Grab built its own map in Southeast Asia, and is now going after Google

13 November 2024 at 06:00

The alleys in South Jakarta are winding and narrow, sometimes just one meter wide, barely enough to fit a motorbike. A delivery rider has to squeeze past laundry racks and...

Phony X accounts are meddling in Ghana’s election

Rest of World

By: Caroline Haskins

12 November 2024 at 06:00

As Ghana approaches its presidential election on December 7, researchers have uncovered a network of 171 bot accounts on X that use ChatGPT to write posts favorable to the incumbent...

Amazon and Walmart couldn’t kill India’s mom-and-pop stores. But rapid delivery might

Rest of World

By: Ananya Bhattacharya and Adnan Bhat

12 November 2024 at 06:00

Mahadev Waghji Patel ran Choice Mart for nine years in an affluent neighborhood of Mumbai. His local customers relied on the store for their monthly groceries, and continued to come...

Argentina’s banks accuse MercadoLibre of monopolizing the market

Rest of World

By: David Feliba

7 November 2024 at 06:00

In a remote stretch of Argentina’s Patagonia, Sheriff Miguel Hernández isn’t just keeping the peace. He has also become the town’s online shopping expert. The sheriff on horseback purchases items...

Malaysia’s new data centers create thousands of jobs — and worries about power and water shortages

Rest of World

By: Ushar Daniele and Khadija Alam

6 November 2024 at 06:00

When Granill Ding Simon moved to the Malaysian state of Johor six years ago, the mechanical engineer traded city life for what he thought would be a slower pace among...

This Indian state wants to be a tech hub. But the government keeps shutting down the internet

Rest of World

By: Sanghamitra Kar P

4 November 2024 at 06:00

On May 2, 2023, Roshni Kumar Yambem was finishing a long day at Globizs, his IT services startup. It had not been easy for Yambem to attract an international clientele...

No Tesla dealership? No problem. Uruguayans import the EVs from China

Rest of World

By: Lucía Cholakian Herrera

31 October 2024 at 05:00

The Tesla Model 3 parked at AutoImport, a car dealership in the seaside port of Punta del Este, Uruguay, appeared flawless, except for one detail: The driver’s touch screen was...

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 14: Tesla's new Model 3 sedans wait to be shipped aboard at Shanghai Haitong International Automotive Terminal on March 14, 2024 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Traditional sellers in Vietnam still aren’t sold on e-commerce

Rest of World

By: Lam Le

30 October 2024 at 05:00

In Hanoi’s historic Dong Xuan Market, stalls are filled with clothes, shoes and souvenirs. Sellers sit around chatting, or play on their phones as an occasional tourist wanders about, a...

Amazon launched a program for Indian handicrafts. Local artisans say it’s not working

Rest of World

By: Nipun Prabhakar

28 October 2024 at 05:00

When Shakil Khatri first heard about Amazon Karigar in 2018, he thought it might be what he had been looking for. Khatri, a sixth-generation artisan, is one of the few...

Maji Khan Mutwa showing his Instagram profile with 29.8k followers. He has to keep the phone at this angle to get enough signals from the mobile network so he can open his account.

Mexican TikTokers have code words to report on narco-violence without getting banned

Rest of World

By: Daniela Dib

24 October 2024 at 05:00

On September 9, Delilah Barajas, who reviews TV shows and horror movies on TikTok, ditched her usual content to talk about a real-life suspenseful scenario: the showdown between cartel members...

Myanmar residents struggle to overcome severe internet blackouts with Starlink

Rest of World

By: Nu Nu Lusan

23 October 2024 at 05:00

In Myanmar’s northern Kachin state, Seng had struggled with internet shutdowns and low bandwidth since the military coup of 2021. Then came the blocks on social media platforms including Facebook....

India’s electric cab companies can’t find enough cars to put on the road

Rest of World

By: Ananya Bhattacharya

22 October 2024 at 05:00

Rahul Mathur has sworn by BluSmart since its early days. The electric-taxi rideshare company was his preferred choice for the daily commute as a startup founder in Delhi two years...

A local ride-hailing service can’t beat Uber and Bolt, so its drivers are beating up their rivals

Rest of World

By: Ray Mwareya

21 October 2024 at 05:00

In July, Progress, a used-clothes trader, disembarked from his bus at Pretoria’s main station. The night was dark, and he knew that violent assault was a serious risk in the...

Meet the mothers in small-town Hungary leading a fight against Chinese EV battery plants

Rest of World

By: Yvonne Lau

18 October 2024 at 05:00

Eva Kozma watched as excavators raked up clouds of dust and flatbed trucks shuttled steel beams across a bustling construction site on the outskirts of a tranquil Hungarian village. A...

Eva Kozma (left) and Vera Csuvarszki (right) are co-founders of the Mikepércs Mothers for the Environment organization.

What are you wearing? Rest of World’s fashion quiz

Rest of World

By: Rest of World

17 October 2024 at 05:00

The internet has transformed the way the world shops, as fast fashion behemoths challenge traditional retailers and influencers supercharge new trends. Let’s see how well you know the global fashion...

The Catholic Church condemned Santa Muerte. TikTokers gave her a makeover

Rest of World

By: Chantal Flores

17 October 2024 at 05:00

On the eighth day of her journey across the Sonoran desert in the summer of 2004, Jessica Maribel Morales collapsed. She was trying to make it from Mexico to the...

The most popular payment app in the Philippines has a side bet: online gambling

Rest of World

By: Patrick Kho

16 October 2024 at 05:00

The first time that Ana, a Filipino housewife, visited a gambling platform on her mobile phone, she was only looking to unwind for a little while. Soon, she was spending...

WhatsApp vigilantes in India are converting Christians by force

Rest of World

By: Parth MN

15 October 2024 at 05:00

It was the day of his mother’s funeral, but Jaldhar Kashyap knew the dozens of people descending on his home weren’t there to offer condolences. When his mother was diagnosed...

South Africa’s migrant delivery workers find safety in numbers

Rest of World

By: Rest of World

15 October 2024 at 04:55

South Africa has long been a hub for migrants and refugees, who come from neighboring countries seeking opportunities in Africa’s strongest economy. But the country is also notorious for high...

TikTok wants to turn millions of Americans into paid shopping influencers

Rest of World

By: Viola Zhou and Peiyue Wu

14 October 2024 at 05:00

Brandy Leigh, a 50-year-old mother of six in Indiana, was looking for a career that would allow her to work from home. After raising children for most of her adult...

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