Extremist attacks are cause for concern, but they force us to reflect on how to protect our values. And how to co-exist with fellow humans, also scared. Two women mourning in Lebanon, 11 January 2015. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) In the aftermath of the attacks in Paris,...
It’s an age-old tactic, but experts say terrorist attacks have recently grown in breadth and intensity. Most recent attacks have occurred in five countries. Flowers at the scene of a shooting in Sousse, Tunisia, 27 June 2015. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) (We...
The Pew Research Center, a U.S. think tank, has produced a report on attitudes around the world toward climate change. It is an extraordinarily detailed compilation of data, presented in Pew style — user friendly — and well timed, coming just ahead of the...
By Djenab Conde The question “Where are you from?” is ubiquitous in modern society, and it is becoming harder and harder for me to answer in a nice, clean way. My mother is from Beijing, China. My father was born in Kankan, the second-largest city in...
(All photos by Sarah Watson) By Akinyi Ochieng I knew it was used in cosmetics. But chocolate and medicine? Before I started working with the Global Shea Alliance in Accra, Ghana, I was familiar with shea as a cosmetic product. So I was surprised to learn that shea...
The world’s population will double this century, with most growth in Africa. But many nations are ageing quickly and face a new population challenge. Tourists in China, 2011. (AP Photo) This article is part of a News-Decoder series of “decoders” that...
(Video by Léa Surugue) By Léa Surugue Last April, a fishing boat carrying 800 people capsized off the shores of Italy. Only 27 survived. It was one of the worst human tragedies in the Mediterranean, ever. I had always wanted to cover the stories of people who left...
It’s hard to imagine Syria was once a capital of art. But its beauty lives in me. To Syria I owe my first poems, my Arabic writing and my favorite dramas. “Queen Zenobia’s Last Look Upon Palmyra,” by Herbert Schmalz. (Wikimedia Commons) With images from Syria of...
Conventional wisdom can be comforting, but it can also be an easy way out. We want to challenge moral assumptions. Last week we wrote about female genital cutting in Uganda and laid down a challenge to readers. We said: Help the Sabiny people end...
Our article on female genital cutting has attracted global interest. Now’s your chance to propose an alternative to this age-old rite. A six-year-old girl screams while being cut in Somalia, 17 June 1996. (AP Photo/Jean-Marc Bouju) Earlier this week,...