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Lockdown

Residents in a sealed-off Shanghai neighborhood receive bulk-ordered food supplies under the monitoring of health workers in hazmat suits

This Shanghai writer and translator shares his experience of the city’s 2-month lockdown

COVID-19

As Shanghai begins to ease its two-month COVID-19 lockdown, writer and translator Xing Zhao says that the psychological impacts on residents are likely to linger for much longer.

Delivery drivers in Shanghai have been the unsung heroes during a strict COVID-19 lockdown that kept millions indoors.

Shanghai’s delivery drivers — the unsung heroes of a long pandemic lockdown

COVID-19
Protesting farmers ride tractors and shout slogans as they march to the capital, breaking police barricades, during India's Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, India

India repeals controversial farm laws after a year of protests

Top of The World
Merkel stands at a podium flanked by two German flags.

Merkel reverses plan for strict Easter lockdown in Germany

Top of The World
Wang Fan, 39, runs several bars and restaurants in Wuhan.

One year after lockdown, Wuhan volunteers say the pandemic transformed their lives

COVID-19
A person walks past a closed restaurant in Paris wearing a face mask.

Happy hour canceled in France under strict coronavirus curfew

COVID-19

To curb the spread of new, highly contagious coronavirus variants found in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil, France has implemented a 6 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew. 

Several rows of outdoor seating are shown with cars in the distance and a movie project shining bright in the distance.

The pop culture that got us through 2020

Arts, Culture & Media

In 2020, we leaned on pop culture more than ever for moments of levity, distraction — and sometimes even clarity — during a chaotic year. Looking back, here are some of the pop culture moments that stuck with us.

Emily Mao, second from left, joined a co-living community of students in Hangzhou, China, who are studying online — often overnight — at US and Canada-based colleges and universities.

Kept from foreign universities during pandemic, Chinese students form ‘study pods’ in shared housing

Education

Remote learning has been hard for millions of students worldwide, but for the ones living half a world away from school in the US and Canada, the time zone differences and isolation have taken an added toll.

Two men wearing tank tops and face masks protest and wave blue and white Israeli flags in a big crowd

Israelis protest against new COVID-19 measures that restrict protests

COVID-19

Under new measures against the coronavirus, the Israeli government has banned protesters from holding demonstrations more than 1 kilometer (about a half-mile) from their homes. In response, some activists have turned to WhatsApp, Facebook and an interactive map to find protest sites near them. 

A padlock motif on fabric produced by Ghana Textiles Printing represents the lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

This Ghanaian company is producing fabric with motifs inspired by COVID-19

COVID-19

Look closely at the fabric produced in recent months by the brand Ghana Textiles Printing, and you’ll notice something unusual about the patterns: They’re padlocks, airplanes and keys.