‘I Know Your Favorite Drink’: Chinese Smart City to Put AI In Charge
From robots delivering coffee to office chairs rearranging themselves after a meeting, a smart city project in China aims to put artificial intelligence in charge, its creators told a conference this week – raising some eyebrows. Danish architecture firm BIG and Chinese tech company Terminus discussed plans to build an AI-run campus-style development in the […]
Scotland First in the World to Make Sanitary Products Free
Scotland has made sanitary products free to all women, becoming the first nation in the world to take such a step against “period poverty.” The measure makes tampons and sanitary pads available at designated public places such as community centres, youth clubs and pharmacies, at an estimated annual cost to taxpayers of 24 million pounds […]
Spanish Art Show Spotlights ‘Hidden’ Digital Divide in Pandemic
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 […]
Cambodia Adds Human Trafficking Lessons to Schools
School students in Cambodia will learn about the dangers and laws around human trafficking from an updated syllabus starting in 2021, officials said. The Southeast Asian country – which faces U.S. sanctions if it does not improve its record on human trafficking by next year – will add lessons for primary and high school students, […]
With Bike Chains and Car Parts, Afghan Girls Build Ventilators
With pliers in hand, a group of Afghan girls fashion make-do ventilators from car parts, bike chains and machine sensors, an imperfect solution to the country’s looming coronavirus crisis. The five teens, who live in Herat near the border with Iran, are part of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team: an initiative that teaches schoolgirls programming […]
Which Countries Shatter Glass Ceilings With Gender-Balanced Cabinets?
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to appoint a diverse cabinet that “looks like America,” promising to bring more women into the top echelons of government. The incoming Democrat has named Avril Haines to be director of national intelligence and Janet Yellen as secretary of the Department of Treasury – both would be the first […]
In new UN role, ex-CNN journalist seeks to end abuse of women and girls
Former CNN correspondent Isha Sesay planned to begin her new role as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with a visit to Nigeria and Haiti — canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the British journalist and author listened remotely to stories from women and girls, from midwives to abuse survivors, […]
‘In the DNA’: How Social Entrepreneurs Are Getting Creative in a Pandemic
As COVID-19 forces businesses worldwide to reinvent themselves, social entrepreneurs are getting creative to help communities hit hard by the pandemic — from a Ugandan medicine-on-wheels service to upcycled face masks made by vulnerable women in Peru. While recessions and falling revenue are affecting ethical businesses too, many such companies are proving particularly adept at […]
To Honor Slave Trade Victims, a Memorial in the Depths of the Atlantic
Tributes to victims of the transatlantic slave trade can be found in museums and through statues, but a new proposal is calling for a memorial that can neither be visited nor even seen. A virtual memorial of ribbons on maps of the Atlantic deep seabed could honor the estimated 1.8 million Africans who died at […]
Widow of murdered LGBT+ Politician Vows to Combat Hate With Election Win
Two years after the murder of popular Brazilian councilwoman Marielle Franco, her partner Monica Benicio has also won a council seat and vowed to fight for justice and LGBT+ rights. Franco, a Black openly gay Rio de Janeiro politician, and her driver Anderson Gomes were gunned down in 2018 in what investigators said appeared to […]
