indigenous-communities" source="Orion">Indigenous communities</keyword> and the building of corporate underground oil-pipelines threatening their way of life comes in.Jim Doyle, a Macalester College professor, calculated in his report <a href="https://mn350.org/giant-step-backward/">"A Giant Step Backward,"</a> that the Line 3 pipeline, which transports oil from from Canada's oil sands region to Minnesota's western edge of Lake Superior, would be equivalent to firing up 50 new coal-fired power plants or 38 million vehicles. Over the last year, Indigenous activists have held countless demonstrations to get the pipeline shutdown. They tell Insider that the pollution is too high of a cost for their family and communities future, and are vowing to put a stop to the Line 3 continued repairs and construction. <h2>Enbridge says they had to replace the line because it was cracked</h2><div type="image" title="Enbridge Line 3" height="2688" width="3583" msid="87473166" hostid="261"></div>The Line 3 crude oil pipeline, owned by Canadian-based energy company Enbridge Inc., was first created in 1968. By 2019, Enbridge reported the 1,097-mile pipeline was cracked and required extensive maintenance. Repair of the roughly 340-mile corridor was greenlit by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. The new pathway avoids the Leech Lake band of Ojibwe reservation and was completed in October 2021, but that hasn't stopped Indigenous activists from protesting the pipeline's existence.A report by<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/05/line-3-pipeline-enbridge-paid-police-arrest-protesters"> The Guardian</a> earlier this month uncovered that Enbridge had reimbursed local police nearly $2.5 million for arresting and surveilling protestors, part of the utility commission's agreement for the project permit. Their protest throughout the summer drew hundreds daily. Winona LaDuke, Executive Director at Honor the Earth, and member of the White Earth Nation, says this report is extremely concerning considering she was one of the more than 900 protestors arrested over the summer. LaDuke is still advocating for the pipeline to be shut down. "This is a very bad and dangerous threat to civil society and democratic governance,"<a href="https://www.echopress.com/opinion/columns/7141268-LaDuke-Letter-from-the-Wadena-County-Jail?fbclid=IwAR12R_fM4Asbp1LhmtOajX5oy9cvRc_G1eTs1R0y7wN-dL8v3hrqwmoeiyQ"> LaDuke</a> told Insider. <div type="image" title="Map of line 3 line in Minnesota showing the line pass through the Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior" height="1160" width="1200" msid="87473169" hostid="261"></div><h2>Enbridge says Minnesota Court of Appeals said the route was in respect of tribal sovereignty</h2>The Anishinaabe people, also referred to as Ojibwe and Chippewa peoples, signed numerous treaties with the US government, most notably relinquishing 10 million acres of Minnesota's northern lake country to the federal government in 1855.But the tribe members reserved the right to hunt, fish, gather and hold ceremonies on the land. The Justice Department did not respond to Insider's inquiries on activists' concerns about possible treaty violations.Enbridge, however, told Insider that the Minnesota Court of Appeals says that the route selected was "reasonable" in respect to tribal sovereignty. "Both [the Leech Lake and Fond du Lac tribes] have written in support of project permits," a spokesperson responded via email. <h2>Indigenous activists say their choice was taken away</h2><div type="image" title="Jane Fonda attending a demonstration in June 2021 for Enbridge Line 3 pipeline" height="3424" width="4566" msid="87473171" hostid="261"></div>But, LaDuke and Goodwin say Enbridge's conduct throughout the process has been infuriating. Activists say their community was robbed of the choice to say no to a new corridor when Enbridge reached an agreement with a different tribe - the<a href="https://www.startribune.com/enbridge-deal-making-over-line-3-divides-ojibwe-bands-in-minnesota/600028769/"> Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa</a> - to run the pipeline directly through its reservation."The (tribal) commissioners publicly said that they felt like Enbridge had 'put a gun to their head,' this was certainly a gun to the head of the Anishinaabe," LaDuke said. Enbridge, which already has five other pipelines that run through that reservation, maintains it did consult tribes via a resource survey. Enbridge also received approval by the state of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to pump out more than 5 billion gallons of water - more than 10 times the amount initially requested by the company.LaDuke, Goodwin, and Moneen Nasmith, an attorney representing their tribal nation in a federal lawsuit said that decision will have lasting impacts on tribes ability to garner food and water for years to come. <div type="image" title="Activist Winona Laduke during protest of Line 3 pipeline" height="4079" width="5440" msid="87473172" hostid="261"></div><h2>Lawsuit against the federal government for violations of the Clean Water Act and Environmental Protection Act </h2>When Enbridge expanded Line 3 it ruptured an aquifer, leaking at least 24 million gallons of groundwater. The company did not clean it up before the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-canada-minnesota-aquifers-38f6ea00c05514773f06340ada762083">October 15</a> deadline Minnesota National Resources reported this month. The MDNR is also investigating two other sites where the company may have caused additional groundwater damage. Enbridge tells Insider they are fully cooperating with the investigation and are "diligently implementing the steps required." The Clean Water Act fends off water pollution. Nasmith, who represents several tribes in similar federal lawsuits, says the Federal government did not do the analysis required under the Clean Water Act, Environmental Policy Act and treaty rights to protect the land and resources the tribes rely on."What the government actually did was say, 'oh some fish might die,' and then that's it," Nasmith said. "We say 'if fish die, what does that mean for the tribes who rely on those fish to survive as part of their cultural practices?'" There have been<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/minn-appeals-tribal-courts-greenlight-wild-rice-lawsuit-re-line-3-2021-09-14/"> many</a> state and<a href="https://lawstreetmedia.com/news/agriculture/minnesota-appeals-dismissal-of-federal-suit-about-enbridge-line-3-pipeline/"> federal</a> lawsuits brought<a href="https://www.treehugger.com/pipeline-3-lawsuit-protest-5192908"> against</a> the government by the four impacted tribal nations. This case is being litigated while President Joe Biden continues to publicly pledge his support for an aggressive climate agenda. In January, the president canceled the permit granting construction of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline, which would have transported crude oil from western Canada to Nebraska. Since then, however, Biden has<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/climate/line-3-pipeline-biden.html"> defended</a> the expansion of Line 3. He also hasn't offered official comment on Michigan's <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/line-five-environment-great-lakes-1.6120882">legal battle to shut down</a> Enbridge's leaking Line 5 pipeline, which flows from Superior, Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario.<h2>Activists hope oil spills in affluent communities forces officials to see the urgency to act</h2><div type="image" title="Enbridge Line 3 protest in Minnesota June 2021" height="3361" width="4481" msid="87473174" hostid="261"></div>LaDuke says she hopes that after the recent pipeline oil spills in places including Orange County California, where more<a href="https://qz.com/2068507/a-big-oil-spill-near-california-is-threatening-huntington-beach/"> white affluent</a> communities were impacted, officials will understand the urgency of halting underground oil-pipeline construction. Traditionally pipelines are built through <a href="https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/how-pipelines-fuel-climate-injustice">minority communities</a>, and spills are also more prone to happening in poor-marginalized communities. LaDuke says that's why the spill in California is so unique because the primary impacted communities do not fit the standard demographic. She says affluent people elect and hold power so now that they are impacted this could be the catalyst to push them to act. Either way, she says her tribe along with many others will continue to fight and hold demonstrations locally and in Washington to get to the pipeline shutdown because their livelihoods depend on it. "Affluence speaks to -- and elects -- power," LaDuke said. "The planet's been issued a CODE RED in the latest UN climate report. Is there anything more severe than a CODE RED?!"

Tribal nations are fighting a pipeline expansion putting livelihoods at risk. Why they say their voices were silenced.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Up to 70% of Ukrainians could live in <keyword id="11964087" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="poverty" source="Orion">poverty</keyword> in 2022, up from 18% in 2021, the <keyword id="11898619" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="world-bank" source="Orion">World Bank</keyword> said.</li><li>Without a large support package, over 60% would be below the national poverty line in 2025, it added.</li></ul>The proportion of Ukrainians living below the country's national poverty line could reach 70% this year, up from 18% in 2021, the World Bank has said.And if there isn't a "massive" post-war support package, more than 60% of Ukrainians would still have an income below the national poverty line by 2025, the World Bank said in its <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/37268">spring report</a>, released Sunday.Based on the <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">international</keyword> upper middle-income poverty line, which is $5.50 a day, poverty is projected to increase more than tenfold to 19.8% in 2022, up from 1.8% in 2021, the World Bank said. In a worst-case scenario, 28% of Ukrainians could be living under the $5.50 a day mark in 2022, the UN Development Program (UNDP) <a href="https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2022-03/Ukraine-Development-Impact-UNDP.pdf">said</a>.People have lost access to food, water, electricity, heating, and gas. By April 11, nearly $30 billion worth of residential buildings, almost 600 educational institutions, and 205 medical institutions had been damaged, destroyed, or seized, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-ukrainian-infrastructure-damaged-russia-invasion-homes-roads-schools-hospitals-2022-4">per the Kyiv School of Economics</a> (KSE)."The poverty and social impacts of the war will be massive," the World Bank said. "A major reconstruction effort will be necessary."KSE estimated that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-ukrainian-infrastructure-damaged-russia-invasion-homes-roads-schools-hospitals-2022-4">Russia has caused $80.4 billion worth of damage to Ukraine's physical infrastructure</a> since its invasion began on February 24. It noted, however, that this was a low estimate and the true losses were likely to be much higher. The World Bank said that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-russia-economy-gdp-dramatic-fall-world-bank-war-sanctions-2022-4?r=US&amp;IR=T">damage to Ukraine's infrastructure was likely to be well in excess of $100 billion</a>.Including indirect losses, such as reduced investment and an outflow of labor, <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword>'s invasion of <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword> has cost as much as $600 billion, according to estimates from Ukraine's <keyword id="11893570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="economy" source="Orion">economy</keyword> ministry and the KSE.The invasion has crushed large parts of Ukraine's industry. The World Bank said economic activity was now "impossible in large swathes" of Ukraine because of the infrastructure damage, and predicted that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-russia-economy-gdp-dramatic-fall-world-bank-war-sanctions-2022-4?r=US&amp;IR=T">the country's economy would shrink by 45% in 2022</a>.Goods trade has come to a "grinding halt" because of damage to transit routes and total exports are expected to shrink by 80% in 2022, the bank said. The loss of access to the Black Sea alone cut off half of Ukraine's exports and 90% of its grain trade, it said.Half of Ukrainian businesses have shut down completely, while the rest are operating well below capacity, Oleg Ustenko, chief economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-economic-adviser-says-war-damage-tops-100-billion-so-far-2022-03-10/">said</a> on March 10.The World Bank said the loss of production, exports, and human capital were expected to have "lasting economic and social repercussions."Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin's former chief economic adviser said <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-economic-adviser-andrei-illarionov-russian-poverty-double-triple-ukraine-2022-4">the number of Russians in poverty could triple</a> in the wake of the war.

Up to 70% of Ukrainians could be forced into poverty this year due to the devastating impact the war has had on livelihoods and industry, the World Bank says

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11898870" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sex-workers" source="Orion">Sex workers</keyword> have long found ways to get abortions despite limited access to traditional healthcare.</li><li>Their use of unconventional medicine for unwanted pregnancies offers a window into a post-Roe world. </li></ul>The healthcare realities of sex workers offer a glimpse of life with limited access to abortion.A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-draft-opinion-appears-scotus-could-overturn-roe-v-wade-2022-5">Supreme Court draft was leaked</a> on May 2 indicating the potential overturning of the landmark abortion decision Roe v. Wade. But sex workers – from pornographers to escorts – say they've long lived in a post-Roe world, often resorting to unconventional methods of abortion due to a lack of healthcare access and to remain under the radar of law enforcement. <keyword id="11910993" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sex-work" source="Orion">Sex work</keyword> doesn't typically come with standard medical insurance. Instead, workers turn to other means for their reproductive <keyword id="11894571" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="health" source="Orion">health</keyword>, networking through their own community to get access to everything from gynecological exams and primary care to safe abortions. "We practice safe sex, some will say a lot better than 'civilians' (our term for regular people), however, accidents happen," Milo Skye, an escort based in Tennessee, told Insider. If Roe is overturned in June, 13 states — including Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming — with so-called trigger laws <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/states-trigger-laws-outlaw-abortion-supreme-court-roe-v-wade-2021-9">will immediately outlaw all or nearly all abortions</a>. In those states — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/abortion-access-in-america-maps-charts-if-roe-falls-2018-8#if-the-court-strikes-roe-down-23-states-have-laws-on-the-books-that-could-outright-ban-or-severely-limit-access-to-abortion-and-16-states-and-dc-have-passed-laws-that-would-explicitly-protect-the-right-to-abortion-2">and 10 others that may restrict abortion rights</a> — patients could soon look to more unconventional remedies that sex workers have long relied on.Cristine Sardina, director of a pro-sex worker organization Desiree Alliance, told Insider that as a result of living outside the margins of traditional healthcare, some workers have become experts in "herbal remedies and menstrual extractions."Menstrual extraction is a procedure that requires the use of a plastic tube, a needle-less syringe, a cannula, and a collection jar that pulls out uterine contents — such as period blood — through the cervix, <a href="https://www.mic.com/articles/148568/what-is-menstrual-extraction-inside-the-controversial-technique-that-could-help-women">Mic reported in 2016</a>. The process has been used since 1971 — several years before the Roe v. Wade decision. Paul D. Blumenthal, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, argued in a piece for The Atlantic that the extraction technique is not complicated and that trained non-medical professionals could perform them with assistance.But there is the possibility of infection. "You're introducing something into the uterus," gynecologist Dr. Donnica Moore <a href="https://www.insider.com/why-women-use-vacuums-to-remove-period-blood-menstrual-extraction-2019-6">told Insider of the technique in 2019</a>. "Things are supposed to go out, not come in. Anytime that happens, we worry about infection."But Sardina believes solutions like this will only become more common if access continues to dwindle. "It will also create clandestine markets that can hurt us such as black market birth control, botched and inept medical procedures, [or] criminalization," she said.Sharing information and providing mutual aid to those in need of abortion could soon become even riskier, said Kate D'Adamo, sex worker rights advocate and partner at Reframe Health and Justice, a consulting collective that supports social justice organizations and movements.Private citizens in states like Texas and Oklahoma are encouraged to report others for illegal abortions — pushing information on safe abortions further underground by criminalizing those who help.For instance, Texas lawmakers enacted the country's restricted abortion law in 2021: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/us/supreme-court-texas-abortion.html">a so-called "heartbeat" bill</a> that bars abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, which is usually before individuals recognize they're pregnant. Senate bill 8 also encourages private citizens to enforce the law by allowing them to sue providers and patients suspected of getting an abortion — as well as people who help in the process — for up to $10,000 in damages.Other states are also hoping to push forward with restrictive measures as well. Oklahoma approved a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oklahoma-passes-own-version-texas-6-week-abortion-ban-2022-4">ban on abortion similar to Texas</a> and Florida reduced the procedure's availability down from the 24th-week of pregnancy to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/desantis-florida-abortion-ban-will-hit-surrounding-states-2022-4">15th week of pregnancy</a>."Sex workers are deeply familiar with the long shadow of criminalization and how it will impact information sharing, basic harm reduction, community and mutual aid, and a range of other things we do to survive," D'Adamo said. Currently, sex workers rely on their own communities and organizations to privately connect them to safe reproductive care including abortions, but some online resources are also available.The BIPOC Adult Industry Collective is one of many organizations that support sex workers through education, wellness, and financial assistance. Sinnamon Love, a Black feminist pornographer and the founder of the BIPOC Adult Industry Collective, told Insider that the collective is working to expand its budget for people in the industry looking to travel out of state for abortion care.While limitations on reproductive and healthcare set by the government are not new to individuals in the sex trade, many are prepared for their work to get much more difficult if the court does decide to overturn the landmark abortion law. Unintended pregnancies – one of the many risks of the trade – could impact a sex worker's income and livelihood, Love told Insider. "To leave this decision to states means sex workers in red states are in jeopardy of increased policing when working and when accessing medical and mental health care," Love said. "So much of the struggle sex workers like myself face is steeped in combating the idea that we can't possibly know what is good for us and that someone needs to save us from ourselves."

To sex workers, navigating the world without medical access to abortions or reproductive care is nothing new. But the overturning of Roe V. Wade puts their livelihoods further at risk.

New Delhi, Apr 30 () Advocating strict containment measures in 'red zones', Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Thursday said the economy should kickstart with full supply chains to protect livelihood of people. The Centre on Wednesday gave clear indications that the ongoing nationwide lockdown will be extended beyond May 3 but with "considerable relaxations" to people and services in "many districts". "Possible Road Ahead: Hyper-localisation in Red areas with ruthless containment; 2.Physical distancing &amp; Masks =New Fashion; 3.Virus can bounce back; 4. Look after 60+with Co-morbidity; 5.Vaccine still far away; 6.For livelihoods, economy should kickstart with full supply chains," Kant said in a tweet. India has been under lockdown since March 25 to combat the spread of COVID-19, which has infected more than 33,600 people in the country. More than 1,000 people have died due to the coronavirus. BKS ABMABM

Graded opening of economy needed to protect livelihood, says Kant

New Delhi, Mar 21 () Amid coronavirus outbreak, engineering and construction giant Larsen &amp; Toubro (L&amp;T) on Saturday pledged to protect livelihood of its contract labour.Though the exact number of contract labour is not known, the major has employed them at its 500 projects, as per sources. "We employ a huge amount of contract labour who are totally dependent on us for their daily livelihood. It is important for us to protect them at this point of time from the vagaries of work and to ensure that daily needs are provided at both, the essential worksites and their place of stay," said L&amp;T CEO and Managing Director S N Subrahmanyan.In a video message to employees, Subrahmanyan said extra vigil should be put across the labour camps of the project sites to ensure that proper hygiene, food, removal of waste, cleanliness including social distancing is maintained and managed.Urging its workforce to look at coronavirus, he said "how we deal with this collectively and collaboratively will be the way as we also look to take ourselves forward."Stressing that in every crisis, there is an opportunity, the MD said resilience, discipline and at the same time, imagination, innovative ability have to be played out. "Most important is compassion for others, especially the elderly who seem to be more vulnerable, taking care of each others including our workforce, smaller vendors, sub-contractors and others who are dependent on our ecosystem," he said."Determination to do one's duty against all odds is the stuff that L&amp;T-ites are made of and I am sure in the testing times ahead, we will be capable of taking up these challenges and will have the opportunity to demonstrate our mettle," he said.Urging employees to exercise restraint at the time of pandemic of this magnitude, Subrahmanyan also urged employees to open mind to new learnings. "The technology that has been implanted in many of our projects should come to the fore now. Using heat sensing cameras to detect people with illness, looking at gatherings, people spitting, and such should be traced and appropriately counselled," he said.Using the labour app (WISA) to inform on the nature of Corona Virus, its symptoms, testing facilities available locally as well as preventive measures can be propagated and that is being done in English, Hindi and other vernacular languages, he added."As L&amp;T, we play an important role in the country"s manufacturing and infrastructure economy, he said and added "We also have a serious role to play from an IT services point of view as we maintain certain crucial Infrastructure and facilities for our clients that are essential services."He added: "Whether we work from offices, sites or home, it should be normal. Extensive use of mobiles, laptops are the forms of communication to be resorted to without disturbing the atmosphere around us and ensure that we continue with our work as is required with necessary inputs." NAM MKJ

Coronavirus: L&T pledges to protect livelihood of contract labour

In Southeast <keyword id="21718" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Asia">Asia</keyword>, the <keyword id="975427" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Durian">durian</keyword> is the undisputed king of fruit. Crack open its thorny green husk, and you'll find several yellow or red nuggets of custard-like pulp that melts in your mouth.The smell, though, is divisive. Durians are so pungent that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11477608/jessica-chastain-jimmy-kimmel-durian">Anthony Bourdain</a> once said they make your breath smell like "French-kissing your dead grandmother," and food writer Richard Sterling <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Boobies_Baobabs_and_Bot_Flies_Experience/1zKyCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=its+odor+is+best+described+as+pig-shit,+turpentine,+and+onions,+garnished+with+a+gym+sock&amp;pg=PT215&amp;printsec=frontcoverntsec=frontcover">opined</a> that "its odor is best described as pig-s--t, turpentine, and onions, garnished with a gym sock."The fruit is so smelly it's banned on public transport in Thailand, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.Still, durians are a special treat in Asian households, and, at as much as $13 a pound, they're not cheap. They're also the subject of an increasingly bitter year-long battle between Malaysian farmers who cultivate premium durian trees and a government-backed consortium that's trying to cash in on the beloved fruit.At the center of this dispute is one specific breed of durian: the <keyword id="11740083" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="musang-king">Musang King</keyword>. It's been called gold that grows on trees, and a single tree can earn farmers up to $1,000 a year. Most of the world's Musang King durians come from Raub, an old mining township of 100,000 people that has become the <a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/10/23/booming-durian-business-but-no-water-supply/">"durian capital of Malaysia</a>" after farmers discovered its soil and climate were perfect for growing the fruit.<div type="image" title="Map of Raubq" height="800" width="1600" msid="84823356" hostid="261"></div>Tan Wai Kiat's family has been growing Musang King on a plantation in Raub for 20 years. Just like with wine, trees that age longer produce better fruit. The average tree has to mature for up to 10 years before it starts bearing industry-standard Musang King. Tan's crop used to bring in around $46,000 a year, a tidy sum considering the country's median annual income<a href="https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/07/14/malaysians-average-median-salaries-in-2020-fall-for-first-time-since-2010-t/1989755#:~:text=The%20median%20monthly%20wages%20for,RM2%2C160%20(2017)."> is less than $6,000.</a>But all that's left of his farm now are logs and mud, he told Insider. In mid July, the state forestry department finished chopping down 15,000 durian trees, including the entirety of Tan's 13-acre plantation.Farmers like Tan believe the destruction of the 15,000 trees is meant as a warning to other durian growers, since the area cleared only spans around 250 of the total 5,537 acres involved in the dispute.When Tan heard that his plantation was being destroyed, he and other affected farmers rushed there to negotiate with on-site officials, he told Insider.<a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=saved&amp;v=1708924416156515651"> A video of the confrontation shows that tensions were high</a>. State authorities had sealed off the area, and the group was arrested on charges of trespassing and detained for 48 hours. Days later, Tan's entire farm was wiped out."I don't know what to think. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. It feels like there is no rule of law in this country," he said.<div type="image" title="Durian farm raub" height="577" width="768" msid="84823357" hostid="261"></div>The battle around Raub's Musang King comes as demand for the fruit has been exploding in popularity in China.In 2020, a<a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/10/06/300000-musang-king-durians-sold-in-60-minutes"> durian festival in China sold out $15 million worth of Musang King in 60 minutes</a>, and <a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/musang-king-durian-millionaires-pahang-town-raub-businessmen-11718322">flocks of Chinese tourists have been paying to visit Raub's plantations</a>.<a href="https://www.itfnet.org/v1/2021/02/china-2020-fruit-imports-surpass-usd10-billion-for-first-time/">Durian is now China's No. 1 fruit import by value</a>, and the country bought<a href="https://comtrade.un.org/data/"> $2.3 billion of it last year.</a> China has historically brought in durians from Thailand, which holds an exclusive trade agreement with Beijing for fresh durians, but a 2019 deal with <keyword id="8695" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Malaysia">Malaysia</keyword> to sell frozen durian has seen Chinese interest in Malaysia's Musang King varietal skyrocket.<div type="image" title="Durian at a singapore supermarket can fetch as much as $38 for a small packet." height="1155" width="1536" msid="84823358" hostid="261"></div>The Musang King craze has been around for at least 20 years in Singapore, said durian expert Charles Phua, who owns a durian shop in the city and <a href="https://guide.michelin.com/sg/en/article/people/ask-the-expert-how-to-pick-and-choose-durians">has been consulted by Michelin for guides on the fruit</a>. It's the reason why people start lining up every morning in front of his shop during harvest season an hour before he opens. Prior to the pandemic, foreigners would fly into Singapore just to buy Musang King, he said. The golden Musang King is the "most famous of them all" because of its strong bittersweet taste and unrivaled creaminess, said Phua. At his stall, one pound of his best Musang King goes for $13 a pound.<div type="image" title="Durian Mao Shan Wang" height="902" width="1200" msid="84823360" hostid="261"></div><h2>The great durian land grab</h2>As interest in durian cultivation has grown, so has interference from Raub's state government, say Musang King farmers.Most of the Musang King farms in Raub - like Tan's - are built on government-owned land and are technically being run without permission from state authorities.Farmers say they have been trying to legalize their farms for years. Tan said his family have applied for a land title multiple times since 2011. His latest application was in 2015, according to documents seen by Insider, and is still pending.Even so, Tan's family had farmed Musang King peacefully and without interference from the state, he said - until now. "They just saw that there are profits, and now they want to come in and contest the rights to the land," Tan said.That's where Royal Pahang Durian Group (RPDG) comes into play.<a href="https://royalpahangdurian.com/about/">The association, which was launched around 2017,</a> is <a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/news/2020/03/13/royal-pahang-durian-signs-agreements-with-perbadanan-kemajuan-pertanian-negeri-pahang">partnered with the state agricultural department</a>. Its shareholders include the country's royal family - the sultan's daughter is the chairperson of the board. In June 2020, the state government <a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2020/07/14/land-scheme-a-win-win-soution-for-illegal-durian-farmers">awarded</a> the RPDG more than 5,500 acres of Musang King soil.The problem is that the land was already host to roughly 1,000 Musang King farmers.RPDG told farmers it would lease them back the land - the same land on which those very farmers had already been running plantations for decades - for a one-time fee of around $1,400 an acre.But the leased land comes with strings.The farmers are required to sell their durian to the consortium at a fixed rate of about $4.30 per pound. This price is well below market rate for Musang King, which can reach as high as $6.80 per pound, the farmers said. On top of all that, the consortium charges the farmers an additional $1 per pound of Musang King, which it said would go toward miscellaneous fees and state land taxes.The association said the scheme was put in place to protect the <a href="https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/08/22/company-refutes-pahangs-musang-king-farmers-modern-slavery-accusations-says/1896062">Musang King industry from foreign players</a> and that farmers would make <a href="https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/09/01/royal-pahang-says-musang-king-durian-farmers-can-still-profit-despite-rm30/1899100">large profits under its plan.</a>In response, 204 farmers formed a group called the Save Musang King Alliance, and said the proposal was exploitative and would turn them into "modern slaves." The scheme is not unlike share-cropping arrangements that were offered to former slaves in the South after the Civil War. Consider Tan's now-destroyed farm as an example. If the lease were to be applied to Tan's farm, it would have cost him 40% of his total $46,000 yearly revenue. He said he used to spend nearly a third of his revenue on labor, fertilizer, and pest control every year. If those expenses were combined with the new land levies and the lower market price, he would make essentially nothing, he said.Chiang Heng Mun, another farmer whose 20-acre plantation was completely cleared this month, said the state forestry department and consortium are creating a culture of fear among the Musang King growers."These are the trees that I put my tears and sweat into for years," he told Insider. Chiang, the sole breadwinner for his family, lives with his wife, parents, and two kids in their rural house near Raub. His family has been durian farmers in the area for 20 years."We have been trying to meet with them to work things out, but they don't respond. We just want fair treatment, because we have been working here for many years," he told Insider.The Pahang Agricultural Department declined to respond to Insider's request for comment, citing its ongoing legal dispute with the farmers. The RPDG and the Pahang State Forestry Department did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.<div type="image" title="Durian farm in Pahang" height="3061" width="4600" msid="84823362" hostid="261"></div><h2>'How can my family survive the pandemic?'</h2>The farmer's alliance plans to wage its legal battle on two fronts.Its main objective is to question why the land was leased to the consortium, said Chow Yu Hui, a Malaysian state assemblyman and opposition politician who rallied the farmers last year."We have many documents to prove that these farmers have been working here for 30, 40 years, building the brand of the Musang King," said Chow. "Why not lease the land to them?"The alliance is also arguing that the 15,000 trees destroyed this month were on land that's protected by a superior court. <a href="https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/pahang-durian-farmers-get-reprieve-they-obtain-stay-being-evicted-plantations">The farmers managed to secure a stay of eviction in January in the Court of Appeal,</a> which allowed them to return to their plantations and work until their case is reviewed. The court order, seen by Insider, includes protection against the destruction of their Musang King trees.Meanwhile, the state forestry department says the durian trees cleared were not covered in the court order, a claim that Chow and the farmers deny.However, the dispute is difficult for the farmers to contest because the exact boundaries of the land sold to RPDG have not been publicly disclosed, Chow told Insider.The farmer's alliance is now looking to create a proposal with the state government that will let them sell their durians at free-market value and be treated as equal partners. Even if they succeed, there is not much of a future left for farmers like Tan and Chiang, now that their plantations are gone. Tan plans to help out on other farms to feed his extended family of 10, who all live in a one-story village house. He and his brother, whose durian plantation was also destroyed this month, were the family's only sources of income.<div type="image" title="Tan Wei Kiat House" height="750" width="1000" msid="84823366" hostid="261"></div>Chiang said he legally owns several acres apart from his destroyed plantation, where he plants other fruit like bananas. But without his Musang King trees, he doubts the money will be close to what his family needs to live off of. He's looking for odd jobs, but said he can barely find work now."I have no hopes, no dreams anymore," Chiang said. "When they chop down all of my trees, how can my family survive the pandemic?"

A battle is unfolding over the world's smelliest fruit, and farmers in Malaysia say their entire livelihood is being wiped out at the worst possible time

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