For our Global Societies project, reporters around the world will be writing about societal problems, sustainability and development in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. The series will include features, analyses, photo essays, videos and podcasts looking behind the curtain of globalization. The project is generously funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.The world is preoccupied with containing the coronavirus and its impact on the economy. Pharmaceutical companies are working at full tilt to develop a vaccine that could end the COVID-19 crisis. There is no doubt these...…For our Global Societies project, reporters around the world will be writing about societal problems, sustainability and development in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. The series will include features, analyses, photo essays, videos and podcasts looking behind the curtain of globalization. The project is generously funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.The world is preoccupied with containing the coronavirus and its impact on the economy. Pharmaceutical companies are working at full tilt to develop a vaccine that could end the COVID-19 crisis. There is no doubt these...WW…

Bundespräsident  hat angesichts der an die Vernunft der Bürger appelliert. Seine Hoffnung sei, dass "wir uns weiterhin an Tatsachen und Fakten orientieren", sagte Steinmeier. Er sei selbst medizinischer Laie. "Trotzdem traue ich mich zu behaupten, dass unter den Gesichtspunkten des Virusschutzes der vielleicht manchmal unbequeme und lästige Mundschutz empfehlenswerter ist als der Aluhut."Er betonte jedoch, dass Demokratie Kritik brauche und von einer kritischen Öffentlichkeit lebe. Deshalb sei es erforderlich, dass die getroffenen Corona-Maßnahmen immer wieder neu diskutiert...…Bundespräsident  hat angesichts der an die Vernunft der Bürger appelliert. Seine Hoffnung sei, dass "wir uns weiterhin an Tatsachen und Fakten orientieren", sagte Steinmeier. Er sei selbst medizinischer Laie. "Trotzdem traue ich mich zu behaupten, dass unter den Gesichtspunkten des Virusschutzes der vielleicht manchmal unbequeme und lästige Mundschutz empfehlenswerter ist als der Aluhut."Er betonte jedoch, dass Demokratie Kritik brauche und von einer kritischen Öffentlichkeit lebe. Deshalb sei es erforderlich, dass die getroffenen Corona-Maßnahmen immer wieder neu diskutiert...WW…

Alice Bergmann lives in Chemnitz, Germany, and apparently has a problem with Islam. She had to overcome a tremendous blow a few years back when her sister Elizabeth was brutally murdered in a Berlin park. Both of the perpetrators were immigrants.“I have a lot of hatred inside me, a lot of anger, I know that this wound will bleed forever,” Bergmann wrote in a post on Facebook in 2015. She’s been fighting against immigrants on the front lines ever since, including at her job at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). One Facebook friend praised her post, writing: “For loyalty to...…Alice Bergmann lives in Chemnitz, Germany, and apparently has a problem with Islam. She had to overcome a tremendous blow a few years back when her sister Elizabeth was brutally murdered in a Berlin park. Both of the perpetrators were immigrants.“I have a lot of hatred inside me, a lot of anger, I know that this wound will bleed forever,” Bergmann wrote in a post on Facebook in 2015. She’s been fighting against immigrants on the front lines ever since, including at her job at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). One Facebook friend praised her post, writing: “For loyalty to...WW…

FotostreckePhoto Gallery: FARC Gearing Up to Resume FightingFoto: Federico Rios / DER SPIEGELThe man who wants to bring war back to Colombia wears a moustache, has dark eyes and has a 9-millimeter pistol shoved into his belt. His name is Danilo Alvizú, and he's wearing camo pants, a Che Guevara T-shirt and rubber boots. "This is a historic moment," says Alvizú. He sounds impressed by his own words.It's the middle of a week in late August and 20 men and women have gathered before him somewhere in the oppressively humid jungle of southern Colombia, not far from the border to Ecuador. Many of...…FotostreckePhoto Gallery: FARC Gearing Up to Resume FightingFoto: Federico Rios / DER SPIEGELThe man who wants to bring war back to Colombia wears a moustache, has dark eyes and has a 9-millimeter pistol shoved into his belt. His name is Danilo Alvizú, and he's wearing camo pants, a Che Guevara T-shirt and rubber boots. "This is a historic moment," says Alvizú. He sounds impressed by his own words.It's the middle of a week in late August and 20 men and women have gathered before him somewhere in the oppressively humid jungle of southern Colombia, not far from the border to Ecuador. Many of...WW…

A ghost train, virtually empty, screeches and rattles its way through the tunnel from Brooklyn to Manhattan. On the benches inside lie four homeless people, covered in coats and blankets. They cough every so often, though their eyes remain shut. It is shortly before 1 p.m., and besides the four men, there are just two other passengers in the car, a woman and a man, huddled together. Both are wearing latex gloves but only the woman is wearing a face mask.For well over a week now, New York City has been the epicenter of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. More than 67,500 people have become...…A ghost train, virtually empty, screeches and rattles its way through the tunnel from Brooklyn to Manhattan. On the benches inside lie four homeless people, covered in coats and blankets. They cough every so often, though their eyes remain shut. It is shortly before 1 p.m., and besides the four men, there are just two other passengers in the car, a woman and a man, huddled together. Both are wearing latex gloves but only the woman is wearing a face mask.For well over a week now, New York City has been the epicenter of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. More than 67,500 people have become...WW…

In his first media interview following his poisoning, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny expresses his "tremendous gratitude to all Germans" in an interview with the newsmagazine DER SPIEGEL. In the interview, he says that although he never had close ties to Germany, it was German politicians and Chancellor Angela Merkel who saved his life. He says the doctors at Berlin's Charité University Hospital saved his life for a second time and nursed him back to health. "I know it sounds a bit over the top, but Germany has become a special country for me," Navalny says. Describing the...…In his first media interview following his poisoning, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny expresses his "tremendous gratitude to all Germans" in an interview with the newsmagazine DER SPIEGEL. In the interview, he says that although he never had close ties to Germany, it was German politicians and Chancellor Angela Merkel who saved his life. He says the doctors at Berlin's Charité University Hospital saved his life for a second time and nursed him back to health. "I know it sounds a bit over the top, but Germany has become a special country for me," Navalny says. Describing the...WW…

When Uwe Mai thinks about his childhood, he sees the Saale River. Bending gently, it flowed past his parents' home in Calbe just south of Magdeburg. He only had to dash across the road and down some steps to reach the riverbank, lined with big old trees to climb and rocks to skip across the water.Mai says that he and his little brother Thomas played down by the river every day when his parents were working their shifts. His father was a steelworker in a nearby factory that was a major supplier of pig iron in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), as East Germany was officially known. His...…When Uwe Mai thinks about his childhood, he sees the Saale River. Bending gently, it flowed past his parents' home in Calbe just south of Magdeburg. He only had to dash across the road and down some steps to reach the riverbank, lined with big old trees to climb and rocks to skip across the water.Mai says that he and his little brother Thomas played down by the river every day when his parents were working their shifts. His father was a steelworker in a nearby factory that was a major supplier of pig iron in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), as East Germany was officially known. His...WW…

In these days before Christmas, it's very cold and windy in Fergus Falls, a town of around 14,000 inhabitants in the state of Minnesota. There's also a bit of snow on the ground. Claas Relotius published a very long feature article about the small town and its inhabitants in DER SPIEGEL in March 2017. When I read it at the time, I thought to myself: It seems really, really long.The story carried the headline, "In a Small Town," and was intended as an attempt to describe and better grasp Trump voters. As we now know, the writer largely invented the events and characters portrayed in the...…In these days before Christmas, it's very cold and windy in Fergus Falls, a town of around 14,000 inhabitants in the state of Minnesota. There's also a bit of snow on the ground. Claas Relotius published a very long feature article about the small town and its inhabitants in DER SPIEGEL in March 2017. When I read it at the time, I thought to myself: It seems really, really long.The story carried the headline, "In a Small Town," and was intended as an attempt to describe and better grasp Trump voters. As we now know, the writer largely invented the events and characters portrayed in the...WW…

Shortly before the end of his journalistic career, misery and glamor crossed paths in the life of Claas Relotius. On the evening of Monday, Dec. 3, Relotius, who had worked for DER SPIEGEL for seven years and had been employed as an editor for the past year and a half, was called onto a stage in Berlin. The jury for the 2018 German Reporter Prize was once again of the opinion that he had written the best feature story of the year, this one about a Syrian boy who lived with the belief that he had contributed to the country's civil war through a graffito he had daubed onto a wall in Daraa....…Shortly before the end of his journalistic career, misery and glamor crossed paths in the life of Claas Relotius. On the evening of Monday, Dec. 3, Relotius, who had worked for DER SPIEGEL for seven years and had been employed as an editor for the past year and a half, was called onto a stage in Berlin. The jury for the 2018 German Reporter Prize was once again of the opinion that he had written the best feature story of the year, this one about a Syrian boy who lived with the belief that he had contributed to the country's civil war through a graffito he had daubed onto a wall in Daraa....WW…

The leadership in Beijing has done everything in its power to ensure that the People's Congress can take place this year. Around 3,000 delegates will meet in the Chinese capital in late May, with many having traveled all the way from Shanghai and Sichuan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia. They will walk across Tiananmen Square, past the red flag and soldiers of the People's Liberation Army, before taking a seat in the Great Hall of the People, which was built at the behest of the founder of the modern Chinese state, Mao Zedong.For more than 20 years, China's Communist Party has held the National...…The leadership in Beijing has done everything in its power to ensure that the People's Congress can take place this year. Around 3,000 delegates will meet in the Chinese capital in late May, with many having traveled all the way from Shanghai and Sichuan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia. They will walk across Tiananmen Square, past the red flag and soldiers of the People's Liberation Army, before taking a seat in the Great Hall of the People, which was built at the behest of the founder of the modern Chinese state, Mao Zedong.For more than 20 years, China's Communist Party has held the National...WW…