A woman has to be ‘stronger than a lion’ to cross the Mediterranean | Migration

A woman has to be ‘stronger than a lion’ to cross the Mediterranean | Migration

Mediterranean Sea – On the open sea, thousands of kilometres from land, on a flimsy blue wooden boat, 21-year-old Linda* from Daraa, Syria, didn’t care if she lived or died. She and 125 other refugees had left the Libyan coastal city of Sabratha in the dark of night, and her…

‘In Gaza, football is the only escape’: Palestine star Mahmoud Wadi on war | Football

‘In Gaza, football is the only escape’: Palestine star Mahmoud Wadi on war | Football

On October 7, Palestinian footballer Mahmoud Wadi was recovering from an injury in Egypt when Israel launched its war on Gaza, following the Hamas attacks on southern Israel. The 29-year-old, from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, has spent the past five months desperately seeking news about the safety of his…

Are snakebites rising in South Asia — and what’s responsible? | Health News

Are snakebites rising in South Asia — and what’s responsible? | Health News

In 1950, Roald Dahl wrote a short story titled Poison. The tale, set in colonial India and often found in deckle-edged children’s anthologies, tells a riveting story about racism. In the story, a striped snake called a common krait slithers on the stomach of one of the main characters. The…

‘Reminds us of home’: An Indian kitchen serves love against bias, violence | Food

‘Reminds us of home’: An Indian kitchen serves love against bias, violence | Food

New Delhi, India – Bidotama, 26, is in the kitchen stirring peanuts in a pan. Every few minutes, she turns to her best friend, Mardza, 25, who is busy chopping tomatoes and slicing U-morok, a hot chilli variety, that will go into the special chicken curry bubbling on a two-burner…

Money, power and the peril of courting Chinese nationalism | Politics News

Money, power and the peril of courting Chinese nationalism | Politics News

In January, a Chinese ultranationalist vlogger – video blogger – came across red circular stickers on the glass doors of a shopping mall in Nanjing featuring the words: “Happy 2024.” The vlogger claimed that what appeared to be innocent New Year decorations were, in fact, nationalistic Japanese motifs since the…

In New York, Israeli conscientious objectors find community after ostracism | Israel War on Gaza News

In New York, Israeli conscientious objectors find community after ostracism | Israel War on Gaza News

New York, United States – He feared being called a “mishtamet”. A draft dodger. Someone who shrinks from their responsibility. But at age 17, Jewish social worker Asaf Calderon made a fateful decision: not to participate in the mandatory military service required of nearly all Israeli citizens. Instead, he pursued…

After Macron touted troops to Ukraine, Putin warns West of nuclear war risk | Russia-Ukraine war News

After Macron touted troops to Ukraine, Putin warns West of nuclear war risk | Russia-Ukraine war News

President Vladimir Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons if Western powers send soldiers to within striking distance of Russia. His comments on Thursday, in a state of the nation address, were the kind of remarks usually uttered by Dmitry Medvedev, a Putin ally who served as Russia’s president from 2008-2012…

Ukraine’s strategic goal in 2024 is to make Russia’s war felt in Moscow | Russia-Ukraine war News

Ukraine’s strategic goal in 2024 is to make Russia’s war felt in Moscow | Russia-Ukraine war News

Ukraine appears to have few resources with which to mount another counteroffensive. The European Union is upping its military aid from 28 billion euros ($30bn) in the past two years to 21 billion euros ($23bn) this year alone, but that is still not enough to replace United States military aid,…

India’s Urban Company revolutionised gig work for women. Then it bled them | Business and Economy

India’s Urban Company revolutionised gig work for women. Then it bled them | Business and Economy

Bengaluru, India — After years of working at a salon in Bengaluru, Shakeela Banu made a major life change in 2018 and joined Urban Company (UC), an app-based home services platform that has more than 52,000 workers across Indian cities, one-third of whom are women. At first, Banu was happy…

‘Call it by its name’: How hateful rhetoric feeds anti-Palestinian violence | Israel War on Gaza News

‘Call it by its name’: How hateful rhetoric feeds anti-Palestinian violence | Israel War on Gaza News

Burlington, Vermont – With Israel waging war in the Gaza Strip and violence reaching new heights in the occupied West Bank, Hisham Awartani’s family thought he would be safer in the United States. That’s why, instead of going to the West Bank for Thanksgiving break, the 20-year-old Palestinian student and…