Many immigrant advocates argue that “illegal immigrant” is an offensive and inaccurate label for people who reside in the U.S. without legal documents authorizing their presence.

Listen to the next episode of the Food in Two Worlds podcast for a special Year of the Dragon culinary tour.

Pakistani immigrants are keenly aware of the dangers posed by the latest crisis in U.S.-Pakistan relations. Ever since the November 26 NATO airstrike that killed at least 25 Pakistani soldiers near the border with Afghanistan, the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan has been on a downward spiral.

In this ...

The blocks around the Roosevelt Avenue subway stop in Jackson Heights, Queens offer a culinary tour of South Asia. Listen to a recent trip Food in Two Worlds took with some of the people behind the neighborhood's booming food scene.

The immigrant rights movement is changing. Just a few years ago its main focus was convincing Congress to pass a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s immigration system. That never happened, and today the emphasis has shifted to the DREAM Act, a bill that would provide a path to legal status ...

Despite the worldwide controversy that erupted last year over Sharif El-Gamal’s plan to develop a mosque and Muslim cultural center near the World Trade Center site, El-Gamal is spearheading a new effort to make the proposal a reality.

Hearings are set to begin tomorrow on why New Jersey failed to win hundreds of millions of dollars in federal education funds. An Assembly committee will question members of Gov. Chris Christie's administration about a clerical error that caused the state to lose the Race to the Top money -- and Education Commissioner Bret Shundler his job.

HOST: Steve Curwood
REPORTER: John Rudolph

CURWOOD: From NPR, this is Living on Earth.

CURWOOD: I'm Steve Curwood. This week we visit New York City to face some facts and address some concerns about climate change. Fact: with global warming comes rising sea levels and a new set of ...

Most New Yorkers probably think of climate change as some force that melts polar ice caps or inundates islands in the Pacific. Its impact on an urban area like New York is harder to comprehend. Still, that doesn't mean New Yorkers aren't paying attention to climate change. Around ...

A few years ago, a group of leading researchers published a report on climate change and its human heath impacts. They concluded that changes in rainfall, temperature and other weather variables may affect the rate of vector-borne illnesses spread by ticks, mosquitoes and other carriers - illnesses such as ...

Ever since the concept of global warming was first introduced to the public 15 years ago, most strategies to combat the buildup of greenhouse gasses have focused on cutting emissions at their source. Now as the inevitability of climate change sinks in, people are talking more and more about reducing ...

In the debate over rebuilding the World Trade Center a lot of attention is focused on how to memorialize those who died on Sept. 11, 2001. Another concern is the environmental impact of the new buildings.

Many people hope to see energy efficient structures and more public transportation ...

We are living in an era of extreme weather. The 1990's were the warmest decade of the 20th century, and by some estimates the warmest decade of the past one thousand years. In addition to warming many scientists believe human-made changes to the world's climate are promoting dramatic swings in ...

In December the White House announced a new national strategy to combat weapons of mass destruction. In a policy statement the Bush administration declared that the United States, “must have the capability” to use, “preemptive measures,” to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction against the US. In the ...

Where are the dissenters? Who are they? Why do those who question the administration on its Iraq, anti-terrorism and homeland security policies appear to be on the margins? This weekend, demonstrations are planned in Washington D.C., San Francisco and other cities to protest the possibility of a US invasion of ...

What will be the cost of going to war in Iraq? What are the are the economic plusses and minuses of the war on terrorism and new efforts to provide homeland security? As war clouds gather WNYC is taking time this week to explore these questions. Today in our week-long ...

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Later this month long-distance swimmers will participate in the 20th annual swim around Manhattan sponsored by the Manhattan Island Foundation. Just a few years ago swimming or even boating in the Hudson and East Rivers would have been unthinkable to most New Yorkers. The rivers were just too polluted. But ...

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The angry words between Rick Lazio and Hillary Rodham Clinton have all but drowned out the voice of the person they are competing to replace. 77 year old Daniel Patrick Moynihan will soon retire, following four terms in the U.S. Senate.