FEATURE-Cold U.S. weather crushes outdoor businesses in COVID-hit cities Reuters 12/22/2020
By Matthew Lavietes
NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Patios, marquees, plastic bubbles - makeshift outdoor spaces have become new staples for businesses across the United States, after city and state governments put limits on how many people could gather indoors to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The novel open-air areas created safe havens for city dwellers when the first round of coronavirus restrictions began to lift over the summer and gave many businesses a lifeline after months of shutdowns.
But, as temperatures plunge and people retreat back inside, some businesses that have come to rely heavily on their new outdoor spaces are finding themselves fighting for survival again - this time, in a battle with the weather.
6 Min Read
NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Patios, marquees, plastic bubbles - makeshift outdoor spaces have become new staples for businesses across the United States, after city and state governments put limits on how many people could gather indoors to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The novel open-air areas created safe havens for city dwellers when the first round of coronavirus restrictions began to lift over the summer and gave many businesses a lifeline after months of shutdowns.
But, as temperatures plunge and people retreat back inside, some businesses that have come to rely heavily on their new outdoor spaces are finding themselves fighting for survival again - this time, in a battle with the weather.
FEATURE-Price of marriage pushes land out of reach in Sri Lanka Reuters 12/21/2020
By Shihar Aneez
SAINTHAMARUTHU, Sri Lanka, Dec 21 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - I t was another day of agony for Rizeena, as she waited with her family at their home in eastern Sri Lanka to meet yet another potential husband for her sister - the 46th time they have tried to find someone to marry her in the past decade.
Most of these meetings last only a few minutes before Rizeena s parents have to explain that they cannot afford to give her 35-year-old sister Fathima a house in their hometown of Sainthamaruthu, 350km (217 miles) from the capital Colombo.
6 Min Read
BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A painting of a woman using an iPad, a vase depicting children dreaming of computers - both historical objects with a contemporary twist highlighting the world’s growing digital divide during the coronavirus pandemic.
The exhibition at Barcelona’s Analog Museum of Digital Inequality aims to show how this gap - laid bare by COVID-19 -disproportionately affects women and low-income and ethnic minority groups.
The so-called “digital divide” refers to the gap between those who have access to computers and the internet, and those with limited or no access.
About 54% of the global population used the internet last year, but less than a fifth of people in the least-developed countries were online, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations agency.
INSIGHT-The gig workers taking legal action to regain control of their data Reuters 12/16/2020
By Umberto Bacchi and Avi Asher-Schapiro
TBILISI/BERLIN, Dec 16 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - L ondon-based Uber driver Abdurzak Hadi is self-employed but says he is not his own boss as his workflow is determined by an obscure computer algorithm.
With the ride-hailing app deciding which - and how many - clients he gets each day, Hadi says he cannot optimise work and make more money, prompting him to join legal action against Uber that could set a precedent for all workers in the gig economy. I m blind. I don t know what s going on. I can only see what the app gives to me, said Hadi, 41.