ByShare this storyFerkat Jawdat is used to intimidation from the Chinese state. A Uyghur living in Washington D.C., he was one of the first in the exile community to start speaking out about something that everyone knew, but no one dared mention — that their families in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region were disappearing one by one into internment camps. Among them was Jawdat’s mother, who was detained first in 2017 and then again in February 2018. When other family members were arrested a few months later, he sounded the alarm. His activism led to appearances in the U.S. media and a...…ByShare this storyFerkat Jawdat is used to intimidation from the Chinese state. A Uyghur living in Washington D.C., he was one of the first in the exile community to start speaking out about something that everyone knew, but no one dared mention — that their families in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region were disappearing one by one into internment camps. Among them was Jawdat’s mother, who was detained first in 2017 and then again in February 2018. When other family members were arrested a few months later, he sounded the alarm. His activism led to appearances in the U.S. media and a...WW…

By andShare this storyGu Zeyu’s financial situation hit rock bottom in March. Out of work and owed back pay, the 24-year-old was down to eating one meal a day and struggling to cover her utility bills. But even as she cut her spending to almost nothing, her costs were still overwhelming. Gu had started borrowing money through Huabei, a popular virtual credit card and microlending service operated by Ant Group, the Chinese financial technology giant, while she was in college. She later signed up for Jiebei and Baitiao, two similar services. Over the next four years, her credit limit...…By andShare this storyGu Zeyu’s financial situation hit rock bottom in March. Out of work and owed back pay, the 24-year-old was down to eating one meal a day and struggling to cover her utility bills. But even as she cut her spending to almost nothing, her costs were still overwhelming. Gu had started borrowing money through Huabei, a popular virtual credit card and microlending service operated by Ant Group, the Chinese financial technology giant, while she was in college. She later signed up for Jiebei and Baitiao, two similar services. Over the next four years, her credit limit...WW…

ByShare this storyust before 8 p.m. on the evening of August 17, Zara Alvarez and her two housemates stepped out of a market in a suburb of Bacolod, a city on Negros Island in the central Philippines. Alvarez, 39, wore black leggings, black basketball shoes, and a black T-shirt with the legend “From the Other Side.” In press photos taken later that night, the rain was so heavy that the streetlights diffused into the murk, each bulb looking like a swollen moon. The women hurried toward their home, a boarding house on nearby Santa Maria Street. In the dark and the downpour, they didn’t see...…ByShare this storyust before 8 p.m. on the evening of August 17, Zara Alvarez and her two housemates stepped out of a market in a suburb of Bacolod, a city on Negros Island in the central Philippines. Alvarez, 39, wore black leggings, black basketball shoes, and a black T-shirt with the legend “From the Other Side.” In press photos taken later that night, the rain was so heavy that the streetlights diffused into the murk, each bulb looking like a swollen moon. The women hurried toward their home, a boarding house on nearby Santa Maria Street. In the dark and the downpour, they didn’t see...WW…