By David R. Stroup | In the normally quiet city of Xining, capital of northwest China’s Qinghai province, everyday interactions between the city’s ethnic groups – Han Chinese, Hui Muslim, Tibetans, Turkic Salars and others – usually pass without conflict or fanfare. But thanks to the municipal government’s controversial demolition of the entrance hall of […]
Abdulrazak Gurnah: what you need to know about the Nobel Prize winner for Literature
By Melanie Otto | – Abdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the 2021 Nobel prize for literature. The Tanzanian novelist, who is based in the UK, was awarded the prize for his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”. Migration and […]
California’s latest offshore oil spill could fuel pressure to end oil production statewide
By Charles Lester | – An oil spill first reported on Oct. 2, 2021, has released thousands of gallons of crude oil into southern California coastal waters. The source is believed to be a leak in an underwater pipeline connected to an oil drilling platform 17.5 miles offshore. Oil has washed ashore in Huntington Beach […]
Cherry-Picking the Bible to oppose Vaccines is an old Technique for Evangelical Agendas
By John Fea | – A devout evangelical Christian friend of mine recently texted to explain why he was not getting the COVID-19 vaccine. “Jesus went around healing lepers and touched them without fear of getting leprosy,” he said. This story that St. Luke tells in his gospel (17:11-19) is not the only Bible verse […]
Our climate projections for 2500 show an Earth that is alien to humans, if we don’t act now
By Christopher Lyon, Alex Dunhill, Andrew P. Beckerman, Ariane Burke, Bethany Allen, Chris Smith, Daniel J. Hill, Erin Saupe, James McKay, Julien Riel-Salvatore, Lindsay C. Stringer, Rob Marchant and Tracy Aze | – < ( The Conversation) – There are many reports based on scientific research that talk about the long-term impacts of climate change […]
Joe Biden’s pledge of support reassures Syria’s embattled Kurds
By Cengiz Gunes – | The hasty and badly organised US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August prompted fears among Washington’s other allies about the durability of US friendship. Kurdish troops in northeastern Syria, facing multi-pronged opposition from Islamic State fighters as well as the Assad regime and the prospect of Turkish incursion, have felt particularly […]
Don’t be diverted from the Climate Emergency by Lifestyle Issues like Meat Eating
By Taha Yasseri and Mary Sanford | – Ten years ago, when we ranked the most controversial articles on Wikipedia, George W. Bush was at the top of the list with global warming at number five. The article on global warming has now been re-titled as climate change, but this remains among the most polarising […]
Avoiding water bankruptcy in the Southwest: What the US and Iran can learn from each other
By Mojtaba Sadegh, Ali Mirchi, Amir AghaKouchak and Kaveh Madani | – The 2021 water year ends on Sept. 30, and it was another hot, dry year in the western U.S., with almost the entire region in drought. Reservoirs vital for farms, communities and hydropower have fallen to dangerous lows. The biggest blow came in […]
How Sen. Joe Manchin’s support for natural gas could derail Biden’s US climate plan
By Michael Oppenheimer | – ( The Conversation) – President Joe Biden has a goal for all U.S. electricity to come from zero-carbon sources by 2035. To get there, he’s counting on Congress to approve an ambitious package of incentives and penalties designed to encourage utilities to clean up their power sources. That plan, part […]