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María Zapata Escamilla stands outside Mexico's Congress holding a photo of her missing son. Credit: Oscar Lopez

Land of no return: the Mexican city torn apart by cartel kidnappings

What woke María Zapata Escamilla was the sound of shattering glass. Armed men in military fatigues had burst into her home: they dragged her disabled husband outside, along with her 14-year-old son, still in his pajamas. Then they drove away into the night.

Relatives and classmates of the missing 43 Ayotzinapa college students march in Mexico City, on 26 September 2022. Photograph: Marco Ugarte/AP

Mexico army ignored cartel warnings before mass student kidnapping, emails show

Relatives and classmates of the missing 43 Ayotzinapa college students march in Mexico City, on 26 September 2022. Photograph: Marco Ugarte/AP Months before 43 Ayotzinapa students vanished, army was repeatedly warned of criminal gang presence The Mexican military received nearly a dozen complaints

Large livestock operations, like this one in Arizona, are given broad discretion by states for managing and spreading a deluge of manure. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue

New U.S. Climate Law Could Make Midwest Water Contamination Worse

Billions in clean energy incentives rely on raw materials from polluting corn and livestock. This report was made possible by an investigative reporting fellowship awarded by the Alicia Patterson Foundation. A version of this article was co-published by Circle of Blue, The New

NANA-OPOKU (AFROSCOPE) ILLUSTRATION FOR FOREIGN POLICY

The Secret to Getting What You Need in Ghana

Special “protocol” treatment has become a way of life for the privileged few. NANA-OPOKU (AFROSCOPE) ILLUSTRATION FOR FOREIGN POLICY JUNE 11, 2022, 6:00 AM  A friend recently told me a story about his attempt to get his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in

Women at a memorial outside the Gold Spa in Atlanta, where three Korean women were shot and killed on Tuesday. Credit: Chang W. Lee - "The New York Times"

The Deep American Roots of the Atlanta Shooting

Among the first things I did upon learning about the shootings at three massage parlors in the Atlanta area was to check in with a former massage parlor worker I met in 2019. At the time, I was reporting an article about a prostitution raid at a Florida massage parlor.

A “No Pipeline” sticker adorns a sign near where the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would have crossed a mountain near Wintergreen Resort, just below Reids Gap in Nelson County, Virginia.

New Dominion

How a grassroots groundswell, legal challenges and political and technological sea changes combined to force Virginia’s most powerful company to abandon the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, pivot from natural gas and onto a cleaner energy path. “Hung up in the mountains” Tom Hadwin took

With leading positions in top U.S. oil and natural gas plays, we continue to generate the most value from our operations through capital efficiencies, reduced expenses and strategic production.

Is Natural Gas a Fossil Fuel with a Great Future Behind It?

As the pandemic sends shock waves through the energy industry, investors are rethinking their bets on America’s decade-long natural gas boom.  On June 28th, Chesapeake Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It was a long-expected announcement. The hydraulic fracturing pioneer – launched by

“A view of the cleared right-of-way for the Constitution Pipeline on the property of the Holleran family of New Milford, PA. Tree-fellers authorized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission used chain-saws to destroy 90 percent of the family’s maple trees that produced syrup for their business, North Harford Maple.”

The Limits of Disturbance

With its permitting authority over natural gas infrastructure, the little-known Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has sweeping power over individual citizens’ property and our collective climate trajectory. Critics say that reforming its pipeline review process should be high on President Joe Biden’s agenda.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Project Manager Brenda Barber, overlooking the site of the Loughlin’s former home in the Spring Valley section of Washington, D.C.

The House Over Hades

In June of 1996, Kathi Loughlin’s phone rang at work. It was her child’s nanny, and she was frantic. “Something is going on here, you need to come home,” the nanny said, a note of panic in her voice. Loughlin had trouble understanding

Known for its sweet potato pies, the long-established 27th Street Bakery at 2700 S. Central Avenue, also is distinguished by its red and white exterior and painted signage, done in all caps san serif black letters shadowed in gray.

The Unique Art of Sign Painting in Los Angeles

Known for its sweet potato pies, the long-established 27th Street Bakery at 2700 S. Central Avenue, also is distinguished by its red and white exterior and painted signage, done in all caps san serif black letters shadowed in gray.

This is the view of Richmond, California from San Francisco side of the bay after accident at Chevron. Photo credit: Chemical Safety Board.

Living on the Fence Line: A History of Chemical Threats to Black Communities

West Virginia State University, a 125-year-old historically black university, rested for decades on the fence line of a pesticide manufacturer, a stone’s throw from tanks holding lethal amounts of one of the world’s most dangerous and infamous chemicals, methyl isocyanate. The chemical, known

The Hayes Lemmerz aluminum wheel manufacturing plant fire and explosion was one of three combustible dust industrial accidents that killed 14 workers in a single year. Photo credit: Chemical Safety Board.

Death by Dust

Tammy Miser got the call late at night from a family friend. Her brother Shawn may have been injured in a work accident and it might be serious. Shawn Boone was a maintenance man at the Hayes Lemmerz plant in Huntington, Ind., a

Crops are grown and harvested year round in the valley with migrant farm workers arriving at various parts of the year for peak harvest season of crops like grapes, broccoli and cauliflower.

Coachella Valley Farm Workers

I had been working on making photos about farm workers very slowly over the years and in 2015 l received a Fellowship from The Alicia Patterson Foundation which allowed me to dedicate the time, focus and thought to the work that it deserved.