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• Global freedom declined for the 19th consecutive year in 2024. Sixty countries experienced deterioration in their political rights and civil liberties, and only 34 secured improvements.
• During an unprecedented year of elections, many contests were marred by violence and authoritarian efforts to restrict voters’ choices. In over 40 percent of the countries and territories that held national elections in 2024, including Free countries such as France, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States, candidates were targeted with assassination attempts or assaults, polling places were attacked, or postelection protests were suppressed with disproportionate force. Elections in authoritarian countries like Azerbaijan, Russia, Rwanda, and Tunisia were manipulated to prevent genuine opposition candidates from participating.
• Ongoing armed conflicts made the world less safe and less free. Civil wars and interstate conflict in Sudan, Myanmar, and Ukraine—as well as violence perpetrated by armed militias, mercenaries, and criminal organizations across Latin America and Africa—undermined security and prevented the exercise of fundamental rights. People in 20 percent of the world’s countries and territories now live without even the most basic protections from the illegitimate use of force. In many places, armed conflict fuels the spread of illicit trading in drugs and arms and provides safe havens for criminal organizations.
• Positive developments demonstrated the potential for democratic breakthroughs. Despite the overall decline in global freedom, bright spots emerged around the world as a result of competitive elections or following the collapse of long-standing authoritarian regimes. For example, the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime in Syria after 13 years of civil war prompted immediate improvements in physical security, freedom of movement, and freedom of assembly in formerly regime-held areas. New governments in such countries will now face the difficult task of building and strengthening democratic institutions while also protecting individual rights.
• Largest increases and best overall scores: On Freedom in the World’s 100-point scale for political rights and civil liberties, Bangladesh (+5), Bhutan (+5), Sri Lanka (+4), and Syria (+4) recorded the largest gains for 2024. The best overall country scores were those of Finland (100), Sweden (99), New Zealand (99), Norway (99), Canada (97), Denmark (97), San Marino (97), the Netherlands (97), Ireland (97), and Luxembourg (97).
• Largest declines and worst overall scores: Kuwait (−7), Tunisia (−7), El Salvador (−6), and Haiti (−6) were the countries with the year’s largest score declines. The countries with the worst overall scores were Turkmenistan (1), South Sudan (1), Sudan (2), Eritrea (3), North Korea (3), Central African Republic (5), Tajikistan (5), Equatorial Guinea (5), Syria (5), Afghanistan (6), Azerbaijan (7), Belarus (7), and Myanmar (7).
• Status changes: Two countries, Bhutan and Senegal, improved from Partly Free to Free status, while Jordan crossed the threshold from Not Free to Partly Free. Four countries declined from Partly Free to Not Free: Kuwait, Niger, Tanzania, and Thailand.

This is the promise made by Love and Deepspace, a mobile romance game by the Chinese company Papergames.

Some think video games are all guns and cars, but romance games or “dating simulators” are immensely popular, especially among young women.

Love and Deepspace reached 50 million users across more than 170 countries and regions in January. Despite their popularity, dating sims, as they are known for short, usually fly under the radar in discussions about games.

Meanwhile, a recent major update for Love and Deepspace has furrowed some brows by introducing an unusual new feature: a period tracker.

Reading time: 8 - 11 minutes.

Africa’s gig economy is at a crossroads. It can either become a digital sweatshop—extracting labor and offering little in return—or a model for ethical, worker-driven innovation. But this requires urgent action: First, governments must step in—implementing enforceable minimum wages, health protections, and clear legal pathways for worker grievances. Second, platforms must be held accountable—big tech cannot continue profiting off African labor while offloading all risks onto workers. And third, gig workers must be recognized as workers—not “partners,” not “micro-entrepreneurs,” but employees with rights. Until these changes happen, the narrative of the gig economy as a tool of empowerment is nothing more than an illusion.

Africa’s story of labor exploitation did not begin with the gig economy, and it won’t end with it either. We are witnessing a digital rearticulation of the same forces that have historically shaped the continent’s economic structures—where foreign investment is prioritized over fair wages, and technology serves as a cover for worker exploitation.

But in this reconfiguration, there is also space for resistance. A driver in Lagos can rally colleagues on WhatsApp. A Kenyan freelancer can warn others about exploitative contracts. A South African delivery worker can push back against illegal deportations. These small acts of defiance are part of a larger fight—one that will determine whether Africa’s digital economy is built on empowerment or exploitation.

The next time you order a ride, a meal, or a remote task from an African worker, ask yourself: Who really profits? Because if we continue down this road unchecked, the answer will be the same as it was centuries ago—not the workers.

The basis of Musk’s corporate seizure of the public sector via DOGE is not to sweep up corruption or eliminate waste, nor is it to privatize specific industrial sectors historically in public commons (the contracted work and militarization of U.S. space exploration has thoroughly conquered this concept). Musk’s efforts to colonize space, to profit off of greenwashing reforms with EV development, and to commit a crusade in the pursuit of government efficiency, all masquerade the true goal. Musk, like Trump, is an avatar tasked by the billionaire class to undo decades of progress and benefits, such as social security benefits, public education, and the Labor Relations Board.

These institutions were once demands by the working class, only given as a concession by the ruling class to quell levels of organization that put the established powers’ feet under the fire. Musk’s task as a servant of capital is to do what he does best: reroute the public wealth into the pockets of the billionaire class while further impoverishing the workers that make the superprofits possible day in and day out. While he is currently at the head, Trump’s administration is a coalition of which the Silicon Valley technocrats and futurists are simply one faction. Ultimately, it is the struggle of the working class that will dictate what the billionaires can get away with.

• Billionaire wealth surged by over $300 billion in the first month of the year. It would take 15 million workers an entire year to make as much money.
• Since G20 Finance Ministers agreed to work together to effectively tax the super-rich in July 2024, billionaires have pocketed over $1 trillion in new wealth.
• More than 50 organizations from across the world are urging G20 leaders to tax the super-rich to end extreme inequality, and invest in climate, environmental and social action.

U.S. consumer confidence plunged in February in its biggest monthly decline in more than four years, a business research group said Tuesday.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped from 105.3 in January to 98.3 this month, the largest month-to-month decline since August 2021.