This past weekend, Europa Laica (Secular Europe), a non-profit organization committed to the promotion of secularism, the secular state, and the separation of church and State in Europe, launched its first conference after 15 years of initiation. The conference took place in Madrid, same city where the organization’s headquarters are located, and it culminated with […]
Category: World
How an Indian Biotech Company Shot Ahead on the Zika Vaccine Long Before The Rest of the World
Open any news website and you’ll come face-to-face with heartbroken Brazilian parents cradling a doleful infant with microcephaly, a condition in which people are born with abnormally small heads. Next to that are the statistics: Brazil has a conservative estimate of 500,000 to 1.5 million cases of the Zika virus, which has now spread to […]
The Rise of Cocaine in Peru
When thinking about drug production and trafficking, narcotics industries span across the globe in a complex network. From opium production in Afghanistan to synthetic drugs throughout the West, each drug has a historical connection to a specific region in the world. Perhaps the most well known relationship between a drug and geographical region is cocaine […]
The Decline of Mugabe and the Political Surge in Zimbabwe: What is to be, or not to be in the post-Mugabe era?
After years of authoritarian rule in Zimbabwe, it looks as though the tide is set to change. Political tension in Zimbabwe was demonstrated in a recent ten-hour long meeting of the country’s ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union—Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF). Several party members were either suspended or expelled without being given a chance to argue […]
Operation Lava Jato: Brazil’s Worst Nightmare
Operation Lava Jato continues to unveil the deep cracks of corruption that have sickening the Brazilian political system for decades. What started out as an investigation carried out by the Federal Police of Brazil against suspected cases of money laundering from the part of executives, has now spilled over what seems to be a huge […]
Will the Rainbow Flag Fly Over China?
Following last summer’s landmark Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage in the U.S., and the world’s first-ever legalization through the popular vote in Ireland, legions of rainbow flags were hoisted up from Australia to Colombia. However, in South Korea, conservative evangelicals and other anti-marriage equality protesters outnumbered proponents 25,000 to 20,000. A parallel narrative […]
Iran’s Private Sector: Putting Up a Fight on an Uphill Battle
By the end of this year, you will likely see Tehran displayed on the departures list in the airports of many major European cities. With the passing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the official name of the Iran nuclear deal, Iran has had an influx of business inquiries from Western companies. Headlines […]
The Missing Part of Haitian Progress: The Forgotten Children
Haiti is home to 10 million people and the first modern revolution predicated on freedom, equality and justice of all. But among all the nations in the Western Hemisphere, none have faced greater challenges to improve the lives of its children. Yet, the forgotten children of Haiti may offer the very things that Haiti needs […]
Nobels and Whistles in Beijing
Tu Youyou was labeled with “three noes”: no medical degree, no doctorate, and no work overseas. And yet, she became not only the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel Prize, but also the first Chinese citizen to earn a Nobel Prize in science. Tu was honored as one of 2015’s three Nobel laureates in […]
Where Are They Now?
The Unfinished, Yet Uncovered Saga of the Central American Migrant Crisis When news broke in June 2014 that an unprecedented 50,000 unaccompanied Central American children had arrived at the U.S. border since October 2013, the White House declared it an “urgent humanitarian situation,” drawing the attention and concern of the U.S. government, media, and public. By […]