A strategy for fighting the pandemic, national confinement morphs into a dangerous ideology if it uses the pretext of health protection to target migrants.
Month: April 2020
Fewer seats, fewer trains, more masks. A quick world tour from Milan to Paris, Beijing to Tehran finds the wheels (tentatively) ready to roll on subways and buses.
For most of human history, the best way to protect personal privacy was to simply stay at home. Lock yourself in your room, or the proverbial closet, and nobody can find out a thing. In little more than a decade, those walls and doors have vanished as digital technology invites us to take large chunks […]
CAIRO — Like many other laborers, delivery workers are not able to practice social distancing during the novel coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, the service they provide helps protect customers — largely middle and upper-class citizens — by keeping those people out of busy shops where they might come in contact wth the illness. […]
Welcome to Friday, where dozens die in a stampede at a religious festival in Israel, Brazil’s COVID death toll surpasses 400,000 and an owl-like bird is crowned Instagram influencer. We also look at how a Taiwanese oenologist is working to turn his country into a tropical wine terroir. • Dozens killed at Israeli religious festival […]
The novel coronavirus has raced around the world, shutting down entire societies and ravaging national economies along the way. Now, as national and regional governments apply stimulus plans and offer emergency aid, some everyday people and quickly assembled groups are doing what they can to save local businesses and try to jumpstart the economy on […]
Welcome to Thursday, where Biden lays out his vision for America, Northern Ireland leader quits over Brexit and a Navalny mural appears in Saint Petersburg (as he appears gaunt in a remote court hearing). We also turn to Germany, where Die Welt sounds the alarm about the male infertility crisis afflicting the Western world. • […]
Given its reliance on both oil and tourism, the Mexican economy is in major trouble. So far, though, President López Obrador has refused to have the state take on new debt.
The imposition of quarantine and self-isolation has hit migrant workers hardest of all. They have nothing to live on in Russia but have no way of returning home.
The Japanese archipelago Okinawa is both a popular travel destination and home to the highest ratio of very old people. That makes it particularly vulnerable to coronavirus.
The ongoing lockdown in Italy has put Marco Rovello face-to-face with the balancing act that his wife pulls off every day between working a job and running a household. Yes, COVID-19 has forced teleworking couples into suddenly sharing the same “home-office,” daily rhythms and — ideally — a fair share of family chores and parenting […]
Welcome to Wednesday, where India’s COVID death toll surpasses 200,000, two Spanish journalists are killed and Citizen Kane loses to a marmalade-loving bear in a hat. From the West Indies, Le Monde“s Jean-Michel Hauteville also looks at the controversial legacy of French national hero Napoleon Bonaparte. • India’s death toll tops 200,000. U.S. eases mask […]
As the coronavirus has spread across the world, so too have an array of fake remedies and cures that promise to protect people. Social media have been flooded with claims about foods, products and other assorted concoctions that can allegedly cure or prevent the virus. Up to the point that the World Health Organization had […]
As governments now brace themselves to begin a tightrope walk between saving lives and saving their hemorrhaging economies, one thing is certain: No decision will lead to a perfect outcome. National leaders must quickly pivot from a posture of disaster relief to satisfying often contradictory demands from their populations as the pandemic’s rally-around-the-flag effect starts […]
Cuba could repay part of its $2 billion of debts to Argentina by sending some of its renowned medics to treat coronavirus patients in the Buenos Aires province.
Welcome to Tuesday, where clashes erupt on the Myanmar-Thailand border, Israel is accused of “apartheid” and mischievous beavers cause internet mayhem in Canada. We also go to Hong Kong where the wave of emigration caused by China’s clamping down on freedoms has a troubling side effect on dogs and cats. • Clashes at Myanmar’s Thai […]
In a number of countries around the world, the pandemic pulled the plug on street protests. But demonstrators have been quick to find digital alternatives.
Welcome to Monday, where India reels from COVID surge, at least 82 die in Iraq hospital fire, and the Academy Awards go to … We also have Le Monde reporting from Azerbaijan about allegations that the government is using a new, more intrusive form of scare tactics. [rebelmouse-image 27046599 original_size=”600×200″ expand=1] [rebelmouse-image 27046614 original_size=”394×47″ expand=1] • India’s coronavirus situation worsens: Several nations have pledged to send urgent medical aid to India, where COVID-19 appears to be spiraling out of control. The country hit another record for the fifth day in a row, rising to 352,991. Political tensions are also growing […]
Our Slovenian writer’s bygone trip through a China still not plugged into the global economy reveals some clues for how the pandemic has brought us to this point.
With a large chunk of the world’s population forced still to stay at home, local communities and entire nations are recording steep drops in overall crime rates. Burglars are generally less likely to prey on a home that’s occupied, and most theft and assault hotspots such as sporting venues and pubs are shuttered. Still, it’s […]
Are we “at war” with COVID-19? That’s what we might believe from a quick tour of the planet’s most powerful leaders, from the presidents of the United States and France to the director general of the World Health Organization to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who declared that we are in the middle of “a […]
In Benin, Senegal or Mali, marabouts and traditional healers offer solutions which range from alternative medicine to downright quackery.
Taiwan has once again upgraded its so-called Name-Based Mask Distribution System.
French super chef Philippe Etchebest was simply describing reality when he called coronavirus a “national nightmare” in a recent article published by La Croix. He was referring specifically to France’s shutdown restaurant owners and workers, but the metaphor can also describe the collective, surreal sense of uncertainty and fear currently permeating the world’s subconscious like […]
People around the world have been rushing out to buy ‘essential’ products, a concept that varies from culture to culture.
It’s tempting to imagine the pandemic as a turning point. The thing that undoes the EU, perhaps, or challenges the capitalist hegemony. But that may just be wishful thinking.
Welcome to Friday, where tensions between far-right Jewish activists and Palestinians escalate in Jerusalem, Russia withdraws troops from Ukraine border and four ponies jump over Brexit obstacle. German conservative daily Die Welt also tells us why the country’s political parties should keep a close eye on the Greens’ candidate in the upcoming chancellor election. • […]
We’ve heard repeatedly the past two months that the coming economic crisis only compares to the rubble after World War II. It would then follow that leaders would look to the Marshall Plan as a model for economic revitalization. That is indeed the reference for European Commission chief Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen, who added […]
When, who, how? Both the science and logistics are complex in deciding how to get hundreds of millions of children around the world back to school. Here’s a quick tour.
Welcome to Thursday, where India faces an oxygen shortage as COVID surges, Russia crackdowns on Navalny supporters and Italy nabs the worst slacker ever. We also turn to Le Monde for an analysis on what the killing of Chad President Idriss Déby means for the fight against jihadists in north-central Africa. • India’s COVID surge […]
The health crisis is real. But so too are the economic costs of an extended lockdown, which will soon become unmanageable on all sides.
Are some countries better at following rules than others? The U.S. is making global headlines as gun-wielding citizens from Michigan to D.C. take to the streets to show their disdain for mandatory confinement. Those Americans abiding by the lockdown rules will quickly tell you that this defiance is flamed by Donald Trump’s leadership-by-chaos presidency, as […]
The pandemic has been an eye-opener for the world’s urban centers, and could be an opportunity to make lasting changes.
Welcome to Wednesday, where Derek Chauvin is convicted for murdering George Floyd, India faces a COVID “storm” and a French town finds not one but two gold treasures. We also look at how Russia is building diplomatic relationships with Pakistan just as U.S. troops are about to leave Afghanistan. • Chauvin found guilty of Floyd’s […]
Categories
Stuck At Home? Let There Be Good Lighting
Now more than ever is the time to find just the right light for our homes and apartments.
As some countries start to loosen preventative measures put in place against the spread of coronavirus, the need for a vaccine is becoming glaringly obvious for any hope of returning to some semblance of the lives we had before. It’s an abrupt return to the first half of the 20th century, when cures for infectious […]
No one knows how the coronavirus arrived in the historic convent nestled in the Drôme valley where elderly friars lived in close quarters. Today, jut six are left.
Welcome to Tuesday, where Chad’s president is reportedly killed on the front lines, Minnesota braces for a verdict in the George Floyd murder trial and Switzerland celebrates its mountain-climbing cat. Indian news website The Wire also takes us to Delhi, where real estate dealers are pushing Muslim families to sell their houses and move out, […]
The auto and electronics sector in Brazil is a prime example of how manufacturers around the world came to depend on Chinese-made supplies, and are now struggling because of it.
Welcome to Monday, where Russia is warned of Navalny “consequences,” Egypt’s second deadly train crash in a month kills 11, and Mars gets its first ever helicopter ride. Le Monde also explores the feeling of deep injustice surrounding grieving, one year into the pandemic. [rebelmouse-image 27046599 original_size=”600×200″ expand=1] [rebelmouse-image 27046600 original_size=”394×47″ expand=1] • Navalny to be transferred to hospital: Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny will be transferred to hospital according to the Russian penitentiary service. The pro-democracy activist is said to have lost 50 kilos after going on a hunger strike. Yesterday the U.S., France and Germany warned Russia against […]