This is the world that press photographers captured in 2020, a world beset by every sort of catastrophe — natural and unnatural disaster, violent and non-violent conflict.
And, in every corner of that world, the coronavirus.
https://apnews.com/article/AP-photos-2020-virus-racial-injustice-2dffd369c407c5b313f3db0c1fa35377
And, in every corner of that world, the coronavirus.
https://apnews.com/article/AP-photos-2020-virus-racial-injustice-2dffd369c407c5b313f3db0c1fa35377
AP NEWS
In 2020, AP photographers captured a world in distress
Behold, a world in distress: A 64-year-old woman weeps, hugging her husband as he lay dying in the COVID-19 unit of a California hospital. A crowded refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece, engulfed in flames, disgorges a string of migrants fleeing this hell on Earth.
Ray Dalio founded and manages the largest hedge fund in the world, Bridgewater Associates. He warns that if we don't reform capitalism to narrow the wealth gap in this country, we’ll not only see greater polarization, but also a worse economy for all. https://youtu.be/pYZxD1Nnglw
YouTube
Ray Dalio warns of consequences from deepening inequality in America
Ray Dalio founded and manages the largest hedge fund in the world, Bridgewater Associates. He warns that if we don't reform capitalism to narrow the wealth gap in this country, we’ll not only see greater polarization, but also a worse economy for all.
#CNN…
#CNN…
Wombats, snails, ferrets: The animals that brought us joy during the pandemic https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/23/world/2020-covid-pandemic-animals-intl-hnk-dst-scli/index.html
CNN
Wombats, snails, ferrets: The animals that brought us joy during the pandemic
Comfort can come in the form of a kangaroo, wombat, ferret, or even a snail. Here are a few stories of people who found joy in the most unexpected of creatures during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The day before Christmas Eve, the pilot stayed in the air a little less than two hours. He first flew from Friedrichshafen to Ulm, then suddenly turned around and made a few unusual turns in the air space north of Lake Constance. Evaluations of his flight data show: The man traced the shape of a syringe. With the campaign, he wanted to draw attention to the upcoming corona vaccinations. https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/gesellschaft/impf-kampagne-ueber-friedrichshafen-pilot-zeichnet-riesige-spritze-in-den-himmel-a-fa98ef6f-c1b0-47e3-a8f8-231bc6822a3b
Spiegel
Spritzenmäßig geflogen
Ein Flieger startete in Friedrichshafen scheinbar normal nach Norden, flog dann jedoch mehrmals ungewöhnliche Kurven. Eine Auswertung der Flugdaten zeigt: Seine Route war alles andere als planlos.
The foundations of the American experiment have been shaken — by partisan rancor, disinformation, a president’s assault on democracy and a deadly coronavirus pandemic. https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-race-and-ethnicity-michigan-north-carolina-c331eaa4bfb954d5584d8c712eb0a7e8
AP NEWS
A divided nation asks: What's holding our country together?
Elections are meant to resolve arguments. This one inflamed them. Weeks after the votes have been counted and the winners declared, many Americans remain angry, defiant and despairing....
Hackers knocked out one of Germany's biggest news organizations over the Christmas holiday. Such criminal attacks, which often come with ransom demands, have become a lucrative business model. https://p.dw.com/p/3nL00
Deutsche Welle
Germany: 'Colossal' cyberattack knocks out Funke news group
Hackers knocked out one of Germany's biggest news organizations over the Christmas holiday. Such criminal attacks, which often come with ransom demands, have become a lucrative business model.
"Hospitals are declaring internal disasters and having to open church gyms to serve as hospital units," County Supervisor Hilda Solis said. "Our health care workers are physically and mentally exhausted and sick." https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/05/us/los-angeles-county-california-human-disaster-covid/index.html
CNN
'Human disaster' unfolding in LA will get worse, experts say | CNN
Imagine having cardiac arrest and getting picked up by an ambulance that won’t take you to a hospital. Or having a medical emergency and languishing outside an emergency room for hours.
Mutants are significantly more contagious and have become the dominant virus variants in these countries in just a few weeks. The British mutant has already been found in several other countries, including Germany. I think it is inevitable that these new variants will spread and soon become dominant around the world. This will make it much more difficult to control the pandemic — and it could get worse if the virus continues to change. https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/jeremy-farrar-on-the-coronavirus-we-are-in-a-dramatic-race-against-a-changing-virus-a-4afdbc24-b5a1-499d-a0d1-ae95415844ed
Spiegel
"We Are in a Dramatic Race Against a Changing Virus"
Despite the start of vaccinations, British medical expert Jeremy Farrar doesn’t believe there will be a quick return to normality. Instead, a “new dangerous phase of the pandemic” is beginning.
Armed men on Sunday killed at least six rangers and wounded several others in an ambush in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/11/africa/congo-virunga-park-rangers-killed-intl/index.html
CNN
Six Virunga park rangers killed in eastern Congo ambush
Armed men on Sunday killed at least six rangers and wounded several others in an ambush in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park, a sanctuary for endangered mountain gorillas, the park said.
At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the horde of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside the U.S. Capitol building and into areas normally restricted to the public, according to GPS metadata linked to videos posted to the platform the day of the insurrection in Washington. https://gizmodo.com/parler-users-breached-deep-inside-u-s-capitol-building-1846042905?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4
Gizmodo
Parler Users Breached Deep Inside U.S. Capitol Building, GPS Data Shows
At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the hoard of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside the U.S. Capitol building and into areas normally restricted to the public, according to GPS metadata.
Few other issues are as hotly debated as school closures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. New data from Austria now provides further evidence of the risk posed by children. The virus mutant B.1.1.7 could make the situation even worse. https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/new-study-explores-risk-played-by-children-in-covid-spread-a-b0a90b6f-1d21-41e8-a2d0-13751aa3ce09
Spiegel
New Study Explores Risk Played By Children in COVID Spread
Few other issues are as hotly debated as school closures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. New data from Austria now provides further evidence of the risk posed by children. The virus mutant B.1.1.7 could make the situation even worse.
Europeans have considered the last four years extremely distasteful. They've been bemused by Trump's envoys, like Richard Grenell in Germany, who have turned up and started behaving like Fox News anchors and insulting the country they were supposed to be building relations with https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/16/europe/trump-has-trashed-the-transatlantic-alliance-intl/index.html
CNN
Analysis: Trump has trashed America's most important alliance. It could take decades to repair
The presidency of Donald Trump has left such a wretched stench in Europe that it's hard to see how, even in four years, Joe Biden could possibly get America's most important alliance back on track.
Anti-lockdown and anti-mask groups, which now count some 3 million members on Facebook, were a crucial recruiting ground for the “Stop the Steal” effort that culminated in the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6. “The ranks of ‘Stop the Steal’ groups were able to swell to hundreds of thousands almost overnight largely because they drew on this established base that had already been radicalized,” https://theintercept.com/2021/01/15/capitol-riot-mob-anti-lockdown/
The Intercept
Capitol Mob Has Roots in Anti-Lockdown Protests
Reopen and anti-mask groups were a crucial recruiting ground for the “Stop the Steal” effort that culminated in last week’s deadly siege.
Now that guy is in a real clusterPhuk!! Man who accidentally threw out a bitcoin fortune offers $70 million for permission to dig it up https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/15/uk/bitcoin-trash-landfill-gbr-scli-intl/index.html
CNN
Man who accidentally threw out a bitcoin fortune offers $70 million for permission to dig it up
A British man who accidentally threw a hard drive loaded with bitcoin into the trash has offered the local authority where he lives more than $70 million if it allows him to excavate a landfill site.
Global responses to the election celebrations in Washington DC - From a German magazine yet in English with German subtitles https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/washington-d-c-eine-hauptstadt-sollte-nicht-so-aussehen-a-1d147703-812f-4e21-8627-b4609c0f75e5
www.spiegel.de
Washington D.C.: »Eine Hauptstadt sollte nicht so aussehen«
James Casey lebt in Washington – einer Stadt, die gerade von 20.000 Soldaten bewacht wird. Warum er Trump dafür die Schuld gibt, erklärt der Anwalt bei einem Spaziergang entlang von Zäunen und Betonpollern.
Big Tech Critics Alarmed at Direction of Biden Antitrust Personnel
Renata Hesse, who has worked for Google and Amazon, is the leading candidate to run the Justice Department’s antitrust division. https://theintercept.com/2021/01/18/biden-big-tech-antitrust-renata-hesse/
Renata Hesse, who has worked for Google and Amazon, is the leading candidate to run the Justice Department’s antitrust division. https://theintercept.com/2021/01/18/biden-big-tech-antitrust-renata-hesse/
The Intercept
Big Tech Critics Alarmed at Direction of Biden Antitrust Personnel
Renata Hesse, who has worked for Google and Amazon, is the leading candidate to run the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
New COVID variant found in Bavaria. A mutation of the coronavirus has been discovered among 35 newly infected patients in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is different to the one found originally in the UK, but doctors do not yet know if it is highly infectious https://p.dw.com/p/3o6IR
Deutsche Welle
Germany: New COVID variant found in Bavaria
A mutation of the coronavirus has been discovered among 35 newly infected patients in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is different to the one found originally in the UK, but doctors do not yet know if it is highly infectious.
The new variants of the coronavirus are even more dangerous than those known so far. Researchers and politicians fear a sharp increase in the number of infections, with dramatic consequences like those seen in Britain. Can Germany still stop the new killers? https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/can-germany-stop-the-new-supervirus-a-e9ffc207-0015-4330-8361-b306f6053e15
www.spiegel.de
Can We Stop a Super Coronavirus?
The new variants of the coronavirus are even more dangerous than those known so far. Researchers and politicians fear a sharp increase in the number of infections, with dramatic consequences like those seen in Britain. Can Germany still stop the new killers?
WATCH LIVE: 'Celebrating America' - A PBS NewsHour inauguration special https://youtu.be/BfIz481QlSk
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the country is "in a difficult stage of the pandemic," though she highlighted reasons for optimism. Germany extended its current lockdown to at least February 14 on Tuesday, reflecting the high daily infection rate and death count. https://p.dw.com/p/3oE7Y
Deutsche Welle
Angela Merkel calls for standard COVID measures across the EU
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there are reasons for optimism at this "difficult stage of the pandemic" but Germany must work together with the EU to prevent the spread of new coronavirus variants.