World Sep 07 British garment factories come under new scrutiny due to pandemic The British city of Leicester has spent more than two months as the United Kingdom’s most notorious coronavirus hot spot. Its problems originally sprang from a district that houses garment factories -- where some unscrupulous owners have been accused of…
World Aug 28 Pandemic brings unexpected perils for British dog owners In the United Kingdom, an unexpected result of the pandemic: a surge in dognapping. Puppy prices have soared during lockdown, and pet thefts have spiked 65 percent in a year. As some owners pay hefty ransoms for their animals' return,…
World Jul 20 Can Italian tourism industry survive the pandemic? Italy is emerging from its COVID-19 nightmare into what is usually its busiest season for tourism. The industry normally brings in 13 percent of the country’s $2 trillion GDP. But there is no normal this year, and most tourists are…
World Jul 16 After Italy’s pandemic nightmare, economy falters — and poverty spreads The global economy is likely to take a massive hit from the pandemic, and the World Bank warns poverty levels will rise as a result. It’s already happening in Italy, Europe's third-largest economy. The country suffered a devastating human toll…
World Jul 06 In Britain, fears that reopened pubs will drive more virus spread In Britain, pubs reopened over July 4th weekend after nearly three months of coronavirus lockdowns. Patrons expressed their desire to get out and socialize after the long period of isolation, and business owners took special precautions to prepare. But many…
World Jun 18 Grieving Northern Italians mount campaign to investigate officials’ pandemic response Italy was hit hard by COVID-19 early in the pandemic. Now, prosecutors have begun an investigation into whether the failure to lock down two towns near the northern city of Bergamo contributed to thousands of deaths related to the disease.
Health May 25 How COVID-19 reshapes our views of life, and of loss Many Western societies have not had to face death at the scale of COVID-19 since World War II, nearly 75 years ago. Could the grim reality of the coronavirus pandemic change the way we deal with life and loss? Special…
World May 22 How a centuries-old water mill is providing this British county its daily bread We close the week with an uplifting tale from the United Kingdom. Amid shortages of essential supplies during the coronavirus era, a picturesque water mill of the medieval period has been pressed back into service -- to provide bakers and…
World May 08 What these World War II veterans remember most about VE-Day Seventy-five years ago this week, Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies in Europe in a red schoolhouse in Reims, France. World War II would last three more brutal months in the Pacific, but six years of horror and Holocaust was…
World May 05 In the UK, people of color are hit harder by COVID-19. Here’s the story of 1 family’s loss Newly released data show that the United Kingdom has Europe’s highest COVID-19 death toll: at least 32,000, second globally only to the United States. But people of color there are being both infected and killed at higher rates than are…