Workers tell of the Covid chaos in the iPhone factory
Zhang Yao recalls the moment he realized something had gone horribly wrong at the Chinese mega-factory where he and hundreds of thousands of other workers assembled iPhones and other high-end electronics. In early October, supervisors suddenly warned him that 3,000 colleagues had been quarantined after someone at the plant tested positive for Covid-19. “They told […]
Hospital in eastern Ukraine that remained open despite war and occupation
In six months of Russian occupation and eight months of fighting, Izyum Hospital in eastern Ukraine never stopped working, operating on wounded civilians in its basement while awaiting liberation. This small but strategic city in the Kharkiv region was captured by Moscow in March and fully occupied a month later. Its recapture by Ukrainian troops […]
Brazil’s comedians see perfect timing to ‘make people laugh’
A divisive electoral duel has Brazilians on edge and at times depressed, but for comedian Fabio Porchat it’s the perfect time to break the jokes. “It’s the best time to make people laugh,” said the 39-year-old, whose stand-up routine has been a hit in Rio de Janeiro in recent weeks as the country jittery ahead […]
Greeks resort to firewood to heat houses during times of energy crisis
Residents of the Athens suburb of Glyfada, who are struggling to heat their homes amid rising energy prices, now have an option – free firewood from the local government. “We need it…especially in this difficult year,” says Yiannis Dimitrakopoulos, a 75-year-old retiree who is in line for logs. Dozens of people wait patiently in their […]
Ragtag army in battle for Kherson
The two old friends worked as truck drivers before picking up assault rifles. Their commander was an office manager. None of them expected to be sitting in a ditch near a exposed road leading to Russian-held Kherson – the new target of Ukraine’s months-long counteroffensive. All three would be reluctant to admit that the next […]
the Russian prison ordeal of a Ukrainian nurse
Ukrainian nurse Viktoria Obidina spent over five months in Russian captivity, forced to drink dirty water, endure beatings and starvation. But not knowing the fate of her four-year-old daughter tormented her the most. “They brought us water from a lake, sometimes there were tiny fish in it,” recalls Obidina, who was returned to Ukraine earlier […]
“We would be burned”
Oscar Larralde vividly recalls the explosions that brought down an American spy plane over Cuba in 1962; His island nation was caught in the eye of a nuclear standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union. The then 17-year-old bank clerk and later soldier was convinced that the moment would mean the downfall of […]
Mountainous Lesotho finds gold in trout farming
It’s harvest time in Lejone, a small village in the mountains of southern Africa, more than two thousand meters above sea level. The yield is not grain or fruit, but rainbow trout – the catch of a hilly river at the foot of Lesotho’s peaks. Fishermen pull nets full of trout onto a floating platform. […]
Japanese fashion after Kenzo, Miyake
At Tokyo’s prestigious Bunka Fashion College, students concentrate in silence broken only by the sound of scissors and sewing machines as they strive to emulate the global success of alumni like Kenzo. The loss of greats Kenzo Takada and Issey Miyake heralds the end of a fashion era, decades after Japanese design revolutionized the Parisian […]
Rubble and relief in a recaptured village in southern Ukraine
A basketball hoop stands in the rubble of a school gym. The roof was blown apart during days of heavy fighting in Kreschenivka, a village recently recaptured by Russian forces in southern Ukraine. The Russians made the village’s elementary school their command post, said Pavlo Ulesco, 62, who showed AFP around. With trenches and huge […]
Decades later, the search for Argentina’s ‘stolen’ children continues
The grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo are getting old. Every day the hopes of finding their grandchildren, stolen and put up for adoption under the Argentine dictatorship, are dwindling. Up to 500 children were snatched from their imprisoned mothers, most of whom then disappeared under the country’s brutal military rule from 1976 to 1983. Most […]
How China’s civil society collapsed under Xi
Human rights activist Charles recalls a time when civil society was thriving in China and he was able to devote his time to improving the lives of people struggling in blue-collar jobs. Now, 10 years into President Xi Jinping’s rule, community organizations like Charles’s have been dissolved and hopes for rebirth dashed. Charles has fled […]