People are shown waiting at the bottom of a ramp with a man walking down the ramp carrying a bag over his shoulder.

COVID-19 drives an increase in hunger that hits women hardest

Full Episode

Residents carry food donated by a non-governmental agency amid the new coronavirus pandemic, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 2020.

Silvia Izquierdo/AP/File photo

The economic fallout from COVID-19 has driven an unprecedented increase in hunger — up 82% from a year ago, to an astounding 270 million people categorized as chronically hungry around the world. And, it’s now less than four weeks before Britain’s relationship with the European Union officially ends. Businesses across both sides of the channel are worried and one unexpected casualty could be chip shops in Ireland. Also, there’s a music revival going on in Poland among populist, political leaders: “Disco Polo” combines folk melodies with drum machines and synthesizers.

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In This Episode

People walk along a downtown street in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, March 16, 2020. Millions of women and girls globally have lost access to contraceptives, abortion services and related care because of the coronavirus pandemic.
How women and girls are especially at risk of hunger during the pandemic 
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Sexual harassment trial opens in Beijing
How is COVID-19 talked about around the world?
A woman holds a large mushroom in the Ukraine's Carpathians
Ukraine is wild about mushrooms — even during the pandemic
Special Coverage
Will Brexit halt Ireland from getting British potatoes?
For the last year, construction workers have passed by Darby Wells en route to the border to build the Trump administration’s 30-foot, steel bollard wall. President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to stop the wall’s construction, but there are still big questio
Under a Biden presidency, what will become of Trump’s border wall? 
Special Coverage
A Uighur poem of ‘unimaginable suffering’ travels from Chinese internment camp to New Jersey
Special Coverage
Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López kisses his wife Lilian Tintori with their son and daughter after a news conference in Madrid on Oct. 27, 2020. López who has abandoned the Spanish ambassador's residence in Caracas and left Venezuela after years
Exiled Venezuelan dissident says Sunday’s National Assembly elections are a ‘fraud’
Special Coverage
Poland’s latest trend? Political disco.