By Alessandra Cappelletti | – The labyrinth of alleys and lanes in the old city of Suzhou hides a secret: historical fragments of the long history of Islam in China. Regular stories in the international press highlighting the treatment of Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region tend to obscure the fact that Islam was […]
How a ‘feminist’ foreign policy would change the world
By Rollie Lal and Shirley Graham | – The Biden administration has a woman, Vice President Kamala Harris, in its second-highest position, and 61% of White House appointees are women. Now, it has declared its intention to “protect and empower women around the world.” Gender equity and a gender agenda are two ingredients of a […]
Iran’s leaders signal interest in new nuclear deal, but U.S. must act soon
By James Devine | – On the campaign trail, Joe Biden pledged that if elected he would quickly return the United States to the Joint Collective Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal. But negotiations have been slow to materialize, and with Iran’s presidential elections scheduled to take place in June, […]
The Byzantine Empire was Multicultural, So why are QAnon and White Supremacists Idolizing it?
By Roland Betancourt | – From Charlottesville to the Capitol, medieval imagery has been repeatedly on show at far-right rallies and riots in recent years. Displays of Crusader shields and tattoos derived from Norse and Celtic symbols are of little surprise to medieval historians like me who have long documented the appropriation of the Middle […]
Women in Afghanistan worry peace accord with Taliban extremists could cost them hard-won rights
Mona Tajali and Homa Hoodfar | – Three Afghan women who worked at a media company were gunned down in Jalalabad in early March. In January, unidentified gunmen killed two female Supreme Court judges in Kabul. These are the latest victims on a long list of assassinations and attempted assassinations of female politicians and women’s […]
Pope’s upcoming visit brings attention to the dwindling population of Christians in Iraq
By Ramazan Kılınç | – Pope Francis will arrive in Iraq on Friday in a first-ever papal visit to the country that is expected to raise awareness about the challenges facing Iraqi Christians – a majority of whom are Catholic. In the past two decades, the Christian population in Iraq has fallen by over 80%. […]
A common soil pesticide cut wild bee reproduction by 89% – here’s why scientists are worried
By Philip Donkersley | – When you think of bees, a hive humming with activity probably comes to mind. But most of the world’s 20,000 bee species don’t call a hive home. These wild species lead solitary lives instead, and around 70% of them build nests underground where they raise their offspring on the nectar […]
Decline of Coal shows Gov’t Policy, Renewables crucial to Reducing Carbon Emissions: The Market isn’t Enough
By David Drake and Jeffrey York | – The big idea People often point to plunging natural gas prices as the reason U.S. coal-fired power plants have been shutting down at a faster pace in recent years. However, new research shows two other forces had a much larger effect: federal regulation and a well-funded activist […]
Where does the 10 Million Tons of Plastic we put into the Oceans Annually actually go?
By Bruce Sutherland, Michelle DiBenedetto and Ton van den Bremer | – Of the hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic waste we produce each year, it’s estimated that around ten million tonnes enters the ocean. Roughly half of the plastics produced are less dense than water, and so they float. But scientists estimate that […]