Protests on July 20 -- image via X video screenshot By Vijay Prashad On 20 July, thousands of young people attempted to march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament. They carried placards, shouted slogans, and demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over repeated examination irregularities, paper leaks, cancelled tests, and the government’s refusal to accept responsibility for the devastation inflicted upon students. The Delhi Police answered them wi

As keyboards and touchscreens replace pens and pencils, the decline of handwriting raises questions about cognition, culture, and creativity. Shixart1985, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Danica Tomber When was the last time you wrote something by hand? Was it a stylus signature at a checkout stand, a kitchen calendar reminder, or a note jotted down on a scrap of paper? These days, writing largely lives in the digital realm. Despite its advantages, handwriting has been pus

Abelardo de la Espriella, May 25, 2026 -- Abelardo de la Espriella, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Laura Violeta Devia López There are just over three weeks left before Abelardo De La Espriella takes office as Colombia’s new president, despite the numerous allegations that cast a shadow over his election and, as usual, discredit the Colombian electoral system. The announcements already being made by Abelardo and his designated cabinet mark a significant change of course, not o

At the JEF Summit in Helsinki, 26.03.2026 -- Stenbocki maja, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Biljana Vankovska The history of warfare shows that conflicts end either with a clear victory by one side or through negotiations when both face the exhaustion of resources and the will to continue sacrificing lives. There is also a third way: a silent ending of hostilities, the establishment of a ‘cold peace,’ and the freezing of the conflict without an explicit acknowledgment of

Principles from writing instruction, journalism, and professional editorial practice illuminate how revision clarifies ideas, strengthens critical thinking, improves communication, and transforms first drafts into stronger writing. Nic McPhee, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Ellen Feld and Reynard Loki Most people think that a strong first draft reflects good writing skills. In practice, this is rarely true. First drafts are often messy, uneven, and incomplete because

Humanitarian organizations invest in education to promote safety, resilience, and social cohesion, but researchers continue to debate its long-term impact on conflict and human well-being. By Chloe Bruce Humanitarian education refers to educational initiatives developed or supported by humanitarian organizations to reduce suffering, protect vulnerable populations, and help communities recover from conflict and disaster. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees define

Around the nation, citizens are resisting the mass warehousing of immigrants—and finding some success. Alligator Alcatraz detention center, July 2025 -- SovNAT, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Sonali Kolhatkar As the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency rapidly expands its carceral powers, immigrant detention centers around the United States have been facing relentless public scrutiny. It appears the pressure campaigns are finally having an impact as some cent

Once one of the world’s most militarized frontiers, the Russia-China border along the Amur River Basin shows how a long-running territorial dispute can evolve from confrontation to integration. No. 41 Boundary Marker at China–Russia Border -- Ncysea, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By John P. Ruehl Since the early 1990s, the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk, located on the Amur River, has steadily reemerged as one of Russia’s most important “border trade hubs.” Sitting dir

Image via Venezuela Analysis on X By Guillermo Barreto On 24 June, Venezuela was celebrating two important holidays: the 205th anniversary of the Battle of Carabobo, the battle that sealed the country’s independence, and the feast of St. John the Baptist, declared by UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a celebration with deep spiritual significance, especially for the Afro-descendant communities of Venezuela. A day of celebration that was cut short at 6:04 and 6:

By Reynard Loki Phrases like “public benefit,” “impact,” “responsibility,” or “sustainability” are routinely used by universities, nonprofits, corporations, and public agencies to describe their work, summarizing complex activities in ways that are easy to communicate to donors, policymakers, journalists, and the public. On the surface, these statements appear straightforward, seeking to improve access to education, reduce environmental harm, or support vulnerable populations

Russia’s challenge to prevailing IP and copyright norms is central to its pursuit of technological sovereignty. Global fragmentation and Western divisions have given Moscow space to test the system’s limits without fully abandoning it. General view of Red Square, 2025 -- Юрий Д.К., CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By John P. Ruehl Taking an invention and claiming it as yours is called intellectual property, based on practices followed by US and European businesses. But what h

Slippery slope302, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Rezgar Akrawi La batalla por la liberación socialista en el siglo XXI no puede librarse con las armas del siglo pasado. En una era en la que los algoritmos dominan, en la que la influencia de la inteligencia artificial sobre los medios de comunicación, la cultura, la educación y el trabajo sigue expandiéndose, y en la que las políticas y estrategias económicas se formulan sobre la base de los macrodatos y el análisis algo

Infantes de Marina de EE. UU. desembarcan de un MV-22B Osprey, mayo de 2026. -- public domain image By Gisela Cernadas, David Vine and John Bellamy Foster El presidente de los EE. UU., Donald Trump, ha propuesto un presupuesto militar de 1,5 billones de dólares para el año fiscal 2027, lo que representaría un aumento del 44% respecto al presupuesto aprobado para 2026. Si bien un aumento de aproximadamente 500 mil millones de dólares no tendría precedentes en la historia moder

UFC Freedom 250, the mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in the Grand Foyer of the White House -- public domain image By Gary M. Feinman In a March 2026 paper published in the journal Science Advances, which focused on variability in governance along the autocratic-democratic axis, my coauthors and I found that one of the strongest associations for the 40 case observations, which were part of our study, was between t

U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft fly in formation, June 3, 2026 -- public domain image By Gisela Cernadas, John Bellamy Foster and David Vine U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed a $1.5 trillion military budget for the fiscal year 2027, which would increase by 44 percent the acknowledged budget for 2026. While a roughly $500 billion increase would be unprecedented in modern U.S. history, the idea that the military budget only recently hit $1 trillion is incorr

Funeral of the victims of the Minab Primary School for Girls bombing -- Tasnim News Agency, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad En la ciudad de Minab, al sur de Irán, donde el calor se eleva de la tierra en ondas resplandecientes y la realidad del imperialismo persiste en cada puerto e instalación militar, un misil impactó en una escuela el 28 de febrero de 2026. El ataque mató a 156 personas, entre ellas 120 escolares, lo que el gobierno iraní calificó inmediatamente de “

Tesla charging stations at Pacific Fair, Queensland -- Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Layne Hartsell, Max Wilbert and Ntafakabirhi-Aganze Clovis Like oil in the twentieth century, lithium is the ‘white gold’ of the twenty-first. Demand for this key element is driving economic growth based on the ‘renewable’ energy provided by lithium-ion batteries. Such batteries are necessary for storing energy from solar photovoltaics in order to make that electricity readily

The agave-powered agroforestry and livestock management system is an example of how native desert plants, cultivated as part of an agroforestry system, can regenerate drylands and provide inexpensive animal feed, taking pressure off overgrazed rangelands. By Ronnie Cummins and André Leu Sixty to seventy percent of Mexico’s terrain is classified as arid or semiarid desert, typically with no rain for eight to nine months a year. La pipa, the water truck, brings enough water to

Bats pollinate wild agave plants, sustaining desert ecosystems and preserving the genetic diversity that supports tequila and mezcal production. Mexican Long-nosed Bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) in Mexico -- David Cervantes Vlogs, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Reynard Loki Bats move through desert night skies with a purpose that is easy to overlook and difficult to replace. As they travel from plant to plant, feeding on nectar, they are also performing one of the most impo

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis, yet women’s leadership and local knowledge are critical to building more resilient communities. Two women navigating flood waters (representational image) -- Djuulume, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Ruhi Bhasin The climate crisis is worsening many of the economic and social inequalities already faced by women and girls, making it harder to access health care, education, employment, and other necess