Afghanistan
EUROPE
Britain Closes Its Doors, Portugal Follows: The New Face of European Refugee Policy
Britain's freeze in September on family reunions for refugees is now echoed in Portugal through tighter residency rules that double the wait for citizenship.
WORLD
Tourism in Afghanistan: Between Reality and Taliban Propaganda
Afghanistan tourism rises under Taliban rule, drawing visitors from Europe & Gulf while masking human rights abuses and women’s repression.
WORLD
Unfrozen from the Dead: Taliban Gains First Backer in Russia
Moscow's recognition of the Taliban government breaks four years of international isolation and opens a new chapter in Afghan diplomacy.
WORLD
Afghan Women in Exile: New Elite Abroad or Lost Generation?
Afghan women in exile build leadership networks, but face migration barriers, isolation, and waning global support as Taliban tightens grip.
WORLD
Russia Courts Taliban as Great Powers Jostle for Afghanistan
Russia moves to unban the Taliban in Afghanistan as U.S. and China re-engage Kabul, fueling a new Great Game over Afghanistan’s minerals and influence.
Popular
Winter Storm Research Rewrites a Witch Trial Tragedy
As new research published in Smithsonian Magazine this week connects a 1617 Arctic storm to Norway's deadliest witch trials, climate historians reveal how weather shock fed decades of persecution.
Prediction Takes Politics: Prophets and Polymarkets Collide
As 11 Peruvian shamans predicted Nicolás Maduro's fall on 29 December 2025, crypto traders were placing similar bets online—five days before U.S. forces extracted the Venezuelan leader to New York.
Mladenov Takes Over Gaza Board After Regional Veto
Nickolay Mladenov becomes Gaza peace board head after Arab states blocked Tony Blair, raising questions about whose interests guide Washington's selection.
Abu Dhabi Rebuffs British Universities Over Campus Radicalisation
The world’s wealthiest patrons now view Western campuses as hazards, forcing a costly inversion of the traditional hierarchy that once defined global education.
Bury the Lead: MTV ‘Death’ and the Way We Read Now
As MTV continued broadcasting across the United States and most of Europe on 1 January 2026, millions of social media tributes mourned a channel that had never actually shut down.
