The dire conditions that brought waves of Cubans to the US in the 1980s and 1990s are again escalating on the communist island, provoked by Trump-era sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic.
After George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minn., protestors all over the United States, including in Los Angeles, pictured here on May 30, 2020, demonstrated against police brutality.
(Shutterstock)
The continued killings of Black people at the hands of the police in the United States has contributed to an environment of continued marginalization and oppression.
Afghanistan sharpened Australia's fighting capacity and capability. But we were still part of a spectacular failure of political and military leadership.
Among the many issues that Joe Biden has to deal with, what place does he reserve for the alliance of democracies project that he mentioned during his presidential campaign?
Chip Somodevilla/AFP
The new US administration has talked about setting up an alliance of democracies. For the time being, the project seems vague. Yet such an alliance is necessary.
Researchers have long been searching for a more comprehensive way to assess national progress than GDP.
erhui1979 via Getty Images
GDP only measures economic growth – not inequality, poverty or unpaid work like elder care. So researchers in the Netherlands developed a new way for governments to see how people are actually doing.
The ultra-trail Transvulcania 2017, on the island of La Palma, May 13, 2017.
Désirée Martin/AFP
The sport of trail running is one of the fastest growing in the world, but now is facing two major challenges at the same time, the Covid-19 pandemic and ecological crisis.
US President Joe Biden unveiled his economic stimulous plan on January 14.
Pool/AFP
In the United States, economists are currently questioning the risks of a $1.9 trillion stimulus package.
Since its creation in 1999, the inflation rate in the euro zone has only exceeded 4 percent for a few months, on the eve of the Great Recession of 2008.
Shutterstock
Massive stimulus plans combined with rising production costs could lead to expectations that inflation will rise. And that alone could trigger an inflationary spiral not seen in 25 years.
In Paris, the major east-west axis, from the Place de la Concorde to the Place de la Bastille, as given a temporary ‘coronapiste’ after the pandemic broke out. Mayor Anne Hidalgo has said that it will become permanent.
Mairie de Paris
The need for social distancing sparked a cycling boom, cutting air pollution and boosting city dwellers' mental and physical health. But when the pandemic ends, will it be back to life as usual?
Legal rally of the National Socialist Movement, one of the major neo-Nazi groups in the United States, on April 21, 2018, in Draketown, Georgia.
Spencer Platt/AFP
The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects Americans' freedom of speech, so much so that even the most hateful speech has the right to be quoted.
The U.S. was one of 33 countries to experience election-related violence in 2020 – the worst year for peaceful elections ever.
Brent Stirton/Getty Images
Elections are getting less safe in democracies and nondemocracies alike. Last year was the bloodiest year for elections in decades, with 54% of all national votes marred by some kind of violence.
Of the three probes to reach Mars this month, only two will land. But they will add to our growing knowledge of the red planet, and the search for evidence of life.
During Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2021 in Washington.
AFP
On January 20, President Joe Biden inaugurated a new chapter in the country's narrative and expressed faith in the nation's healing and redemption.
The U.S. isn’t the first country to suffer election-related violence. Activists are learning from other countries how to keep the peace.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
A textual analysis of Joe Biden's inaugural speech reveals the main lines of his future communication, which will be marked by a clear break with that of his predecessor.
Then and now: how the outside world has watched American politics over the past four years.
Der Spiegel
President Biden call say it all he likes, but it's going to take more than upbeat messages to heal the deep divides in American society.
Islamophobia in the media fed the support for the proposed Muslim travel ban. Here, a protestor holds an “End Islamophobia” sign at a rally opposing the ban at the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26, 2018.
(Shutterstock)
Commentators across the political spectrum spread anti-Islamic rhetoric, insisting that Islam is intrinsically violent and that Muslims are terrorists. But studies show these claims are unfounded.
With a rising stock market and a booming economy in some industries, not all Americans have been negatively impacted by Covid-19. Which parts of the population have come out on top?
White supremacists clash with police in Charlottesville in 2017.
Evan Nesterak/Wikipedia
Despite moments of hope, worries about the present and fears that the future may be even worse have been rising for decades. What can geopolitics teach us about the global impact of fear?
Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University