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Innopolis residents Stas and Sasha Litvinov are considering relocating abroad after growing disillusionment with Russia’s national politics.

Fighting brain drain and creeping authoritarianism in Russia’s techno-utopian village

Facing a dire shortage of qualified tech workers, companies and the Kremlin are vying to win the hearts and minds of Russia’s entrepreneurs and engineers.

By Leonid Ragozin

Latest stories

Activists have launched a pirate radio station out of secret safehouses in Myanmar

"This is revolution radio."

“We’ve made no progress”: Silicon Valley investors are still ignoring women-led startups

Claire Díaz-Ortiz, the woman who got the Pope on Twitter, has a plan to get women investing in women.

Google failed to put every country on Street View. Now video game streamers are angry at the volunteers filling the gaps

During lockdown, the travel game GeoGuessr went viral, inadvertently highlighting inequalities in Google Maps.

Tanzania’s late president denied Covid and tried to control the internet

Late president John Magufuli tried to control the internet with threats, legal actions and expensive licenses. Activists hope his successor will give them their rights back.

The mysterious user editing a global open-source map in China’s favor

Open-source tools underpin technology used by millions of people, but they’re also vulnerable to manipulation.

A closed KBZ Bank ATM outlet. With most of the Myanmar’s private bank branches closed, bank-to-bank transfers and international payments have largely stopped working.

Myanmar’s army is sending the country “back to the ’90s”

Amid internet blackouts, economic isolation, and massive strikes, a decade of development is unwinding.

By Nu Nu Lusan, Emily Fishbein and Peter Guest

A supporter takes a selfie with with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the general election on July 10, 2020 in Singapore.

A defamation lawsuit in Singapore sets a dangerous precedent

Leong Sze Hian was fined almost $100,000 for sharing a Facebook link ruled as defamation against the prime minister. It sets a dangerous precedent.

People shop for fruit and vegetables in the city's central street market.

Creation Date: Brazil

Peru’s surprise presidential front runner has fewer than 8,000 Twitter followers

“We’re not quite sure how to get the blue checkmark next to the candidate’s name. But we definitely want to.”

By Jimena Ledgard

A food delivery courier for Meituan waits at a traffic signal light in Shanghai.

‘I want my blood-and-sweat money’: How China’s food delivery apps exploit drivers

To keep up with ever-shrinking delivery windows, drivers routinely speed, run red lights, and go against traffic. This has come at a deadly human cost.

Longreads >

Deep dives into technology and human behavior

Inside Israel’s lucrative — and secretive — cybersurveillance industry

The country’s hacking software is recognized the world over. Not everyone thinks it’s a good thing.

By Amos Barshad

Most of Mexico Citys downtown intersections are covered by the C5 security system.

Donde funcionan las cámaras de vigilancia pero la justicia no

Ciudad de México tiene uno de los sistemas de videovigilancia más sofisticados del mundo. Pero no previene el delito.

By Madeleine Wattenbarger

Meet the people fighting to keep a language alive online

For decades, it was nearly impossible to type in Urdu online. Meet the people fighting to digitally preserve its script.

By Alizeh Kohari

Ideas >

Arguments, opinions and essays from a global perspective

A food delivery courier for Meituan waits at a traffic signal light in Shanghai.

‘I want my blood-and-sweat money’: How China’s food delivery apps exploit drivers

To keep up with ever-shrinking delivery windows, drivers routinely speed, run red lights, and go against traffic. This has come at a deadly human cost.

A supporter takes a selfie with with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the general election on July 10, 2020 in Singapore.

A defamation lawsuit in Singapore sets a dangerous precedent

Leong Sze Hian was fined almost $100,000 for sharing a Facebook link ruled as defamation against the prime minister. It sets a dangerous precedent.

Clubhouse brings the Zimbabwean diaspora closer together

With conversations ranging from labia pulling to the expectations of daughters-in-law, Zimbabweans on the audio-chat app are breaking down taboos.

By Danai Nesta Kupemba

Year of the pandemic >

How coronavirus changed our relationship with technology

Hnoi Latthitham, 53, conducts a virtual cooking class at her home in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday, February 1, 2021, in Bangkok, Thailand. She uses her iPhone to stream the class, and a Macbook Air to see her participants and herself.

What working from home looks like around the world

From a florist in Tehran to a chef in Bangkok, meet nine workers who turned their homes into makeshift offices during the pandemic.

By Anna Rasshivkina, Cengiz Yar and Devi Lockwood

The hidden winners of the pandemic’s e-commerce boom

As the pandemic pushes e-commerce profits to new heights, logistics companies are seizing the opportunity.

Welcome to the global WFH diaspora

As work from home becomes a permanent option, tech employees no longer need to live in Silicon Valley — or even the U.S.

By Leo Schwartz

Africa

Clubhouse brings the Zimbabwean diaspora closer together

Google failed to put every country on Street View. Now video game streamers are angry at the volunteers filling the gaps

Tanzania’s late president denied Covid and tried to control the internet

South Asia

Signage for digital payment service MobiKwik, operated by One MobiKwik Systems Pvt., is displayed at a Bharat Petroleum Corp. fuel station in Bengaluru, India, on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017. A relative laggard in digital transactions, India has more recently seen 50 percent year-on-year growth, according to a study by Google and Boston Consulting Group. The pace may accelerate with demonetization giving digital wallets like Paytm, MobiKwik and Freecharge an extra push. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images

What the MobiKwik hack tells us about India’s cybersecurity crisis

A booming industry based entirely on missed calls helped bring India online — and vanished overnight

The mysterious user editing a global open-source map in China’s favor

Latin America

People shop for fruit and vegetables in the city's central street market.

Creation Date: Brazil

Pedro Castillo ganó en Perú con 3,000 seguidores en Twitter

Peru’s surprise presidential front runner has fewer than 8,000 Twitter followers

“We’ve made no progress”: Silicon Valley investors are still ignoring women-led startups

Middle East & North Africa

Hnoi Latthitham, 53, conducts a virtual cooking class at her home in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday, February 1, 2021, in Bangkok, Thailand. She uses her iPhone to stream the class, and a Macbook Air to see her participants and herself.

What working from home looks like around the world

Inside Israel’s lucrative — and secretive — cybersurveillance industry

Dubai’s delivery apps have restaurants on the brink

Asia

A food delivery courier for Meituan waits at a traffic signal light in Shanghai.

‘I want my blood-and-sweat money’: How China’s food delivery apps exploit drivers

Myanmar’s army is sending the country “back to the ’90s”

A defamation lawsuit in Singapore sets a dangerous precedent

Eastern Europe

INNOPOLIS, Russia - March 2, 2021. Dima Taranov, a programmer, receives his food order delivered by a Yandex rover in Innopolis, Russia, March 2, 2021. Emile Ducke for Rest of World.

Fighting brain drain and creeping authoritarianism in Russia’s techno-utopian village

Independent Russian journalists are thriving on YouTube — for now

He sold eBooks and 3D printers. Then Ukraine tapped him to head its State Space Agency