France’s pension protests and the future of work

More than a million people have protested France’s controversial pension reform plan, which was formally presented on Monday. The majority of people – along with all of France’s biggest unions – oppose the reforms, which would raise the retirement age and the threshold of years worked to get a full…

What happens when governments turn to McKinsey?

Global consulting firm McKinsey works all over the world, but in South Africa, it faces criminal charges for corruption. The case centers on its role in the country’s biggest post-apartheid scandal, known as state capture. The firm has also consulted on everything from looking at privatizing the UK…

Why Philippines journalist Maria Ressa still reads the news

When it comes to the media, Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa has dealt with it all: attacks on the freedom of the press in the Philippines, audiences turning to social media, and misinformation. We spoke with her in Manila on January 17th, ahead of an acquittal in some of the legal …

We need to talk about Davos

The World Economic Forum is known for glitzy parties, exclusivity, and dealmaking – in addition to panels on topics ranging from climate change to ‘stakeholder capitalism’. The theme of this year’s annual meeting in Davos is “cooperation in a fragmented world,” and Davos mainstays are the world’s m…

‘Texas is not abortion-free yet’ – after Roe v Wade, what’s next?

Texas is the largest US state with a near-total ban on abortion. Legislators and activists want to make 2023 the year of closing the loopholes that remain, whether that’s travel to nearby states for the procedure or targeting abortion medication by mail. The state is also where the Roe v Wade legal…

In Cambodia, scammers are also victims

What happens when you fall victim to a cyber scam? And who's really at fault? In Cambodia, an entire economy of these scams is operating, and the scammers Al Jazeera found in a city called Sihanoukville are often held against their will. Tens of thousands of people are being trafficked, and authori…

Drones have shaped the Ukraine war. Are ‘killer robots’ far off?

In Russia's war in Ukraine, the use of drones – for surveillance, correcting artillery fire and dropping weapons on the enemy – has become increasingly important, especially for the Ukrainian army. The drones used so far are believed to have all been controlled by humans but experts say the techno…

As peace begins in Ethiopia, Tigray opens up

Tigray was cut off from the rest of Ethiopia and the outside world for nearly two years. As a civil war raged on, the region was under a de facto blockade that impacted everything from food to phone lines. The war resulted in one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, and widespread human rig…

The UK’s winter of strikes and discontent

There are more strikes in the United Kingdom today than in more than a decade. Inflation is at a 41-year high, and economists are predicting that UK households are looking forward to a miserable 2023. But rather than offering concessions, the government is trying to make it harder to strike. In th…

What four unique communities say about our world

What makes a community special? Al Jazeera’s series, A Sense of Community, has travelled to four unique parts of the globe to explore the concept. We visited islanders in remote Scotland facing depopulation, explored the fight against crime and search for safety in the most dangerous neighbourhood …