One year from now, thousands of athletes and officials will be gathering in Beijing for the Winter Olympics. But how many, exactly? Calls are growing to boycott the 2022 Games over human rights concerns in the host country, from Xinjiang to Hong Kong. Many observers think few participants will bow out. But that expectation points, […]
Progress: Atlanta uses co-living to tackle gentrification, and more
1. United States A new community-owned real estate model that targets both residential and commercial gentrification has launched in southwest Atlanta. The Guild, a co-living organization, has purchased a building on Dill Avenue in Capital View, a historically Black neighborhood. During the Great Recession, residents say that investors bought up much of the commercial real […]
Syrian victims of torture find justice in a German court
Berlin A former member of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s secret police was convicted Wednesday by a German court of facilitating the torture of prisoners in a landmark ruling that human rights activists hope will set a precedent for other cases. Eyad al-Gharib was convicted of accessory to crimes against humanity and sentenced by the Koblenz […]
Pakistan, India agree to Kashmir cease-fire for first time since 2003
Islamabad Pakistan and India pledged Thursday to halt cross-border firing in the disputed region of Kashmir, promising to adhere to a 2003 accord that has been largely ignored, officials from both sides said. If implemented, the move would be a major step in defusing tensions in the highly militarized Himalayan region, which is divided between […]
German far-right party set for state surveillance due to extremism
German far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is already being monitored in three German states over concerns about its activities. But the AfD may soon be declared unconstitutional following the conclusion of a two-year federal investigation. That would put the party under state surveillance, just months away from federal elections. The situation taps into a […]
Canada doesn’t give paid sick leave. Can small businesses change that?
Carolina Jimenez says people are shocked to learn that, as a part-time nurse in Toronto, she doesn’t have paid sick days. “People audibly gasp,” she says. She could scrape by if sick, but workers depending on each hour of their paychecks have to make impossible choices. Now, amid the pandemic, a growing chorus of Ontarians […]
Biden foreign policy: enduring values apply, even in a changed world
President Joe Biden has long supported a vision of the United States leading alliances of like-minded democracies. He made that clear in his first foreign policy address, delivered virtually last week at the Munich Security Conference. Even so, the meeting brought to the fore doubts over bedrock assumptions of numerous U.S. leaders: the robustness of […]
French university students fight isolation, financial woes in pandemic
Since France’s first pandemic lockdown nearly one year ago, university campuses have been shuttered and students have been limited to full-time online learning. Unlike other schools here, where in-person teaching opened up this past fall, university students have been left behind. One consequence has been the social and academic isolation of online learning. Many college […]
Myanmar pro-democracy protesters call for national labor strike
Yangon, Myanmar A call for a Monday general strike by demonstrators in Myanmar protesting the military’s Feb. 1 seizure of power has been met by the ruling junta with a thinly veiled threat to use lethal force, raising the possibility of major clashes. The call for a general strike was made Sunday by the Civil […]
Ojok Okello and Okere City try to do development differently
When Ojok Okello first set foot in his father’s home village in Uganda, it was a place without a clinic or school of its own, still healing from years of war. He decided he wanted to help rebuild the place. But he was adamant that it had to be done differently. Mr. Okello, then in […]